Midwest Invite - Varsity = 15th, JV Blue = 4th, & JV White = 8th

Schools from around the state and even IL & TX gathered on a beautiful fall morning at Blackhawk Golf Course in Janesville, WI for the 83rd Annual Midwest Invitational. The course was in great condition, the competition was out of this world, and the weather definitely cooperated. Many JMM Spartan runners took advantage of this opportunity to run personal lifetime and season records! I hope we can learn from this meet and bring this intensity to the final 3 weeks of the season as we try to chip away even a little more from these fast times and finish the season strong.

The JV Blue race was competitive from the get go and it was great to see Rees & Alvaro lead our group into the top 10 early in the race. To win a race like this you need 2 things: Single digit finishes (top 10) AND a less than 30 second gap between 1 - 5. We nailed 1 of these 2 which is what led to our strong 4th place finish. Although we didn't have anyone hold on to the top 10 our gap between our 1 - 5 was less than 20 seconds (we actually had 7 runners within 30 seconds of our #1). This group continues to improve and I look forward to us becoming more comfortable running at the front of these races and scoring those low cards. Rees dipped under 18:00 today for 17th place finish in 17:54. Freshman Finn (18:01) and Nick Z (18:07) were close behind to be our #2 & 3 runners. Charlie M finished strong in a PR of 18:11 and Alvaro hung in there for the team with gutsy finish of 18:13. The wave of green didn't stop there as Felipe (18:15) and Alex Br (18:17) ran great PRs to earn top 50 finishes. Tommy S broke 18:30 for the first time in 18:27 and Alex Ba crushed the 19:00 mark running 18:41. Diego and Alex T broke 19:00 as freshman Hunter ran a great PR just missing in 19:05. Gio B and Owen R rounded out the great racing in the Blue JV race with this season best times on the course. I look forward to this group replicating this performance at Stoughton as we will try to compete with SPASH & Middleton in the JV races for some more competitive times.

The Varsity race was out fast and only got faster. As a team we always talk about finding your teammates to run with and in a huge field like this it is even more important. Today we didn't do that and our gaps got large (between our #1 - 2 = 35 secs, between 3 - 4 = 40 secs, our 1 -5 gap was a 1:35). In the pack at a meet like this 10 seconds can be 20 points. Today was another learning experience for our group and we can grow and become better from this experience. Jake Z had a great PR in 16:12 earning a 25th place finish. AJ & Mick were 50th & 51st respectively with their sub 17:00 minute performances. Henry was our 4th runner in 17:29 and Jonathan finished in 17:47. Jakob M and Jack G rounded out our seven runners in varsity. We let some teams slip by us in this race that we can beat and now we need to get healthy, learn from this experience, and come back out next week ready to compete.

The JV White race finished up the day for our high school runners as we saw Logan & Aatman chase that elusive top 10 finish. Aatman ran a great PR of 19:29 to grab 10th as Logan held on for 16th in 19:41 in his own PR. Peter S ran great in 20:04 and Elliot I hit 21:00 right on the mark. Owen B stepped up to be our 5th today running 21:03 and freshman teammate PJ was close behind in 21:15. Will T & Max L continue to improve & run well and newcomer Fred took nice chunk of time of his best performance of the season. Elijah finished strong again passing multiple guys at the end. Alex V and David B both went sub 23:00 as Maccoy & Liam B joined the sub 24 club. Jack & Sai continue to improve their PR times and Tommy and Daleep finished strong with season best too. It was a bit warmer for this race but the guys still came ready to compete and through some very tough racing found those fast times too. Some guys have to rewrite their goals for the last weeks of the season while others are going to continue that grind towards those elusive times.

MEET RESULTS
Blue Race
Varsity
White Race

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday October 2nd
Stoughton Invite @ Stoughton HS
Bus - 7:00am
9:30 am - Boys Varsity (2019 Results)
10:30 am - Boys JV (2019 Results)
12:00 pm - Awards - Varsity 1 team & 25 individuals, JV 1 team & 15 individuals
** We will NOT stop to eat on the way home...approximate return to JMM is 1:00pm

NEWS & NOTES
Monday practice...right after school --> done around 5:15pm, please plan accordingly
Progress report grades coming out...make sure you have all your work turned in & be prepared for quizzes/tests
Take care of your body & mind...stay healthy = get some sleep
Clothing order...we got some items on Friday but many items were on backorder

Smiley Invite - Varsity = 3rd Overall (2nd in D1 Large School), JV = 2nd Overall

 Full write up will be posted here

RESULTS
Boys D1 Overall Results
Boys D1 Large School Results
Boys D1 JV Results

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 25th
Midwest Invite @ Blackhawk GC - Janesville, WI
Bus - 6:45am
9:00am - First Race
9:35am - Boys Blue JV Race (approx 20:30 cutoff) (2019 Results)
10:45am - Boys Varsity Race (2019 Results)
12:00pm - Boys White JV Race (2019 Results)
12:40pm - Middle School 1 mile Race (2019 Results)
Awards - Varsity = top 40 individuals & 3 teams, JV (both Blue & White) - top 30 individuals
** We will stop for food on the way home...bring $ or pack a lunch!
Approximate return to JMM is 3:00pm

** 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 12:40pm representing JMM...to be entered in the race, parents/coaches must contact Coach Casey (crhopp@hotmail.com) by Wed 9/22 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 bibs will need to be picked up the day of the race by 12:25pm in our team camp area

NEWS & NOTES
Clothing Order #2 has yet to be delivered...we are hopeful but are not holding our breath that it will be delivered this week
As we head into the final month of the season it is important we are doing everything possible to stay healthy, eligible, and ready to race at our best

Big 8 Grade Level Challenge = 2nd Place

The boys ran to a solid 2nd place finish at Tuesday night's Big 8 Grade Level Challenge. Not all teams treat this meet the same but we bring everyone who is healthy to compete to this meet and came within 2 points of winning this season. Having strong competitors across each grade is the name of the game for this race and our team represented that well this year. We had Mick & Henry who medaled in the senior race, AJ & Jack going 1, 2 in the junior race, Jonathan earning a medal in the sophomore race and Finn doing the same in the freshman race. It was great to see so many JMM green jerseys running well and I look forward to seeing even more of them at the front of races the remainder of this season and moving into the future. Our team is super competitive this season and I enjoy seeing us learn how to be front of the pack runners. We were back on the Verona course for the second time in less than 10 days and many guys showed they learned from their experiences. We had lifetime PRs from Fred, Alex V, Sai, David B, Jack C, Maccoy, and PJ. I hope the underclassmen have learned a lot about this course because I think we will see a lot of races on this course in the future and some that will carry great end of the season expectations. Tuesday's meet was just a stepping stone towards our end of the season goals. We will get back at it in practice and on Saturday as we prepare for a trip north to attend one of the most storied invites in the state...the Smiley Invite (new location this year). Keep up the good work at practice & in the classroom. Every runner, every run, every day.

RESULTS
Team Scores
Boys Frosh/Soph Results
Boys Jr/Sr Results

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 18th
Smiley Invite @ Wausau East HS
**Please note location change & bus time change**
Bus - 6:30am
8:30am - 1st Race
10:00am - D1 Races begin (Girls)
11:10am - D1 Boys Varsity (2019 Results)
11:35am - D1 Boys JV (2019 Results)
12:00pm - Awards - Varsity = 2 teams & 20 individuals, JV = 1 team & 20 individuals
** We will stop & eat on the way home...bring $ or a sack lunch to eat**
Approximate return to JMM is 4:00pm

NEWS & NOTES
Take care of your body...get more sleep, eat healthy all day long, hydrate, stretch, ice, SLEEP
Take care of business in the classroom --> If you need help in a class, let us know & we can connect you with some resources/teammates to help with your class
Order #2 Clothing Order has been delayed in printing...we are hoping to have them soon

Hadler Invite - JV = Champions & Moe Wins Race, Varsity = Champions

We headed to the Hadler Invite on Saturday in Menomonee Falls to see some competition from the SE part of Wisconsin. There are some good teams at this meet including Shorewood (ranked #2 in D2), Hartford (#15 in D1), and Waukesha West (#19). The Madison Memorial boys were up for the challenge as 29 athletes ran lifetime PRs and the team won the Varsity AND the JV competition. This is the first time since I've been coaching that we have won both Varsity & JV on the same day (it is fun). Our JV won the Hadler Invite for the third time while this was the first of hopefully many times for the Varsity team. Our squad has been working really hard in practice and it was nice to have the results and the places back up this hard work. We know we have more work to do to reach our season goals but it was nice to see many smiling faces at the awards ceremony on Saturday. Let's make sure to take care of our bodies, take care of business in the classroom, and get ready to go out and perform at more invites this season.

The JV boys ran a great race to set the stage for the day. Senior Jakob M took the lead midway through the race and never looked back as he won the race in a lifetime PR of 17:48. Rees ran a smart race and finished strong taking 2nd behind his teammate. I'd like to see our gap between our #2 & 3 be smaller but when our 3rd came it was with a wall of green JMM jerseys in support as we put our next 6 runners all between 7th and 13th. Charlie M (18:42) and Nick Z (18:46) earned top ten finishes. While Alex T (18:57), Felipe (18:57), and Diego (18:57) all broke 19:00 minutes and Tommy S closed out our top 8 finishers closely behind in 19:01. We scored 28 points to convincingly win over Hamilton who had 54 points. Other lifetime PRs include Alex Br (19:20), Owen R (20:11), Peter S (21:39), Ben A (20:53), Alex Ba (19:29), Aatman (20:51), Fred (24:39), Sai (26:34), David B (24:47), Owen B (22:30), Tommy H (26:35), Maccoy (25:37), PJ (23:43), Hunter (20:24), and Ian (19:45). This group continues to improve and I look forward to see big time drops and improved places as we continue on through the season. They continue to learn from their experiences, help each other out, and push each other to be better. Keep up the good work!

Varsity had a tough battle throughout the race but hung on to win the meet by 2 points. Every point counts in every race and today we were on the correct side of a close race. Jake Z ran a great PR taking 4th in the time of 16:37. Mick earned a top 10 finish with his PR of 17:00 while AJ was close behind in 11th in 17:03. Our gap between our #3 and #4 runners was too big and needs to close for us to meet our season goals but today we barely snuck it out. Henry B was our 4th in 17:40 with Jack G right behind him in 17:48. Jonathan B ran a lifetime PR of 17:58 with only 1 shoe on for most of the race...not bad. Alvaro (18:09) and Finn (18:18) got valuable experience in their first varsity races. They were the best #7 & #8 runners on the day and would have been scorers for all but the top 6 teams. This group has come a long way already in just one week and I look forward to what we can do later in the season. Keep competing and keep improving

RESULTS
Live Results (click on individual races)

NEXT COMPETITION
Tuesday September 14th
Big 8 Grade Level Challenge @ Verona HS (Stewart Woods)
** Please note...bus & time changes! **
Early Release - 1:30pm
NO BUS -> Carpool from JMM to Verona HS
2:15pm - Arrive @ Verona (map)
3:30pm - Frosh/Soph Boys (2019 Results)
4:50pm - Jr/Sr Boys (2019 Results)
6:15pm - Awards - top 5 individuals in each grade level - team = lowest score of 7 runners
*Athletes should plan to be at the meet through the team cool down which will be completed around 5:45pm

NEWS & NOTES
Team Pictures - Mon 9/14 @ 3:45pm - bring uniform top & bottom for pictures
Grade checks begin this week...make sure you have your work turned in & keep up with assignments
Attendance - unexcused absences = sit a meet...get to class & keep those attendance sheets looking clean
Running Hats - $20 - only a few left...get one while they last

LOOKING AHEAD
Smiley Invite has changed locations - It will be hosted at Wausau East HS
Bus time for the meet will be changing too (later...able to sleep in a little more) I'll post here when it is confirmed.
Race times will be the same & return home will be the same

Verona Invitational - Varsity = 4th & JV = 2nd

It had been awhile since the Madison Memorial boys cross country team had attended an invitational and what a great way to get back into the action. The boys competed in the Verona Invitational at the new Stewart Woods School Forest in Verona breaking in the new (very legit) cross country course with 24 schools from Wisconsin & Illinois. The field included 6 ranked teams from the state, many of our top competition from the Big 8 Conference, and our very own JMM runners. The course is a fun & challenging course for runners & spectators alike and our boys took on the challenge valiantly. The boys varsity started off the day being competitive the entire way and finishing 4th out of 24 teams. Now we set our eyes on taking down Middleton (#9 in state rankings), Verona (#8), and Madison West (#15)...all teams that are in our range of competition. The JV group had an impressive day taking 2nd in the large field of 389 runners only losing to cross town competition Madison West. We will return to this course for the Grade Level Challenge in just over a week and we can use what we learned today to help us run even faster on this course. This meet was a great way to start our competitive portion of our schedule and I look forward to bigger and better things in the weeks to come...including some 1st place team finishes!

Our varsity was led today by Jake Z who ran a PR, broke 17 minutes and earned a top 10 finish to lead our team. We look forward to having more join him in the sub 17 club and set our sights now to 16:30 & faster. Not far behind was Mick in 17:12 (PR) finishing 15th the 2nd best #2 runner on the day. AJ was our #3 runner earning a medal with his top 30 finish. Henry finished at 18:00 as our fourth runner and Jack G was 18:08 giving us 5 runners in the top 50. Our gap of #1 - 5 was 1:10 and we need to close this down under 1:00 again and closer to :45 if possible. If we had been there today...it would have been a team victory and we know we can do this. It is important in large field like this to work with your teammates and keep an eye on them during the race to keep our group closer together. Jonathan B in his first varsity race was our #6 runner and the best #6 runner in the field showing our depth and that he is ready to help push our scorers. Jakob M also in his first varsity race rounded out our top 7 by being the 6th best #7 runner in a 24 team field. This group has room for improvement and great things ahead as a team this fall. The competition for spots on varsity will only make us a better team and this group's ability to work well together in practice will help everyone reach faster times.

The JV ran well together today as we got a tough challenge from Madison West, now it is time to go to work and make improvements. Alvaro led the group to the finish with his 6th place finish in 18:36. The remainder of our pack closed in 11th, 12th, & 13th as freshman Finn G, freshman Nick Z, and senior Rees H all finished under 19:00. Charlie M ran a lifetime PR of 19:07 to round out the scorers in 17th place. The :30 gap between 1 - 5 is exactly what we are looking for in our JV race...now we just need to move this group forward 15 - 30 seconds and this will come with experience and the desire to race with the front runners. We had a group of runners join the sub 20 club and now set their eyes on joining their teammates chasing sub 19. Today Felipe, Tommy S, Diego, Jake K and Alex B all ran season or lifetime PRs and are seeing the successes of their hard work at practice paying off in meets. Other lifetime PRs today came from Aatman, Alex V, Sai, David B, Owen B, Liam B, Jack C, Tommy H, and Maccoy. The way our JV has been working hard all season long we have lots more PRs on the horizon. We just need to make sure we are taking care of business at school to stay eligible. Along with getting rest and taking care of our bodies to ensure we stay healthy. The next couple weeks of practice will be super important to how our season finishes in 6 weeks...keep up the good work and fast times will follow.

RESULTS
Boys Varsity
Boys JV

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 11th
Hadler Invite @ Rotary Park in Menomonee Falls
** NOTE CHANGE IN TIMES **
Bus - 7:00am
9:45am - First Race
10:20am - Boys JV (2019 Results)
11:30am - Boys Varsity (2019 Results)
12:00pm - Awards - Varsity = 1 team & 15 individuals - JV = 5 individuals
**We will stop to eat on the way home...bring $ or a sack lunch to eat**
Approximate return to JMM is 3:30pm

NEWS & NOTES
JMM CC Running Hats for sale - $20 (bring cash) at practice starting 9/7 until they are all sold
Stay on top of your school work...don't let grades or attendance become an issue
Take care of your bodies...SLEEP, eat healthy, hydrate, stretch, ice, sleep

UPCOMING EVENTS
Sept 6th (Mon) - Captain's Practice @ UW Arboretum Visitors Center 9:00am
Sept 12th (Sun) - Ironman Volunteering (Optional) - Lot 60 on UW Campus - 12-4pm OR 4-8pm
Sept 13th (Mon) - Team Pictures - 3:45pm @ JMM