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GETTING INTO THE SWING OF XC: WEEKS 2 and 3!

The past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy for our Cross Country team. The girls did the annual Two Mile Time Trial, volunteered at the Women's 4 Miler, and participated in their first meet of the season. Hope you enjoy this quick recap of all things XC!

Last Wednesday the girls ran their first timed, hard effort of the season by doing the 2 Mile Time Trial at Henley. After warming-up, they took off on a flat course that combines the gravel track and adjacent soccer field. The conditions were pretty good, and the girls performed very well, with the vast majority running much faster than they did last year on the same course. This time trial is a fairly good indicator of where the girls are going into the season. Great job, ladies!

Volunteering at the Women's 4 Miler

Every year the local high school cross country teams give back to the running community by volunteering at the Women's 4 Miler. Our job is to block driveways west of the starting line. However, that is not all we do! Our team, being the wonderful, energetic group that it is, BRINGS THE FUN to this already incredible event. The girls do a PINK-OUT, wearing as much pink as they can to support breast cancer awareness and research. They all bring music, dance, and CHEER the entire time. I am always told that our girls are the most enthusiastic and supportive cheerers along the whole course! 

We also had some members of our team and families participate! Several team-moms ran or walked the race (I only got photos of a few). Also, 8th grader Cole Arbour raced it, finishing 1st for her age group and running near the front of the 1, 700 runners! Way to represent, Cole! 

OUR FIRST MEET: KNIGHT'S CROSSING!

Yesterday we started off our racing season early with a trip down to the Knight's Crossing Invitational in Salem, Virginia. We chose to go to this meet as it is the site of the State Meet in November, so it is a good way to preview the course and knock some rust off our our racing legs. Also, it is a flat course, so it is a more gentle introduction to racing for some of our newer runners on the team. 

I was very impressed with how the team performed on what turned out to be a somewhat hot day at times. The first race of the season is always a bit stressful, and the girls handled it well. See below for some highlights and fun photos.

Both 8th Graders in the top 35 out of 391 Finishers!

Our 8th graders proved their strength, determination, and GRIT yesterday at the Knight's Crossing 4k. Cole ran a blazing 6:53 pace to finish in 17:01, fighting off a final stretch challenge to finish in 5th place. Sarah ran strong and was near the front of the huge field from the start. She finished in 33rd place with a great time of 18:50. Her pace of 7:35 is one second faster  than her 2 mile time trial from the previous week. Way to go, speedy 8th graders!

Varsity 6th out of 39 teams!

Our "Red Race" (AKA Varsity) placed 6th out of a large field of 39 teams, right behind "friendly rival" Spotswood.  The conditions for the varsity race ended up being the worst of the day as the sun was fully out. The girls powered through it. The first race is a learning, or re-learning, experience in a lot of ways. Your body and mind have to relearn what racing feels like (that it is going to be hard, hurt much worse than practice, and make you think you can't do it).  All of the varsity finishers ran faster yesterday than they did in their first race last year, which bodes well for our prospects as a team this season. And remember, if this first race wasn't what you hoped for, it is still very early in the season. We have a lot of training and racing to come. You want to run your fastest in Novevmber, not barely into September. 

Very Strong Front Runner:

Emerson Ritter ran a great season-starting time of 18:48, finishing 5th out of 320 finishers! She got out fast (it looked for a little while like she was trying to get herself a new motorcycle...) and then ended up running a large portion of the race in what we call "no-man's land", meaning that she was completely alone between groups. She held on, though, and ran a solid time for this early race. Emerson continues to be a leader on and off the race course, and is one of our two co-captains. 

2 and 3 Got it Done:

Zoey Downer finished 27th with a great time of 20:06. The only time she has run faster than that was at the VA Showcase last year mid-season, in much cooler temperatures. This is exciting as it shows that Zoey will really drop time over the season.

Maddie Fritts finished in 38th place with a time of 20:26. Like Zoey, Maddie has only run faster last year at the VA Showcase, and yesterday's time was only 17 seconds slower! 

4-8 Run Strong Times!:

A cross country team is only as good as it's 5-7th runners, and luckily for us, we have huge depth this year. Even though Cam struggled yesterday and unfortunately wasn't able to finish the meet, and Hadley was out sick,  we had many strong runners in the 4-8 positions. 

Lily Z ran her first 5k for WAHS and to say she nailed it would be a huge understatement! She ran a SMART race, did not go out too fast, and moved up steadily throughout the last mile. She finished 4th for our team with an incredible debut time of 21:54. Lily put in the work this summer--she did every single run, even on vacation. She is living proof  that your XC season is made in the summer. Keep it up, Lily!

Daisy finished in the all-important 5th (and last scoring spot) for our varsity team with a solid time of  22:11.  Again, like both Zoey and Maddie, Daisy has only run faster than that last year at the VA Showcase. Daisy is another girl that did the work over the summer and always has a positive attitude. We can expect exciting things from her this season.

Elea Kate had a solid first 5k for WAHS, finishing in 22:58! Elea Kate ran the 4th fastest 2 mile Time Trial last week and has had many very good interval workouts. I am excited to see what she can do in the 5k a little later on in the season once she's had some more racing experience and long tempos under her belt. She is a fantastic, young addition to our varsity team!

Abbie had a very good first XC race as well, running nearly a minute and a half faster than her first race last year.  She finished with a strong season-opening time of  23:23. Abbie has a solid distance base right now as she put in the miles this summer, and has had some excellent distance runs lately.  I'm excited to see what she can accomplish this season once we get some more speed training under our belts in a few weeks. Abbie is leaning into her role as a team leader as well, and is one of our co-captains. 

Juliet also ran well for this time of year, finishing in 23:49.  She went out perhaps a bit fast for where she is now, and wasn't quite ready to maintain that pace. However, the fact that she ran a speedy 13:52  2 mile time trial last week (6th fastest on the team), which was 34 seconds faster than last year, bodes well for where Juliet is right now. She doesn't quite have the base to maintain that pace over a 5k yet, but she will when it counts! 

And getting back to Cam and Hadley: Despite their recent setbacks, these two young ladies are poised to do really big things this season. Cam ran the 5th fastest time trial last week, and Hadley ran the same time as Daisy (who finished 5th for our varsity team this week). There is still plenty of time in the season for these two Warriors to regroup and have great races! Keep your heads up!

JV Finishes 4th out of 17 teams!

Not only that, our JV team was the top 3A school, again showcasing our depth.  Also, we had 3 girls finish in the top 25 and earn medals! These girls raced hard in the mid-afternoon heat and did very well. I could not be more proud of them, and am excited to see what they can do as the season progresses.

The team was led by Hannah, who ran an incredibly smart first XC race! She finished in 18th place with a time of  23:13. This time would have placed her solidly in our varsity pack. Hannah moved up steadily throughout the race, staying focused the whole time. It is pretty clear to see that the sky is the limit for Hannah!

Ruby C ran a great race, finishing in 23:32 in 21st place. She went out a bit too fast, but pushed through the pain to finish strong. Ruby was injured the second half of last XC season, so we really didn't get to see what she could do. Her time yesterday was only 8 seconds off her PR from last year, so we know she is going to run much faster this year! 

Also in the top 25 was 23rd place finisher Chelsea Larson, with a time of 23:43! Chelsea has a lot of talent and has just recently started serious training. I'm excited for what she can accomplish this season!

Running 4th for the team was Finleigh, with a PR time of 24:14. Finleigh is one of JUST TWO girls that ran PRs yesterday! She has been working hard and it is already paying off.  She is also a budding team leader (even if she doesn't know it yet): she taught the girls the complicated Dogface Cheer yesterday,  and often leads drills (sometimes that is out of impatience to just get them started, but it still works!). Keep it up, Finleigh!

The 5th and 6th runners came in side-by-side and have the same finish time of 24:19. Anja and Louise worked together the whole race, pushing each other. Louise is brand new to XC--I've been trying for years to get her to come out. It finally worked! Both Louise and Anja also are on the mountain bike team, which is a great compliment to running! Both of these girls are working hard.

Now let's talk about Paige...Paige was uncharacteristically flailing about a bit right before the race. First, she realized she had forgotten her spikes when we went down to the line. Then she realized she had only put the spikes in one of her shoes. Then she realized she had forgotten the band to hold her glasses on! To top it all off, she ran the majority of the race with one shoe untied. Any other girl would have been so flustered that she would have run a bad race: BUT NOT PAIGE! She is the second of the two runners that ran a PR yesterday! She ran a speedy time of 25:05, and is poised to drop lots of time over the course of the season. Way to go, Paige!

Olivia: Olivia came in right behind Paige with a great debut race time of 25:11.  Olivia has high goals for herself this season, and has an incredible work ethic. She never cuts corners in her training, and it will pay off in the improvement she will see down the line.

First time racers Grace S (27:10), Ghiana (29:51), and Violet (30:30) stayed strong and steady the whole race. These young runners are great additions to the team and are working so hard. Good job!

I could not be more proud of Alex H! She ran her first 5k yesterday, and had a solid time of 29:23. She has come so far in the year that she has been running--last year she wasn't ready to run the 5k distance, but she never let up, worked hard all year, and is now ready to not only run it, but start working to drop her time. She is living proof of the power of persistence and never giving up!

Not every race will be your best. Sophia and Grace R struggled yesterday, but pushed through and finished the race. Even when a race doesn't go your way, keep working and know that good races are coming! 

FIRST FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL + PRACTICE!

The girls made it through their first full week of school and full XC pratice schedule this past week! It was nice to establish the routine that we will follow most non-meet weeks: one distance day, one interval / hills, etc. day, and one tempo / threshold day, and of course our all-important recovery / flexibility / strength day.  Below are a few highlights from this past week.

On Tuesday we started back up the much-loved TUESDAY TREAT DAY routine! This week featured giant cookies in 3 different flavors (chocolate chocolate chip, salted caramel chocolate chip, and S'mores).  I didn't have time to actually bake this week, so these were store bought. Hopefully this week I can bring something homemade!

Also on Tuesday some of the newer girls had a quick presentation on "Why we do what we do when we do it" in which I try to explain the different types of workouts we do in a training cycle and the reasons behind them. Parents, if you are interested, the slide deck is below. Soon we will have another meeting with the whole team to set goals. 

On Thursday we all gathered again after practice to hear our team captains, Abbie and Emerson, present on Team Traditions. They talked about our very unique team cheer (ask your daughter if she remembers it!), Secret Buddies, our annual Scavenger Hunt, Halloweeen Relays, temporary tatooes / glitter, etc. It was a nice way to show that even though we have a tough practice schedule, early morning workouts, and a hectic meet schedule, we also have a lot of fun together!

WHAT A BUSY FIRST WEEK OF CROSS COUNTRY!

I was trying to think of all of the things that our XC Girls had to deal with this week, and this was the short list:

• Getting back from XC Camp on Monday (12 girls)

• Starting back at school Wednesday (EVERYONE!)

• Lightening on Day 1 of practice causing lots of confusion, waiting, soaked 8th Graders, and intense, crazy TAG in the hallways.

• Very hard combo workout in the heat on Thursday (hills, tempo, track all in one workout!)

• Two to three early morning XC days in a row: Friday morning practice, Saturday morning practice + hike / swim, and Sunday morning volunteering at the tri.

• Track Reunion on Saturday

I have probably left something out. Either way, if your daughter seemed a bit tired this weekend, it wasn't unfounded!

Sugarhollow RUN, HIKE, PLUNGE!

The team met way down at the end of Sugarhollow Reservoir for our annual RUN, HIKE, SWIM event! The girls first did a challenging distance run that included a long tempo portion. Once we all made it back to the cars, we hiked a little under a mile to Snake Hole, a beautiful little swimming spot. All of the girls "did the plunge", with various degrees of coercion involved! See below for some hilarious pictures.

Saying Goodbye to Our "Super-Seniors" Anja Le Fleur and Leanne Hodgson

Track Reunion

On Saturday after the Sugarhollow fun, many of the girls on the team went to the track reunion lunch at WAHS. There were athletes in attendance from as far back as the class of 1980! Marie Whitten, long-time head track coach, was honored, and it was wonderful to reconnect with some of our former runners. Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior!

Volunteering at the Cal-Tri at Walnut Creek Park

A good number of XC runners and parents helped out this Sunday at the Cal-Tri event at Walnut Creek Park. It was an EARLY start and turned into a hot and humid day, but the volunteers were so helpful and the event ran smoothly. I can't thank you enough for helping out--I know it was hard to get up that early, but you were all fantastic! 

All of the previous pictures, posts, etc. are now on the "Archives 2023-2025" page.