Broadalbin-Perth Cross Country

Once again, today proved to be one of mixed results as some ran extremely well and hit personal best while others struggled and ran times much slower than they are capable of. Unfortunately, the poor performances were reflected more heavily in our team results as we finished a disappointing 3rd on the girls side and 6th on the boys side. Hopefully this meet and last week's will wake our team up and remind them that if they want to be the champions they are capable of becoming they need to run as we have all season: strong as one pack! We do not have any one individual who stands out, but we do have a team that can. Hopefully they remember this at Sectionals.

Today was a day of mixed emotions and results for our team. On one side we had outstanding efforts and personal records that followed. On the other side we had lackluster efforts and times that reflected these. Cross country, despite some opinions, is a team sport and in order for us to achieve our ultimate goals, all members of the team must want to win and be willing to push through the pain in order to do so. The good news is that we will get two more attempts at this course (Foothills Championship and Section II Championship) to prove that we are better than our 4th(girls) and 13th (boys) place showings. I believe in this team and am certain that those who had bad races will use today as motivation and those who ran well will build on that success.

Today our Foothills dual meet schedule came to an end with solid victories for both our boys and girls teams. The girls used their pack to finish with a perfect 15 and the boys nearly did the same with a solid 19 point score. Despite the rain we ran good times and are starting to peak at the right time of the year. Hopefully today's results are a sign of what is to come as we near the finish to another great season!

Today was a good day for both our boys and girls teams as we were able to comfortably run to victory. Both squads ran in tight packs that made the challenging course less challenging. As a result we had some very good times and many PR's. The boys more importantly got their second win of the year which doubles last year's win total. They are now 2-1 and gaining confidence at the right time. The girls improved to 3-0 and are proving that they are amongst the top teams in section II.

Today was a character test for both of our teams as we were forced to run without several of our members due to S.A.T. testing. Unlike last year, this team was up to the task as many of our runners filled the shoes of our missing seniors. Our 5th place showing on the boys side was our best of the season and a testament to how quickly our young runners are improving. With a full squad we most likely would have finished top three. Our loan senior boy running today, Alex Hitrick, has this team believing and heading in the right direction. On the girls side we picked up our third invitational win without 2 of our top 7 running. This was very encouraging as we showed that we can win when facing adversity. Despite missing 2, our depth still persevered as we were able to overcome a 1-2 finish from Schalmont and a fast improving Fonda team. Not having the majority of our seniors was a test for us and one that we passed. It proves that we are truly a complete team. Hopefully they will realize this and pass the even bigger tests that the remainder of our season will bring!

One year ago today, our girls probably had our worst race as a team at this very same invitational. Beaver River edged us, as our team ran as individuals rather than in our usual pack. Today we redeemed ourselves, as the girls learned from last season's loss and used it as motivation. Our pack was back and the results reflected this as we edged out Beaver River in another close contest. Despite our number five runner (Cadey Nolan) rolling her ankle our packs stayed tight and put distance between themselves and their Beaver River counterparts. We had our number one in front of their one and our number four in front of their number three. Despite this, it was close and actually came down to Cadey. With about 800 to go she was behind Beaver Rivers 6th runner. Somehow she fought through the pain and found enough at the end to pass 10 girls, including Beaver River's sixth to secure the win. Her effort today epitomizes what our team has been about this year. There is a true sense of team as all will do whatever it takes to ensure that we our victorious. Hopefully this attitude will continue as we hit the second part of our season. On the boys side we ran well but still have far to go. Like the girls we don't have the front running and instead must rely on the pack. Today that pack was to spread out. In a big invitational like today 30 second gaps can be 30 places and 30 points. We had a 2 minute gap from our number 1 to 5. This equalized to 80 runners between Alex (our number one) and our 5. That is too big of a spread to be competitive. We looked good through two miles but the last mile seemed to really hurt us. I worked them very hard this week, though, and am confident that they will do as the girls did today - recover, learn, and improve.

Today we accomplished something we have not been able to do in some time: we swept a dual meet. After a year of running incomplete and a close loss last week the boys finally reestablished themselves as a winning team. More impressively, they did so in a convincing manner. In fact due to a double booked meet we actually ran and won a six team meet (we raced 4 other teams from the Western Athletic Conference (Mayfield, Galway, Saratoga Catholic, and Cherry Valley) plus Amsterdam. Although unofficial, the boys and girls actually walked away with 5 wins. It was a big step for the boys and hopefully a glimmer into our future. The girls once again used our proven formula and showed that though individuals may win races, teams win championships. Olivia Lazarou of Amsterdam ran great, but our packs held strong which led to a very convincing win. Most impressively about today was how quickly our kids recovered from a very tough meet on Saturday. Monroe Woodbury was perhaps the toughest course I have ever seen at the high school level. Thus, I was concerned about how our kids would respond today. They proved they are tough which makes me very optimistic about the remainder of our season.

Today we made our annual trip to the site of the New York State Cross Country Championship. This year's championship meet will be held at Monroe Woodbury and, thus, we used today's Crusader Classic, held at Monroe Woodbury High School, as a tune-up and, hopefully, motivator for the remainder of the season. As it has been in the past, our goal is to win sectionals and with that victory earn a berth to the state championship. What we learned today was that the course Monroe Woodbury offers is tough! The weather (extremely hot) didn't make things easy but the continual rolling hills got the best of many runners. Despite this, I thought my team held up well and gained many positives out of a very challenging day. The girls once again ran in a nice pack and had one of the best 1-5 time gaps out of almost all competing teams. Together they conquered the hills and, though we finished 8th we scored very well in the merge against schools of the same size. On the boys side we showed much maturity as our young squad handled the pressures of a very large meet with much poise and finished a very respectable 13th. In all there were 112 teams competing and nearly 3200 runners who ran the hills of Monroe Woodbury. With our first race starting at 11:20 and our last race ending at 4:30 I was very impressed with how our team handled the day. We are getting better each week and getting closer to reaching our goal of a return trip to the site of today's meet.

Today we opened our Foothills'' Council league season with an impressive effort from both our boys and girls squads. On the girls side we ran in nice packs and nearly scored a perfect 15. Our top five continue to race very well and more importantly our girls behind them are closing the gap. On the boys side we came up a bit short but I couldn't be more proud f this young team. We have not beaten Scotia since 2010 and, in fact, haven't even been close in recent years. Today, though, we started to realize our potential and actually were leading at the half way point of the race. Our inexperience showed down the stretch, but I am convinced that as the season progresses, success and wins will follow.