The varsity began the meet off in the coolest and slickest conditions of the day. We don't really have a team motto but unofficially this year it has become "the next man in" as we continued to shuffle our varsity lineup to fill holes late in the week. John H became our thirteenth different runner this season to compete in a varsity race. The varsity group got tucked a little further back then they had hoped in the first 1/2 mile but started to move by the mile mark with nice opening mile splits. Jake R led the charge up front for the second week in a row and had nice PR breaking 17:00 for the first time. Our next group of runners were packed together nicely but will need to be a little closer to Jake at Sectionals next week. Connor GT was at the front of this pack as then in the next 12 seconds he was followed by Ben B, Luke V, Rory S, and John H. This group finished between 35th - 43rd if we can move them up about 15 seconds it would be a point total shift of over 30 points (lots of runners in that range). Benton DD rounded out our varsity seven with PR performance today. These runners will be joined by some teammates in the coming days to prepare for Sectionals and see if we can take that next step towards the State Championship. Our 6th place finish was not what we were hoping for today but our performance by the runners in the race was a quality performance.
The second race of the day brought the top 7 JV runners from each team to the starting line for the JV1 race. The team had a goal this season to win the JV Conference Championship and we knew this would be no small feat. During the season we had some very close battles with Madison West and Verona and the boys were ready to take on this stiff competition today. The JV1 kids worked together as a pack early on as all 7 positioned themselves in the top 15 and used each other to help run a good pace. West's top 2 runners seized control of the race near the midway mark but our pack held solid in the top ten positioned right with West's #3 and Verona's #1 & 2. Our pack mentality helped our group gain some positive momentum after the steep hill climb and our group looked to take control during the last mile. They were led to the finish by a strong race from Zach H as he got a top 5 finish and a PR. We talked about having a tight pack in this race and all 7 runners came within :27 seconds of each other. Zach was followed closely by Sam B and Ty B in the top 10. Then came James A, Mason R, and Jonas B earning conference awards with their top 15 finishes. Senior Marcus F just missed out on staying in the top 15 but his strong finish kept him ahead of West's fifth runner which proved to be important as we only beat West by 2 points. Every runner was critical in this championship and all seven of these boys represented their teammates proudly during this race. This marked the first team conference championship under Coach Casey and hopefully the start of a new tradition of success in the JV races.
JV1 Big Eight Conference CHAMPIONS
The JV2 race was the last race of the day and these boys had a hard act to follow as they came on the heels of the JV1 victory. This group did not want to be out done as they worked just as hard all year long and were the reason why so many of our varsity and JV1 runners had success this season. This group moved to the front of the race early on and made the JMM presence felt in top 15 of the race. As the race went on this group only got stronger. Our JV2 guys ran spirited efforts not only chasing down huge PRs but also leading our team to its second Conference Championship of the day. The group scored 24 points and had their top seven runners earn awards with their top 15 finishes. They were led by junior Joe H who took the lead midway through the race and never looked back as he set a huge PR and earned the JV2 individual championship. Had he looked backed he would have seen teammates Gabe B and Trevor R leading the JMM 1, 2, 3 sweep in the race. Casey GT closed hard and Will B held on strong to both earn top 10 finishes and Calder B and Austin W closed out our scoring seven with their top 15 finishes.
JV2 Big Eight Conference CHAMPIONS
As a team you always try to end the season on a high note. Today the weather conditions, competition, course, taper, and everything aligned just right to allow us to do just that. We had 51 PRs on the day, 2 team conference championships, and 1 individual conference championship. A day like today is what all that hard work during the summer, after school, in the classroom, and at practice is all about. Our PRs today went to Eligh A (1:06), Will B (:53), Marcus F (:41), Connor GT (:29), John H (:08), Mason R (:15), Jacob R (:44), Giovanni S (:28), Sam S (:09), Ben B (:12), Calder B (:22), Jake H (:01), Joe H (:57), Caleb H (:37), Justin H (:29), Nathan L (:33), Josh L (:48), Liam M (:05), Brendan P (1:11), Razi S (:29), Alex VB (:47), Gabe B (:29), Ale C (1:15), Zach H (:39), Chris M (:51), Trevor R (:35), Rory S (:34), Ben T (:54), Trevor W (:23), Austin W (:22), Michael Y (1:47), Sam Z (:33), Matt B (:31), Jonas B (:34), Davis B (:54), Ty B (:22), Henry C (1:41), Dom G (:54), Jared G (:03), Casey GT (:51), Jansen H (:14), Ben K (:10), Nathan K (1:11), Chris M (1:34), Zaid N (1:25), Luke V (:34), Alec W (:30), Nathan W (:45), Chris X (1:44), and Jack Z (:46). Our varsity prepares for next week, our seniors prepare for our future, and hopefully our underclassmen prepare for even bigger things next season.
BIG 8 CONFERENCE RESULTS
Varsity
Rock/Paper/Scissors - Brendon P defeated Will B in an epic fifth game sudden death match
Sectional @ DeForest High School
Saturday October 26th
Bus Time - 9:00am
11:00am - Girls Varsity
11:45am - Boys Varsity (2012 Results)
Top 2 teams and 5 individuals advance to State *** Everyone should come cheer them on!!! ***
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday October 21st - Mandatory Team Meeting for ALL athletes - 3:45 - 4:15pm
Athletes will receive important end of the season information -- must attend!
Any uniforms not turned in by Monday will result in an academic hold on your student record ($35 - for lost/damage uniform top, $35 - for lost/damage uniform bottom)
Bring captain's money --> $20 for shirt, t-day baskets, & coaches gifts OR $10 if you didn't buy the captain's shirt
