Time Trials Have Teams Ready
The day was bright, yet muggy. The runners started filing in at around 7:20 AM to the Haskell Indian Nations Cross Country Course; sleepy-eyed and sluggish. As the time drew near, the lady lions started their warm-up routine and laced up their spikes. With the humidity at 80% and the dew point around 70°, there was a good possibility that we would be seeing more of a strategic race than a fast one.
The sound of "go" could be heard coming from Coach Brensing as the runners barreled away from the starting line. Quickly, Maiki and Evann separated themselves from the pack; jostling for position. By the mile, a pack of five had put distance between themselves and the rest of the runners. With 800m to go, the five had spread out due to the heat but were still cruising right along respectively. The top-4 ladies finished one right after the other with the fifth conceding a final sprint and coming in some time later. It was a great effort from the girls and should have some heads turning their direction next weekend in Manhattan!
As the ladies were finishing up, the boys had started their warm-up and began focusing on the task at hand: make top-7. They tightened their spikes and toed the line as Coach Brensing made her way over from the finish line. After the last series of run-outs, the boys were ready. "Go!". And they were off with the same ferocity and vigor as the ladies had done prior.
Cole and Aaron were the ones to separate but just after the mile, it was a young freshman, Jack Ryan that had pulled level with Cole and was still pushing the pace! With 800m to go, Cole and Jack had separated themselves by over a minute. Jack put on a final sprint with 400m to go to create some distance over Cole and finished in a promising time of 18:37. The rest of the pack came in close to one-another as the time trials concluded.
Overall, the boys and girls teams are looking great! They seem to be a step ahead of where they were a year ago and the season has only just begun! The teams open their season next weekend at Manhattan. We hope to see as many parents and friends out there as possible!