The meet after Milaca is usually a rough one for Central. We are still floating on that high from the hundreds of runners in our races and thousands of fans cheering for us as we run. But this was a surprise-filled meet, in a good way! Especially in the varsity races.
The girls ran strong. There was a lot of pressure on us, trying to perfect score so no one would have to wear pigtails on Monday, but unfortunately we were a couple points short. Although we didn't get what we originally wanted, we all ran better first and second miles than at Milaca, which is very uncommon at this meet. It was also a lot of girls' first 4k of the season and I was very impressed with how well Lexi Spinetta, Aislinn Hunter, and Megan Peck did! They got up in the top 10 in their first Varsity races of the year, and for some of them, their life!
The boys' Varsity race was equally as exciting! Leif won for the 5th time this year, which is super exciting, but I honestly thought the finishes of David and Richie were some of the most exciting of the day! David was in 2nd for a lot of the race, but sometime during the middle, Ty Boucher, a Red River runner, had passed him. Knowing this could be his chance to get back on the polls, David kicked it into high gear and passed him right before the final hill, but Ty was close behind. On the final 100 meter stretch, David was passed, but he didn't give up for one second. He sprinted harder than I've ever seen him go before, and passed Ty last second and got his amazing 2nd place finish with an equally amazing finish. Richie may not have gotten 2nd, but he came and he raced an amazing race. He, too, was just meters behind one of our fellow Red River friends/rivals. Knowing this would be a
crucial point opportunity, Richie performed one of his famous sprints to pass the runner and help lower our score! Shay, running his first race of the season, came in 4th for our team and started out his season with a nice PR. Zach Nelson also PR'd nicely to make our whole top 5 at 19:00 minutes or under!
Overall, I was impressed by our EGF meet results and hope this is a great step forward to our state meet coming up!
Rachel Cox - Senior Captain
Sorry everyone for making the blog so late! I'm pretty sure it was Leif's turn, but he had a busy schedule, so I'm going to take over this week! This week, we had the East Grand Forks Invitational. Although its not a particularly fast course, it is a great meet because our runners get a chance to run in front of their family and friends. Its even better because the meet is small, so our runners who maybe don't always place top 20 get to place up there in front of Grand Forks.
The meet was great this year! A lot of our boys stepped up and ran a varsity 5k. This allowed a lot of them to establish a place in our team's top 10. Being in the top 10 is a big deal because the top 10 runners get to run at state. Our upper boys also had some pretty solid races. Our boys were able to take places 1 (Leif), 2 (Me), 6 (Richie), 14 (Shay), and 16 (Zach). Every one of these guys (except Leif) placed higher than usual. I'm really surprised Red River beat us, even if it was only by 7 points.
This meets particular "stand outs" were Shay Doward and Zach Nelson. This meet was Shay's first meet of the season. There's been a lot of pressure on him, since he is expected to be either the number 3 or number 4 runner. At EGF, Shay was our number 4 guy. His time was a little slow compared to what we expected. I talked to Shay, and he believes he has more potential than what was shown at EGF. The course's slow-ish design and Shay's cold probably played into that. I really think that he will surprise EVERYONE at EDC and State. The other guy that stood out to me was Zach Nelson. Zach's been working hard all season, and his been a solid number 4 runner up until EGF with Shay showing up. If you talk to Zach, you can tell he is an xc runner. He loves the sport (or he is a really good actor). Thursday's meet was Zachs first time placing top 20 in a Varsity meet. Before the race, I was talking to him, and he said that his goal in the race was to place top 20. He reached his goal with about 21 seconds to spare. It's really awesome to see a guy place top 20 for the first time.
The girls made a bet with Coach Allan. If they perfect scored the meet, Coach would paint his nails. If the girls did not perfect score, every one of them had to wear pigtails the next day! That was certainly a sight to see! I guess they can't be too disappointed, though. They did win the meet. I know Karly already gets a ton of recognition, but I'd like to emphasize just how far ahead she was at this meet. Karly placed first with a 14:45. The next runner (Alexis Roehl) ran a 15:45. Karly was an entire minute ahead of the rest of the race!
As you can see, Central has had another successful meet. The season's finishing up quickly! In less than two weeks, EDC will be here!
David Hettich - Jr Captain
The girls ran strong. There was a lot of pressure on us, trying to perfect score so no one would have to wear pigtails on Monday, but unfortunately we were a couple points short. Although we didn't get what we originally wanted, we all ran better first and second miles than at Milaca, which is very uncommon at this meet. It was also a lot of girls' first 4k of the season and I was very impressed with how well Lexi Spinetta, Aislinn Hunter, and Megan Peck did! They got up in the top 10 in their first Varsity races of the year, and for some of them, their life!
The boys' Varsity race was equally as exciting! Leif won for the 5th time this year, which is super exciting, but I honestly thought the finishes of David and Richie were some of the most exciting of the day! David was in 2nd for a lot of the race, but sometime during the middle, Ty Boucher, a Red River runner, had passed him. Knowing this could be his chance to get back on the polls, David kicked it into high gear and passed him right before the final hill, but Ty was close behind. On the final 100 meter stretch, David was passed, but he didn't give up for one second. He sprinted harder than I've ever seen him go before, and passed Ty last second and got his amazing 2nd place finish with an equally amazing finish. Richie may not have gotten 2nd, but he came and he raced an amazing race. He, too, was just meters behind one of our fellow Red River friends/rivals. Knowing this would be a
crucial point opportunity, Richie performed one of his famous sprints to pass the runner and help lower our score! Shay, running his first race of the season, came in 4th for our team and started out his season with a nice PR. Zach Nelson also PR'd nicely to make our whole top 5 at 19:00 minutes or under!
Overall, I was impressed by our EGF meet results and hope this is a great step forward to our state meet coming up!
Rachel Cox - Senior Captain
Sorry everyone for making the blog so late! I'm pretty sure it was Leif's turn, but he had a busy schedule, so I'm going to take over this week! This week, we had the East Grand Forks Invitational. Although its not a particularly fast course, it is a great meet because our runners get a chance to run in front of their family and friends. Its even better because the meet is small, so our runners who maybe don't always place top 20 get to place up there in front of Grand Forks.
The meet was great this year! A lot of our boys stepped up and ran a varsity 5k. This allowed a lot of them to establish a place in our team's top 10. Being in the top 10 is a big deal because the top 10 runners get to run at state. Our upper boys also had some pretty solid races. Our boys were able to take places 1 (Leif), 2 (Me), 6 (Richie), 14 (Shay), and 16 (Zach). Every one of these guys (except Leif) placed higher than usual. I'm really surprised Red River beat us, even if it was only by 7 points.
This meets particular "stand outs" were Shay Doward and Zach Nelson. This meet was Shay's first meet of the season. There's been a lot of pressure on him, since he is expected to be either the number 3 or number 4 runner. At EGF, Shay was our number 4 guy. His time was a little slow compared to what we expected. I talked to Shay, and he believes he has more potential than what was shown at EGF. The course's slow-ish design and Shay's cold probably played into that. I really think that he will surprise EVERYONE at EDC and State. The other guy that stood out to me was Zach Nelson. Zach's been working hard all season, and his been a solid number 4 runner up until EGF with Shay showing up. If you talk to Zach, you can tell he is an xc runner. He loves the sport (or he is a really good actor). Thursday's meet was Zachs first time placing top 20 in a Varsity meet. Before the race, I was talking to him, and he said that his goal in the race was to place top 20. He reached his goal with about 21 seconds to spare. It's really awesome to see a guy place top 20 for the first time.
The girls made a bet with Coach Allan. If they perfect scored the meet, Coach would paint his nails. If the girls did not perfect score, every one of them had to wear pigtails the next day! That was certainly a sight to see! I guess they can't be too disappointed, though. They did win the meet. I know Karly already gets a ton of recognition, but I'd like to emphasize just how far ahead she was at this meet. Karly placed first with a 14:45. The next runner (Alexis Roehl) ran a 15:45. Karly was an entire minute ahead of the rest of the race!
As you can see, Central has had another successful meet. The season's finishing up quickly! In less than two weeks, EDC will be here!
David Hettich - Jr Captain
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