MINOOKA MAYHEM

The sun wouldn't rise until we had been on the road an hour into our trip up to Channahon for the Minooka Flighted Invitational.  This would be a new meet for EPGXC and nerves were on the surface about the new course, new format, and new competition for the Titans.
The park was in great condition, the footings were in fair shape if you could avoid the walnuts, there was one short punchy hill, some woods, a few paved paths to cross, but mostly flat grass on the very spectator friendly course.  Our day started with the Fresh/Soph boys.  Noah Ludy led things off with a great race, his splits of 5:52-6:20-6:02 led to a 18:14, not bad for a course which runs about 20 seconds slower than Detweiller.  Adrian Landrus and Sebastian Meyer were 2-3 on the FS Team, crossing in 19:19 and 19:21- Sebastian's time being a season best!  SOren Halvorsen was our #4 in the FS Race, running a season best of 20:57, a full thirty seconds better than last week.  The race of the day belonged to Lane Dohman, who dropped a lifetime PR of 21:58 after getting out in an aggressive 6:50.  Kayden Dewispeleare and Patrick McNamara rounded out the EPGXC effort with 23:19 and 24:42.
After that, things got a little crazy as flighted meets often do.  It was a three-ring circus of running as each member of our top seven would be separated into their own flight and racing only the other teams equivalent runner.  Allison Kelly and Will Bushert were our sevens, starting a race with only 40 other runners is weird enough, but with boys and girls in the same race and some pretty talented people up front, the 7s race got out to a fast start.  Will crossed the 1 in 5:47, but faded back to 6:33 and 6:25 in miles two and three, still holding on to our highest placement of the day with his 10th.  Allison got out in 7:25, and had a middle mile of 8:31 before recovering to bring it home in 7:34 for 12th.
Before Will and Allison had cross the finish, the Sixes were released on the course.  Nathan DeMarb got up the hill and to the mile mark in 5:29 before the heat slowed him back to 6:21 on the second although he closed in 6:06 for 11th.  Tori Witzig had a fantastic first mile of 6:55, but was forced to take a DNF as the heat seemed to get to her making it impossible to continue.
After the Sixes were all in, our Fives: Jenna Kent and Matt Ingalsbe took off.  Matt also earned an 11th place finish with his 17:51, and Jenna placed 13th in 22:19.  While the Fives were working on their second halves, the Fours (Mason Ringger and Charlie Hamilton) began their race.  Mason stayed calm and moved up extremely well, earning our third 11th place in a row for an outstanding 17:10.  Charlie Stayed tough and finished 12th in her race with a 21:36.
In the Threes, Bo Halvorsen kept the streak alive with another 11th place, running a 17:14.  Sophi Allen was looking good until a side stitch came up and bit her and stung her over the final two miles.  She ended in 11th place in a 21:16.  In the twos, Asa Smith ran our streak of 11th places up to five and snuck under the 17-minute barrier with his 16:59.  Ruby Slightom got out with the lead girls in a blistering 6:18 before coming back for a 20:55 and 13th place.
In the Championship Flight, Noah Smith ran a season best and hung with some of the best runners in the state as he ran a 16:21 for 15th.  Cate Atkins was feeling the heat as well, although she ran a great time of 19:31 and placed 11th among some of the best girls in the State.
In the Open Races, our six boys took on close to 100 boys from Lyons Township as Zac Nelson led the way with his 19:59.  Aidan Mann (20:41) and Aidan Killian (20:58) also beat the 21 barrier and Randy Kent (21:09) just missed.  Monte Gregory had a great kick to finish in 21:36 and Brett Endress finished up our boys open in 21:57.
In the girls open, Mya Gramm ran relatively even splits and came away with a good time of 24:35.
As a team the boys placed 11th and the girls were probably 14th.  It was fun getting to watch everyone run as individuals and it was fun to see some of the best athletes in the State get after it.  Our boys were only a few points away from a Yorkville team that won back-to-back trophies a few years ago in 2A and our girls were able to beat a couple schools with six times the enrollment of us.