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A Bittersweet Sectional
October 10, 2015
In 2011 our cross country team found ourselves in a difficult Sectional at Hammel Woods in Shorewood. All of the boys teams that made it out of that Sectional ended up in the top ten at State. Cody Hornyak made State as an individual, but he didn't look happy when his name was announced because he knew his team had not made it.
This year's Sectional felt similar to that 2011 Sectional. This year's Sectional was even more difficult than 2011's race, maybe even the most difficult in the State, and seeing our boys make it to State while our girls just missed was a difficult pill to swallow. While Hailey Simmons will be running at State as an individual, she did not show much excitement as their were tears flowing when the girls fourth-place finish was announced. Our girls ran their hearts out, and at the beginning of the season we thought making State was a lofty goal for this group of girls. They set out to prove that they belonged with the best teams in the State, and they were within 20 points of doing so. Most of the girls are seventh graders so hopefully this will leave them hungry to make it to State next year. This was the last race for Jazmin Russell, Sam Moreno, and Mady Klebenow, however. Jazmin and Sam were on last year's State team that won a trophy at State so this must be especially difficult for them, but we hope all of the eighth grade girls will continue with cross country in high school.
On the boys side, the boys took on some great teams in their attempt to qualify for State. Oswego Plank has one of the best teams they have had in years, and we know how good Rotolo is based on all of the times we have seen them this season. Some good teams like Minooka and Bednarcik won't be taking their teams down to State next Saturday so our boys should feel privileged to make it out of such a great crop of teams. There is still work to do, though, and our boys can run even better in an attempt to earn a trophy on Saturday. Ivan Westcott ran an All-Sectional performance to finish in 9th place and Austin Hunter had a good race finishing in 24th place with a time of 11:24, but we will need some more runners stepping up to earn a trophy at State.
Tickets for State
Anyone who wants to attend State as a fan can ride the fan bus on Saturday. Tickets can be picked up from Coach Martin any day this week, or from Awards Night this Wednesday. Runners will need a ticket to take the bus on Saturday, which will leave at 7:30am from the middle school.
Awards Night
Awards Night is this Wednesday at 5pm. The invitations said it would be in the cafeteria at YMS, but because of a conflict we will have to move it to the gym. We hope everyone can attend as every runner will get a certificate and we will also hand out our annual awards such as MVP, Most Improved, and the Coaches Award.
Ron Mattson on October 12, 2015
For Friday/Saturday trip to Normal, I've got a 15 passenger late model van I'll be taking down on Friday. So if you'd like to car pool, feel free to contact me at 630-552-8809 / ronmattson777@gmail.com.
