Time Trial

The Time Trial!!  Saline athletes have always looked forward to this annual event at the end of summer (gulp! school starts in a week).  Coach Spina did a very nice job writing up the history of the time trial in his race notes.  I will refer you there for that information.  We did make a decision to move the time trial to our new cross country course.  It makes for easy viewing of the races and the athletes appreciate the near continual support as they take 3 spins around the course.  Coach Spina and I are still working to get the course accurately laid out.  Friday's time trial course ran a little long.  In the end, all of the athletes ran the same distance and they did so quite well.  

Even before the racing started, we received some really good news.  Ayla Stager, who was injured earlier this year in a non-running injury, was cleared to start running again.  It was great to see her joining teammates for a modified warm up.  We're looking forward to having her back! 

As we got ready to race, we huddled as a group.  Everyone was encouraged to trust their training and enjoy the day.  We also continued a tradition that was started last year of a "dad joke" at the starting line.  After the dad joke, it was time for the ultimate hype woman, Captain Sienna Trier, to take over.  She did a great job, but we have a little work to do on our pre-race cheer 😂. 

For the 2nd year in a row, we had a freshman take home top honors in the time trial.  McKinley Jones was the individual champion in 19:14.  McKinley did a nice job running with the pack for the first loop of the course, got an idea of how the course was laid out, and then made her move at the start of the 2nd loop.  She was followed by another freshman, Savannah Staton (19:52) who told me the 3rd mile of her first 5k was "tough" but she was able to get through it.  We knew she would be able to do it - she has had some great practices with us this summer.  Mackenzie Sellenraad (20:03), who has had an outstanding summer, was the 3rd finisher.  This is a young lady on a mission and she is has put a lot into her summer training.  It certainly showed on Friday!  Grace Roth (20:17) was our 4th finisher.  In my opinion, she had one of the best performances of the day.  She's a gutsy runner and she proved that to everyone on Friday night. Corynn Gady (20:26) finished in 5th and she was followed by Sophie Roth (20:38).  Abby Roth rounded out our trio of Roth's in 7th place with a 21:52. 

Addie Turck (22:29), another member of this amazing freshmen group, was our 8th finisher.  The coaches have noticed how strong she is in workouts, now it's time for everyone else to know as well.  Veteran runner Kylie Warner (24:17) ran a very smart time trial, finishing in 9th place.  Mahalia Staton (24:34) who is also playing field hockey, finished in a very strong 10th place.  

The coaches are proud of the work all athletes have put in this summer.  That hard work is showing up and we will continue to put in the efforts needed to have a successful season for everyone on the team.  

Team captains Lizzie Thibeault, Madi Rogan, Grace Roth, Sienna Trier, Corynn Gady and Abby Roth created teams for the time trial.  Ultimately, Team Abby won by 5 points over Team Lizzie.  Team Corynn took 3rd place.  

All results from the time trial can be found here.

Our runners are next in action on Thursday, back on the same course as the time trial (perhaps a little shorter 😀).  The girls will race at 10:40am.