Conference @ Lake Forest West

The weather was great all week. The forecast for race day was beautiful. The course was in great shape. And we seized EVERY opportunity. 

After watching the Varsity men absolutely light it up in the first race, our women had no choice but to follow! At the gun, we got out HARD, and I headed to the bridge to see the outcome of the first mile. Lauren pulled through first around 10th (I should have written this last week or written it down...forgive me if I'm wrong!). Then Fia and Norah pushed over the bridge only seconds apart. They were sitting in the low 20s. Jana, Rachel, Liv, and Juju were within shouting distance of each other, but they needed to move up within the race. In the second mile, they did just that!  I ran across the school to find our bees did WORK in mile 2. Lauren had caught several, Fia was in the mid-teens, as was Norah. Jana had moved up and brought Liv with her. Rachel and Juju were close to each other and moving up. I'm mad that I missed Lauren's finish, but the clock doesn't lie: her first time under 18 and a 4th place medal! Lauren has been All-Conference (1st-14th) ALL FOUR YEARS, a feat that shows her depth and strength. To my knowledge, no other ZBXCer has accomplished this quadruple crown. SO proud of you, Lauren! Fia drove home to earn her first All-Conference medal in 13th place. This was a HUGE improvement over her 51st place finish at Conference as a sophomore and 31st as a junior. This was the first time that she hit the 18s, nearly a minute drop from her strong race at Sterling just a week prior. Steady growth in strength and confidence--proud of you, senior! She pulled Norah along to 15th place--All Conference Honorable Mention after not even competing on Varsity at Conference just a year ago. Norah also earned a sweet new LPR, dropping 38 seconds. Huge growth, Norah! Jana was our fourth bee, and she had a strong race. She was only seconds away from her lifetime PR despite battling a sore back all race long. Alivia was only seconds behind Jana, pulling on her strength in the last mile. She shredded her previous season PR and looked so strong in the last mile. Sweet race, Maymay! Rachel was sixth for us today; she ran a gritty race by fighting through a stomach issue and pushing the last mile like a runner with real experience. Her tenacity helped Juju tremendously--the two pushed each other in the final mile, and Juju was able to earn a HUGE new LPR after just one week! Juju said goodbye to the 22s, running a speedy 21:48 thanks to Rachel's leadership. Overall, we looked strong today, and I was so happy for all of the sweet breakthroughs. Let's keep the momentum going, bees!

The frosh/soph women were up next, and they had no choice but to keep the momentum rolling. Alex made a big statement today. She was assertive all race, including a PR in the first mile, going sub-7 for the first time! More importantly, I can see how much she has learned this season. She responded to all cheering with a burst of energy, and it added up to a HUGE LPR by 26 seconds. She also earned a medal--some nice hardware to commemorate this big PR. Nice work, Alex! Janelley-nelley was our next finisher. Although she said she was not satisfied with her race, I was super proud of the way she fought in the second half. She did a great job of responding to people's cheers, and she pushed along the baseball diamonds and into the woods. This season represents a lot of growth for this newbee to XC--proud of you, Janelle! Dani was our third finisher with an absolutely meteoric race! Not only did she get out well, but she was locked in for all three miles. She did an outstanding job of pushing the third mile. She also did a fantastic job of opening up for the final straightaway, earning her a NEW LPR. Last week, she cracked thirty; this week, she busted it, finishing in 29:16. Sweet race, Dani! Nathaly S. was our next finisher with a break out race. She has been one of the "clicks" in the last few weeks, and she definitely clicked in this race. She looked so focused the entire three miles, catching people and pushing herself out of her comfort zone. She earned a 4:18 drop to finish the season in 30:03. Afterwards, she said that she was proud of her race, and I am, too!  Impressive work, freshie! Saleema was only seconds behind her, earning a big PR, too! She has come a long way this season, and the proof was in this final race. She dropped 43 seconds! Although she was not satisfied with her race, I was, especially with her kick. Congrats on the new PR, Saleema! After this duo, we had another set of bees who worked well together today. Candy and Yaritza helped strengthen each other at different parts of the race. Candy has been fighting a stupid glute/hip/knee combo, but she wanted to finish the season with her girls. In the last mile, she summoned some super-human strength to ignore her pain and just push. Yaritza traded spots with her, pulling her along and letting Candy pull her! Yaritza's choice to pull with Candy earned her a huge LPR; she dropped a whopping 2:37!  Whew! Although Candy wasn't in a position to earn a new PR, she did win the hearts and minds of our team. She was gritty and ran faster than her Conference race last year! I'm proud of the way these two helped one another in the race--it's really what being linked is all about. Our final bee in the race was Valery. Although she reported that she was not satisfied with her race, it was her fastest of the season, dropping 9 seconds from her previous PR at our home meet. She also had a sweet kick in the final stretch. She made big gains this season, and I know that she can improve even more next year! Overall, our young bees continued the great racing streak of the day. I was so excited about how hard everyone fought! Well done, women!

By the time our JV girls toed the line, it was getting warm...warmer than we anticipated. The wind started to kick it up a bit, too. These factors make their performances even more impressive! Before the race, I explained to Arwen that she needs to work on making her race more even, and she did just that! She got out hard, but she maintained it for the whole race. After the first mile, she was in 3rd place and smiling! When I saw her after the 2nd mile mark, she had fallen back to fourth. I simply yelled, "No, je voudrais trois!" (No, I want 3!). She nodded and took off toward the woods, pulling back up on the 3rd place racer. Honestly, this was Arwen's BEST race of the season. She was locked in, not dramatic in the least, and she has a sweet new LPR and medal to show for it. I am so proud of the way she raced, and I am excited to see what she can do during track. Most importantly, she is a woman of her word--she told me she would impress me, and she did! Sofie was our second bee, and she had an equally compelling race. She got out less aggressively, but she used that juice to catch people the entire race. Every time one of us cheered, she caught another girl or pack! After starting in the 40s, she clawed her way to 19th to earn our final medal of the day! It has been her signature style to run negative, and this race was no exception. She said goodbye to the 23s, running 22:17, a 51 second drop! Way to go, Sofie! Tyla was not far behind with her own outstanding race. It has been a joy to watch Tyla's evolution this season. She has come so far with her racing, and today was the pinnacle! She was locked in for the whole race with a great start, outstanding passing, and an impressive last mile. Her kick looked so strong, too! This added up to a huge PR after a great race the week before! She ran 23:18, nearly a minute drop from her previous PR at Lakes. Proud of you, Tyla! Mary was our next finisher with a great race of her own. After being sidelined a bit with first a cold and then her knee, Mary was itching to race again. She had a strong performance at Lakes the week before, but today, she really took the chance to shine. She did a great job of responding to people's cheers, making moves in the second half of the race in order to secure a big LPR of 24:13, nearly a minute faster than Lakes and 40 seconds faster than her LPR from last year. What a way to end the season, Mary! Nathaly T. has been feeling her power in the last few weeks, embracing workouts and finding joy in every run. She popped a great race by being locked in for the full 3-miles. Every time I saw her, she caught someone! Her kick was killer, too! She earned a new LPR of 24:43, 30 seconds faster than her sweet race at Lakes the week prior. So proud of you, Nathaly! This parade of LPRs has been impressive so far, but none more so than Sheila's. She popped an unbelievable race today. She has been gaining strength all season, and she looked amazing in the last few workouts. She put it all together for a tremendous race. She has been consistently in the low 30s all season with one nice dip to the 29s at our home course, inspired by Senior Night. Sheila thought she would just surpass the 28s AND the 27s to run 26:09! You can see by the look on her face in the finish line photo just how much she put into this race--she finished on empty! What a way to capstone her ZBXC career! Proud of you for taking a risk and seizing the day, Sheila! It was so cool to watch! :) Melanie took a page from Sheila's book, running an awesome last race, too. She looked open and powerful every time I saw her, using her long legs to her advantage! I was so impressed by her moves throughout the race, too. She was constantly pulling on people around her, and it payed off with a great SPR (nearly catching her lifetime from Lakes last year) with a time of 27:35. Like Sheila, you can see how strong she looked in her finish line photo. More importantly, Mel was SATISFIED after her race--what more can you ask for in a final race? So proud of you for working through this season, Mel! Proud of you! Fellow senior Tati was working with Mel in this race, and she had a great day, too. Not only did she pull on her teammate, but she also had the most ridiculously beautiful kick out of all of our runners in this race. She want to the arms, looking like her sprinter-self! It was so gorgeous to watch! She ran a big SPR, dropping over a minute from her strong race at home earlier in the season. This trio of seniors really stepped up today! Cici was pulling on their wisdom and strength in order to let her training shine. Cici has been on a mission this season, truly embracing the sport and each practice. She has grown so much--it has been tremendous to watch. Her Conference race is a testament to how consistent hard work pays off. She jumped over the 28s to earn a HUGE LPR of 27:54! She started the season in 31:20--what growth! The JV races left me electrified because everyone understood the assignment. They embraced each other, the competition, the great course, and the energy of the day to earn races they could all be proud of. What a great way to end the day!

This meet was a joy to watch. When we headed into the gym for awards, I couldn't help but notice how much louder our team was when honoring each of our medalists as well as Rachel and Joan for the Sportsmanship Award. It makes me smile that you are not afraid to jubilantly cheer for your sisters and brothers in running! I want to take a moment to talk about the Sportsmanship Award: its purpose is to recognize team members who do the right thing when no one is watching. Ever since Rachel joined the team, she has made it her mission to be of service. She is the first to ask what she can carry on the bus, often taking bags out of a teammate's hand. This behavior did not end after her freshman year. It is no secret that Rachel struggled with her health and in turn, her racing. She had a cough that would not quit for months, and she had a leg/knee tweak that made racing to her high standards difficult at best. Despite those obstacles, she was still checking in on others, still giving thoughtful shout outs on the bus, still grabbing the cooler and setting up the tent. This service, giving mindset is an important one. It can help anyone get through difficult patches that inevitably come up in life. I am proud that Rachel is representing the Bees as the 2024 Sportsmanship Award winner!

Please note that I see you all, though. I see how you make jokes to ease the nerves. How you paint glitter, sing songs, braid hair, and offer hugs during difficult times. I am proud that this team gets it that doing the right thing when no one is watching matters. While PRs are fun to track and feel great to earn, the character of this team matters most! I am proud to be your coach!