Tom McBride/Spartan Invite @ Springfield Southeast High School

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, our Varsity crew assembled at school in order to make the trip to Springfield. The bus was early, and the drive was long, but it was all worth it!  We enjoyed warmer temperatures (sunburns on Cuttill, Strickland, and I are proof that the sun was OUT) than at home and some fine competition. 

We earned our first team points of the day in the shotput thanks to Ne'Zyah's 4th place performance.  Bri earned a season PR and a 5th place finish to help boost our points in the disc. Not a bad way to start the meet!  The competition in the jumps was the best we have seen so far, but our jumpers did a great job supporting one another and learning a lot!

On the track, our 4X800 of Sofia, Nat, Aubri, and Illy did a great job of kicking off team points by finishing in 5th place. Sofia, (2:46), Nat (2:45), and Illy (3:06) all earned lifetime PRs, and Aubri earned a season PR!  Great job, pushing for each other!  While all four looked great, the best moment for me was watching Illy fight back back with a girl from Homewood-Flossmoor. So cool to watch her show off her hard work in a race!

Our 4X100 was up next, and Raven, Taylor, Chaiya, and Latavia looked fantastic--great handoffs and great speed! These four earned 4th place in a very competitive field, piling on more points for our team. 

In the 100 hurdles, Treazure learned a valuable lesson about false starts (not her own, thankfully!).  She also looked stronger over all 10 hurdles, which is great!

In the 100, Taylor earned us more points in a very competitive field, placing 7th and tying her season PR for the event. She keeps looking better and better out of the blocks; I know she is going to make waves by the end of the season!

The 800 was thrilling to watch. Not only did Riley win the event with a huge new PR of 2:27, but she also did it with her Riley kick, hunting down a runner from SHG in the final 200.  Nat also had a huge race. In the past, she was definitely a one-race kind of person at big meets. That ended today. She ran a really strong second race of the day, beating her previous PR for the second time in the same day and earning us another team point!  Whenever we can stack TWO runners earning points in an event, that makes a big difference at invites.  Awesome work, you two!  :)

Our 4X200 of Raven, Taylor, Chaiya, and Latavia looked awesome with smooth handoffs (just like the 4X100).  They broke 2:00 for the first time this season, running a speedy time of 1:57.96! This race was one of the most competitive of the meet, so the fact that our bees were right in the mix is impressive. Proud of you four!

Thankfully for Riley, the meet moved slowly, giving her valuable time to recover before the 400.  Although she was still feeling the effects of her PR from the 800, she dealt with those heavy legs in order to place 4th in the open 400 and running a solid time of 64.  Destiny also ran a great race, setting a new PR of 73 second!  Way to go, bees!

The 300 hurdles were SO much fun to watch. This is definitely Treazure's event. In only her second time in the event, she ran a HUGE PR of 53.98, earning us a team point in 8th place.  More importantly, it's easy to see that she is gaining confidence in this event. Proud of you, Treaz!

Our milers teamed up to earn us 16 points through their efforts today. Audrey led the race from start to finish. Her time of 5:27 was impressive considering that she is still coming back from a mean stomach bug and that she had no competition after the first lap. Lauren ran a great race, competing with a runner from Springfield and pulling on Audrey's lead. To take 3rd as a freshie is a big deal. Proud of both of you--way to represent for the distance crew!

Despite the wind and a busy day, our 200 runners looked amazing!  Latavia matched her lifetime PR, and Raven ran an outdoor PR. Nice work you two!

Finally, our 4X400 looked impressive in a challenging field, running a season PR despite missing Marisa while they were on their college visit. Riley, now recovered from her earlier work) started us strong with a split of 63.7; her buddy Brionne ran an incredibly brave and strong leg and earned a new lifetime PR of 67.3; Audrey was rolling so strong, finishing in 65.3, and Lauren brought us home with her speediest split to date of 68.6. Our relay came in 2nd behind a jaw-dropping Chicago Kenwood team (whew they were SMOOOOOOTH).  I'm so proud of the work this group put in for each other!

After a nice dinner and two weird stops for gas, we headed home with the joy of some medals as well as a 5th place finish out of 17 teams. I am really happy with the way this crew performed despite the long bus ride. There is something so intense and easy about this team. I love watching everyone compete!