Conference - Varsity = Runner Ups JV1 = 5th Place JV2 = Runner Ups

WOW, what a day at Verona. It was a lot of fun watching the Varsity run as well as they did and come so close to winning Conference. I'm proud of how this team has worked all season long and it was evident in how well we did at Saturday's meet. The Big Eight Conference is arguably one of the most talented conferences in the state and our team showed that we belonged with race after race of consistent performances. The weather and course conditions were not ideal for PRs and yet we had 6 new PRs and most within 15 seconds of their PR. It was great to see the improvement from week 1 at Verona to week 7. Our desire to compete finally started to show as our runners fought in close battles for team points (varsity & jv 2 - 3 points away). Also it was nice to see Jordan C., Benji, Aaron H., Jonah, Ben, Paul, Walter, Vladimir, and Ryan all be recognized by the conference for their performances.

In JV2 Madison West showed us their strength and numbers and gives our program something to work towards. Our JV2 kids really battled the last mile with Middleton to earn the second place finish. Paul led the way with a new PR and was followed by his five scoring teammates in less than 30 seconds. This type of pack racing really helped all the Memorial kids. With only one senior in this group of seven, we are going to be looking for a lot of these kids to step up next year to perform for our JV1 and even Varsity. All 28 runners in this race ran tough and can be proud of their season.

In JV1 Jonah and Ben lead the squad with some really nice performances. Jonah's 17:54 PR makes him only the 2nd Frosh in recent history to break 18:00 during their first year on the team. Our pack learned the tough lesson of letting the "bubble" of the race get ahead of us. We got too deep into the pack and our score cards reflected this. 4 of the 7 JV1 kids return next year and will learn from this experience. Our times were great in this race and really gave confidence to our Varsity racers. The final team place does not reflect how good this JV team was this year. It was nice to see the improvement of this group from the Verona Invite until Conference.

In Varsity we ran a smart and confident race. It was clear as we went through a mile and half that our team was in good position and improving. We battled with Craig the entire second loop and cut the point total in half and then down to five and finally within 3 points. I was very pleased with how we scored in this race and how well we held up with the great competition. 5 teams in this race were ranked in the top 15 of the state and we proved we can race with each and everyone of them. I hope this continues to become the expectation. We scored our first top 2 finish at Conference since 1996. Jordan C. earned 1st team All-Conference and Benji and Aaron H. earned 2nd team All-Conference. This performance gives us the confidence we need to carry into Sectionals and hopefully State.

Big 8 Results

Some pictures from madison.com

Next Meet:
Sectionals - DeForest
Girls 11:00am
Boys 11:45am

Captains Money - Captains are collecting $10 from each athlete to help pay for Captain's Club Thanksgiving Baskets (a service project our athletic department has participated in for nearly a decade) and for coaches gifts. Please help remind athletes this money should be turned in ASAP to help out the captains.

Reminders

Lots of things going on...here is a list of reminders (for both athletes and parents)

Conference 10/17 @ Verona
NO BUS - Arrive at 8:30am
9:50 Boys JV2
11:00 Boys JV1
12:00 Boys Varsity
1:15 Awards (Top 15 individuals from each race)

Uniforms - all JV uniforms must be turned in Saturday at the meet (bring a change of clothes) If uniforms are not turned in, a hold will be placed on athlete's academic records. Also, any lost unifroms must be paid for: top = $25 and bottom = $25

Captains Money - Captains are collecting $10 from each athlete to help pay for Captain's Club Thanksgiving Baskets (a service project our athletic department has participated in for nearly a decade) and for coaches gifts. Please help remind athletes this money should be turned in ASAP to help out the captains.

Monday October 19th - MANDATORY MEETING for ALL ATHLETES 3:45 till about 4:15
Athletes will recieve information about sectionals and state
Athletes will recieve information about end of the year banquet
Athletes who are not competing/practicing for Sectionals will be asked to clean out lockers
All athletes need to attend

City Championships - Varsity = 2nd JV = 2nd

Wow, it is great to see us running well at the end of the year! The JV guys got it started off with a great competitive race. We faded a little in the last 1/2 mile but we really competed against West and I think we can give them a run for their money next week at Conference. I got my first City Champion in JV City Champion Ben B. and we had multiple runners who had the lead at one time or another in the race. It was fun to see so many green jerseys up front and competing. Next week will be a big race for the JV guys as we try to end the season on a high note. We will have multiple runners who could be JV1 or JV2 Conference Champions along with both teams having a shot to win either race. I hope to see lots of PRs as we fight for those end of the year varsity points and position ourselves strongly in the Conference (rest an focus is our goal this week)

In the varsity race the guys ran well as we put 7 runners under 17:30!!! I was very pleased with our overall performance, as we know we have room for individual improvement that will allow us an oppurtunity to chase LaFollette next week. I hope we continue to improve and keep the teams we've beaten behind us and our focus on those teams yet we need to beat. The conference meet will be very competitive (with 5 teams ranked in the state) but we have proven we are very capable of running at this level. It was nice to have 3 runners under 17:00 as Jordan C. earned 1st All-City and Aaron H. and Benji earned Honorable Mention All City. John H. had a very nice PR and our 5,6, & 7 of Andy G., Prashanth, and Jordan B. ran a very solid race. I really like the direction these 7 runners our leading our team.

City Results

Next Race:
Conference 10/17 @ Verona
9:50 Boys JV2
11:00 Boys JV1
12:00 Boys Varsity
1:15 Awards (Top 15 individuals from each race)

Stoughton Invite - Varsity = 3rd JV = 2nd

The weather cooperated but the ground was soft. The meet was not as fast as it has been in past years but there were still many PRs and Season Best (25 for the team) to go around. Our varsity struggled to get out in good position early in the race and hopefully has learned from this mistake. Our JV quickly took notes and did a much improved job of getting into the race early on and competing. We saw some tough competition in Stevens Point and LaFollette and will get many more shots at LaFollette in the coming weeks and hopefully one more shot for the varsity at Stevens Point (if we can make it to State).

Jordan C. had another very consistent race and Andy G, John H, and Jordan B. all ran season bests in the varsity. Benji and Aaron H. will chalk this race up as a learning experience and be better runners for this race happening now and not in 2 or 4 weeks. The third place finish earned our team another trophy, which is becoming more and more of the expectation (although we need to work on remembering to go shake the other teams hand) and we had multiple individuals earn medals.

JV was filled with PRs as the kids learned from the earlier race and were really excited to compete. We saw how dominate Stevens Point's JV was and visions of what we want our JV to look like in the future. I was happy to see so many teammates racing together. We have been working on this in practice and it is caring over into races. I am excited to see how much MORE time our JV kids can drop in the next two weeks. Time to go out and get some big PRs.

Upcoming Events
Wednesday - Light of Life Walk - $5 (to Casey) 5:30 -6:00pm --everyone participates (parents/families are welcome)

Friday - City Championship at Yahara CC Course
Boys JV-4:30pm
Boys Varsity - 5:30pm
Awards 6:00pm

NO RETURN BUS FROM THIS MEET (Athletes will ride a bus to meet but must be picked up by parents after the meet)

All City Banquet/Pizza Buffet - Pizza Oven on Monona Drive - 6:30pm
Athletes (all you can eat pizza) - $3
Parents - purchase pizza in the restaurant

Stoughton Results
Varsity
Junior Varsity

PSAT is Schedule for October 17th @ Memorial (the day of conference)Students interested in taking it October 14th (Wednesday) should contact the following people ASAP to setup a test time

Madison East
Ann - 204-1723

Madison LaFollette
Linda - 204-3659