Broadalbin-Perth Cross Country

Today was another day of mixed results for us. On the positive side, the majority of our team ran the fastest they have all season. Also, most ran 30-50 seconds faster this year than they did a year ago. In that sense, it was a huge success as we are heading in the right direction. However, we once again came up short on the team side of things as our 3rd place finish by the girls and 9th place on the boys’ side was a disappointment. We continue to be out-kicked and are not finishing as strong as we should be. We need to learn to forget about the pain were feeling for just a bit longer and, instead, try to think about how good they will feel when celebrating a team victory. We are getting closer, though, and I am hoping that these close losses will serve as motivation come sectionals. If each can find just a little bit more (5-10 seconds) team success will follow!

Today was a huge step forward for our program, as we finally seemed to understand the importance of running as a pack. I preach this daily, but up to this point, the pack typically stayed together for the first half of a race and faltered on the second half. This week at practice though, the kids stayed within their groups and bought into the idea that if we train together, we can race together. Today, those same groups stayed together as I witnessed them verbally encourage one another to fight through the pain and stay as one. Consequently, we had a huge P.R.s on a course we ran just a couple of weeks ago. The girls particularly kept it tight as our number two runner and number five were only 11 seconds apart. This will bode well for us come sectionals. There is still room for improvement as there was a 54-second gap from 1-2. Our number one, Sarah, ran great and now we just need to get the pack to maintain contact with her. I am confident they can do this and cannot wait for them to realize this. On the boys side we also had our tightest pack of the season. Number 1-3 were very tight and high finishers with 3 in the top 15. Numbers 4-6 were also close. Now we need those two packs to combine into one. We are definitely getting stronger with each meet. If they continue to practice together and race together, we will eventually win together!

Today we competed in the Section VII (Pre-State) Invitational in Plattsburgh so that we could preview the course in which this year’s state championship will be contested. This is a tradition I have done with all my teams as I use it as both motivation and a learning tool. It is my hopes that the kids enjoy themselves and work even harder to ensure themselves a return trip in November. It also allows me, as a coach to see what the course is like and gear our workouts to better prepare us for that return trip. This year’s course, unlike Sunken Meadow in Long Island (site of 2018 pre state invy and State championship) was mostly flat and fast and many of our kids benefited from this with some impressive times. Despite those times, though, we did not place as well as I would have liked in the team scoring. Our gaps were once again too large and this inflated our scores on both the boys and girls side. In a race such as this, a minute gap can be a difference of 50 points. I do think our kids enjoyed themselves and do believe that they are further motivated. In that sense, the trip was worth it. However, if we want to return we will have to get mentally stronger. I saw a quote today that stated, “we have what it takes but are we willing to do what it takes!” I am hoping my kids saw the same message.

Today was our first true test of the season as we raced against many of schools we will compete against at sectionals. Overall, we ran well as most set personal best. On the girls side we finished fourth but were only beaten out by one of our fellow Section II Class C schools, Schuylerville. They beat us by a small margin of 6 points, which I believe we can overcome, as our new kids get more accustomed to the 5k distance. Ava Tyler (4 minutes better) and Caroline Iannotti (2 minutes better) showed much improvement in just their second race and made our gap from 1-6 so much tighter. If we are going to be successful, we need to tighten it up even more. On the boys side I was hoping for better than 15th, but we are showing improvement. Like the girls, we need to gain some more experience and learn to keep the pack a bit tighter. We had a 3 minute gap from 1-5 and in order to win an elusive sectional title we need that gap to be about a minute and a half. Our top 3 of Connor, Micah, and Danny (all who have cross country experience ran exceptionally well as we put 3 in before any other section II Class team’s 2nd runner. Now we need the remaining members to find a way to stay within striking distance of opposing teams number five guys. I think they have the talent to do so, but now they have to believe it.

Today was an introduction to cross country racing for our mostly inexperienced team. Consequently, we had a mixed bag of results. Through the first half of both the boys and girls races, we looked very strong but many struggled on the second half. I expected this though, as it takes time for kids to adjust to the physical demands of a 5k race and even more so the mental demands. I have high expectations for this group and do believe that they will use what they learn from each race to improve. After our race when asked to reflect, many stated to me that they learned that pacing yourself is crucial. That self-realization will serve our team well and I am confident our team will use this new knowledge next meet. We are a work in progress but could be one of the best in the end.

Overall, today was a good day for us. The majority of our team ran well with most at or around seasonal goals. Our main competition at sectionals, Schuylerville, did get the better of us so that stung a bit. Physically, Schuylerville and we are identical. They just proved to want it a bit more than us today. Luckily, we have two weeks to mentally prepare for the next time we meet. I am hoping that this close loss will serve as the fuel that motivates us towards a victory come sectionals.

Today was a test for us as we ran short handed on both sides. Unlike the Killian Invitational, this time our team rose to the challenge and passed with flying colors. Others filled the shoes of their missing teammates and kept our packs strong. Although, our team result wasn’t as good as I would have liked our times were better than I expected. This makes me very optimistic of what we can do at full strength. We are peaking at the right time. Now we just have to get everyone healthy and back on course when it counts.

Today was a huge success for us. The boys bounced back from their worst meet of the season and the girls continued to build on the success of their last three races. One week ago, the boys mentally lost the race before it even began. Today, they established the pack I have preached to them and proved that it takes a team of runners, not one individual great runner, to be champions. The twenty-six second gap from our number one runner to our number six was the difference. Throughout the race, opposing coaches made comments to me about this pack and how great it was. I, however, see this pack regularly at practice and have been waiting for it to all come together at a meet. Thus, when they hit the 1.5-mile mark and they still were all together I knew it was going to be a good day. It is easy to quit on yourself but impossible to do it when a teammate is literally on all sides of you. The girls also ran in a tighter pack and narrowly missed a trophy (1 point). Each meet they are getting better and gaining confidence in themselves. We still need the time gap between one and five to come down more but we are headed in the right direction. I hope that both our teams learned from today that when we run as one we are so much better!

Today was a mixed bag of emotions for us. The girls’ team ran much better than they have all season and in a much tighter pack. They essentially grew up today and made me much more optimistic about the future. The boys unfortunately took a step backward. We went into the meet without our number one runner (personal reasons) and thus they seemed to be mentally beat from the start. We essentially lost before we even started. Our motto this year is to be more mentally tough and today we did not live up to that. All teams have a bad race and this was ours. Championship teams, however, find a way to bounce back and actually use that bad race to motivate. I hope this will be the case with us. We have the physical capability to be great. Hopefully, they can remember this next week.

In the words of our kids, this was a “fun” weekend. Other than the six-hour bus ride (NY traffic) it was exactly that. Besides being fun, it was also an educational and hopefully motivating one for us. We made the long trip to Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park NY to see and compete on the course we hope to finish on this November (site of 2018 NYS Championship). What we learned was that the course was hard. In my many years of coaching, I would rank this among the top two most difficult courses. This will help with our training though as we now know what to expect and prepare for. Our motto this year is “mind over body” and that is exactly what this course requires. In order to beat “Cardiac Hill” you have to be mentally tough. We showed some of that today as our kids actually attacked this grueling hill while others broke down and walked. This effort paid off as we ran in tight packs on both sides and faired well against the best competition in the state. We know there is still much work to do if we want to come back, but I think that after today they are excited to. Let the work begin!