Smiley Invite - Varsity = 4th, JV = 2nd

Sixty three teams descended upon Tribute Golf Course in Wausau for the 63rd Annual Smiley Invitational. The history and prestige of this meet is renowned and this year our boys competed against 22 other division one programs which included state ranked SPASH (#2), Marshfield (#14), and Sun Prairie (#18). Our team keeps improving and now is the time to do the little things to guarantee a great end to our season. Stay focused this week during homecoming and make good decisions!

Our varsity boys started the day as we competed on a wet and soggy course on a humid overcast day. We did a good job of pacing ourselves in the first mile and moved up really well in the middle mile of the race. We are still looking to put together a full race as we again came "close" to having the perfect race. We were within 18 points of Marshfield and 9 points of Sun Prairie in the combined scores and 12 and 2 points respectively in the large school scores. We have it in us and will continue to make that drive to beat these state ranked teams. That being said...Sun Prairie beat us by 52 points at the Verona Invite, so we are trending in the right direction. We had a nice pack of 1 - 5 runners within 40 seconds of each other....can we move this group forward 15 seconds to get all 5 runners under 17:30? Where our pack is racing, every second and every place counts...so we will look to finish stronger in the coming weeks. Today, Dylan A got us started with a 12th place finish in 17:04. It was a bit of a wait then but our next four runners came in within 12 seconds of each other. AJ earned a top 30 finish in 17:32, followed by Brett (34th) in 17:39, Bobby (35th) in 17:41, and Cole (37th) in 17:44. Sophomore Jake Z and Mick worked to chase down #5 runners for other teams and Jacob W was the best #8 runner in the race today. This group is working really hard during the week and this hard work is going to pay off down the road. I look forward to see what happens next time we race each week because this group keeps getting better.

Dylan and AJ lead Varsity to 4th place finish

Our JV got a picture into what an elite JV program looks like as SPASH put 8 runners in before we had our first runner across the line. We have beat this program multiple times in the last couple years but this year it was not meant to be as they had multiple athletes with state meet experience fighting to earn back varsity spots. This competition comes from multiple athletes dedicating off-season training to improve themselves and the team! Our JV team was by far the 2nd best team out their today saw some new faces continuing to make us better. We will get some more competition from West and Middleton down the stretch. Avery G (9th) and Henry B (10th) led the JV with top ten finishes. Just outside the top 10 but earning medals with great finishes were Jack G (13th), Sam S (14th), and Peter B (15th). This tight pack of 15 seconds between 1 - 5 runners is what is going to make us tough as we head into the City and Big 8 meets. They were closely followed by Jakob M who PRed breaking 19:00 and Nick B. We also saw PRs from Adrian C, Elijah E, Peter S, Logan S, and Will T. With focus and determination we will see even more PRs in the last four meets. Keep up the good work at practice and in the classroom. Take care of your bodies and the fast times will follow.

Jack, Peter B, Avery, Henry, & Sam lead JV to 2nd place finish 

BELIEVE - Every Runner - Every Run - Every Day

RESULTS
D1 Varsity - Combined
D1 Varsity - Large Schools
D1 JV - Combined

NEXT MEET
Saturday September 28th
Midwest Invite @ Blackhawk GC - Janesville, WI
Bus - 6:45am
9:05am - First Race
9:45am - Boys Blue JV Race (2018 Fr/So & Jr/Sr Results)
10:55am - Boys Varsity Race (2018 Results)
12:15pm - Boys White JV Race (2018 Fr/So & Jr/Sr Results)
12:50pm - Middle School Race (2018 Results)
Awards are presented after each race - Varsity -3 teams & 40 individuals, Blue & White JV races - 30 individuals, Middle School - top 5 in each grade/gender
* Check e-mail for JV race divisions...NEW THIS YEAR
Bring $ we will stop to eat on the way home....approximate return 3 - 3:30pm

** 4th-8th graders who are siblings/friends of Memorial Athletes or attend Memorial feeder schools can compete in the 1 mile cross country race at 12:50pm representing JMM...to be entered in the race, parents/coaches must contact Coach Casey (crhopp@hotmail.com) by Wed 9/25 before 6:00pm with athletes Name, Gender, Grade in school...(NO cost)...it is the responsibility of each family to provide transportation for their Middle School athlete(s) to and from the meet and provide their own race day attire...timing chips will need to be picked up the day of the race by 12:30pm

UPCOMING EVENTS
Sept 25th (Wed) - Light of Life Walk 6:00 - 6:45pm (team event...cancer research fundraiser as a part of homecoming week festivities) ALL athletes will participate - $5 to Coach Casey (please bring Mon or Tues)....families are welcome to join - $5 at Mansfield Stadium

NEWS & NOTES
** PSAT testing for Memorial is the same day as Conference (10/19)....if you contact your counselor you can take the test instead on Wed at Middleton, East, or Edgewood but spots are limited....PLAN AHEAD...contact your counselor this week!
** Stoughton has changed it's race schedule...more info later but boys will race at 10:00am - Varsity and 11:10am - JV