Would rough runners still run rough at the Woodruff Invite?

As my good pal, ol' Albert Einstein, once said: "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?"* Sadly, I have to disagree with him on that one. First, a man would be a lot happier with a viola. Second, he would be a lot happy if he had attended the Woodruff Invitational this morning at Detwieller Park. He would have witnessed the Morton Potters put on a show in front of thousands of spectators who were there watching different schools and probably couldn't even locate Morton on an Illinois map. In fact, many of them probably still couldn't, but they can now say "We may not be able to locate Morton on a map, but we know that they put on a show today at Detwieller Park." Hmm....I'm not sure where this is going. Let's get right to the race analysises (analysii, alanysissys?):

Girls Varsity

Following the old adage, "ladies first," the Lady Runnin' Potters kicked off the day in the Girls 2A Varsity race. Ashley Pribble finished 16th in a time of 19:13 to add to her stellar beginning to the season. Grace moved up to grab the 2 spot for the Potters today with a season best 20:51. Not far behind was Caitlin Pribble in 21:42. Freshman Hannah Behle put forth a great effort today to finish 4th for Morton in 22:34, just a few steps ahead of Morton's last scorer Macalea Bennet (22:37). Ashley Coon and Nicole Lockwood finished bang-bang as well to round out the Lady Potters in the 2A race with times of 23:44 and 23:49 respectively. It was a good showing for the Morton women, who continue to remind the rest of the Mid-Illini that they're for real this year.

Sadly, I didn't have my video camera in time to film the Ladies' race.

Boys Varsity

Two years ago at this very meet, I ran a (then) season-best 17:44 to take the 2 spot for us (behind Nathan's 17:26). Put Nathan and I in today's race and we wouldn't even have scored for Morton. Andrew took 7th for the Potters with a season best 17:46. Freshman Alex Stowers showed great progress by running 17:30 to take 6th for Morton. My brother Dan grabbed Morton's 5th spot with a 17:25 PR effort. Austin Bradford went out faster than normal, and the result was a 16:38 PR. Dale and Nick showed how much running together can help by running most of the 2nd and 3rd miles as a dual wielding Potter pack. They finished 16:22 and 16:19 respectively; both huge PRs. And the big news of the day....no, it wasn't my birthday, but thanks for wondering.....Joe Zeller joins Morton Cross Country's Elite as the newest member of the 15-minute club! His 15:53 PR is the 4th fastest time turned in at the Woodruff Invite by a Potter since 1998. He joins elite company behind Trent Hoerr (15:01 in '02), David Elliot (15:40 in '00), and Tim Owdom (15:50 in '06).

The best news of the race though came after the scores were calculated. Morton took 9th place, ahead of Metamora (11th) and East Peoria (12th)! This is even better knews considering that the Potters were running without normal Varsity starter Nathan Smith**. As much as this news should promote celebration (which it did), it should also make Morton view the Mid-Illini season with a new perspective. However, after talking to Coach Zehr and the athletes themselves, it seems that they are up to the task of being the "team to beat" in the Mid-Illini.

New to the Blog today, live race footage! Here's the guys varsity race as captured by my camcorder:

Girls Open

The sun was beating down a lot harder by the time 625 girls toed the line for the Girls Open race. Lauren Wirth was the top runner for Morton in this race with a 23:52 effort. Jenna Zbinden wasn't far behind with her 24:40 finish. Jessie Lindler broke the 26-minute barrier with a solid 25:58. Behind her, Ashley, KR, Colleen, Lydia, and the Ogden sisters represented Morton well on the course.

Boys Open

The 813 Open Boys participants that stepped up to the line next reminded me of the Uruk-Hai assembling outside of Helm's Deep. When the gun went off, there ensued a charge across the field that would have made a herd of bison jealous. Smitty, fresh off an ACT tune-up, sprinted to the lead (pronounced "leed) and lead (pronounced "led) the 813 boys around the pentagon turn (pronounced "turn"). Sadly, he couldn't hold his position, but still ended up running a respectable 18:25. Nick Steffen took the top spot for Morton in the open with an 18:02; breaking 18 is imminent in this sophomore's future. Other solid races were turned in by JT (19:09), Dan Z. (20:15), Walter (20:16), Ryland (20:24), and Isaac (20:33). Behind them, many PRs were ran by many Potters whose names I'm still learning.

All race results can be seen by visiting the IVS website.

After the Race

As I write this, several Morton runners are running around in and outside of my house. Unbeknownst to me, there was a Morton CC party at my house tonight hosted by Dan. I guess I picked the right weekend to come home. Here's some candid lighter-side shots from the day:

My Thoughts

Today was something special. Morton hasn't seen this much success in a long time, and it's well deserved as a tribute to the hard work these men and women put in over the summer. Still, as Albert Einstein put it*: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning." Learn from yesterday, guys and girls; you guys are a lot faster than any team Morton has seen in a while. Live for today; don't take your success early in the season for granted. Many teams will improve greatly over the next few months, and you can be one of those teams too if you put the work in and stay true to the end. The season itself is a cross country race, and solid pacing and mental toughness will prevail in the end. Hope for tomorrow; many of you guys set PRs today, and many of you may have even achieved your season goal today. Never be satisfied, ladies and gentlemen. Always tell yourself that you can be faster.

In Other Running News....

Scoot over, Usuain Bolt, there's a new 100 meter champ in town...

So What's Next?

The Potters will next test their strength at Canton next Tuesday. It's the start of the Mid-Illini duel season, so let's be sure to get out there and support our Potters.

*- he really did say that

**-he sat the race out with an ACT (anterior cruciate test) limitation