The Week in Review
After a Homecoming Week without a race, we were back on the course this week. But before that we were able to fit in some fun and training. Unfortunately several of our runners missed out on part or all of that due to illness, but it was still a full week.
On Tuesday our team tackled a challenging race-pace workout at Blechle Park. Our 800m loop there offered a decent approximation of the terrain on the Conference Course. We followed that up on Wednesday with a team "track meet", where runners were split into teams of three with an individual from each team racing a 40m, a 100m, and a 200m. Teams faced off against each other, as well as the team of coaches. The teams were evenly pretty evenly matched, with all four teams just separated by a single point. Since every team beat the coaches, they were rewarded with some stroopwafels
In the midst of our tune-up workouts for Conference, we did have another pasta party, with plenty of games to go around, including a round of Jackbox to close out the evening.
Conference Meet Recap
Saturday took our team up to Larry Crites Park in Festus for our Conference Meet. As last week's newsletter explained, we weren't setting out to claim any team titles given the size of our opposing schools. That became all the more likely as the week unfolded and several of our runners came up against illnesses and injuries. In the end we only raced 12 of our runners, but that didn't stop our team from giving some epic performances.
Varsity boys got the day under action. Carter went into the race ranked 11th in the conference. He went out strong and mixed in with a few runners over the race before ending up in a battle with fellow sophomore Cruz Anders from Desoto. While Cruz crossed just a couple seconds ahead, Carter nonetheless finished with his second fastest time of the season and a full 50 seconds faster than at last year's meet. His 9th place finish earned him second team all-conference honors. To my knowledge, he is just the seventh all-conference boy in team history.
The boys were just getting started. Ethan's goal was to have one last shot at mixing it up with the #2-5 Perryville boys. He didn't waste that opportunity. Just three weeks ago at the Perryville meet, Ethan finished behind all of those boys, 50 seconds back of the first one. At Conference he beat two of them handedly and finished just 10 seconds back of the other two. His time of 18:12 was a 19-second personal best and an insane 80 seconds faster than last year's meet.
Noah H was our only other boy in the varsity race. Less than a week prior he was at home with pneumonia. With his stamina not fully recovered, he battled through the fatigue to a run a respectable race given the circumstances.
The varsity girls went next. All six of our ladies who raced ran varsity. For Anna and Abby, it was a similar shot at revenge from the Perryville meet. Three weeks ago, they finished just behind the top two Hillsboro girls. This time those same four ladies once again finished consecutively, but with a bit more excitement. With just under 400m to go, Anna trailed Hillsboro's Jillian Meyer by around 10m. But down the home stretch, Anna kicked things into gear, blowing past Jillian to win by 6 seconds. Her time of 23:20 was a new personal best, and inched her just ahead of Gabrielle Gremaud for the fifth fastest freshman time in program history.
After a small gap, Abby also found herself in a footrace with Hillsboro's Ava Pingel. They stayed neck and neck to the finish line, with Abby coming up just 0.2 seconds short. ​However, she still managed to run a season best and improve upon last year's time by 15 seconds.
Kennedy was our next runner across the line. Besides a compromised knee, she's also been dealing with some illness that caused some struggles during the race. But all things considered, she managed to hang on for a solid finish and a respectable overall time.
Sybina wasn't far behind. During the 1600m intervals on Tuesday, she looked really strong. At the race she picked up right where she left off, even without much company to race with. Her 28:55 finish time was the second fastest of her career, just a few seconds off of her personal best and more than 80 seconds faster than last year.
Reese also had a strong race. During practice a few weeks ago, she coined the phrase "eat the plate" to describe a performance that doesn't just rise to the occasion but raises the occasion. At the meet she followed up with an example. Despite a fast start, she worked hard to hold on for a season best that was 90 seconds faster than last year.
Jocelyn has been battling some lower leg pain most of the season, but she made big strides during her first race in three weeks. Though she finished ten seconds short of a season best, she still ran more than 30 seconds faster than at the much flatter Arcadia Valley course last month, and this year's time was more than a minute faster than last year
Our JV boys closed out the day. Luke had a quick first mile but was still able to move up a few places over the second half of the race to shave 12 seconds off of his PR.
Cain and Bo stayed together through most of the race. Cain pulled away a bit down the stretch and was able to outsprint a Hillsboro sophomore at the finish line. He trimmed nearly 30 seconds off of his PR in the process. Not to be outdone, Bo put in a sprint finish of his own, even if it was against the clock. Like Cain, he was more than half a minute faster than at Arcadia Valley.
The Week Ahead
With two weeks until districts, things are starting to get serious. For our more experienced runners, that means backing a bit off the volume while keeping up the intensity. That still includes a race-pace workout on Wednesday.
For our younger runners lacking experience, they'll see one more race this week as the team heads to Bonne Terre for the North County Meet on Thursday. With the shortened school week, we'll just see an optional practice after that as we gear up for districts week. 
North County Meet Preview
For most of runners, fresh legs are the priority right now. But for those who missed out on Conference or could use a boost of confidence going into districts, the opportunity for one more race is a gift. All in all, right now we plan to have five boys and one girl race this Thursday. Unlike our recent meet, we're back to a single race each for boys and girls this time.
Unfortunately our team has never been to the meet. However the North County coach did hook me up with a course map. The course is effectively two loops around the perimeter, with a downhill start, an uphill finish, and a few manageable hills between given the general topography of the region. One should expect the grass at Leadbelt Golf Club to be well-groomed. To my knowledge last year was the first meet there, but the times were fairly fast.
With only one year of meet history that didn't include our team, the records are pretty simple. Last year's winner of the boys race was Potosi's Alex Smith with a time of 16:34. He is registered to return to defend his title, but he brings in the second fastest time, just a few seconds behind Mehlville sophomore Nikolaus Meyer's 17:01.
The 2023 girls champion was Fredericktown freshman Breanna Bone with a time of 20:29. She'll have some work to do in order to repeat as champion, as her fastest time this year trails multiple runners. Foremost of them is Valle Catholic's Madelyn Griffard, who sports a season best of 20:07. District Week Themes
A tradition in our team has been to have spirit days during the week leading up to our district meet. We will keep that going this year with the following things:
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