Week Seven

Tuesday @ Warren with Mundelein:  
Although we had several sick and injured athletes for this meet, those of you who were ready to race looked outstanding. I thought the results would be posted on athletic.net by now, so I don't have them in front of me. Here's what sticks in my brain almost a week later:

Victoria had a gutsy race with a better kick than at Stevenson. She needs to continue to develop this part of her race! Marisa looked more "in" her race this week and earned an LPR--nice work! Jenna and Delilah were a great duo, helping each other focus on different parts of the race and propelling Delilah to a new LPR! Great work from this pair! Kaila looked so strong today, with a much more confident demeanor and finish (despite the wet conditions)--bravo! Steff! To see Steff shut down the bad juju from this course and finish her first race of the year with grit and grace was a sight to see! Honestly, her race made me jubilant; not only does it show that hard work and patience pay off, but it also shows how a broad base (she has been running since the summer before her freshman year) helps make comebacks possible! So proud of you, senior! Ixa's kick was simply breathtaking--she had her team talking about her non-stop after the race! Loula is probably tired of hearing her name so much, but she keeps showing that she gets this sport even more every week. She looked SO strong from start to finish and earned a new LPR--congrats! Ashley also ran an LPR and seems to be moving to the next level of racing; proud of your kick, too! I know that without the stats in front of my that I am missing some of the story, and I will add it soon! Shout out to our timers, sticker peeps, and super fans. You helped everyone stay focused so that we could earn 12 PRs out of 15 finishes--THAT is an impressive stat, considering that the course was long due to the cut-through being flooded. Proud of you all today!

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday:
I honestly do not understand what is happening to cross-country. In my 22 years of coaching, I can only remember TWO races being cancelled due to conditions: once Wauconda Invite was cancelled due to flooding on the course, and last year, Conference was rescheduled due to lightning. Our sport *usually* does not get fussy about heat or rain or cold or snow. *Usually* our sport simply carries on, one foot in front of the other. I mean...we are tough cookies! So when I received the email about Sterling being cancelled the night before the race, I couldn't catch my breath for several seconds. How could it possibly be cancelled before the day even arrived? How could anyone know the conditions until the racetime? Although I wanted to call the Athletic Director to persuade him to change his mind, I knew that I had to put my energy into something worthwhile: focusing on our team building. Up until that point, our posse of 10 had done a great job of getting to know each other more, and our shared letter writing completed that process. I had chills watching you all read each other's words because I saw you all buying into the team culture. The next day, I could see the difference reflected in the workout. You were flexible about location, and you fought hard to work for each other. That kind of mindset is going to serve us well as we head into the championship part of our season. Hang onto this feeling this week.

For those of you who were supposed to run at Wheeling--I'm sorry that the sally-fication of our sport affected your race, too. I know that you would have run through puddles and mud and cold--you showed that with your mindset at Stevenson the first time. Coach Franklin let me know that you had a great workout--thank you for your flexibility and focus!

Let's come together this week to bring out our best performances at Conference this Saturday!