The Bret Clements/Bath invite is something of an alumni love-fest, particularly with the Spartans. A large group joined us at the tent prior to the start of the race, and I can't tell you how awesome it was to see Kavanaugh, Burt, and the rest of the gang! 

The night before we dined with Bryan Adamovicz, a 2016 graduate, that shared his company and a bit of insight with the boys. 

And on the starting line, each of the runners carried a bit of wisdom written on the hem of their jerseys by a graduate. In the photo here, Szalay, a freshman, shares the note left by John Giles, another 2016 graduate.

Even with a mediocre race, Truman can lead the way for Saline. This time, he got out well, but some mid-race lapses in focus put him in in the middle of no-man's land. His race turned into a solo 16:17.

Brennan had a small late-race lapse, but he recovered quickly and earned himself a 10 second PR. His consistency as Saline's #2 is important for our competitive success.

Jake's sub-17 race moves him further up the freshmen all-time list, and the season is just starting! He closed the gap on LaRusso and ran well in a competitive environment.

Saman is having an incredible season, but all he knows is the terrible 8 seconds separating him from sub-17 status. He jumped nearly 30 seconds ahead of where he was a week ago and didn't think about it for a moment.

I like the remind the kids that our 1 and 2 runners earn medals; 3 thru 7 runners earn trophies. As our fifth man, Koen is learning that so much of the team outcome rests on him. He has the dubious honor of being the team's leading scorer. He's also 27 seconds faster than he was last week.

Jack was our tenth man at the time trial and has quickly climbed into the 6 spot. He went out a little hot at Bath and paid the price later, but he's incredibly coachable and won't make that mistake twice. His 30 second PR puts him 8 seconds outside of locking up his varsity letter.

Liam is bouncing back from a bout of illness, so Saturday's race was not his finest performance. He managed a season-best time after hanging on through a rough second half of the race. A rested and healthy Newton will be back on the starting line Wednesday for Jambo #1.

2023 was the billionth time Saline has finished as runners-up at Bath/Bret Clements. The winner changes from year to year, but Saline has that small trophy locked down.

There are two varieties:

1) the Saline XC parents generously support the runners with Bennie's pretzels, fresh fruit, and a bunch of other healthy recovery foods.

2) on the way home, we sometimes stop at a local gas station to grab some sugary snacks. It's a well-earned moment of indulgence  for kids that burn 10,000 calories a day.

Jacob Cole – that's what nobody but Athletic.net calls him – led the reserve squad at Rambling Rock with his first trip under 18 minutes and a huge PR. Fellow freshmen in the lineup included Michael Munson, who PR'd by a bit, and Ryan Steben. 

Rosales was the #2 and used the meet for a season PR. Roehm and Endres both ran PRs, which is tough for older kids to do in an early season and crowded field. Mahler finished scoring, running a season-best 19:32.

Andrew Irgang was the first reserve runner to cross the line with a PR. It was also his first trip under 20:00!

Gabe Warren and William VanHaaften both debuted on Saturday, running their first races in a Saline jersey and both finishing just under 20:30.

Chris Walper dropped 46 seconds and will now be searching for his first race in the teens!

Marcus Stanish did even better, dropping over 50 seconds.

Reiss Marowelli dropped even more and nearly skipped right over the 27s!