Girls Run-Down
Once again, Ashley Pribble took it out hard with the leaders and never backed down. Although I don't have the official results in front of me, I do know that Ashley medaled with her 5th place finish. Behind her, Macalea Bennett ran a great race, moving up considerably during the last half of the race, to earn the #2 spot on the Lady's team and finish 20th overall. Just behind her came Grace Jankowksi in 22nd. Caitlyn Pribble was 29th overall and freshman Hannah Behle rounded out the Lady Potters scorers with her 43rd place finish. Ashley Coon and Nicole Lockwood rounded out the Potter's top 7. The 118 points scored by Morton was good enough for 4th place out of the 18 participating teams; Rock-Island Alleman edged them out for the 3rd place trophy by just one point.
In the open race, Lauren Wirth was leading the Potters with at a strong pace through 2 miles, but sadly she suffered a hip injury during the 3rd mile. Hopefully the injury is not serious and we can plan on seeing Lauren back on the course soon. Behind Lauren, Ashley, Lydia, and KR all ran very well to round out the Lady Potters impressive Saturday showing.
Boys Run-Down
What can I say? The Guys Varsity team continues to exceed the expectations that already emanate from their essence. With a 6th place time of 16:06, Joe Zeller led the Potters to a 66 point route of the competition to take First Place at the Dunlap Invitational. However, as is beautifal about Cross Country, you can't rely just on one man; the whole team did their part to earn this trophy. Dale and Nick ran together again for most of the race, and those two both managed to join Joe at the Award Ceremony with their 9th (16:25) and 11th place (16:29) finishes respectively. Austin was just about 16 cubits behind them as he finished in 16th place with a time of 16:39. 5th man Smitty beautifully held off a Alleman runner down the final straight to "close the door" (a Steve phrase) in 16:57 to join the 16-Minute Club. Dan PRd as the 6th man in 17:12, and Andrew held off two Metamora runners in the final mile to finish in 17:50. The win for the Potters marks their first Invitational Championship in....many years (exact date is not known but is currently being looked into by our researchers in the field).
In the Open Race, things kept going the Potters way. Alex Stowers led most of the race, and though victory was snatched from him in the last mile, his 3rd place finish in the 17:20 range was very impressive. Behind him, Nick Steffen also turned in a great race (again, I have yet to find official results online.) Walter cut nearly a minute off his time from Woodruff by running in the low 18:00s. I was very impressed with the excellent pack running that I saw from many of the underclassmen. These guys really grasp how beneficial running with a teammate can be in the middle of a race. Thanks to picture profile sheets made by the Stowerses, I was able to cheer on many of the underclassmen during the race. These guys are fun to watch, and the sheer number of them in impressive. There's strength in numbers, and Morton is using that to their advantage.
Brinin' Home the Hardware
For the second time this season, Morton is brining home a trophy on a Saturday. However, can they repeat the feat next week at a challenging Springfield course famous for "Big Bertha?" Only time will tell.
Epilogue
The Men and Women of Morton Cross Country are about a third of the way through what has all the makings of a memorable season. A large part is due to their hard work and excellent coaching, but a significant part should also be credited to the outstanding fan support that they receive during races. When I used to race, I always thought of fans as my "third lung." Whenever I would be running down a section lined with Morton supporters, I always felt like I was given an extra boost. All that to say, thank you to all the family and friends who took time Saturday to go cheer on the Potters. Let's keep it up this Tuesday as the Potters have their first home meet of the season versus Washington and Limestone out at Northwoods Park. WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!!!!
Awards
Back by popular demand, there are several awards that I would like to give out today. (If you need a refresher as to what awards can be won during a cross country race, click here). Today's Awards:
- Photo Finish- I'm giving this award to Kyle Walter. His outstanding kick in the last 100 meters would have given that cheetah a run for her money. I wonder how much faster he could have gone were he being chased by sword-wielding samurai?
- Rocky Award- This award goes to Macalea Bennet who has been slowly moving up the field in each race this season. Her 2nd place finish for Morton today was a season high. Great job!
- The Punisher- This award goes to Nathan Smith for "punishing" the Allemann runner for trying to pass him on the final straight. (By "punishing", I mean that Smitty crossed the finish line first, which, in cross country and the hokey pokey, is what it's all about).
Although Steve did pose a very good question in his last post, he forgot that there is an age-old question that is even more aged and more older than his question. That question is, and I'm sure you've already guessed it: "Why was Joe playing with a yo-yo at the end of the Boys Open Race?" Sadly, I don't know if we'll ever know the answer to that question. But, if you watch the video you will be able to answer yet another age-old question: "What happens when you give a yo-yo to a flamingo?"
2 comments:
Another fantastic weekend for Morton cross country! With Dave's awesome write-ups and the embedded video, I almost feel like I was there.
I was hoping the last video would have been of Joe playing with a yo-yo.
Ben, you can see Joe's yo-yo skills at the end of the Boy's Open Race video.
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