Big 8 Conference Championships - Varsity = 7th, JV1 = 2nd, JV2 = 5th

After having the Conference meet delayed from Saturday to Monday (for inclement weather that never arrived) the Madison Memorial Spartans took back to the Yahara CC Course to finish the season for JV runners and compare ourselves in one of the toughest (if not the toughest) conferences in the state. The course was much softer today then at City but the competition was just as stiff. We took our bumps and bruises today with a squad that has weathered many adversities this season. I was proud of how we competed and took away many positives from today. I hope our young runners caught the running bug and will put in the effort this off-season to return JMM Cross Country to the top of the Big 8 in all races for next season. I hope our seniors are proud of the accomplishments they made this season and continue to support our program in the future. As I wash another season of uniforms I hope every athlete who wore the "JMM" across their chest this season wore it with pride and will carry this tradition of hard work, perseverance, and dedication into every facet of their life.

Our JV 2 started the meet off for the program today and were led into battle by three freshman, two seniors, a junior, and a sophomore. I've commented all season on the efforts of our freshman group and I really hope to see some of these kids on our varsity very soon. For example, Ben B ran 19:34 on this same course for JV2 last season and earned his way onto varsity one year later through much hard work and training. Today Benton DD led all JV2 runners with his time of 18:58 for 12th place and Trevor R was 19:33 for 24th place. These freshman were joined by a great performance by senior Justin X who missed earning a ribbon by one spot with his 16th place 19:17.  Nick S and Will B rounded out our scoring five with their 27th and 30th finishes and Matt J and Sam K gave us all 7 runners under 20 minutes for the race. With the soft conditions of the course there were not many PRs today but we did have lifetime PRs from Michael M (:16), Jack K (:16), Ben T (:04), Austin W (:21) and Michael Y (:22). I hope this group of guys can find some time in the off-season to do some running on their own or with teammates so they can see continued growth in their improvement as runners. The more miles we log on our legs the easier running becomes.

The performance of the day was turned in by our JV1 team. After finishing 3rd at the city meet this group had a chip on their shoulder that they took out on the rest of the Big 8 Conference. All five of our scorers in this race will return next season to compete for varsity spots and to improve not only our varsity but our JV1 team. We had control of this race early on and gave West a scare before slipping a little in the second half of the race. I was pleased with how well everyone competed in this race and delighted at our 2nd place finish. Mason R led the charge with a 17:50, followed closely by Jacob R and Hans H in 17:59 all three earned conference ribbons with their 6, 7, and 8th place finishes. Sam B ran a tough race to place 17th and Ben B hung on valiantly to finish 24th. Branavan Y and Chris D ran great last miles to help bump some important place scorers for other teams. The will and determination on these seniors' faces the last home stretch was priceless. I will issue the challenge for our 2013 JV squad today...can next year be the year that we break West JV's streak??? West returns 7 runners from today's race who ran under 18:45 and JMM returns 8 (not counting any of our injured runners). Do we have enough runners willing to work hard to tighten up the gaps and improve our JV 1. To win today's JV1 race West had 5 runners under 18:15...on the day they had 10 runners under 18:00. For second place our JV1 had 5 runners under 18:45 but we also had 10 runners under 18:00. Our goal for next season is to put 14 runners (on the same day) under 18:00 minutes and bring home a JV1 conference championship.

Our varsity team put a great effort together today for 7th place. Missing a runner who could pull a single digit for our team hurt our cause today. To perform well in this conference you need to have someone who can accomplish a top ten finish which today was 16:35. This should be a goal for every runner who returns for varsity next season, as we will need someone to step up and fill this role. This season our 3rd, 4th, and 5th runners were faster than our 4th place conference team on this same course last season. The chart below shows the difference a years make too as similar times yielded lower places (better competition this season). James A and Bryce H led the varsity with their 22nd and 23rd place finishes. Seniors Ryan W and Nick H stepped up well to run 34th and 38th and John H rounded out our scorers with 42 and giving us 5 runners under 17:46. Connor GT in 51st and Tyler M in 53 completed our varsity group today.

What do we need to do as we move forward as a varsity? Become a team who can come into the season ready to run PRs so we can spend our season improving our speed and becoming better racers. Teams that perform well in our conference (top 3 or 4) generally have at least 3 runners who can go under 17:00 all season long. This takes consistent training that begins during the summer and carries into the season. We return a lot of experience for next season but what will we do in the next 9 months to turn that experience into a Big 8 powerhouse team?

This season 82 high school boys came together for 9 weeks and were asked to run 3 - 9 mile distance runs, 6 - 10 mile workout days, do 100 pushups and 10minutes of abs, get 3.0 or better in their GPA, attend class on time everyday, remember to keep track of their uniforms (or any of their clothing), and improve themselves as a person. Very few young men will even try this and even fewer can accomplish this. I challenge every member of this team to sit down this week and contemplate which of these things they do well and which ones they still need to improve upon. One of my many philosophies in life is to take a weakness and work on improving it until it becomes a strong point. What will each of you work on improving next? Over the coming days and weeks I will have different updates about season recaps and statistics...I encourage all athletes and families to check back for the latest news.

BIG 8 RESULTS
Varsity - Team - Overall
JV1 - Team - Overall
JV2 - Team - Overall
Rock/Paper/Scissors - Justin H took down brother Noah H in a best of 5 championship match

TUESDAY PRACTICE FOR ALL ATHLETES - Athletes who are done competing will just meet with Coach Casey and receive end of the year handouts and information. Athletes will not be able to take the buses home, so everyone should plan for transportation around 4:15 - 4:30. Athletes who have not yet turned in their uniforms should do so on Monday. Also, athletes who have not yet given their captains $5 yet should do so ASAP (Thanksgiving baskets and Coach gifts)

Pictures from Stoughton, City, and Conference to be uploaded soon (sorry for the delay)

NEXT COMPETITION
Sectionals @ Yahara Course (the Dump)
Saturday October 20th
Boys Race 11:00 (2011 Results)
Girls Race 11:45
Top two teams and top five individuals advance to state
EVERYONE SHOULD COME OUT AND CHEER ON THE TEAMS