Our Boy's First State XC Meet

Alright, so we weren't exactly champions, and we may not have brought home a trophy, but we without-a-doubt ran like champions, and the PR parade proves that. Let's start at the top: Jacob Ludy. Jacob's PR on the course was set at FTTF in 2012, 15:57. His season PR for a grass course was 16:16 from the first meet of the year. His Detweiller best for the 2013 campaign had been his 16:22 from Patriot. He came in with the goal of 15:20 and making All-State, he was in 40th at the mile mark, and had climbed to mid-30s by the two. At the 2.5, he was still in 33rd, but had a pack of nine guys within four seconds in front of him. He took a breath and dug in for an 800 meter fight to the finish. He caught several guys during that last half, but right at the finish line, Andrew Warnes of Unity snuck across the line in front of him. His time was a 15:42, a lifetime grass PR and a new school record, but was it enough to make the top 25? Our counters had anywhere from 24th to 27th. Official results seemed to take forever, but when they finally posted, Jacob had earned a medal placing 25th and making the All-State Cross Country Team. One PR out of one finisher. Tyler DeMarb. Tyler's last month has been exceptional. He has been shadowing Jacob from the start of most races and even kicked ahead during the last mile in a few, serving as EPG's #1 at Amboy, Patriot, Regional, and Sectional. Tyler lost Jacob at the start on Saturday, but still managed to run a smart first mile of 5:10. This saved his leg speed for later in the race, as he climbed up about thirty spots between the 1.5 and the finish, ending in 36th overall and a 15:55.4 lifetime PR, only 0.4 seconds behind TJ Pitcock, who won the Oregon Sectional (his second half was 25 seconds faster than Pitcock's). Jacob and Tyler have now combined to take up the first eight spots on the Top Times chart for the course, and a commanding grasp on the top two Titans ever for the course. Andy Layden. After fighting bronchitis in mid-October, Andy was laboring to find his lungs over the last few weeks, but those bronchioles must have been nice and clear on Saturday as Layden ran to a lifetime grass PR of 16:47.0. This is a full 14 seconds faster than his time on the same course at Patriot, on a slower day overall*. Hunter Cobbley. Hunter is a candidate for most improved on the squad, soundly eclipsing his 2012 efforts on all courses. Hunter ran a 16:51 on the Detweiller course at FTTF, and a 17:05 at Patriot. On Saturday he got out four seconds faster than Patriot and two seconds smarter than FTTF. He held on better than his fading performance at FTTF, and ended with a season and lifetime PR of 16:50.6. Adam Ludy. Twice this season Adam had to take time out of training to nurse a turned ankle. Twice he has rebounded with exception performances. The only way to rebound from mid-season gaps in training is by having a huge base to fall back on, and it is clear that Adam had that base to fall back on not once, but twice. Adam's grass PR up to this point had been his 17:44 from FTTF, and he crushed that with an impressive 17:07.3, a 44-second PR! Interestingly, the results from www.raceresultsplus.com have Adam's second mile listed as 11:01 and his third mile as 0:37, so to say he negative split would be a bit of an understatement if those splits hold true. More likely, he ran splits similar to Shelbyville's Hunter Plummer, 5:29-5:50-5:46, who finished right in front of him. If you are curious about where that Rock Falls #4 kid finished (who snuck into the chute in front of Adam at Oregon), he was 33 seconds behind Adam. This put our top five average at 16:28, 15-seconds faster than Patriot, more than twice the improvement of all the teams that ran both.* And a perfect 5 for 5 on lifetime PRs for our scorers. Teamwise, this put us ahead of some very good programs; programs that had earlier in the year beat us by pretty significant margins. We owe a lot of that success to the leadership and perseverance of our Senior class. Two other Seniors contributed significantly to the success of our program, and helped earn that precious four feet of real estate at the State Final starting line. Luke Barnard. After earning most improved multiple times in track and cross country over the last three years, Luke again contributed to the success of this team At the very first meet of the year, it was Luke's effort to outkick Olympia's #5 that allowed us to beat them at the NCHS open. Luke proved that he has developed tremendous leg speed and strength as he ripped off a 2:17 800 as his 10th 800 of a 5-mile interval day. Luke fought a strained abdominal muscle for the last five weeks, and still managed to beat his Patriot time by two seconds, running a 17:45.6. While this did not beat his lifetime PR (17:38 set on the same course at FTTF), it was within seven seconds on a windy day. Afterwards, Luke had a good conversation with an old college-rival of mine (you can call someone who destroyed you by a couple minutes each race a rival can't you?) and I'm excited to see Luke's continued improvement over his collegiate running career. Marc Hartness. Most of the year, Marc was our #8. Most of the year, Marc was fighting the agony of shin splints. Most of the year, Marc was still busting his butt on the elliptical (and mopping up at Jeopardy!) during recovery runs, and pushing through pain during quality workouts. He is the lone boy on our team that has worked his way through all six years of the program, and what a journey it has been. Marc's goal at the beginning of the year was an unselfish one: he wanted to see our team, whether he was running or not, to make it to State in November. To reach that goal he pushed through pain and set back and continued to plug away. He knew that if he was going to have a chance to make the top seven, he would have to have a heckuva race at Patriot. Marc tapered for Patriot and pulled off a season PR of 17:48, almost a full minute faster than any previous effort for 2013. After that meet, it became clear that Ryan Filkins's calves were not going to let him run at his peak and that an alternate would be needed for the Regional. Marc's massive PR at Patriot made him the logical candidate and he proved worthy by finishing as our #6 at Regional. Ryan made an attempt to return at Sectional after the extra week of rest, but was allowed to start the recovery process after a painful performace at Oregon. Marc was back in the lineup for State. Marc went out at a smart clip, 5:40, on pace for his goal time of 17:00, but the softness of the triangle and the inability to hold a four-week taper saw his final two miles come through in 5:59 and 6:13. That 17:52 was still only four seconds off his Patriot time, and on a much slower day. Our magnificent seven ran like champions, the goal is always to perform your best when it matters most and without a doubt our boys accomplished that on Saturday. Congratulations to each of you on a job well done.