Saline's cross country teams are two of the most productive XC programs in Michigan (fact check: Saline boys are #2 and the girls are #1 D1 programs since 2000), so it was something of a shame that we have not had a home course since about 2010 AND there has never been a high school SEC XC race at our high school.

It makes the XC gods happy that we finally had a chance to showcase the programs.

It took a lot of work and planning, so a long list of thanks: all of our parent volunteers, particularly Gwen Fredrickson and Kevin Rogan, for keeping the kids on the right path; the coaches for the extra work that goes into planning for, setting up, hosting, and tearing down an xc course; the athletic department, particularly Jeff Pike, for being responsible for handling "everything that goes wrong" on race day; and our grounds crew, particularly Jacob and Cody, who cleared the path and painted the course for us.

Many hands make really cool XC races work!

On September 28, we celebrate Victors Day – the anniversary of the program's very first win. Jamboree #2 was on the eve of that special holiday.

This article, written in 1970, talks about that first win, the runners, and the hopes of Coach Jim Wicker for the program. I love that last bit about interest and growth.

In Saline XC and track, we talk about magic. We talk about how hard work by a lot of people over a long period of time tends to look like magic to those on the outside.

And so after a few months and years of hard work by athletes, coaches, and parents, we were not surprised to find more magic this year. I love that it arrived on the eve of Victors Day, on our home course, during homecoming week.

The entire varsity lineup had outstanding performances on Wednesday, and it showed in the team scores. I'd tell you about the boys that raced well, but I'd just be listing all 10 of them.

What really matters is that they responded like athletes to the disappointing performance at Jackson, where we finished 13th. Some mental lapses, hot starts, and illness in a few key spots put us back on our heels...but not for long! 

On Wednesday, those same boys were ready to race, and it was a world of difference. Athletes.

The end result was a runner-up finish in a race that was a lot tighter up front than it probably should have been.

Szalay continued his monster freshman season with a 16:09 finish on Wednesday. There have been a lot of really fast kids to wear the Saline jersey over 53 years. Jake is currently the second-fastest freshmen we've ever had, and he is just behind Logan Wetzel's 16:03 freshmen record. You may have heard of that guy.

If you look to the far left of the image here, you'll see Noah Brown, and his face captures how we all feel about this: joy and amazement.

Szalay was not alone in putting his name in the record books. Jack Klein's 16:44 makes him our 8th fastest freshmen ever. Jake Cole's 16:54 puts him as number 10.  It was also the first trip under 17:00 for Jack and Jake.

Truman Johnson also put his name onto the all-time senior list, while Brennan LaRusso joined our top-ten sophomores. There's a lot of talent in the room right now.

Other guys to break 17:00 for the first time on Wednesday include Koen Lanker, Will Rosales, and Saman Meshinchi.

Carlos Basulto led the freshmen squad with a solid effort. The freshmen race allows those kids to see how they stack up against their class, and it was great to see the depth of that class on display.

Walper, Rummel, and Marowelli all had particularly good days, each running near or at PR pace on the day.

Saturday morning, Collin Eckermann's performance was the easiest story to see becaue he won the whole reserve race in a PR of 17:56! Collin had a rough start this fall because of illness, but he's clearly turned the corner and has earned himself a nice new sub-18:00 status!

There were more than a few solid races in the reserve race, including Noah Brown's follow-up PR after his PR at Jambo #2. Adrian Sieh is another Saline guy that found his way to a PR after missing the chance to race at Jambo #2.

Junior Ethan Hornberger didn't look great in the finish, but he gutted his way through to the end. He posted one of the largest PRs on the day and emptied his stomach just after finishing. "It was worth it!" he said after dropping over 30 seconds on the hot day.

He is one of several juniors showing a lot of skills as athletes, teammates, and leaders. That balance of the three is what we want, and Ethan has it figured out!

Will Rosales absolutely conquered late-September. He won back-to-back reserve races, including the New Boston/Huron and Jackson Reserve races. And then on Wednesday, he broke 17:00 for the first time! After being sidelined by injuries earlier in the month, this is quite a finish to September for the junior.