When I started coaching in the Big Eight Conference seventeen years ago the top teams were very good (Madison West was state runner-up but the only Big 8 school at state). Over the years the boys have added more and more talent to the conference as everyone tries to compete with those top teams (Last year Middleton was state runner-up and West was 5th & Sun Prairie 12th). Now, many of the Big 8 boys teams are very good as this year going into the Big 8 Championships their were 6 of the 10 schools ranked in the top 20 in the state. LaFollette (#2), Middleton (#3), West (#5), Verona (#9), Sun Prairie (#16), and Madison Memorial (#18). Our boys were prepared for competition with clear goals in mind and ready to take on "the hill" at Rockport Park. It is always fun to run cross country with great competition and nice weather and this year's Big 8 meet didn't disappoint.
The varsity started off the meet with a great performance topping Verona and Sun Prairie in a battle of teams for fourth place. Middleton, LaFollete, and West are great this year and will all have a chance to earn a trophy at the state meet they battled it out for a competitive top 3. Today we were not in the league of those teams but we were able to best two teams that were ranked ahead of us with a tight group and strong team running. We were led by AJ who earned 2nd team All-Conference with his 14th place overall finish. He was followed up by Dylan in 18th running 17:10. Aidan P was 26th in 17:25, Jake Z came in 29th in 17:30 followed immediately by Bobby R and Henry B in 17:31 for 30th and 31st respectively. Our varsity was rounded out by our lone senior Brett N finishing in 46th. Our gap of 39 seconds between # 1-5 runners was very helpful in our placing and our guys finished strong in the last mile to secure our 4th place finish. Six of these runners return and we hope to move this whole group closer to the front of the race because if we want to compete with the top teams in our Conference we need to have a bunch of single digit places to accomplish that goal. I'm excited to see how this group finishes out the season and what work can do to come back to this meet next season our goals are getting loftier...can we do the work to meet those goals?
Our JV1 team was coming off a great race at City and hopes were high at Conference. As the race unfolded their was a break at the front and only one of our runners was in the front pack. Our group put up a valiant effort to bridge the gap but it wasn't meant to be today. This group should hold their heads high as the season has been a great success and hopefully the underclassmen on the team can learn from this race. The one athlete who got in the front group was Junior Cole W who not only got to the front but executed the race strategy perfectly. He went up against some of the best JV runners in the state and came away as the Big 8 JV1 Champion! Just the third JMM individual to do this since Coach Casey has been here. Our gap was over 45 seconds until our next runner where as at City our 1 - 5 gap was 30 seconds total. The rest of the guys finished strong together to help us finish 5th as a team. Charles ML led in all the scorers followed by Mick S, Jacob W, and Sean S. Peter B and Sam S rounded out the JV1 squad on the day. Our depth has been our strength but today it was not to be. The seniors in this group have had a great cross country career and I look for the underclassmen to push to try to train with the varsity kids as early as this winter off-season.
JV2 allows some kids to run at the front of a race that maybe don't always get a chance and a nice opportunity to show off a teams depth. With 55 runners we do a nice job in a race like this. Today we had a good mix of upcoming talent and hard working upper class kids. Two of our Varsity runners today ran in last year's JV2 race...who can make that jump this year? Thomas and Nick led our group across with top ten finishes. They were followed by our pack of freshman including Alvaro, Gio, and Jack. These guys combined for a 3rd place finish in JV2. Rees and Matthew rounded out our scoring seven on the day. Silas P and Micah S had lifetime best times as did Elliot I and Max L. It is always great to see the progress these kids make from week 1 until week 9 of the season. I challenge these underclassmen to put in the work over the next 9 months so they start week 1 of next season even better than where they left off week 9 this year.
Every Runner - Every Run - Every Day
"You cannot train alone and expect to run a fast time.
There is a formula: 100% of me is nothing compared to 1% of the whole team. And
that’s teamwork. That’s what I value." ~Eliud Kipchoge
CONFERENCE RESULTS
Varsity Boys
JV1 Boys
JV2 Boys
Charles ML came back from being down 2 - 1 to win the best of 5 rock-paper-scissor tournament over Peter B with an unprecedented paper on his final round
NEXT MEET
Saturday October 26th (Varsity Only)
WIAA Sectional @ Lake Farm Park
Bus - 8:30am
11:00am - Girls Varsity
11:45am - Boys Varsity (
2018 Results)
12:30pm - Awards - Top 2 teams & top 5 individuals not on those teams
**Come on out & cheer on your teammates for a chance to qualify for WIAA State**
END OF SEASON NEWS & NOTES
- Mandatory Team Meeting - Mon 10/21 - 3:45 - 4:15pm in Team Locker Room
JV athletes should turn in their uniform...they will be provided with end of season and off-season information
- Captains are collecting $10 for Coaches' Gifts & Thanksgiving Baskets
- Boys interested in ordering a 2019 JMM CC long sleeve shirt should bring $20 on Monday and give with size to captains
- Team Banquet will be at Rocky's on Thurs Nov 7th (handout coming home Monday)
UPCOMING OFF-SEASON RUNNING OPTIONS
Badger Track Club Fall Cross Country - Wednesdays at Elver
Nov 3rd -
Wisconsin USATF Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI
Nov 10th -
NXN Hearland Regional - Sioux Falls, SD
Nov 28th -
Berbee Derby - Fitchburg, WI
Nov 30th -
Footlocker Midwest Championships - UW Parkside - Kenosha, WI
Dec 14th - USATF National Cross Country Meet - Yahara GC - Madison, WI (must qualify on 11/3)
