Saturday (this, not last!)

We're off for a preview of the Sectional course on Saturday. We should be looking to improve both the quantity and quality of our finishers this year.

In 2006, we had just 5 boys and 3 girls finish. The meet official messed up the timing of the boys race, so we don't have times. At sectionals, only one runner was under 19:59, but 6th was 20:17. For the girls, Ashley ran well (21:55), but the others were 25:41 and 26:38. At sectionals, Brianna was first for the team in 21:54, 5th was 24:39 and 7th was 25:34.

In 2007, we had 14 boys and 11 girls finish. Chris ran 19:42, no one else was under 20 minutes. Our 5th man was 21:09 and 7th was 21:39. Sectionals was much better, with our 7th man at 19:40 and Nico led the way in 18:17. For the girls, only 5 girls were under 28 minutes, with Megan first in 23:07. They were also much better at sectionals, with the 5th girl at 23:40, and Megan running 21:18.

This year we have 40 runners on our roster. I think a few injured runners will miss this meet, but we should have a much better turnout than last year. We should be able to put 5 runners under 19:42 (perhaps 3 under 19:00?), and 7 under 20 minutes. We should also be able to put 5 girls under 26 minutes, perhaps 7 under 28 minutes.

Looking back at the splits from last year's invitational and sectionals, one thing is clear: the first mile was run far too fast at the invitational. The top 7 boys slowed by an average of 1:08 from the first mile to the second. A couple of boys that did not break 20 minutes, were through the mile in 5:35-5:36. The top 7 girls slowed by 1:33. At Sectionals, the boys slowed by just 43 seconds, the girls by 58 seconds. The smart runner will learn from this, and run very conservatively for the first mile - it's downhill and has to be completed without much effort, so that you are in position to pass the dying multitudes over the next 1.5 miles.