The Big 8 Conference is one of (if not the) best boys conferences in the state of Wisconsin. Year in and year out it produces 4 - 6 top 20 ranked teams and sends 3 - 4 teams to the state meet each year. To be competitive in this meet you have to have a good team and be on the day of the meet. This year we had a good team but Saturday was not our "on day" and that happens in cross country. At many meets that means you slip 1 or 2 spots...this year, it probably cost us more. Such is life in athletics and we learn from it and move forward. We celebrate the wins we did have, we learn from the struggles of the day, and we head back out into the world as better people because we showed up and competed. I'm proud of the Spartan CC boys for what they have endured during this 2021 season and our efforts we put forth at the Big 8 meet on Saturday in Sheehan park. Our varsity finished 6th place, our JV1 was 3rd, an our JV2 was 3rd. We stamped our finish on the season for the JV runners and prepare our varsity for one more go round at DeForest for Sectionals. Many athletes have begun looking at the off-season or talking about next year...but first take a moment to enjoy this season. The many triumphs, struggles, and funny stories along the way. Congrats JMM CC 2021!
The varsity race was led by Senior Mick S who earned All-Conference honors with his 17:25 and 13th place finish. He was followed by AJ who placed 17th in 17:31 just missing out on All-Conference. Henry B had a great race finishing in 17:49. Jakob M continues to run well finishing in the top 30 with his time of 18:01 in 29th. Nick Z ran to a 34th place finish in his first of hopefully many Big 8 races (but hopefully future races he runs with both shoes on the whole way). Jonathan B was close behind in 18:20. This varsity group has worked hard all year long and depending on the week we have beaten some great teams but have also shown we have some vulnerabilities. We will look to put together a great race for all 7 runners next week at Sectionals.
The JV1 ran a competitive race and weren't quite enough for West and LaFollette had a freshman have a great day which helped them sneak ahead of us for 2nd. Our 3rd place finish was a strong finish as we took down some great Big 8 teams in the process. Freshman Finn (8th) and Soph Tommy S (9th) led the team to the finish with top 10 places in 18:25 & 18:26 respectively. Rees, Charlie, Alvaro all finished within 7 seconds of each other to take 19th, 20th, & 22nd. Our scorers were within 30 seconds of each other which was great to see today. I look forward to some of the underclassmen helping us winning some JV races next year or maybe even helping us out in Varsity. Felipe (19:09) ran a great last race in his senior finale. Jack G was our final JV1 finisher on the day for our team that took 3rd.
Our JV2 depth took a hit over the last 2 years as our numbers have dipped some but this group is also the group that made the most improvements this season. I was very pleased with how well this group worked in practice and competed on race day...big things are on the horizon. For 2021 we weren't quite deep enough to take down West or Middleton but again finished solidly in 3rd out of 10 teams. Diego had a great race earning top 10 with his 19:04 for 7th place. Alex Br was next in 19:18 for 12th. As Alex T and Alex Ba helped complete the Alex, Alex, Alex finish by coming in 19:34 and 19:41. Logan gave us 5 scores under 20:00 and rounded out scoring 5. Derek R and Max L ran season bests on today's difficult course. While Will T, Fred S, MacCoy L, Jack C, Sai, and Tommy H all ended the season with lifetime PRs. Many great performances were had today and I hope they lead to big goals for the off-season and even faster times in the future. The next All-Conference runner may just be from this group of runners (Mick S placed 18th in JV 2 just a few short seasons ago) dream big and train harder.
Alex V won our annual Rock Paper Scissors Championships in dominating fashion that hasn't been seen in decades only losing one match on the day. He took out Senior Elliot I in the finals 3 - 0 stories of this day will be told for years to come...congrats Alex.
RESULTS
All Races (click on links for your race...you can see mile/2mile splits)
Varsity Team Scores
JV1 Team Scores
JV 2 Team Scores
NEXT COMPETITION (Varsity Only)
Saturday October 23rd
WIAA Sectional @ DeForest - Linde Soccer Complex - DeForest, WI
Bus - 8:30am
10:30am - Boys Race (2019 Results)
11:15am - Girls Race
12:00pm - Awards - top 2 teams and 5 individuals not on those teams
** We will not stop to eat...arrive back at Memorial around 1:00pm
No pets at the meet! - Thanks
NEWS & NOTES
Captains are collecting money - $30 for 2021 Long Sleeve shirt & coaches gifts OR $10 for coaches gifts
October 18th - EVERYONE meets at 2:45pm (JV runners turn in uniforms & short meeting...Varsity runners will practice like normal)
End of Year Awards Ceremony - TBD (more info to be emailed to families)
Clothing Orders - Sweatshirts were canceled (another 2 - 4 weeks wait) you should be getting a refund on your credit card. Shorts are hopefully delivered on Monday.
Sectionals - Everyone should try to come out to DeForest to cheer on the varsity for a chance to race at State
Last chance Mile for JV runners...4:15pm Tuesday Oct 19th (meet at the track ready to race)
