Girls and Boys Headed to State

WA Boys and Girls headed back to State! What a great accomplishment. We all knew it was going to take great effort and that’s exactly what we got. The boys, fighting for their Cross Country lives made a bold statement on just what they can do when under intense pressure. God was certainly glorified through the way they went out and ran. I am so excited that after much adversity and figuring out what this team would look like after losing the two top runners from last year (one to graduation) that they still went out and qualified. It only makes everything that much sweeter and meaningful. This team is one that we coaches and the boys will always remember as one of the greatest. They will be talked about for many years to come and as examples of great character.

The girls team also ran through some adversity and earned another week of this great season. Even though we did not finish where we hoped, this team is still good enough finish in the top of the pack.

The girls were led by Layna Roycraft who was determined to make her last race on our course her best and end with an Individual Regional Championship. She had some tough competition despite running her home course Personal Best time, 21:12, by dropping 10 seconds from her previous best but it turned out she would have needed just 8 more seconds. Still she finished 3rd overall and her highest finish at the Regional meet. What a great day knowing at the beginning of the year the goal was to just get through the season without getting injured or another stress fracture. Lord willing that is going to be the case and she should still be ready to go out and finish in the top 15 at the State meet and be ready for Track season. Running #2 and with a cold was Emily Carlson who shook off the illness for long enough to run a home course Season Best time of 23:38 and finish 28th overall. Kara Gahagen finished next for us despite being given a cane to help her walk as a joke by Emily. All year when it looked like she could barely walk she kept on going and would not quit and she still finished with an impressive 23:59 while running down athletes toward the finish. Interesting thing is that she said the cane helped her…..hopefully she doesn’t grow fond of it. Our next finisher, Brittany Carey, had without a doubt the race of day. Not only did she move from her consistent #6 runners spot to run 4th for us, but she also dropped 1 minute off her previous home course personal best time to finish with a time of 24:05! Such an outstanding performance for a young runner. Our next finisher was Kayla Cochran who I could also say had an outstanding day. She ran a home course personal best time of 24:08 taking 44 seconds off her previous best time! It was great to see both Kayla and Brittany come on to the track in the form they had and run such a great time. All their hard work is really paying off. Finishing next was Circe Burnett who had an extremely tough day. She normally would finish as our #3 or #4 runner, but just didn’t have a good race. Despite that she still came through and finished while most other runners would have probably quit. The great thing is that she gets another shot at it this coming weekend running in her 1st State meet. Stepping in this week and doing an excellent job was Ali Battista. She was our #7 runner and ran a great race finishing with a home course Personal Best time of 25:51 taking 35 seconds off her previous best time. All in all for the girls they did just what they needed to do. Girls stepped up and helped their team when a teammate was having a bad race and while another ran to her best Regional finish and in the process got her picture in the Sun-Sentinel (Sunday’s edition). Despite that they still managed to bring their team average down by 18 seconds to 23:42 and get back to the State meet after missing the opportunity last year. For the girls it is their 6th qualification since 2000.

Layna Roycraft with the top 3 finishers.

For the boys they were led by Christian Wackes who ran a home course Personal Best dropping 24 seconds off his previous best time. Seemed like the trip to the Doctors for an inhaler payed off for him. It was really great to see him run so well. He finished 9th overall and individually qualified for the State meet with a time of 18:40. Running second was Teddy Hess who also ran a home course Personal Best, 19:26, dropping 14 seconds off his time. He remarked that after the race he felt the worst he has ever felt. That was a good thing because he pushed himself so hard and got the most out of his body. As he came on to the track I could tell that he was extremely spent but he still had some fight in him. With about 30m to go he passed Noah Thompson from Coral Springs Christian (07 State Pole Vault Champion) only to get out leaned at the finish and beat by .30 seconds. A tough way to end, but a great fight after such a great race and 5:43 first mile. Running third was Michael Luzinski who put himself in the same position as last year. I think he likes to be the person who comes through for the team when it matters the most. After finishing with a time of 21:38 at District I reminded him of what he did last year and how at Regionals he dropped about 1:30 from the previous week to make the difference for our Regional runner-up finish. This year we didn’t get a trophy, but Michael did drop 1:10 off his time from District and moved from being the #5 runner to the #3 runner with a time of 20:28. What a great accomplishment for the Senior. That time was also his Season Best. Running right behind him was Josh Longerbeam who earlier expressed that he wasn’t feeling like he was going to have a good day. Must have been the nerves talking. At District he said he was feeling great and expected to run extremely well, but ran 21:46. Well if he didn’t go out and do just the opposite. He ran a course Personal Best time of 20:48 taking 58 seconds off from the previous week to finish as our #4 runner. Running in the #5 spot was Thomas Carrie who continues to impress us with his ability. He also ran a home course Personal Best time of 20:54 taking 20 seconds off his previous best. Rounding out the pack for us were Remmy Rickel and Dylan Burns. They ran together the entire race and both had great days. Remmy out sprinted Dylan to the finish to run 21:30, just 5 seconds off his personal best he set at District. Dylan also had a great day bouncing back from the ankle injury at District to run a home course personal best of 21:32, taking 14 seconds off his previous time. All in all the boys came into the meet seeded 7th overall and knew they could have well ended up staying home the following week, but they were just determined that they were going to trust God and do everything they could to earn another trip to State. They finished 5th overall, just 2 points ahead of Archbishop Curley leaving Miami Country Day in the tough 7th spot and first time to not qualify. With that finish the WA boys have earned their 5th consecutive trip to the State Meet and their 6th since 2000. They also turned in their best team average at home this year dropping on average 38 seconds to finish with 20:03 (Add up the top five times and divide by 5).

Teddy Hess in the battle of Track State Champions with Noah Thompson from Coral Springs Christian.

Josh Longerbeam at 2 mile hill.

Thomas Carrie on track for a home course PB.

Thanks to all who helped out and make Saturday such a memorable day. I can’t be more impressed with how this team continues to step up to the challenges in front of them and overcome them. I look forward to a great State Meet and making more memories.