Ladies Potters vs. Redbirds

So the ladies want to beat Metamora too?

Good. I'm glad. I'll be honest with you. It's going to be tougher for the ladies than for the boys. There are two reasons for this.

• they have 3 consistent frontrunners instead of two.
• the margins to catch those frontrunners is larger

So is it possible? Sure, it's just going to take one heck of a race.

In dual scoring, there is no way to beat a team that goes 1-2-3 in a race. In an invite, it can work, but head to head, it's mathematically impossible. Either that, or I'm bad at math.

So the strategy is essentially the same as the boys. You have to break up that front running. You need to get at least one of your top runners in between Metamora's top 3.  And the way The Law Firm of Pribble, Pribble and Jankowski (thanks go to Joe Zeller, who has a very mhsrunners.blogspot.com-ish sense of humor) has been running, if you get one up there, you'll likely get 2 or 3 up there.  

But that's only one part of two things required to win. The other lies with the pack. You've got to get as many runners as possible in front of their 4th and 5th. It'll be tight, because their 4, 5, and 6 runners are often close.  But you guys have managed to have your 4th and 5th competitive with theirs before, at Galesburg.  And you've also managed to swap positions from 4-7 before.  If you can manage to get several runners in front of their 4th, you can do well.

What exactly will it take place-wise to succeed? I can't say, because there's a lot of potential things that could happen.  If you can get 1 runner to break up Metamora's top 3,  it's tough. If you can get 2 in there, a big wave of Potters before Metamora's 4th could do it. And if you can get 3 up there, it becomes more reasonable.

So that's what it comes down to, the more people who have their best race so far of the season, the better the chance you have.  Just like the boys, running together helps. There's no point having several people finish near each other, and sometimes run near each other, but not use each other and help each other. So use each other, and use the course.  The course is tough, and the competition doesn't know it as well as you do. Resist the temptation to give them a tour the first lap. And if you decide to make a big push, try using a corner where you're out of sight for a second.

Some good racing Saturday!

Thanks Joe for the report on the Porta Invite. It sounds like it was an awesome race, and I'm glad to hear Morton ran well, putting up some quick times, and is running in packs.  I wish I could have been there, but hey, moving boxes was fun too, right?

Scouting reports on Pekin

Pekin raced this weekend at EP.  We haven't seen a lot of Pekin this year, so I'll tell you some quick impressions. Remember, these are quick impressions based on skimming results of only one of their races.

In the guys race, they will be tougher than I expected.  They have a strong front two, but a large gap to the rest of the scorers. If you run the type of race that competes with Metamora, you should beat Pekin handily, unless they've been hiding something. If you don't run that well, you'll likely still beat them, but it'll be kind of close. A bad race for Morton could lose to them. They beat, but didn't destroy, Canton and EP on Saturday. Both of those are teams that you have also beaten, but not destroyed.

In the girls race, Pekin looks a little weaker, but just a little. They narrowly beat Richwoods, who Morton's beaten handily, and they didn't put a lot of points on Washington, who were annihilated by the Potters on Tuesday. They don't look like slouches though, and an off race for Morton could fall to the Dragons, so be careful.

So tear it up on Tuesday, and remember that the strength of winning these races lies in the pack!

A few clarifications

Just in case the girls felt slighted that my post tonight was shorter than what I wrote for the guys, I'll offer up two excuses and a reason:

• Much of what I would have said to the girls was covered in the guys post.  It applies to both, but I didn't feel like typing it twice, and I'm too lazy to copy/paste. This is because....
• I'm exhausted from a long week and weekend.
• I realize that I have a tendency to write way too long, and I'm trying not to make everything as long as what I wrote for the guys (basically it's not that yours was too short, but that the guys' was too long)

So there it is.  I'll let you figure out which of those was the reason, and which were excuses.

A few last minute tips

• Nathan Young related a story to me that confirmed that some visiting teams do try what I have christened the 'tour guide approach' to racing at Northwoods. Don't let them!  This confirmation makes me feel smart, as I came up with that idea all by myself, and find out experienced coaches use it too. Yeah for me!
• Use the course, Luke! Use the course!  Let go of your feelings... (do you all even know the original Star Wars?)
• You have traded spots before, so don't anyone settle for their usual spot. I'll share a story from a similar situation. I was on a team that had to win against Richwoods to complete an undefeated season. I had to beat their third man, but I felt crappy and was fading in the middle of the race. But our normal fourth man came up, took my spot, and beat Richwoods third, allowing me to beat Richwoods fourth and we won the meet 27-28.  It wouldn't have happened if our usual fourth man had settled for his usual fourth position. Anyone of you could finish in any position and many are rapidly improving. Who's it going to be this time?
• The strength is in the pack and running together.  Not much more to say there.  If you don't get it by now, come talk to us and we'll give you another lesson.
• Have fun. What could be more fun than making yourself hurt really bad for 15-20, and then hanging out with good friends?  May not sound like as much fun when I say it like that, but it really is a blast.  I have a feeling you all know what I mean. If you didn't, why on earth are you on the cross country team?

-Steve