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State Bound!!
October 10, 2021
Hello HXC Community,
Coming into Sectionals week, we were feeling confident and peaking as a team. Traditionally, our area has some of the strongest teams in the state, so to make it through our sectional, was going to be a very difficult thing to do. The top 3 teams qualify, so we knew we’d have to be on top of our game if we wanted to extend our season one more week. After tapering this week and lowering our mileage, we were as prepared as we were going to be and ready for sectionals. The message on the bus Saturday morning was “you do your best for me and I’ll do my best for you”. We wanted the team to run for each other and not themselves at sectionals.
Girls Varsity: I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn’t quite tell the girls how tough I thought it was going to be to qualify! We knew Rotolo and Wredling had very strong teams, and after researching times, it looked like Yorkville had a good chance to place 3rd. For some reference, Geneva South had beaten us by 20 points at conference and last weekend Yorkville beat Geneva South by 20 points, so on paper they looked to be the favorite for that coveted 3rd spot. Luckily for our girls, XC races aren’t won or lost on paper, and they were going to have the final say in if their season was ending on Saturday or extended one more week. Our girls ran their hearts out and pulled off a pretty big upset, placing 3rd to punch their ticket to state! Finishers were Mia 5th place (12:40), Abbey 8th place (12:51), Caroline 15th place (13:18), Brooke 44th place (14:13), Emily 47th place (14:15), Destiny 65th place (15:10), and Sophia 66th place (15:12). Caroline and Emily really had special days, and we’re proud that they went to that “uncomfortable place” to help push our team through!
Boys Varsity: With our full lineup healthy and motivated, we felt pretty good about our boys chances to qualify. We talked before the race that we just needed to run our race, and everything else would take care of itself. When the gun went off, our boys quickly got out and established themselves in the top pack and never looked back. We remained aggressive and attacked throughout the whole race. Our boys put the entire state on notice by placing our top 5 within the top 20 while claiming the Sectional title! Finishers were Nathan 2nd place (11:10), Ben 5th place (11:26), Lachlan 9th place (11:39), Mason 14th place (12:00), Greyson, 20th place (12:19), Gavin 36th place (12:50), and Nate 52nd place (13:10). Lachlan has really strung a few nice race together and hopefully he has one more week in him!
This upcoming week we want to keep everything the same! We don’t want to get away from what got us here in the first place. Let’s not change the diet, sleep habits, no new race strategies, and definitely no breaking up with boyfriends or girlfriends during state week! We will leave Herget after school on Friday and head to Bloomington. We will be staying at the Doubletree in Bloomington. I will have an itinerary on Tuesday and more info about bus decorating throughout the week. Kim Gehrmann (Nathan’s mom) and Kristen Aguirree (Mason and Gavin’s mom) will also be staying on our block as our official female chaperones. Check out www.iesa.org for sectional results and more info on state. We were sectional D in 3A.
Finally, although our district is picking up the cost for hotels and meals, we are asking that State Qualifiers try to raise $50 to help defer the cost of the weekend to ensure we can continue to provide this opportunity for future teams. If they can raise more, great, but if its less that’s fine too. The reality is qualifying for state could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we’d like to always reward those athletes with a unique experience. Thank you to everyone for the continued support! STATE BOUND. #runhxc #beelite
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