After a dissapointing district meet, I hoped to make a comeback at states, reestablishing myself as the real D5 top runner. I really didn't want a repeat of States '04, where I barely eked out not placing last, ran my slowest time of the year, and ended up third-to-last or so for D5 runners. With that experience under my belt, and having a much better idea of what to expect, I went to Hershey with anticipation.
We left on Friday around noon, piled into two school vans and full of excitement. After a reasonably unevenful trip--a.k.a. no flat tires--except for a very early pit stop and Mel getting upset at me, we arrived at the course in Hershey and tumbled out of the vans to go purchase PIAA Championship paraphenalia before walking/running the course as our workout for the day. This time around, it didn't seem nearly as bad; maybe it was because we only walked one mile and ran the last two instead of walking the first two and running the third, like last year. Either way, I was much less daunted by the course than last year.
Next, we checked into our hotel, checked out the facilities, changed, grabbed a couple cookies from the cookie jar at the front desk, and then clambered back into the vans to go find Coach Hamilton's sister's house to eat dinner. Hamiton had never been to her [new] house before, so it was new to all of us. His sister and her husband had put together a delicious meal of spaghetti (runners need their pasta :-), salad, fresh bread, and fruit. However, when we first arrived, the food wasn't quite completely ready, so they showed us their literal home theater in their basement: two rows of three recliners with floor lights, plush carpet, and a projector TV. Needless to say, we vegged out there until the food was ready. After eating and talking for a while, we went back to the hotel for the night.
Once we had finished getting our spikes and jerseys ready for the race by lacing timing chips onto our shoes and pinning our numbers onto our tops, everyone except Brit and Mariss (who had decided to make it an early night) hit the pool for a while, where we played Marco Polo and a few other games that I really didn't understand. I was king of Marco Polo, though! :-D Tired and ready for bed, the eight of us went back to our rooms; Isaac, Tom and I watched some bull riding before shutting off the TV and going to sleep. Since the girls were the first race of the day, with the starting gun at nine, we had to be up reasonably early so we'd have time for people to start moving, shower if they needed to, eat, and load up the vans again. In the guys' room, we set the alarm for five till six, and when it went off, we all woke up just fine...with nothing to do until seven when the breakfast room opened. Isaac showered and Tom and I just relaxed until about a quarter till when we called Mel to check if they were up... They were, and most of them had already left for breakfast--without letting us know the room was open! We went to breakfast, ate up, and then headed off for a long day on the course.
The girls did amazingly well, most of them getting an excellent start in the huge field of runners. Brittany even led the race for a good part of the initial start before Carly Seymour took the lead permanently. When the girls went by Kristy and I, Ashley was in solid medal contention, in the top 20 of the 288 girl race. Brit was holding her own in the top 50 at that point; Richelle and Valerie were pretty close to each other, Brooke was plugging away, and Marissa and Melanie were hanging in there. Ash stayed strong and earned the distinction of being only the second state medaller in cross country for District V, and the first for Bedford High School! We were infinitely excited for her. Brit finished in the top 70 I believe, Richelle just edged Val at the line, Brooke finished well in her last race as a senior, Riss moved up in the pack a little in the last mile, and Mel stuck it out the whole way through for her last cross country race in high school.
While the girls did excellent, with a strong showing from Bedford and District V, the boys did not fare nearly so well. After a decent start from me, I was towards the front of the 280+ field, but my sprint soon faded and I rapidly fell back. Watching the runners for guys I knew, the first I noticed were the trio from Bishop McCort, forging their way forward through the teeming mass; then I saw Vernon and Jake as they passed me going up the first hill, and I realized that Tom was right there beside me! We worked up that hill, and then he was carried ahead by the flood of runners moving by , and I was left behind. Next thing I knew was someone saying, “let's go Bedford” behind me, and I turned to see Zach moving up next to me. Next D5 to pass me was Troy, and by that time we weren't even to the mile yet. At the mile, I temporarily caught Tom as we flew down a hill, but he caught back up to me and moved ahead with Ben. Some time at that point, Isaac caught up to me, and so did Ernie, just before the two mile. In that section of the course, there is a huge, incredibly steep downhill, and it was just before that that Ernie had caught up to me. I steamrollered (not sure if that's actually a word, but it describes how I ran down that hill pretty well) down the slope, passing a few guys in the process. This time I was able to keep striding out beyond the bottom of the hill, unlike last year when I had been hampered by soft ground at the bottom. My two mile split was about 12:30, and I wasn't surprised, since my mile had been 6:00+. Another hill loomed, and I struggled up it, only to be passed by Ernie and then Tyler as we rolled down the other side. The last uphill came and went, and the last downhill did the same. Now we were into the final throes of the race, hoping to have enough to finish with. As I rounded the turn that began the 400m straightaway to the finish line, a kid next to me began to speed up. While I knew that he probably wouldn't be able to hold his pace the whole way, I moved with him so I wouldn't lose any more spots than I already had. Opposite me, another kid began to sprint, so I left the first guy and ran with the second. Then the most ego-crushing thing happened: a sophomore buddy of mine from Ridge, who's mom I work with, and who I normally beat by a minute or so, started to sprint past. If anything was going to fire me up in that race, that was it. No matter what happend, I was determined at that point to use every ounce of energy I had left to make sure I beat Charlie. I was surprised at how good of a kick he had, because every time I increased my speed a little, he stayed right with me, until finally we were at a dead sprint, 100m from the line. During the course of our race inside the race, we had caught up and passed Ernie, and now we came on to a small pack of runners; Charlie went around left, I went around right, and I poured everything on, beating him by two seconds. Besides that, there wasn't much face to save, as I finished out my high school cross country career with my slowest non-road race 5K time ever: 19:48. Even so, I remained consistent through my two years of running, with a time spread of less than two minutes: 18:06-19:48, and both of those times were posted this season.
Now I'm looking forward to see what I can do in track. I hope to be consistently under five minutes for the mile, which when looking at my first mile times at the majority of the races this year, shouldn't be a difficult feat. After all, if I can knock out two consecutive 5:14 miles on a hilly course, I should be able to crank out a 4:40 on the track for one mile. Here's hoping...

This year the district meet was a big dissapointment. In previous years, District V and VI teams have run a combined race, split up only for AA and AAA schools. That made for a very big race, but the competition was good, and I thought it went pretty well last year. However, such was not the case this year. The race officials thought it would be better to pare down the races even more, dividing up not only AA and AAA schools, but also D5 and 6 schools. The “problem” with that lies in the sheer size--or lack thereof--of District V: for girls, Bedford is the only full team, for guys, we have two, Chestnut Ridge and Bedford. So, needless to say, the size of our races were pitiful; we ran bigger dual meets than this race through the course of the season. I had my hopes set on running against the guys in D6, especially after finishing 20th at the LHAC meet against most of the same guys. Instead, I was pitted against Chestnut Ridge, Windber, Northern Bedford, Myersdale, and my fellow teammates, the guys that I had been running against all year, and had been beating all year. Unfortunately, that winning streak was at an end, in a similar manner to the district meet last year. Knowing that I would only be running against guys that I had beaten on one occasion--or more--throughout the season, I think I came in too confident that I would breeze through the race. Similar to the LHAC meet, my brain beat my body. I started reasonably strong; per usual, starting in the back-to-middle of the pack, and then moving rapidly up during the first stages of the race. By the time the small field of competitors had moved down the first hill, I had taken the frontrunner position. My main competition--or so I thought--would be one of my teammates, Isaac, a freshman who had really come on strong as the season progressed. Coming into the race, I thought I was mentally prepared to race myself, my best time, and whatever Isaac had up his sleeve. Such was not the case, as just after the mile, I noticed footsteps closing in on me, but as is my nature, I refused to look back to see who was closing, only assuming it to be Isaac. As we kept running, stride for stride, jostling each other as each of us tried to take the lead, we moved ahead rapidly through the course. Down the next hill, I found out who my friend was: Vernon from Chestnut Ridge. Needless to say, I was quite surprised to see him. Up until that point, the closest he had been to me--on a bad day--was four or five seconds, but he was usually about 30 seconds back. Now I found myself struggling to keep up with his newfound speed, and as we entered the final “lap” of the race, my legs felt like lead, and I started to drop back significantly. At first, I hoped to stay within reach of my kick, clinging to the thought that if, just if, I was close enough at the finish, my usually lethal kick would carry me past Vernon for the win... Nope. Instead of staying up on him, he kept gaining ground and I kept losing ground, until as we ran through the stretch where he had first passed me, Zach from NBC and also Isaac caught up to me. At that point, I could tell two things: I felt like I had nothing left, even though I hadn't run as hard as I could've, and Isaac had plenty left. He seemed reluctant to pass me, bearing with that the possibility of beating me. With a half mile left in the race though, pride was not something to be worried about, and I urged him to stay with Zach and try for a second place finish behind Vernon, who already had a comfortably commanding lead, and would end up winning the race. Isaac took off, doggedly hanging on to Zach with a tenacity that did carry him into second place. Zach took third, and in a repeat of last year, I finished fourth. I don't know exactly where the other guys finished behind me, only that I was terribly close to dropping even farther back in the pack thanks to blazing finishes by Jake and Troy, CR's next two runners. Also in a repeat of last year, Ridge took the team title, taking its top seven to the state meet. Vernon, besides going with the team, had the honor of District V individual champion, and was joined in his individual medalling effort by Isaac, Zach, myself, a guy from Windber, and Duff--who, in his last race as a senior, pushed his hardest and earned one more race in the season.
On the girls side, we breezed through and took the team championship, which, as I pointed out, could have been won even if all seven girls had walked the race, finishing in the last seven spots of the field...because they were the only full team represented in D5! However, they didn't take the easy way out, and they all pushed hard. Ashley, also dissapointed that she was denied the chance to run against Seymour, Yingling, and Strayer in D6, won her race in about 20:06, followed by Brit, Val, and Richelle. They just missed sweeping the field by one spot, as Myersdale's top girl snuck in between Richelle and Brooke to take the fifth place finish.
The next week brought the PIAA State Championships...

For some reason, I always (haha “always”...I ran this course twice) get a good start on this course. Maybe it's the competition, maybe it's the nature of the course, maybe it's the little hill that slows most everyone else down, I don't know. However, I do know that both times I got out ahead of the pack and stayed out, especially this year. The other guys and I were joking about having one of us sprint ahead and then take out the other runners as they passed, but we didn't actually carry that plan. Still, I got out right behind Dean, and held on as long as I could, although the other top runners moved by pretty quick. The first mile went by in 5:14--one second slower than the winning girl's first mile time! While the first mile was pretty much flat, the second was entirely rolling hills, up and down, up and down. Considering the hilly nature of that mile, I was stunned when I ran by the second mile and Nicole called out “10:28” for my time. To put that in perspective, most of my two mile splits in cross country have been in the high 11s or low 12s. Even in track, where I ran the 3200m, my best time of the year was 11:22 at the Bedford County Meet! Two goals of the race were to place/“plaque” (not “medal” because they awarded little plaques instead of medals) and break into the 17s. Anway, once I heard that time, I lost 17s. Immediately, I started thinking about my last mile and that I could run a 7-minute last mile and still easily hit a mid-17. I was thinking so much that I must have backed off way too much, and I ended up running an 18:06. That was my best time of the year, and by far my best chance at running under 18 minutes. It was a great example that I need to keep running my race, no matter what time I hear. However, I did achieve my second goal of placing--barely. I placed 20th out of 20 placewinners, the only 18+ time to place. It was a very good race though, and it told me that to keep my time down I have to push as hard as I can in the second mile.

Senior Night '05, our last home race. It was a pretty big dual meet, consequentally we split up the guys' and girls' races so the course wouldn't be as crowded. The girls ran their race first, so we split up and jogged around the course to cheer them on and do our warm-up at the same time. As usual, Ashley took off and never looked back, easily smoking the rest of the field in a decent time for our course. Our race was a little more challenging. Up to this point, I hadn't won a race since the first dual meet of the year at Cambria Heights. Richland had at least one guy that beat me (by almost exactly a minute) at the Lion Invitational a couple weeks prior, plus Ridge had guys that would definitely give me a run for my money. Coming into the meet, I really wanted to win it because it was my last home race as a senior, and I hadn't won yet on the home course (second to Dean against Westmont and an incredibly close third against Somerset); then when Ashley came cruising across the line I wanted even more to make it a double-win day. With all those thoughts in mind, I went out hard, letting Tom set his normal fast start pace for the first 800 or so before moving past him with Richland's first runner hot on my tail. We flew through the first mile around 5:15 and headed toward the golf course. At that point, he was giving me a little trouble, trying to get around me and grab the lead. I got a little ornery then, and there was a good bit of elbow nudging for the next half mile until we went across the bridge and then up the first hill. At the bridge I made sure to get on the outside of him to force him to slow down and go around in order to get on the bridge, therefore breaking his stride temporarily. He recovered quicker than I thought he would though, and was half a stride ahead until we got to the hill, but I sped up slightly and pushed him to the inside of the turn where there happened to be a thistle bush...not sure what happened after that though. I took off up the hill, peaked over the top, and fairly flew to the two-mile mark in a decent 11:40-something and pushed on into the third mile. I made it across the second bridge and started working up the second hill, and was able to take a quick glance at my competition because of the way the course doubles back. The Richland guy had dropped back a good way, and I knew I had the race at that point. Once I reached the summit of the hill, I cruised into the finish with a PR for the year of 18:22, on second off my previous best time for the year and the course. However, there may have been an error in my time, because they had Richland's runner marked down as 18:23, but on the video of the finish that Mom shot, I was at least seven seconds ahead. Either way, I won the race, and that was a good way to go out. :-)

Today it was cold, wet, and very rainy (that's probably what caused the wetness), and I ran my first 10K race. Aside from the cold and rain (it really wasn't too cold, just below 60), it was a pretty nice day to run. I considered getting up early and making oatmeal--the breakfast of champions--but I decided I needed sleep more than oatmeal, and I didn't get up until around 20 till eight (the race started at 8:30). When I finally got up, it was raining, as it had been for the past 24 hours and then some... I grabbed a couple granola bars, some water, my track jacket, wallet, and keys and headed out the door to the church where the race was starting from. Once I got there, I picked up my race packet (which I dropped off in the car after retrieving my race number from it) and warmed up with Chris. We ran a couple blocks and did part of our normal stretching routine before it was time to gather in the road for the start. Rick was there, as was a friend of his from Lock Haven; Logan and Troy were there from Ridge, and a couple other high schools were represented as well; the only “problem” was that all of them were running the 5K, which meant two things: (1) I would have no competition in my age group and (2) the 5K was going to be very fast and competitive. The gun went off, and so were we. Ryan bolted out to the front with his classic fast start, while I eased myself into race pace. After a few blocks, I had worked my way out of the pack and up to the leaders: Rick's friend and Mitchell from Tussey Mountain. The three of us were joined shortly by Rick, another guy, and eventually Troy, cranking out the first mile in somewhere around 5:30 I'm guessing. That was a really fast mile to start out with, especially for the course. After that, I must have really backed off, because my second mile was over eight minutes. Albiet that second mile was nearly entirely uphill, but even so, I could've ran it a little faster. I had forgotten to get my watch ready to start at the beginning of the race, so I started at the first mile marker instead. I led the 10K runners to the turnaround, then the eventual winner passed me and chugged up Back Springs Road with me in pursuit. I held my position in second overall uncontested until the third mile when I was joined by the eventual second place runner. We ran together for almost two miles before he started to pull away and the third place runner came and passed me up as well. My last mile must have been really, really slow, but I'm trying to figure out how it was so slow. I ran around a 5:30 first mile, followed by an 8-something, a 7-something, a 6-something, and another 7-something for the first five miles, but that's only 33:30 total time if each time was close to the minute. My final time was 43:15, which if my estimates are correct would put my last 1.2 miles at nearly 10 minutes. Maybe the odd seconds on each of my miles added up to a couple minutes. Overall, I placed fourth, but I was only one second behind the third place guy. I was pleased with my time, even though I had kind of hoped I could run sub-40. I basically doubled my average 5K time on the course, so I kept a pretty good pace, especially for going out flying with that 5:30!

In the middle of about half a million farms, sits Central High School. Okay, not quite half a million, but it sure smells like it! The course really wasn't too bad, except for one really long hill, that was steep enough to qualify as a hill, but not steep enough to really drive up and get any speed. On that hill is where I lost the guys' race and where Central's first girl pulled away from a couple of our girls during their race. I led the race--by a hair--for the first mile and a half or so before Central's guy started to pull away, and after he got ahead, I just let him go. I should've pushed a lot harder; I only ran an 18:57, which should've been a lot better. On our course just two days before I had ran 34 seconds faster, plus I had beaten their top runner the last time we ran against each other (at the Lion Invitational). That was very dissapointing, especially since I could've easily PRed again. However, the boys' team finally won for the second time this year! ...The last time we did that was at the very first dual meet! Next week is our last dual meet, against Richland and Chestnut Ridge. Hopefully we can pull of at least one more win, and I would really like to finish first in the race, since I haven't won a race yet on our home course.

A lot of people having been saying I'm an “awesome runner” or that I had an “awesome race.” I'd just like to point out that I'm not awesome. I've been blessed with being able to run and run well, but that's not completely my doing: God gave me that gift, and he's the one that is truly awesome. I appreciate the encouragement and “praise,” so to speak, for doing well, but I don't want to be known as awesome.
Conversing with other runners in this past year, I have found that running movies are popular--for obvious reasons. What I found surprising though is that many guys mentioned Chariots of Fire as one of their favorites. I find one particular quote of the movie particularly powerful. Eric Liddell was back in Scotland, talking with his sister about his parents expectations for his future plans of being a missionary to China: “I believe God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run I feel His pleasure. To win is to honor Him.” He loved to run, but he loved God so much more that he was willing to give up his virtually gauranteed gold medal in the 100m dash because the race was scheduled to occur on a Sunday. Instead, he later ran the 400m dash, a race he had rarely competed in or trained for, and he won it in a then world-record time. Anyway, all that to say that in an echo of Liddell, God has made me fast; I can train as hard as I want, but unless God blesses me with success, I will be just another runner out there. I'll accept the “good job” and “great race,” but please keep “awesome” reserved for my Awesome God.

As much as I dislike our home course, I've been doing consistently well on it this year. When last year it was the only course besides states that I ran in the 19s, this it has been nearly the opposite: both of my times so far have been solidly in the 18s. Today was no exception. I went into the race pretty optimistic about a good time because I knew Somerset had a few fast guys that I could pace off of like I had with Mitch at Forest Hills. It didn't turn out quite as I expected: I ended up being the pacemaker for the first two and a half miles of the race (I guess I could just say the vast majority of the race, since it's only 3.1 miles!) before Somerset's top two caught up to me and really made it a race. Up until that point, I could just hear them trotting along behind me, pushing me along, testing my limits. When they first caught up I was a little worried that I would fall behind like I've done so many other times, but I made a concious effort to hold on, and the farthest I got was about 10m. When the three of us made the last turn off the practice football field and down the home stretch through the clump of trees 200m from the finish, I started my kick. Ten meters was a good bit of ground to pick up in the final stretch of the race, but I covered it in what seemed like record time, and if the finish had been a few feet longer, I would've caught both of them. Dad took a really neat picture of our finish. At first, he tried to argue that I was in second, but after a closer look at the photograph, we saw that I was actually third, but it was really really close. I'll add the picture once I get it cropped...

*Nearly two months later...*


If you don't know which runner is me, I'm the second from the left...I'm also the only runner in blue. :-P

19:47 6th

18:48 2nd

19:17.5 36th

Much, much better did this race go. :-) No, I didn't win this time, but that was perfectly alright... Okay, not perfectly, but it was something I could deal with since I ran a very good time, tying my second-best ever and only seven seconds off my PR. When I found out McCort was going to be there (we had figured there could be another team besides Forest Hills and ourselves, but it was something of a shock for three other teams to show, including Chestnut Ridge) I knew I probably wouldn't be the first across the line, since Mitch had placed third at the Forest Hills Invitational on Saturday in something like 17:27. My goal was to stick to him for as long as I could, letting him set the pace. Besides my personal goal of hitting an 18 and placing in the top five, I was given the “assignment” of beating every one of the guys from Ridge. So, standing at the start--right next to Mitch, I may add--there was a lot of pressure on me to perform. The gun went off and we were off; one thing I really noticed about the race was the comfortably fast start. It wasn't a all-out bolt for the first turn, instead we went out at a good pace, which was optimum for me. I tend to start out way too fast and then burn out halfway through. This time I stayed in the front pack (which was comprised of Mitch, another McCort runner, and a couple Forest Hills guys...and myself of course), right off Mitch's shoulder most of the time, until right around the two mile. My first mile split was 5:35, and I followed that with a 6:08, making it my best two-mile time of the year. By that time, I had dropped back into fourth place, but was still running very well, only 50m or so behind Mitch out in front. What really ended up draining me--or rather what I let drain me--was the second loop up a long hill through the woods. I drove up the first part (since Coach Hamilton and the girls were yelling at me as I went up...) but it seemed like my legs wouldn't get me the rest of the way up if I kept going like I was, so I slacked off a little and got passed back into fifth place. Once I hit the top, now behind two McCort and two Forest Hills runners, I rolled down the hill, trying to stay as close as possible in this last leg. We hurtled out of the woods, around a turn, and then back into the woods for a short 100m jaunt. After exiting the trees for the last time in the race, we clattered along the blacktop before hitting the grass again for the last quarter mile. As I panted along the practice soccer field with the finish line almost in sight, Mel yelled that it was 17:24, so I started to push a little harder. As I made the last turn and headed down the hill to the finish, I could hear Hamilton shouting, “One's coming!” and shortly thereafter the third Forest Hills runner pulled up next to me, attempting to kick by me. Well, like at Big Valley, I wasn't about to drop yet another spot, having already been ousted from the top five, so I pushed into overdrive and beat him by a full four seconds...now that was a kick! :-D I crossed the line at 18:25, shaving one minute, two seconds off the time I had ran only a week beforehand, and taking 47 seconds off my best for the year. I had acheived one of my goals, the 18, but had just missed the first five by a mere eight seconds, a time I definately could've run had I not let up on that last hill... It was another learning experience to add to my growing list. I also beat all the Ridge guys by at least 37 seconds, so I made that goal too. Next up is the Altoona Invitational on Saturday, which I've heard is quite a tough course. I'll look for Mitch and Dean and try to stay with them for two miles again and see what I can do with it...

Okay, I really really liked Cambria Heights' course. I know that most everyone on the team will disagree with me, but in all reality, their course was the epitome of cross country. The first half mile was a field run, with one little hill, but after that, we were in the woods until the last half mile when we repeated the first part of the course. On the way up, Coach Hamilton had been telling me about the Cambria Heights guys, and like us, they had lost their top runner last year, so he expected me to be first across the finish line. I was confident that I could do that, but when we got there and found out that two other teams would be there besides Cambria Heights and ourselves, I was a little apprehensive. I had never run against Penns Manor or Northern Cambria in cross country last fall, and I only knew the names from running against them in track invitationals this past spring, so I didn't know what to expect. As we lined up to start, I was talking to the other three top runners from each of the other schools about times and stuff, and that was encouraging. The Penns Manor guy said he usually ran 18s and 19s, but on this course he was usually in the 20s. The gun went off--right next to me, which was really loud--and we were off, followed two minutes later by the girls. As I said, the first half mile, we went out and around their practice soccer fields, and up a little rise behind the stadium, coming back down on the other side behind the starting line. After 150m more out in the open, we plunged down into the woods on the first of four very steep hills (which we had to run back up later, of course!). By the time we were about 300m into the race, I had worked my way past the fast starters and into the front of the pack...and from there, I didn't look back. Anyway, that first hill was exhilirating to run down. We had walked the course before the race, so we would know where to go, but taking in the trail while I was plummeting down it rather quickly was a whole different matter. That first hill was mainly grass, with a little gravel towards the bottom, but the next two were on the verge of treacherous. After going down, I lost a lot of my momentum making a sharp turn to start back up the first real uphill of the race (there were also four of those). I felt pretty good until about halfway up, and I know I started to slow down a little, but I could hear the other runners behind me, so I knew I couldn't slow down very much. Emerging from the woods, there was a short jaunt on the surface, past the first mile mark (5:46), and then it was back to the woods. This incline was probably the worst I've had to deal with. Not only was it around a turn, but there were lots of golf ball-sized rocks strewn about the path, threatening a twisted ankle if I took a bad step. Once again, I had to take all this in as I was running as fast as I could without somersaulting down the hill! I made it down and drove back up an even steeper hill, topping out into 50m of grass before plunging into the woods once again. This time the downhill wasn't as bad; it was a pretty straight shot the whole way down, although towards the bottom there was a little bumpy patch that resembled something from a mogul course. What goes down must go back up though, and this was the longest hill of the race by far. It seemed to keep going and going and going, but finally I was back out into the sunlight, just in time to see Marissa go down the loop I had just emerged from. With a quick encouragement to her, I struggled up a little bit more hill and past the two mile mark (12:16), all the way back around to the first uphill, except this time I was running down it. Going down, once again, went pretty well, and as I made the sharp turn at the bottom and headed back up, I caught a glimpse of Cambria Heights and Penns Manor about 100m behind me coming down the hill. Now, when I had first gone down the hill, I hadn't completely realized how steep it actually was, but running back up it (after 2.5 miles) it was really really steep. It didn't start out too badly, but close to the top it was a pretty scary incline. Calves and hamstrings burning, I made it to the top and into the last half mile of the race. That's when I started to get a little worried that I wouldn't be able to hold out on the flats like I had in the woods. Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about as I finished the race, kicking once I rounded the last turn to win my first cross country race in 19:26. :-D It was a really cool feeling to be the first across the line; the last time I did that (which was also the first time) was in the mile against Chestnut Ridge, which I ran in 5:01.9. Ashley won the girls' race in just over 22 minutes, and we placed four girls in the top five. The guys didn't fare quite as well, after my first place finish, Tom came in at fifth (at the start, the first five guys on the line were the first five in the same order across the line at the finish), Ricky at eighth, Ryan at 18th, and Connrad one second behind him in 19th. We beat Northern Cambria, but we lost to both Cambria Heights and Penns Manor, starting our season 1-2. The girls beat all three teams, sweeping the meet, and in the process they skunked Northern Cambria, I believe, placing the first five girls against them. Next week we go up to Forest Hills, which should be fun. Hopefully I'll be able to get into the 18s then...

Big Valley is the first meet we compete at each year, and I was looking forward to it. Preseason had gone well (we did a lot more speedwork like in track, instead of just high mileage running), and I was pretty optimistic about my performance; my goal was to run 17:59, breaking the 18 minute barrier for me. The varsity boys' race was third on the schedule, so we had a few hours to wait once we arrived at Indian Valley Middle School. The JV boys' race was first, and we only had one runner entered, so the rest of us spread out along the course to cheer him on to a sub-26 minute finish. The scary thing was, the winner of that JV race finished in 17:49! The varsity girls ran second, and Ashley, Brittany, Marissa, Valerie, and Amber made a pretty good showing. Both Ash and Brit ran under 22 minutes, and Marissa wasn't far behind; the three of them all placed in the top 20 for the AA girls individually, and the team scored a 12th place finish in 30+ teams. Next, Tom, Connrad, Chris, Ricky, and I were up in the guys' race. Like the girls, there were over 30 teams and 200 individuals running. The gun went off, and Tom and Ricky bolted out with their good starts, but by the time we were 250m into the race, I had caught them and was trying to work my way through the mass of runners. Last year I don't remember the pace being nearly as fast, or being passed by so many people. For the first mile or so I was in the top 50 (early on I may have been as high as 30th or so), but I dropped back significantly to a 73rd place finish. As we ran, I thought I was running too slow since other guys kept blowing by me, but we hit the first mile, and I had ran a 5:13, which was equal to my first mile time in track this spring! Mentally, I think I took that as a yellow light, and I really slowed down, waaaay down: my second mile split was 7:01. I pushed hard through the last 1.1 miles, and finished in 19:02. Last year at that time I ran 18:55, a personal best by 10 seconds, and I was really hoping to at least better that time, so I was dissapointed. However, that's behind now, and I need to work hard to bring my time down for the upcoming races.

Big Valley is the first meet we compete at each year, and I was looking forward to it. Preseason had gone well (we did a lot more speedwork like in track, instead of just high mileage running), and I was pretty optimistic about my performance; my goal was to run 17:59, breaking the 18 minute barrier for me. The varsity boys' race was third on the schedule, so we had a few hours to wait once we arrived at Indian Valley Middle School. The JV boys' race was first, and we only had one runner entered, so the rest of us spread out along the course to cheer him on to a sub-26 minute finish. The scary thing was, the winner of that JV race finished in 17:49! The varsity girls ran second, and Ashley, Brittany, Marissa, Valerie, and Amber made a pretty good showing. Both Ash and Brit ran under 22 minutes, and Marissa wasn't far behind; the three of them all placed in the top 20 for the AA girls individually, and the team scored a 12th place finish in 30+ teams. Next, Tom, Connrad, Chris, Ricky, and I were up in the guys' race. Like the girls, there were over 30 teams and 200 individuals running. The gun went off, and Tom and Ricky bolted out with their good starts, but by the time we were 250m into the race, I had caught them and was trying to work my way through the mass of runners. Last year I don't remember the pace being nearly as fast, or being passed by so many people. For the first mile or so I was in the top 50 (early on I may have been as high as 30th or so), but I dropped back significantly to a 73rd place finish. As we ran, I thought I was running too slow since other guys kept blowing by me, but we hit the first mile, and I had ran a 5:13, which was equal to my first mile time in track this spring! Mentally, I think I took that as a yellow light, and I really slowed down, waaaay down: my second mile split was 7:01. I pushed hard through the last 1.1 miles, and finished in 19:02. Last year at that time I ran 18:55, a personal best by 10 seconds, and I was really hoping to at least better that time, so I was dissapointed. However, that's behind now, and I need to work hard to bring my time down for the upcoming races.