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October 17, 2021

Hello HXC Community,

After last weekend’s thrilling finish with both teams qualifying, this had officially become a “dream season”. Heading into our last week of practice, the team was laid back and really having a good time. As far as workouts go, “the hay was in the barn” and all the hard work was done. We continued our taper, stayed loose, and just tried to soak in the week. Thank you to everyone who helped make this last week so special! With an epic sendoff from Herget, we headed to Normal to take our place among the state’s best.

On Saturday morning, we awoke with a nervous excitement about what the day may bring. We had our last team meeting in the lobby, and the message of the day was “finish on empty”. We didn’t want this moment to be too big for our team as they had earned the right to be here today. We wanted them to turn that nervous energy into positive energy, embracing the moment and finishing on empty.

As the clock neared 11:00, our girls were up first. Our girls competed well and ended finishing in 19^th place. To think about where we were in the summer and even after time trial #1 to finish 19^th blows my mind. This is easily the most improved team we have ever coached!

Abbey Hauser- 26^th place (12:37) Abbey ran on our 2019 girls’ team that finished 3^rd in state. After Covid shut down our competitive season last year, she looked very motivated this year! Although she finished one spot out of All-State, Abbey can rest assured she is among the state’s best. Abbey has been a great leader and role model all season and left quite a legacy during her time at Herget.

Mia Kunio- 28^th place (12:38) Mia has made quite a splash as a 6^th grader in her first year on the team. She hasn’t backed down all year, and Saturday was no different. She finished 28^th, just three spots out of All-State. We look forward to having two more years with Mia to see how far she can take her potential!

Brooke Franciscy- 162^nd place (13:56) Brooke ran a solid race on Saturday and was our third runner. Brooke has all the talent in world, and being only a 7^th grader, we look forward to having Brooke back next season to help lead the team.

Caroline Goettsch- 163^rd place (13:56) The last few weeks, Caroline has really stepped up her game. She finished off her season in strong form and is just beginning to tap the surface of her potential. Only a 7^th grader, we will really be relying on Caroline next fall.

Emily Lesniak- 206^th place (14:35) Emily really took that next step last weekend, and it was great to see her gaining confidence in her abilities. Emily has come a long way in her two years of cross country, and although we will miss her, we can’t wait to see how she does in high school!

Sophia Frantzen- 219^th place (15:08)This was Sophia’s first year of cross country, and she made quite an impression, making our varsity and even cracked the top 5 on occasion. Sophia has so much potential and hopefully she continues running in high school! I will personally miss Sophia asking me everyday “what are we doing?” before I could even get down to the team. ðŸ˜‰

Destiny Jenkins- 220^th place (15:08) Over the course of three years Destiny has turned herself into confident runner! She has come so far over the last three years and should be proud she ended her career at Maxwell Park.

Next up were our boys. Looking at sectional results, I figured there were about 8 teams that could trophy on their best best day. Although, we didn’t have our best day, we managed to finish as the 6^th best team in the State. Although, there was some disappointment, I think our team competed well. At state amongst the top teams, all it takes is a few seconds here and a few seconds there to completely flip the scoring. Our boys should be proud of all they have accomplished!

Nate Gehrmann- 12^th place (11:18) All-State. Nate is a good example of what dedication and hard work are all about! Although talented, Nates biggest attribute is his work ethic. He went from being a talented 6^th grader to the 12^th best runner in the state as an 8^th grader, through hard work and dedication to his craft. Nate embraces the grind and is only getting started!

Ben Bohr- 29^th place (11:30) Ben had quite a breakout season! As a 6^th grader last year, we knew he was talented but without competitions, it was hard to quite tell what we had. Ben really made a name for himself this year and figures to be among the state’s best next season as he was the third 7^th grader to finish on Saturday!

Mason Aguirree- 73^rd place (12:02) Mason is a three-year runner for us and ran on the state team that qualified in 2019. Mason developed into a solid leader on our team, and we’re going to miss him. Talented in multiple sports, we will be rooting for Mason on the pitch next year at West!

Lachlan Mahoney- 111^th place (12:15)Lachlan absolutely ended the season on fire. We got a glimpse of what this season might hold for him over the summer, but he exceeded all expectations. When we challenged him to “close the gap” to our 1-3 runners, he answered the call. Lachlan should be in the discussion for all-state next season!

Greyson Roderick- 122^nd place (12:19) Greyson is another runner who just simply got better every year. Ten seconds here, twelve seconds there, and before long Greyson was an instrumental piece to our team. It was great to see Grey end his career on the state course!

Gavin Aguirree- 155^th place (12:35) Only a 6^th grader, Gavin did an outstanding job this season! To run against kids two years older and compete well is a hard thing to do at this age. Gavin figures to be a cornerstone of our teams for years to come and has unlimited potential as to what he can accomplish. He finished as the 18^th sixth grader to finish at state.

Nate McGinnis- 201^st place (13:00) Nate has really turned himself into a silent leader on our team. He shows up, works hard, and repeats the process day after day. He’s made quite a jump since last year; this was a great learning experience for him. We’re lucky to have Nate coming back next year to help lead the team.

Special shout outs to our alternates Mia Kerns and Finn Roderick! They both had great seasons and got to go through the whole state series experience with us. We’re hoping they take this experience and build on it for next year!

With the conclusion of awards and pictures, it was just a nice two-hour ride back to Herget to finish off our season. It’s always one of my favorite bus rides of the season. The bad singing and laughs are plentiful and it’s a great way to wind down another year. The rhythm of an XC season is hard to duplicate, and I’m just not sure there is another team bond quite like it. Thank you to all the family members for their support throughout the season, and thank you to our athletes for writing another chapter in the HXC book. You left quite a legacy for future teams to follow. I’ll leave you with one of my all-time favorite running quotes which hopefully every runner on our team can relate to. “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no membership card to get. You just run.” #runhxc #beelite.