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!
