Another Cross Country Season is in the books

Well, another cross country season is in the books around here.  The season in Virginia started earlier and went longer than it ever did in Wyoming. Practice started on August 3 and the state meet was on November 14th.  They ran long and hard practices.  Matthew spent a lot of time trying to catch his breath. Matthew wasn't thrilled with how his season went.  He worked hard, but never saw his times drop down to where he wanted them to be.  He finished each race a little frustrated with how he had run. The courses here were a lot hillier than anything he had run before.  He said he didn't really know what it was to run a hill before coming here.  I am grateful he had the opportunity to make some friends on the team.  Matthew says there is never a dull moment while running with Will.  No matter how hard the run Will can keep talking.  Will would keep the conversation going all through practice.  I am glad there are people like Will who aren't afraid to talk and can even keep talking while others are just trying to breathe.

The meet at Wilson was interesting.  It was hosted by the Wilson High School and their mascot is the Hornets.  The street that lead to the course was even Hornet Road.  While our team was out jogging for warm ups they came across a stirred up hornets next.  The angry hornets chased the screaming boys for quite a way.  Matthew got stung five times.  He didn't run his best race, but I am sure it is hard to run well right after being stung by hornets.  Most of the boys on our team got a few stings.  One boy got stung eleven times.  It is a cross country race that Matthew will always remember.

We watched the race over in Lexington on a beautiful misty morning at the Lexington Horse Center.  Bethany and Julia decided that the mascot for the cross country team should be a gingerbread man.  They could print out shirts that said, "Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me."  I thought it was a cute idea, but I don't think most high school boys would appreciate it.

The view waiting for the race to start

The fan club

The team

Warming up

The start

I went with Jenn Peterson to watch the boys run in Radford for district.  Our boys took third so they were able to go on to Conference.  It was  a tough course with a really big hill that you had to run twice.  I guess the only fair thing about a hill is that everyone has to run the same hill.  Conference was held in Bristol, Virginia.  It is right on the Virginia/Kentucky border.  I think they should have had the race cross the state line so the boys could say they ran in two states.  They took third in Conference so they also got to go to the state meet.  The state meet was held at The Plains, Virginia.  It is not too far from Washington D.C.  We went and watched the race.  I was disappointed with not being able to cheer the boys on.  You really couldn't get close enough to cheer for them.  You couldn't see very well.  I liked the other courses better.  Matthew wasn't happy with his time, but I was proud of him for running hard.

Coach Poluikis praying with the boys before the race.  I really appreciated that he did this before every race.

The four wheeler and skeleton that lead the race

Finishing the big hill

Well, another season is in the books.  Matthew is looking forward to running for Coach Boos and Hildy again next year.  I think he really missed them this year.  I know I did.