They say the third time is a charm. Our third time at Willow Metropark certainly lived up to that adage. The team turned in a team victory with 17 points (15 is a perfect score in XC), an overall individual champion, several PR's and a first time 5k finisher. What a great day for Saline XC!
In addition to all of this, we saw the Saline Girls XC team culture on full display as teammates cheered each other to the finish. It was the last race of the season where we all start at the same time. The team, led by the captains, made sure everyone was supported all the way through the finish. This is a result of the culture the captains have worked very hard to create. They started their work in May and have never stopped. It's appropriate as we approach our last full team race of the season to say "thank you" to captains Laney Alig, Avery Bogdasarian, Bailey Burt, Dori Cook, Nancy Gage, Rebecca Rummel and Lucy Woehlke. Your positive contributions to this team will be realized for many years to come. A thank you as well to the captains parents who do a ton of work to make things happen for the team - from organizing camp to taking amazing pictures to feeding the team after races - we appreciate all that you do!
Let's start the race results with the biggest news of the day. After joining our team late in the summer, Senior Maerta Haegerdal ran in her first race of the season. The Swedish exchange student completed her first 5k in a PR time of 39:54. The entire team cheered Maerta as she finished the race. We are so proud of the hard work she has put in this season. We are also glad she decided to participate in the cross country program. Way to go, Maerta!!
Working our way through the PR lists, we next get to Shelby Fordeck. Shelby is a steady worker who has seen this course a few times this season. On her last trip of the year to Willow, she ran a PR of 31:10.
A few spots ahead of Shelby was Elizabeth Giles finishing in a PR of 28:24. This freshman continues to improve each time she gets on the course.
In her last race at Willow Metropark, senior Lindsey Clarke ran a season best 27:04. Impressive work for this athlete who also plays basketball and runs track.
A few spots ahead of Lindsey, Ally Southward turned in a 10 second PR over her Jambo 2 time.
In her final trip around Willow Metropark of her high school running career, Lucy Woehlke ran a season best time of 23:40 - good for 75th place.
Just ahead of Lucy was a very fun race to watch. Eliza Farr and Shyla Smith work so well together in each race. This race was no different and they pushed each other to a pair of PR's.
Mimi Staton continued her PR string running 22:50 to finish in 67th place. 15 spots ahead of her was senior Avery Bogdasarian with a season best 22:03.
Kylie Warner ran a 3 second PR of 21:51. This junior has seen a steady stream of improvement this season.
Juniors Lizzie Thibeault (21:20) and Madi Rogan (20:28) each turned in season bests at Willow.
Senior Nancy Gage, despite a last minute equipment issue that had both of us sprinting to the start (she's in shape, I am not 😀), turned in another PR running 19:36, finishing in 6th place overall.
Corynn Gady was 2nd overall, in a season best time of 18:38, narrowly missing her PR (18:37). Most importantly from a team perspective, she narrowed the gap to Laney Alig who finished in first (yes, that means she is a champion!) with a PR of 18:27.
The coaches are very excited to watch everyone run fast times at Jambo 3 on Thursday when we are next in action. Judging from the times we saw at Willow, the best is yet to come for the athletes this season.