The cross country course at the American Legion GC is a true cross country course and is the only course we will see this year that best represents the state meet course in Wisconsin Rapids. We knew our times at Smiley would be slower than the course at Lake Farm Park and add in the humidity Saturday and this was true. More important in cross country than the times is how you compete against your competition and this is what our team did on Saturday. Our varsity was led by Rory S & Luke V who finished in the top 20 for medals with their 13th & 15th place finishes respectively. We then had a great pack working together in Joe H, Ben B, & Joel F to round out our scoring runners. We look for this group to close in on Rory & Luke as our gap of :43 seconds is going to need to be closer to :30 to accomplish our goals in the Conference & Sectionals at the end of the year. We had 5 runners in before every team except SPASH but our lack of a true stud at #1 means we need to have a tighter scoring pack (we lost to Kimberly by 18 points...after 2 runners we trailed them by 22 points...our depth is great, we need to use it to our advantage). Trevor R & Austin W ran great as they beat top 5 runners from 19 of the 23 teams competing today. Senior Josh L enjoyed the learning experience of being in his first every varsity race. The team ran well today and can build on this success.
The Smiley Invite is one of the few meets we go to that awards a team trophy in the Junior Varsity race and last season our boys missed that trophy by 3 points. This year the team was focused on being able complete the task of winning the meet as a team. We got off to a slow start as our tight box spot led to many athletes not getting out to a position they hoped to be in right away but our patience and strength paid off as the green JMM uniforms worked their way into the top 10 around the mile mark. After losing his varsity spot on Tuesday sophomore Jonas B had something to prove in earning back his spot and he did not let this opportunity slip away. After taking the lead mid way through he went on to be our third straight Smiley JV champion. Casey GT ran a great race after being sick all week to take a 2nd place and Jack Z & Ty B earned top 10 finishes with their 5th & 9th place finishes. Calder B held on to a great finish to secure the team championship with his 15th place finish. They were supported by Zach H, Dom G, & Ben T in taking down a very strong SPASH jv program. We will see this team again at Stoughton and will need another full team performance to repeat today's victory. As we continue to return people from injury this jv team is rounded into nice form. Will we be able to do enough to close the gap on West?
Next week is homecoming week but it is also THE most important week in training for this season. We capped the week with the large competitive Midwest Invite in Janesville. Lets be focused and prepared to do work this week.
SMILEY RESULTS
Varsity (combined)
Varsity (large schools)
JV
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday 9/24 - Light of Life Walk @ JMM - 6:00pm - 6:45pm (required for athletes) $5 donation towards Cancer Research - turn in to Casey ASAP
9/26 - 9/27 - Homecoming Weekend Events
Don't forget to order your team clothing HERE (and put your name in your new clothes)
NEXT MEET
Saturday September 27th
Midwest Invitational @ Blackhawk GC - Janesville
BUS TIME - 6:45am
9:00am - First Race
9:40am - Boys Frosh/Soph (2013 Results)
10:55am - Boys Varsity (2013 Results)
12:10pm - Boys JV (2013 Results)
12:40pm - Middle School Race *** 4th - 8th Graders (see below for more info)*** (2013 Results)
12:45pm - Awards Ceremony (F/S - team = 2 ind = 20, Var - team = 3 ind = 30, JV - ind = 20)
NOTE NEW TIME SCHEDULE & ORDER OF EVENTS
BRING MONEY TO STOP & EAT AT CULVERS
*** 4th - 8th Graders who are sibling of Memorial athletes or attend Memorial feeder schools can compete in a mile cross country race at 12:45pm representing JMM...to be entered in the race, parents must contact Coach Casey (crhopp@hotmail.com) by Wed 9/24 with athletes Name, Gender, Grade in School...(NO cost this year) ...it is the responsibility of each family to provide transportation for their Middle School athlete(s) to and from the meet and to provide their own race day attire***
IMPORTANT NOTE
PSAT Testing (usually Juniors) for Memorial is scheduled for Saturday Oct 18th which is the same day of our Big 8 Conference Meet
Athletes hoping to take the PSAT this year are highly encouraged to schedule a test for Wednesday Oct 15th at either LaFollette, East, or Edgewood (will require a planned absence)
Here is the contact/sign up info we have (***do this sooner rather than later!!!)
- LaFollete - call 204-3659 - sign up is first come, first served
- Edgewood - 257-1023 ext 126 - sign up for a waiting list - no seats are guaranteed
- East - Sign up at East on Oct 9th - sign up is first come, first served
Questions...Contact your JMM Counselors
