It was great to be back to racing and I hope we can continue our mitigation strategies to get more meets and a complete season. Things seemed a little closer to normal at Intrasquad...we had threats of thunderstorms (which luckily we avoided this year), someone got lost on the course (a tradition like no other), boys figured out that summer running really does work (lots of lifetime PRs on a tough course), and smiles came back to the new guys faces as they "finally" saw the crowd ready to cheer them into the finish line. Today was our first 5k of the season and should be a learning meet and a stepping stone to faster times down the road. Lots of good things happened today but we can continue to get better. Taking care of our bodies (especially as we prepare for the start of the school year) while continuing to work hard at practice is going to lead to late season success. Whether you were happy with your race, are yearning for the chance to start at Verona, or are not sure exactly what happened today...know that your teammates and coaches will be there to go through the next steps with you and keep striving towards lofty goals.
The team battle today was tight between the Thundercats captained by Mick S and the Warhawks captained by Jake Z. The Thundercats had the edge up front scoring just the top 5 outdistancing the Warhawks 22 to 37. Although the Warhawks made a valiant effort later in the race the Thundercats prevailed in the overall team standings scoring 232 points to Warhawks 255. Everybody should be proud of their efforts on each team. This was back to back wins for the Thundercats and the 5th win in Intrasquad history. The Warhawks still lead the overall battle with 7 titles and the CORE has 3 titles to their name. The field was our smallest field for a fall intrasquad with 32 high schoolers and 1 family member filling out the 33 person field but it was a competitive race throughout. Next step...Verona Invite and 20 ish teams...whole different race but also a whole lot of fun.
A big part of Intrasquad is determining our varsity runners for the Verona Invitational. AJ earned a spot on the varsity with his big finish and overall victory in 17:39. Right behind him was Mick finishing in 17:40. Jack G joined them under 18:00 with a time of 17:58. Our scoring five was rounded out with Jonathan and Henry finishing in 18:14 & 18:15 respectively. This group of runners ran really well today and had a #1 - 5 gap of :36 seconds which is right on course with what we hope to do at the varsity level. Next week we will ask them to run a little faster and see if we can keep that gap small as more individuals from other schools will be in the race. Jakob M earned a spot in the varsity race for Verona next week too. Jonathan and Jack G ran lifetime PRs in this group and many of the others were very close...not bad for a tough course with a "big hill."
Our depth continues to improve and will be fun to watch as the season progresses. Great cross country teams have great JV teams that push and support the varsity. Alvaro and Finn will lead these guys into battle next week as Alvaro ran a lifetime PR and Finn was our fastest freshman on the day. Finn's time was also the 4th fastest time on the Intrasquad course (which we have been running since 2007). Reese just missed his lifetime PR but is ready to take it down soon and then came another freshman in Nick Z who ended up being the 6th fastest freshman on the course since 2007. We will need to have some teammates close up the gap to run with these guys as in JV we want our #1 - 5 gap to be less than :30 but we have lots of potential of guys who can pull it off. Today alone we saw lifetime PRs from Charlie M, Alex B, Tommy S, Jake K, and Diego. Also we had great first time races (and lifetime PRs) from Ian, Hunter, PJ, Alex V, Sai, Maccoy, and David B. We head back to practice on Monday to make more improvements, start to set some season goals, and set out to do the work to become better runners. Keep up the great work. Every Runner. Every Run. Every Day.
RESULTS
2021 Intrasquad & Historical Stats
NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 4th
Verona Invitational @ Verona HS (Stewart Woods School Forest)
NO BUS - Arrive at 7:30am
8:30am - First Race
9:00am - Boys Varsity (2019 results - old course)
10:20am - Boys JV (2019 results - old course)
11:40am - Open Race ($5 & must sign waiver at the meet)
12:40pm - Awards Ceremony - Varsity = 2 teams & 40 individuals, JV = 20 individuals
** Reminder - NO BUS but ALL athletes should arrive at 7:30am AND stay until after the final boys race & team cool down are completed before they may leave (around 11:20am)**
Drop off can occur near the course but parking must take place by the high school (see map)
Give yourself time to walk from the parking lots to the course
NEWS & NOTES
Athletic Fees ($115 or waiver) - must be paid through Infinite Campus before athletes get assigned team uniforms
Uniform Handout (athlete will be assigned top ($35) & bottom ($35) for the duration of the season and must return assigned items at the completion of the season). Uniforms should be worn only at meets and washed in between uses.
Wed - Varsity (jacket ($75) handout too)
Thurs - Sr & Jr competing at Verona
Fri - So & Fr competing at Verona
Week 3 practices --> 4:00pm - 6:15pm (note: school starts Sept 2/3...we will start right after school)
Labor Day (Sept 6th) Practice --> Captain's practice...more info to be shared at practice
