Great racing today against a lot of tough competition!! Top teams from Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and Texas attend the Midwest Invitational and the Madison Memorial Spartans rose to the challenge and performed at a high level on Saturday. Some ranked teams competing at the meet included Madison LaFollette (D1 - #4), Neenah (D1- #10), Verona (D1 - #12), Arrowhead (D1 - #13), LaCrosse Logan (D1 - #14), Wisconsin Lutheran (D2 - #2), Monroe (D2 - #3), Mount Horeb (D2 - #8), Platteville (D2 - # 13), Catholic Memorial (D2 - #16), Darlington (D3 - #2), and Albany (D3 - #10). Our teams came away with hardware from all three races with 5 individuals earning medals and the frosh/soph team winning a trophy. The weather was a bit warm for the end of September but our team managed to still run 26 PRs on the day. This meet sets up our team for a big push in the last month of the season. Stay on top of your homework as progress reports come out soon, take care of your body, and stay healthy for a big finish to the season.
The frosh/soph group of Benton DD, Luke V, Ty B, Gabe B, Jonas B, Trevor R, and Jack Z started the meet off for the team on Saturday. This talented group of young runners attacked the race and ran themselves into a 2nd place finish earning a team trophy. This is our best finish in the frosh/soph race in history in was a great way to start the meet. Benton led the way with 10th place finish while Luke V & Ty B earned medals too with their 14th & 15th finishes. Jonas B had a :22 PR as our 4th runner and Gabe B closed our scoring group with an 18:20 time. If you include Rory S and Zach H who ran in the varsity race it is pretty amazing to think Trevor R was our 8th frosh/soph on the day with his 18:23. This group of runners along with other freshman at 19:00 mark such as Jack Z, Casey GT, and Dominic G can have a big future ahead of them collecting hardware at big and small meets alike. I encourage the 2013 group of freshmen and sophomores to challenge themselves to continue to improve to bigger and better things each season. It will be fun to watch all of them over the next couple seasons.
The varsity group was the second race of the day and we were short handed but were ready to put the "next man in." This group really showed the desire of our team this season. Our 8th place finish at today's meet was our best finish since we took 6th in 2009 and only our 3rd time finishing in the top ten. We beat some ranked teams, some tough teams from our conference, and many quality teams from our sectional. This group continues to PR as Bryce (:07), Brad (:12), and Jake (:09) led the way as our top three runners. Ben B ran an important part in the middle of the race to lead our second group closer to Bryce and will put the last 800 meters on in his next race. Connor GT took advantage of his first varsity race this season to round out our scoring with his season best time. Rory S and Zach H also had great first varsity races of their career and learned important races that they will use not only this season but over the next 2+ years. Our gap of :57 from #1 - #5 needs to come down but our gap between #1 - #2 closing down was a big step for our varsity team. We are looking to get at least 5 if not 7 guys under 17:30 the remainder of our varsity season. Keep working hard and leading this team with strong performances.
The JV group rounded the high school racing portion of the invitational. Our JV group was missing many of our top scorers as they competed in the frosh/soph race and so our team was looking for new faces to step up and fill the void. We had multiple guys run big PRs and step into a JV1 role in today's meet. John H led the squad with his 13th place finish. Austin W (:41) and Trevor W (:32) had big PRs to step up as our 2nd & 3rd finishers (they are sophs also :) Marcus F and Casey GT rounded out our scoring 5 on the day. This lively competition for JV1 spots is going to really help solidify our JV1 and our JV2 squads. We have some big meets coming up and I am excited to see this group of athletes compete at every race we attend. Some other PRs on the day went to Sylvan G (:33), Jack G (:41), Caleb H (:13) joining sub 20 club, Josh L (:14), Nathan W (:38), Phil S (:44), Sam Z (:49), Davis B (:10), Dominic G (:20), Ray G (1:24), Ben K (:19), Zaid N (:30), and Chris X (:52). This group of athletes is down to three weeks of racing left and we hope to see more big PRs in the remaining 4 meets.
MIDWEST INVITE RESULTS
Frosh/Soph
Varsity
JV
Middle School
NEXT COMPETITION
Big 8 Split Meet
Tuesday October 1st
@ Yahara (the Dump)
***Some varsity & JV1 athletes will NOT be competing at this meet....
everyone will be informed Monday at practice if they are or aren't competing...
please communicate with your sons***
Early Release - 2:45pm
Bus Time - 3:00pm
4:45pm - Girls Race
5:30pm - Boys Race (Only one race...with ALL competing athletes)
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