It was another great weather day to run yesterday.  For several runners, it was a second crack at a 5k after running at FUMA in late September.  We limped into states this past Saturday, missing 3 runners, and that expanded to 4 runners missing yesterday.  We were even down 2 of our 4 coaches to add to the absences!  The 5 that ran yesterday ran through knee pain, chest pain, thumb pain, and lung pain to make sure we had a full scoring 5, so we thank them for their efforts.  We are also appreciative of the guys that came to support as they were not able to compete.

 

Our quintet that ran yesterday did a fantastic job.  Much like the state meet where guys really stepped it up to make up for absences, the 5 runners yesterday kept that approach going as all 5 ran some level of personal/season bests.  Henry was once again our top runner, dropping almost 2:00 off his time from FUMA last month.  Collegiate may seem easier than FUMA, but it is a deceptively slow(er) course in my opinion, mainly due to turns, soft fields, and loose stone on the trails.   Therefore, improvement from FUMA is that much more impressive.  Gray was not far behind Henry (about 20 seconds), 59 seconds ahead of his FUMA 5k last month.  Asher ran his debut 5k of the season and broe 24:00.  This sets up well to try and get under 7:30 mile pace on the same course next Friday during the JV Prep League 5k (also at Collegiate).  Although Tate did not run at FUMA earlier this season, he was over 1:30 faster than he was in this same race a year ago, continuing his streak of leading our veterans in improvement from 2025.  Paul was our 5th runner across the line and had a huge drop of 2:15 from FUMA earlier this year.  He really stepped up knowing he was going to be the #5 man.  This meet was a great example that even though we are not 100% right now, the work we have put in over the last two months has accumulated in our legs and is helping to propel us to continued improvement as we approach the final week of the season.

 

In the scoring, without 2 of our usual top 4, we knew the team place was going to be a bit lower than our full potential.  As that is never our primary concern (except the SPAM race!), it was great to see 100% improvement from the boys who ran.  Henry and Gray both earned a ribbon, finishing in the top 25 (12th and 16th, respectively).  We ended up in 9th out of 10 scoring teams (3 other teams did not score), but we likely would have been somewhere between 3rd and 5th with a full squad running.