6A Regional Cross Country Runners Up

No matter how much I enjoy my own running, and I enjoy it a lot, it can't touch the joy I feel in my heart when my kids enjoy it and have their own success.  Yesterday was what the kids these days call, "best day ever."  Every single boy on the team, Alex, Easton, Nate, Wyatt, Emmett, Zan, and Carlos, ran a personal record on the second most critical day of the season to take second in their regional meet and advance to State.  They rocked.

For his part, Wyatt finally shook off the curse that has seemed to plague him on the Lone Elm course and crushed his PR by 19 seconds.  About the race he told me a couple of critical nuggets.  For one thing, when he was going by me right before and right after the 2-mile mark I had told him that he looked good, that it was his day.  And I meant it!  I wasn't trying to fake him out or psych him up.  He did look good to me -- he looked smooth, relaxed, and most importantly fast.  "Dad, what you said was just what I needed at that point.  I thought I was doing OK, but it really helped me to hear that from you."  I think it reassured him that he was O.K!

Another thing he said was that he had passed quite a few people in the second mile, and he said he just decided that he wasn't going to give back those places.  He determined to race well.  In particular he said he was dueling against 2 or 3 East guys in his general place in the race, and although he lost a couple of spots in the final kick (not his strong suit), he pressed hard that third mile and held on to most of the spots he gained, including at least one of the rival East runners.  He was justifiably proud that he had raced well and not just "run as fast as he could."  He was proud of his teammates, too.  He felt like all of them came to compete, and they did just that.

Interestingly, although they all ran hard and raced well, none of them had any idea of the times they had run.  There was no finish clock.  I came up to Wyatt after he came out of the chute and showed him my watch.  17:16.  His jaw dropped.  Then his teammates started getting excited because, with Wyatt's time as a reference point, it started dawning on all of them that it was a very special day.  Not only had they raced hard and competed well, but they had run good times, something that every runner cares about.  Nate broke 17 for the first time. So did Easton -- by a lot!  Alex went deep into the 16s.  Our six and seven guys, Zan and Carlos, broke 19 minutes big time, and Emmett knocked a dozen or so seconds off his PR.

In the end it was not quite enough to win a Regional championship.  Olathe East also had a banner day, it seems, and beat us by a meager margin of 3 points.  It's okay, though.  I don't think it tarnished the accomplishment for any of the boys and it certainly didn't tarnish it for me.  They were all smiles, as they should have been.  Besides, we ain't done yet....  Although perhaps OE might have had an off day out at Rim Rock on Monday, we smoked them good on that day.  This Saturday we'll be back out there at Rim Rock again, for State.  We'll get 'em.  Maybe we'll surprise a few other teams around Kansas as well.

GO EAGLES!