Recap: This season features three new invitationals, and Otsego was first on the list. This is a long-established meet featuring a few of our NWOAL teams, so it was a great chance to switch things up from the norm.  From a course standpoint, this meet offered a little of everything: trails, hills, water, open grass.  The only challenge was figuring out the course as it involved multiple loops on two different sides of the course (some parts of which were not very well marked). Despite the challenges the course posed, we still had eight out of the fourteen Viking runners set a new personal record.

For the boys team, the varsity runners finished eighth overall out of eleven teams.  Ben set a new freshman record with his 17th place overall finish, and Alex also set a new PR. In the JV race, all four Viking runners set new personal bests; Gavin and Augie took 2:40 and 1:25 off their PR’s, respectively!

On the girls side, we had a small team this week as several runners were out for the fair or other important events.  Sarah set a new PR with her 19th place finish despite losing several seconds on one of the aforementioned poorly marked spots on the course (she was not alone as Alexis too lost critical time on a course error).  Hannah pushed to better her previous PR that went all the way back to last year’s Archbold meet.

Here are the official results for the High School:

* High School JV Race

Another week, another improvement as a team.  These runners continue to work hard every day, and their work continues to show up on race day.

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

Up Next: The high school has a weekend off before heading to Ottawa-Glandorf on 9/17, while the middle school travels to Archbold next Saturday.

Recap: You just never know what to expect in the first meet of the season. You sort of get a feel for how workouts have been going, but at this point in our training cycle it’s normal to feel a bit fatigued as we continue to adjust to increased intensity of the workouts and the start of the school year.  The great thing about the Defiance meet is that the course gives a fairly realistic picture; it’s not terribly fast because of the hills, but it’s also not really a slow course (*cough*Archbold*cough).

With that said, the results from this weekend were excellent. Twelve of our high school runners set a personal record, including nine of the ten men.  Now, the men’s team is young so it’s easy to PR when it’s your first ever high school 5k, but even compared to their middle school times they were significantly improved. For example, Chandler’s split at mile two was 21 seconds faster than his two mile PR from the end of last season.

Ben fights to pass runners at the end

Pete keeps up the pace at the mile mark

The high school men line up to start

Alexis finishes up her Defiance run

Alex chases down a Fayette runner at the end of the Defiance race

Sarah keeps a steady pace through mile one

Gavin works through his first 5k of the season

Chan works his way to the finish

Trinity works past competing runners in her final kick

Sarah chases down a Montpelier runner in the final sprint

Augie settles in around the mile mark

Katie finishes strong

Thomas looks strong through the first mile

John and Chan work together to move up

Ashley and Katie work together through the first mile

Phoenix surges past runners at the end

Jared guts it out all the way to the finish

Other runners watch as Heidi passe them on the way to a strong finish

Ashley pushes to the finish

Trinity starts moving up through the field at the mile mark

To give you an idea of the progress made, consider the following:

• Jared PR’d by 2:14
• John PR’d by 56 seconds
• Pete PR’d by 15 seconds
• Phoenix was just 25 seconds off his PR and 1:09 faster than last year’s Defiance time
• Heidi ran 1:27 faster than her last Defiance race in 2014
• Katie and Tom both took more than 20 seconds off their Park-o-Rama 5k times despite it being a hilly course

The ladies’ team finished 9th overall out of 18 teams, and their team average of 24:42 for the top five runners was 3 seconds faster than the top individual Lady Vike from last season. The men didn’t have enough runners to score last year, but their top 5 average of 21:00 crushed the four-man average of 24:10 from last year’s meet.

Here are the official results for the High School:

The middle school race is a bit different at Defiance. Whereas the high school gets a flat, fast mile to start before heading into the hilly section, the middle school heads straight to the hills.  This makes the impact of “The Hill” at the end of the race that much more significant.  Despite this difference, both Kayla and Owen were able to take time off their PR from last Thursday’s Lake meet, dropping 2 and 38 seconds, respectively.  While neither team had enough to score in the meet, our first three girls finished in the top 15 of the race, and Jolie showed incredible determination in passing several runners coming up that intimidating hill at the end.

Chris turns the corner to the final stretch

Jolie puts in a very strong finish

Kennedy crosses the bridge to the final hill

Paige crosses the bridge near the end

Evan rounds the corner for home

Paige and Kayla celebrate a successful race

Kayla turns into the final sprint

Will works hard to finish strong

Owen sprints to pass another runner at the end

Kayla tracks down another runner heading to the final hill

The middle school team kicks off their race

Kennedy turns the corner as parents and coaches cheer her on

Paige pushes towards the finish line

Here are the official results for the Middle School:

Up Next: The High School travels to the Otsego Invitational at Mary Jane Thurston State Park this Saturday 9/2, and the Middle School has a week off before heading to Archbold on 9/10.

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

Recap:

This is the kind of meet we live for.  The weather, the times, the fun…this is cross country.  Our runners gave amazing efforts in this race.

For the high school, we were thrown a bit of a curve ball. When we ran at the NWOAL Preview meet last month, we were amazed at how fast the course seemed.  When we saw the times come in for the first mile and then for the end of the race, it seemed to confirm just how fast the course was, and this seemed to make sense because the weather was perfect and it was a very flat, open course. Well, as it turned out, the course was short by almost a tenth of a mile (160 meters), meaning the times for the NWOAL League Championship were about 45-60 seconds faster than they would have been for a full 5000 meter race.  It’s not clear how this error was made, but it brought the runners down off an incredible high when they learned about it the following day.

However, even accounting for the short course we still would have had at least six of the ten high school runners PR.  When you smash your personal record by over FOUR MINUTES like Pete did, even a course error can’t take that away from you.  Ditto for Lilly and Claudia, who took  1:22 and 2:07 off their times, respectively. Looking at the splits, a lot of the error must have been in the first mile because all of our runners were extremely fast.  We’ve preached all year going out with a controlled first mile, and having a faster-than-expected split posts a major mental challenge that can really affect a race.  We knew though that the course was fast going in and talked about it, so it was great to see all of our runners roll with it when the they heard their mile times.  While the times were too good to be true, part of what made them so believable was how well each of our runners handled the race tactically and strategically. As coaches, we could not ask for more.

Here are the complete results for the High School:

*NWOAL All League Honorable Mention

The middle school race was much the same, with the added bonus that the course was actually accurate.  There are two runners in particular I want to call out: Kennedy and Evan.  Kennedy didn’t have the race she wanted. She came in expecting a fast course where she could potentially PR again, and instead she had to fight through a difficult run.  Experienced runners know this just happens sometimes, and you just make the best of it and look to redeem yourself another day.  What really stood out though was the comment we got from someone else at the meet telling us Kennedy got the unofficial sportsmanship award. Despite struggling through the race, she made it a point to encourage other runners in the race who were also having a tough time.  The finish time wasn’t what she expected, but she handled the race like a pro.

Evan had a similarly inspiring effort. He had missed practice earlier in the week to see the doctor, and unbeknownst to us was given some medication that had the potential to cause stomach cramps. Well, that potential was realized during this race, and he fought through the entire second half with severe cramps that would make most runners quit.  The strategy going in was for Chandler and Evan to run together, and Evan did everything he could to stay with him as long as possible.  The result, despite the challenge and the pain, was a new lifetime PR.

Ben, Shane, Chandler and Chris also set new personal bests in this race. Ben made good on the unofficial time from Clay and set a new school record.  Shane smashed his personal best by over 30 seconds and also beat the previous school record.  Both finished in the top ten for the NWOAL. Chandler took almost a full minute off his best time, and Chris shaved over 20 seconds off his.

Here are the complete results for the Middle School:

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

Despite the frustration with the high school course errors, this was a very successful meet for our team with lots of positives to take away.  The middle school is done for the year, and the high school finishes up next weekend at the District Championship at Widewater Retreat.

(Thanks to Angie VanOstrand, Theresa Bryson and Robin Mitchey for the pics. Apologies for not having more pics from the middle school!)

Recap:

We’ll be honest: we as a team had a virtual X through this line on our schedule because it hasn’t been a successful meet for us the past several years. The weather was always terrible, it was a long drive, and nobody really liked the course because times always seemed slow.  So it was no surprise that there were mixed emotions going into this race by many of our high school athletes as we made the trek down to Fostoria.  As is true of our sport though, great races can happen at unexpected times in unexpected places.  Our runners, spurred by a later morning run and perfect weather, ran with perseverance and mental toughness. It truly was a beautiful day to run!

Smashing his time by 21 seconds and leading the way for the Viking boys was Phoenix VanOstrand with a time of 19:29. Following close behind and running a season best time was Brendan Miller with a time of 20:48. John Ruth took 46 seconds off his lifetime best with a time of 23:09. Jared Mitchey also ran a lifetime best with a time of 25:00. Pete Simon ran one of his best times of the season with a 30:22.

Grace Bryson led the way for the girls with a time of 23:24. Lilly Kuszmaul took 14 seconds off, setting a new personal best time of 23:57 and breaking through the 24:00 barrier. Running with solid effort were Alexis McCormick with a time of 28:39 (just 8 seconds off her PR) and Hannah Klebold (34:33 and battling through a tough leg injury).

Here are the overall results for the High School:

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

(Thanks to Coach Hesson, Theresa Bryson and Robin Mitchey for photos)

Recap:

This was true Cross Country weather: a chilly, overcast morning in the low 50’s that turned into a near-constant drizzle that soaked everyone to the bone.  Lousy weather for a spectator, great weather for a runner!  This meet was all about overcoming the mental challenge of the conditions and seizing on opportunities, and some of our runners were able to take a huge leap forward.

The high school team got the worst of it as the mist changed over to a heavy drizzle driven by the wind.  Grace took full advantage, running nearly even splits (7:18, 7:21, 7:20) and smashing through her lifetime PR by 12 seconds.  Leah and Lilly set out with a strategy of working to pace and push each other through the race, and it brought a strong finish for both of them.  By the time the boys ran, the weather was at its worst and it was enough to throw off the pace a bit for everyone.  Brendan and Phoenix both ran very even splits and were within about fifteen seconds of season PRs. Unfortunately, the official results excluded Pete so we are working to get corrected results and will update when they’re in.

Here are the results for the High School:

*Due to a timing issue, we’re still waiting on official info from the meet organizers

For the middle school, it was another avalanche of new PR’s and school records. Kennedy and Savannah both went out at a controlled pace and then attacked the second mile on their way to taking down the 7th and 8th grade class records and school record.  Savannah continued her consecutive streak of PR’s, taking another 18 seconds off, and Kennedy continued her streak as well, this time taking off an incredible 56 seconds in setting the new girls school record!

Ben followed the same pattern in working the pace of the field in the first half before turning it on in the second mile to finish 6th overall and set a new boys school record.  Evan crushed his lifetime PR in this race by 41 seconds, and Chris bested his PR by 17 seconds.  Unfortunately, we’re still working with the meet organizers to get the boys middle school results corrected. Ben’s unofficial time of 11:50 gives him a 19-second PR; the official time of 11:16 would be a 53-second PR, but was definitely not accurate. All of the boys’ times were significantly off, and Evan was not even listed in the final results, so we’re hopeful that corrected results will be made available soon.

Here are the results for the Middle School (with unofficial times; official times included in parentheses):

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

Recap:

Widewater is always a favorite for the team, and it was fun to initiate several new runners (and a couple coaches) into the fan club.  As with last year, there was a “water hazard” right at the bottom of the hill preceding the final stretch to the finish. Fortunately, it was not waist-deep this year, making it more manageable (if anything, the hazard was the muddy spot on the other side at the base of the hill).

Our high school teams were still thin this week as we continue to try and get everyone healthy; we had three runners out with illness/injury and a few “walking wounded” who fought through the race at less than 100%.  Brendan was able to turn in a season best time despite a nagging hip problem, and John and Phoenix both set lifetime PR’s in the race.  Phoenix became our first sub-20 runner since Kurtis Pierce at the District Championship in 2011, and cut an amazing 2:39 off his time from last year’s Widewater meet. Brendan is closing in as well and will hopefully break that 20:00 barrier soon.  Lilly and Leah also ran very strong races; the best of the year for both, taking 1:01 and 1:39 off last year’s times, respectively.

Here are the results for the High School:

On the Middle School side, it was another strong showing with five new lifetime PR’s and another new Middle School girls record.  Savanna shaved another eight seconds off her previous record and has her eyes set on sub-14 with two fast races to go in the season.  Kennedy broke the 15:00 barrier for the first time, and Kam took almost a full minute off her personal best.  On the boys side, Ben turned in another Top 10 performance as he draws close to that 12:00 barrier.  Both Ben and Shane took over 1:30 off their times from last year, and both Shane and Evan set a lifetime PR for the second week in a row (Chris tie’d his lifetime PR set at last week’s meet).

Here are the results for the Middle School:

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

(Thanks to Angie VanOstrand for several of this week’s pictures!)

Recap:

It was a tale of two courses at Harrison Lake State Park.  The forecast called for a possibility of rain showers in the morning, and that’s exactly what we got as we endured at least a good inch plus of steady rain.  We were thrown a curve ball right from the start as they changed the course from previous years, essentially running it in reverse.  This turned out to be great for the middle school…not so much for the high school.  The first mile of this course is very fast; but where the middle school ends with a pretty decent second mile, the second mile of the high school course is a brutal battle uphill for what seems like the entire mile.  So whereas the middle school athletes were turning in PR’s left and right, the high school athletes were running split differences of +1:00 to +1:30 from the first to second mile.  To add to the difficulties, we had five high school athletes out with injuries or illness.

That said, it was still a solid effort by our varsity runners, both during an excellent first mile and some excellent finishing surges.

Here are the results for the High School:

From what I heard, the Middle School races were fun to run (even if they weren’t quite as fun to watch) thanks to the rain.  We ran very competitively, finishing sixth as a team in both races. Both teams ran well, and eight out of the eleven runners set a new lifetime PR, including Savannah breaking her own Middle School girls record. Here’s how big the day was for those eight runners:

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

As we look towards the next meet at Widewater Park, we’re hoping to see our missing runners return to health. We have some great workouts planned for this week, so hopefully we’ll get past the injuries and illness and press on for a great Homecoming weekend!

Fayette Eagle Invitational – Sat. 9/19
Harrison Lake State Park
26246 Harrison Lake Road
Fayette, OH 43521

7:45am – Bus leaves High School (est. arrival 8:15am)
9:00am – Girls’ middle school race
9:30am – Boys’ middle school race
10:00am – Girls’ high school race
10:45am – Boys’ high school race
12:30pm – Bus returns to High School (est. departure 11:45am)

Notes – One of the most beautiful courses we run with a few moderate hills and lots of wooded trails. Right now there’s a prediction of rain, and this has historically been a chilly meet, so dress and plan accordingly.

Give yourself extra time to find a parking spot and walk to the start/finish area:

*There will be concessions available. However, we ask that athletes have a healthy breakfast that morning and NOT eat concession food until after they have competed.  We will have snacks provided.

Recap:

Historically our first meet of the season, the Archbold Invitational served this year as our second race and gave us an opportunity to be more focused on specific running strategies.  Despite being a mostly flat and open course that one would expect to generate fast times, this course once again was slow for runners across the board, not just for Evergreen.

That said, every returning runner improved on their times from last year significantly. Grace and Leah each dropped about 1.5 minutes off their Archbold time from last year, Phoenix and Brendan both dropped almost two whole minutes, and Lilly dropped well over two minutes (almost 2:20)!  Alexis and Hannah also set lifetime PR’s in this race. That is an impressive testament to how much work these athletes are putting in.

Here are the results for the High School:

For the Middle School team, this was actually our third meet. A volleyball tournament left us with only two runners for the girls’ race, but both Kennedy and Maddy made the most of it by setting season and lifetime PR’s (very significant given that their previous best times were on a pretty fast course at Lake High School).  The boys put up a strong showing, finishing tenth overall as a team. Ben and Shane shaved a minute and a half off of last year’s time, with both finishing in the top twenty. Evan, Chandler and Chris all gave strong efforts as well to edge us ahead of Swanton!

Here are the results for the Middle School:

While the race was not as fast as we had expected, this was a good step in our progression this year.  The next several weeks will give us some great courses to run as we continue to build momentum towards the NWOAL League Championship in mid-October. Next up is the Fayette Invitational at Harrison Lake!

Full Event Results are available on Baumspage.

(Thanks to Theresa Bryson for most of the photos!)