Wow!

The team turned in an excellent performance at McQuaid yesterday. The varsity boys exceeded all expectations to bring home some hardware, finishing 3rd in our race. They were led by an awesome 9th place finish by Kenny. Nico and Nate both placed in the 20s, and Chris just missed, in 31st. Alex in 55th place just about equaled our top runner's place last year. I am not concerned about the times, that may have seemed a little slower than expected, because the humidity and stealthy heat that showed up for our race certainly had an effect. In fact, I saw a couple of girls that were down on the last 1/2 mile of the course in the following race.

The girls showed some incredible improvement, and managed to beat Vestal. Alaina appears to be rounding into form, and went under 21 minutes. Khristyna was 1:47 faster than last year, but even that wasn't quite enough to keep up with Karen in the homestretch. Anneleise realized, during the race, that she can run, and turned in a 7:43 last mile. Hannah improved over last year, despite the tougher conditions, and Sarah was 40 seconds faster in the first mile, which is all we have to compare.

The JV Boys then stepped up for a great run. Placing 11th in that field is terrific. And beating Thomas's JV is an accomplishment (even if they did have a couple 18:30-something runners in the Sophomore race. Other notable teams behind us include Corning, Penfield and St. Joe's.

As individuals, there is a lot worth mentioning: Wade under 18 and ahead of 2 Varsity runners, and Goeff snuck in ahead of one. Ethan's 18:43 is an excellent freshman time (not far behind AJ from last year and Nate from 2006), and Eric was sub-19. JP put in a solid 3rd mile to go under 19:30. Elliot, Trevor, Joe, Tom and John were all between 19:44 and 20:12. The next batch of freshmen: Alex, Tristan (with a big third mile), Patrick and Kenny, were all 21:05 and better, and Justin was right behind them.

With no dual meet this week, it's time to go back to work. There are only 27 days until Counties. These next two weeks of training are a great opportunity to get ready for that meet.