Detweiller again!

The Peoria Invitational

Today was meant to be a day for fast times, and the Potters delivered.

The full official results and team standings aren't up yet, so I'm going to throw up a quick summary here, with maybe more to follow once the results are online.  

First of all, the conditions.  The conditions were almost perfect. So close to perfect that I'm not sure how they could have been any better.  The temp was about perfect, slightly cool, but not so cold to actually be cold. Probably mid 50s for the girls, and a few degrees warmer for the guys. The course was in good condition. The park had been rolled and pressed and the mud and junk from the Woodruff Invite was gone. The ground was smooth and had that perfect firmness that strikes the balance between too soft and too hard. Firm and not soft, but not yet hard and frozen.

The Girls Race

The girls race went out fast, and the first mile played out to form just like normal, with 1 mile splits just a little faster than previous races. The secret came in the second mile, however, as most of the Potters slowed significantly less than in previous races. Caitlin Pribble went through the 2 mile in around 12:38ish, which is a good 20-30 seconds faster than previous quick races, with Ashley and Grace following. The rest of the Potters were also running quick splits through 2 miles.

At the finish it was Caitlin, then Ashley, then Grace in 19:08, 19:18, and 19:58. The Pribbles are showing that they're ready to attempt creating an 18 Minute Club.  Note that these times are not official, but just what it looked like they finished at from my vantage point downfield. I could certainly be off by a few seconds on any of these. I did not catch all the other Potters finishes, but some were walking out of the chute area before 22 minutes, which means they probably ran well under 22 minutes. That means some more P.R.s were set.

The Boy's Race

The boy's race started out fast, with Joe through the mile in around 5:17, followed by Jared Marks, Eric Meyer, Dale and the threesome of Nathan Smith, Nick Piper, and Austin Bradford, who ran together much of the race.  The challenge was to keep that fast pace through the middle mile, where the Potters often slow. Most of the Potters ran their best middle mile yet, losing only 20-30 seconds for that next mile.  

Zeller went through the 2 mile in 10:51 (2 mile P.R. en route!!), followed by Meyer, Marks, Dale, and the Smith-Piper-Bradford trio.  I'm sure that many of these men set 2 mile P.R.s during the race today. Going into the last mile, people were starting to fall apart and the gaps started to spread as the Potters started trying to eat up those gaps.  Zeller finished in around 16:23-24, followed by Meyer in around 16:48 and Marks in around 16:55.  Dale followed a few seconds later, showing the effects of an all-out effort .  Piper and Smith finished next for the Potters, I believe both under/around 17:10, with Bradford rounding out Morton's runners in around 17:20.

Catching the founders

With this race, Zeller has passed Nathan Young and Dave Getz on the Detweiller P.R. chart (which I just made up), but still has a couple more seconds to go to catch Steve Gifford. Steve is scared as Joe is a sophomore.  Meyer, Marks, Domnick, and maybe Piper and Smith, also beat Dave's HS time at Detweiller, humbling the founders of this site.

A note to Nick Piper

First of all, awesome race today. Second, you made a comment the other day about the 15 Minute Club not being a realistic goal for you.  I busted out my history books just to check a few things from some of my old Peoria Invites. If you look at the 15 Minute Club list, you'll find two guys at 15:33 back in 2000.  Those two guys ran 17:02 and 17:17 at Peoria Invitational their sophomore year. You'll find a guy listed at 14:56 and 15:01. He ran 16:49 as a Sophomore. So you're going to tell me that type of improvement isn't realistic?? While I don't know all their stories, I'm sure most of the guys on that list did not run under 16 as sophomores.  You guys are doing very well.

A note to the whole men's team

While I was glancing over my history books, I noticed something else. In 1999, the year Morton went undefeated, we had some stronger frontrunners, but our depth was not the equal of yours this season. We never had a 7th man finish around 17:20. Not even very close.  Considering you guys are still a young team, this bodes very well for the future. You should all improve as long as you continue to work for it. Let's see what happens when Austin Bradford runs over the summer, with the rest of the team. That's right, Austin, I'm singling you out.  If you're running like you are off of 6 miles over the summer, imagine what happens when you start hitting the offseason miles.

Next up: East Peoria

The Potters face Mid-Illini rival East Peoria at Northwoods on Tuesday.  East Peoria's girls team is one of the top ranked teams in the state and the girls will have their work cut out for them

East Peoria's guys team was defeated by the Potters several times in the early season, but has shown huge improvement in the recent weeks (thanks to Mr. Piper for pointing out just how improved they are). You can't compare times on different courses and different days, but just for reference, here's what their top guys ran on their home course one week ago.

16:26

16:52

17:09

17:10

17:10

17:50

18:03

18:10

18:23

As you can see, they're much improved from your previous competitions, and are a team that could match up very well with the Potters.  You beat them before, so let's do it now when it counts. Remember, breaking up their front men, and getting a lot of people in front of their 5th will be a solid way to ensure victory. Work together and use the course to your advantage. It's likely to rain on Tuesday, so make sure the Potters are the masters of a muddy Northwoods.

Some confused Potters

Several members of the men's varsity squad were sighted, dressed up and with dates, at Wal-Mart Saturday night, apparently confused about the location of the Homecoming Dance. Since no members of the girls team were sighted there, we'll assume they actually knew where the dance was. We hope these Potters can find their way to Northwoods on Tuesday, as they will be needed.

That's all for now. Peace out. I love saying "peace out". 

-Steve