Midwest Invite

Cool weather, plenty of competition, and a raucous crowd led to many PRs at the Midwest Invitational in Janesville. 50 teams converged on Blackhawk GC for the 3 loop 5k. The Vel Phillips Memorial Spartans were ready to compete and saw 18 lifetime PRs fall on the day. Jamie I started the day off right in the blue JV race with his 18:27 for 57th place. Cole dropped 48 seconds to run a 19:11. While Peter S and Jack C joined the sub 20:00 running 19:41 and 19:53 respectively. Our varsity tooked the course next and were led by AJ's lifetime PR of 16:36 for 33rd place. Alvaro improved his lifetime PR to 17:49 and Finn ran a season best 18:19. Alex B (18:29) and Aatman (18:30) finished right near each other and were quickly followed by Hunter N (18:44) giving our team 7 runners on the day sub 18:45. Our white JV racers were led by top 10 finisher Owen B who ran a lifetime best of 19:34. PJ joined him under the 20:00 mark for a 15th place finish (19:57). Nathan F enjoyed a great finish in his first race of the season charging to a top 30 finish in 20:10. Seniors Will T (20:40) and Elijah E (22:06) helped round out the scoring for our team to finish 8th place. Freshman Levi M improved his season best to 22:09. Liam B ran a 22:15 PR and Caleb 22:35 and Nicholas 22:36 ran great first races of the season. We head into the final month of the season running well and look to get a few more PRs in the final 3 races.

RESULTS
Team results
Individual results
Interactive results

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday October 1st
Stoughton Invitational @ Stoughton HS
Bus - 7:00am
9:30am - First Race
10:00am - Boys Varsity (2021 Results)
11:10am - Boys JV (2021 Results)
12:00pm - Awards - Varsity = 1 team & 25 individuals, JV = 1 team & 15 individuals
**We will NOT stop to eat on the way home....approximate return to Memorial is 1:00pm

NEWS & NOTES
Clothing order #2 & bucket hats were handed out on Friday...put your name in your gear
Homecoming week...get ahead on your work, make good choices, take care of your health

Smiley Invite - Varsity = 6th & JV = 5th

The VPM Spartans returned to Wausau East HS for the 66th annual Smiley Invitational. At this team, our team gets to see some teams from the northern half of the state and enjoyed the opportunity to compete on cross country course that keeps every runner honest. It was a balmy sunny day but the boys were up for the challenge. The varsity started off the fun as they finished 6th overall out of 22 teams and 4th in the large school divisions. The JV finished off the day grinding out a 5th place finish in the last competition of the day. Our team continues to improve with each opportunity and we look forward to the second half of the season. Keep taking caring of yourself so we can finish the season strong.

The varsity race got out at a quick pace and our team responded better today to that first mile. We set up ourselves well to compete in the race. AJ took advantage of the quick start to run a season best time of 16:56 and earned a 9th place finish. Alvaro just missed his lifetime PR and ran great to 18:11 finishing 34th. Jack G was a nice welcome back to the line up and ran 18:38 for 43rd. We need to close up our scoring five to run with this group and we will continue to look at improving upon that in the coming weeks. Today, Alex B stepped up to be our #4 runner finishing in 19:04. While Finn crossed the line next in 77th place and Aatman was close behind in his first varsity race finishing 81st. Our team got to see some Sectional & Conference foes like DeForest, Waunakee, & Sun Prairie West. It was nice to beat 16 teams today and we look to continue to build on this success.

JV ran to a 5th place finish led by a top 15 finish from Max S as he ran a lifetime best of 19:07. It was great to see him stick his nose in the front of the race and keep competing to this awesome finish. Jamie & Cole were our next finishers just over 20:00. Jack C was sub 21 as Peter & PJ were just over 21 minutes. Will T rounded out our top 7 with a strong finish. Owen B and Will H were close behind and Levi and Nathan had a great first run at the Smiley Invite. Lots of season bests were run on a challenging course and these guys keep working hard at practice...fast times await the second half of the season.

RESULTS
Varsity Overall
Varsity Large Schools
JV Overall

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 24th
Midwest Invitational @ Blackhawk Golf Course in Janesville, WI (Course)
Bus - 6:45am
9:00am - First Race
9:35am - Blue JV Race (sub 20:30) (2021 Results)
10:45am - Varsity Race (2021 Results)
12:00pm - White JV Race (2021 Results)
12:40pm - 4th - 8th Grade 1 mile Race **

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 3:30pm

** 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 12:40pm representing JMM...to be entered in the race, parents/coaches must contact Coach Casey (crhopp@hotmail.com) by Wed 9/21 before 6:00pm with athletes Name, Gender, Grade in school...(NO cost)...it is the responsibility of each family to provide transportation for their 4th - 8th grade 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.

*** NEW THIS YEAR...Janesville is charging an entry fee for spectators. Adults = $5 Kids/Senior Citizens = $3 Under 6 years old = free...CASH ONLY
Plan time for parking, walking to course, & paying admission!!

NEWS & NOTES
Monday practice --> 2:45 - 5:15pm
Still waiting on clothing order #2 & bucket hats...crossing our fingers
We are getting healthier as a team...keep up the good work on stretching, strengthening, & icing!
Great work with attendance in school & grades in classes...if you have issues or concerns, let us know. Otherwise, keep up the great job in the classroom.
See note above about spectator fee at Midwest Invite

Grade Level Challenge - 8th Place

 Full write up later in the week

RESULTS
Frosh/Soph
Jr/Sr
Team Scores
Full results

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 17th
Smiley Invitational @ Wausau East HS - Wausau, WI (Course)
Bus - 6:30am
8:30am - 1st Race
10:00am - 1st D1 Race
11:10am - Boys D1 Varsity (2021 Results)
11:35am - Boys D1 JV (2021 Results)
12:00pm - Awards - Varsity = 2 teams & 20 individuals, JV = 1 team & 20 individuals
** We will stop to eat on the way home...bring $ or a sack lunch**
Approximate return to school is 4:30pm

NEWS & NOTES
Still waiting on clothing order #2 & bucket hats...but maybe by Friday?!?
Keep up in the classroom...take care of your body & health

Hadler Invite - JV = 2nd, Varsity = 8th

Every season has its bumps along the road and this season has been no different for our Memorial Spartans. Today though our team responded with a solid effort at the Hadler Invite in Menomonee Falls. We were not at full strength but we asked each guy to do their part and put in the effort to help our team. The guys rose to the challenge and had a great day finishing 2nd in the JV race and 8th in the varsity race out of 14 teams. We saw over 50% of our competitors set lifetime PRs (person records). The growth we showed this week as a team will lead to big things over the last month of the season. It is important we take care of our bodies both physically and mentally. We have a busy week ahead and many more opportunities to compete at our best.

The JV race started our day as these 13 athletes were the first to compete in our new VPM (Vel Phillips Memorial) uniforms. The group represented well as we saw multiple season bests and lifetime PRs. Max S & Jamie I both in their first official cross country races did a great job leading the team with their top ten finishes. Max ran a lifetime PR 19:11 for 6th while Jamie also had a lifetime best finishing 8th with his 19:16. Cole W joined the sub 20 club with his 17th place finish and Peter S earned a top 20 finish with a time of 20:05. Soph Jack C ran a great race earning another lifetime PR in as many races this season rounding out our scoring 5 in JV by finishing in 20:26 and in 29th overall. Freshman Will H (20:34) and soph Owen B (20:47) were in our top 7 in today's competition. Lifetime PR's were also set by Levi M and Nathan Z as they continue to see improvement each week. This group ran really tough and started the meet off great for the Spartans.

Our top group has been through a lot this season but it was great to see us finish this week with an 8th place finish at this meet. It may not have been our goal coming into the season but it was a great performance for where we currently stand as a team. Senior AJ K led the team with his top 10 performance finishing 9th. Finn A and Alvaro S teamed up in the middle of the race to push through to a 42nd & 47th place finish respectively. Junior Alex B (62) and soph Hunter N (68) rounded out our scoring five as both competed in their first ever varsity races. This was a good race by both and good learning experience for many future varsity races. We look to get more pieces to the puzzle back and keep improving as the season continues. It will take every runner to make this happen

RESULTS
Varsity

JV

Live Results

NEXT COMPETITION
Tuesday September 13th
Big 8 Grade Level Challenge @ Lake Farm County Park (Course)
Early Release --> 1:30pm
NO BUS - Carpool from Memorial to Lake Farm County Park
2:15pm - Arrive at Lake Farm
3:30pm - Frosh/Soph Boys (2021 Results)
4:50pm - Jr/Sr Boys (2021 Results)
6:15pm - Awards - Top team and top 5 individuals in each grade
** Athletes are able to leave after the team cool down which will be approximately 5:45pm

NEWS & NOTES
Monday practices - 2:45 - 5:15pm (early release days)

Mon 9/12 - TEAM PICTURES --> bring uniform top & bottom !!!!
Grade checks begin this week...stay on top of your school work, ask for help if you need it
Stretch, ice, REST, hydrate, eat well....busy week, take care of yourself & each other.
Clothing order #1 was delivered....order #2 & bucket hats = we are still waiting

Verona Invitational - CANCELED

The Madison Memorial team made the short jaunt over to Verona High School for the annual Verona Invitational. Excitement was in the air with a 27 team field and some great competition from the area and from throughout the state (even an IL team). Unfortunately, that was not the only thing in the air as the middle school race concluded and teams were doing their warmups...lightning made an appearance at the Verona Invitational. Most cross country meets will continue on regardless of weather BUT lightning is the one limiting factor that can put a delay or even cancelation on the table for our meets. After many delays and multiple false rumors of return to competition, the final decision came in around 11am to cancel the 2022 Verona Invitational. It doesn't happen often but it is a part of high school athletics. As a team, we pivot and shift our focus to today's run and moving on to next weekends meet. Some things are out of our control but how we respond to these events and the next steps we take... WE CAN CONTROL. Together, we move forward and carry on with our Madison Memorial tradition. Every run, every runner, every day!

RESULTS
Middle School

NEXT COMPETITION
Saturday September 10th
Hadler Invite @ Rotary Park in Menomonee Falls (Course)
Bus - 7:00am
9:45am - First Race
10:20am - JV Boys (2021 Results)
11:30am - Varsity Boys (2021 Results)
12:00pm - Awards - Varsity = 1 team & 15 individuals, JV = 5 individuals
**We will stop to eat on the way home...bring a sack lunch or $ to eat (usually Culvers)
Approximate return to Madison Memorial will be 3:30pm
We will be using the stadium parking lot (where we practice) for drop off/pick up this season when we are riding on a bus

UPCOMING EVENTS
Mon Sept 5th - Captain's practice - 9am @ UW Arboretum Visitors Center
Mon Sept 12th - Team Pictures
Tues Sept 13th - Grade Level Challenge @ Lake Farm -> NO BUS - start planning carpools

NEWS & NOTES
Stay on top of your school work...don't let attendance or grades become an issue...ask coaches/captains if you need help.
Clothing order #1 will be delivered this week...put your name in your gear
Bucket hats ($25) we ordered a couple extra, if you still want one bring money to Coach Huggins