Cross Country: Staley Edition

I have less pictures of Staley's cross country season since all my days were spent with the middle school team.  If you ask Staley, she'd tell you that she didn't have the freshman cross country season she had hoped (and worked) for, but it was still a great experience and a building block for her future seasons.

Staley loved her cross country team.  Between the boys and the girls, the Eureka High School team had over 90 runners this year.  The plus side of being on a big, consistently successful team is the culture and the fun that they have.  The downside is that it is very hard to be one of the top runners on the team.

Staley worked super hard in the off season and during the season.  She started the season with a 3 mile time of 20:58 and her PR was a 20:55.  She kept waiting for a drop in her time that mirrored her successful work-outs and accounted for all the training she did, but the drop didn't come, which was disappointing and frustrating for her.

Staley ran all her runs and work-outs with the top varsity girls on the team, spending most of her season as the #8-11 runner on the team.  She made the post-season roster as one of the top 14 runners.  She ran varsity for one meet of the season for the Springfield Invite.

Season highlights included a 2nd (but really tied for 1st) place finish in the Open Race at the Dunlap Valley Invite.  She also medaled in the open race at conference (7th) and in the Freshman Girls race at the Tremont Invitational.

Truly, the highlight of Staley's season was getting to know the girls on the team.

Staley loved the Friday night team meals and the other team activities that she was included in, like breakfast after morning practice or impromptu ice cream outings or movie nights or a trip to the Pumpkin Fest with teammates.

She continued to practice with the team as they prepared for the State meet, enjoying a trip to Detweiller Park and a meal out.

The Eureka girls' team finished 7th in state with the boys' team coming home with a 1st place finish at the state meet.

It might not have been the season Staley had hoped for, but she loved being a part of the EHS CC family.  She loved her coaches, her teammates, and being a part of one of the best cross country programs in the state.

Cross Country: Adelie Edition

Cross country seasons for both the middle school and the high school unofficially started in June with open runs and voluntary practices, officially getting underway in August with the high school season ending in the middle of November.  Needless to say, our fall was FULL of cross country.

Adelie LOVED her first season of middle school cross country.  She surprised us all with her grit, determination, and competitiveness throughout the season.  (Those are not words we typically associate with Adelie.)

Adelie ran her first meet of the season in a time of 15:46.  She ran her final PR of the season at sectionals with a time of 13:16, shaving off 2 and a half minutes from the first meet to the last.  She was on the varsity squad of the top 7 runners throughout the entire season, typically as the number 4 or 5 runner, although she was the #3 runner at sectionals and was instrumental in getting her team to the state meet.

Season highlights for Adelie included a 2nd place team plaque at the Trojan Invite...

having 2 of her best friends on the team with her...

seeing her cousin at a couple of the meets...

a 2nd place team finish at the Panther Invite...

Wally's after the Pontiac meet...

a 2nd place team finish at the EPG Invite...

a fun creek run during practice one day...

a 2nd place team finish and her first medal (16th place!) at the Conference Meet...

making new friends...

a 4th place team finish at Olympia...

'Bring Your Parent to Practice' Day...

Sectional team fun with yoga, a trip to Dunlap Valley,...

 and a Sectional team meal and movie night...

and a 3rd place finish at Sectionals to advance the team to State!!!

State Week is always an exciting time with lots of fun extras!

There are state signs, state goodie bags, state sweatshirts...

a state team fieldtrip to Maxwell Park and Core Life Eatery...

a destination run to our house for a yogurt bar...

the state send-off at school...

a state team meal and a decorated bus.

The state experience is so exciting.  Because our girls weren't in contention for a top 4 finish, it was all about just enjoying the experience.

Adelie finished in 149th place in a time of 13:49.  Our girls placed 15th out of 24 schools at the meet.

It was such a great season!  Adelie loved being a part of this team and experiencing the outcomes of hard work and determination.

I loved having a front row seat to Adelie's successful season both as her mom and as her coach.

Adelie loved the girls on the team and enjoyed all the fun they had both on and off the course.

From the hard workouts to the fun-day practices, the big invites to the small home meets, the grind of daily practices to the fun of team meals, cross country filled up our fall hours.

I loved helping coach this team, and I especially loved the extra daily time I had to spend with Adelie.  It was a great season, and Adelie and I are both looking forward to next year!

October is Over Too

Just like September, October flew by too. Many of our monthly October highlights and activities revolved around cross country, but here are some of the other highlights that occupied our month...

October marked the end of the middle school cross country season with Adelie helping her team advance from the sectional meet to state!!  Staley's regular season also ended, although high school post-season is still going.  Stay tuned for the cross country post for all the details from both girls' seasons.

We took advantage of Columbus Day off school to have a fun little outing.  We mastered the corn maze at Ackerman Farms...

and spent a few hours painting pottery.

It's always fun to take advantage of the limited free days that we have to do something fun together.

Staley spent a week of her October taking care of her "flour baby" for FCS class.  This was not her favorite assignment, nor did she actually do most of what she was asked to do.  But I guess her baby "survived" nonetheless and she got a passing grade, so let's call it a win.

Staley performed in her first high school choir concert.  They have a really big choir, and they sounded great!  We really enjoyed it.

We spent a week cat-sitting Zach's parent's cat, Charlie, while they were on vacation.  Frisco and Charlie did not become best friends, but they learned to tolerate each other pretty well.

Staley performed in the NTA Stage Teens production of 'Sleepy Hollow.'

She played Wilda, one of the not-so-bright school kids of Sleepy Hollow.

She did a great job embracing her character (as always!)  The school-kid scenes were some of the best in the show.

The show was a dinner theater, so both girls were also part of acting in the 'haunted entrance' to the theater and then serving dinner.

Just like every show she does, one of Staley's favorite parts is spending time with her NTA friends.

The dinner was yummy, the show was great, and the girls both enjoyed spending a few evenings at the theater with friends.

And, like always, Uma and Papa and Grammie and Grandpa were both there to support the girls.

We also enjoyed an afternoon with NTA friends at NTA's Trunk or Treat.

Our Squishmallow trunk was a big hit with the kids.

We always enjoy our time with NTA family and friends.

Adelie and Naomi channeled their inner Luigi and Mario at the Penguin Halloween party.

And then we enjoyed our Halloween night with some trick or treating with friends.  Adelie was a French chef (complete with mustache, of course) while Briggs was Ironman.

Staley and Zach skipped out on the trick or treating to hang out with the rest of the Hostetlers before we all went back to their house for dinner and games.  It was a great night of fun with friends!

October marked the end of some of our fall busy-ness.  The end of cross country.  The end of Sleepy Hollow practices.  The end of Halloween festivities.  And, unfortunately, the end of some of the warmer weather, more sunlight, and longer days.  Fall is officially here...and Christmas is just around the corner.  As one season of life ends, another one is waiting for us.