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The Jackson Meet is always an interesting start to the season. Not much there is like the rest of our races. Along with our home meet, it's usually one of the hottest. The races are more than a mile shorter than the standard 5K, and athletes are sorted not by talent level but by grade level. Unlike the typical five runners making up a team score, boys teams require four runners in a race to score, while girls require three. With the girls races starting just two minutes (more like one this year) after the boys, the two genders often end up running side by side. This year's meet included 25 schools, ranging from Class 1 schools like Delta smaller than ourselves all the way through huge teams like Kirkwood who brought three buses of runners. In total there were nearly three hundred athletes who crossed the finish line, with medals going to the top 25 in each race. Freshman GirlsWe only have one freshman this year, so all SV eyes were on Adeline during the opening races. Saturday was Adeline's birthday, and she gifted the team with quite a performance in her very first cross country race. She ran a smart first mile, hung on through the discomfort of the second half, and overtook one last runner at the finish line to finish in 12th place. To be fair the meet used to allow athletes to race up a grade to create a scoring team, and so we typically didn't run many athletes in the freshman race. Jackson wasn't always the best about posting their results either. However, to my knowledge, Adeline is just the second girl from St. Vincent to ever medal in the freshman race.  Sophomore BoysSophomores make up half of our team, and so our 6 boys in 10th grade were our first team to score on the day. Our scoring four were well packed, separated by just 18 seconds. While this wasn't enough to match the powerhouse teams of Kirkwood, Jackson, and Herculaneum, it did put us in front of the rest of the field. Since these boys will make up the majority of our varsity squad, this was a good sign of things to come this season.  On the individual level, Luke was the first across the finish line. He hasn't been able to do much running the last two weeks while bouncing back from a minor knee injury. He took a cautious approach to the race. While his time likely wasn't a complete reflection of what he's capable of, he still managed to finish 22nd and claim a medal while also shaving 8 seconds off his time from last year.  Bo was our second sophomore boy to finish, one of three SV runners who stuck together most of the race. He pulled away down the stretch. And while he finished just outside of medal range, his time was more than two minutes faster than as a freshman.  Right behind Bo was Caden. He's put in a lot of work this summer, and it paid off in his first race this season. An injury derailed his season last year, so it was good to see him start off strong, finishing 80 seconds faster than last year.  Jackson was our next sophomore boy, coming in just 0.3 seconds after Caden. This was his very first cross country race, and he made a strong showing. Including him in the mix of the other boys definitely adds some great depth to our team.  Collin followed for the boys. This was also his first ever cross country race. He's been training consistently this summer and building up his aerobic capacity. That gave him the ability to power through some difficulty in the middle of the race. While many new runners go out too fast and fade in the second half, Collin ran perfectly even splits over the two miles and set a great time to build on moving toward 5Ks.  Tristin was our final sophomore boy across the line. This was his first race back since a hickory nut brought an early end to last season. He ran one of the most consistent races of the day, turning in nearly even splits while also taking exactly a minute off his freshman time.  Sophomore GirlsOur two sophomore girls were one runner short of scoring for a team, but they both still ran strong races. Anna was our first finisher. She took a risk and went out at a challenging pace on the tails of a talented pack of Herculaneum girls. While she dropped off a little down the stretch, she showed she can hang with some top-caliber runners, taking 9th place and dropping more than a minute off her time from last year.  Not only was this Sydney's first cross country race, but she started running less than three weeks earlier. She's still building up her endurance, but she gutted through a tough two miles to reach the finish line. It takes a lot of courage to try something new when you don't know how it will go and to stick with it when it isn't easy. We're proud of Sydney, grateful to have her on our team, and excited to see her continue to progress!  Junior BoysThings really started to heat up during the junior races, both in terms of temperature and competition. We don't have any girls in 11th grade, but our two boys ran as a tag-team even if that didn't get them a score. Carter was the first to finish. Of the top six finishers from last year's race for their grade, Carter was the only one who raced this year. That threw off his race plan and pacing a bit. He matched his time from last year and learned some things to build on going forward, all while finishing 4th.  Noah was our other junior boy across the line. He's juggling two sports this fall, which definitely poses new challenges physically and mentally. He hung tough while pushing through some discomfort and the challenge of running alone to get in a solid race to build off.  Senior GirlsWith no senior boys, that left our senior girls as the final runners, as well as the only other group to score. It's worth noting that we ran five senior girls. That's the same number as Jackson and Kirkwood, two schools that are ten times our size. In an era when sadly so many girls are dropping out of sports, we are excited to see these ladies continuing to work hard, support each other, and find personal and team success together. Some of that success happened on Saturday, where our ladies finished fourth behind three Class 5 schools.  That success started out front. Reagan was not only our first runner across the line. She was the first of all senior girls. To win the race was also a big personal victory for Reagan, as last year's race ended with her unable to finish. It made a big statement and hopefully set the tone for a successful season.  Audrey was our second senior girl to finish. After a junior season marked by steady improvement, she picked up right where she left off, shaving more than 30 seconds off her time from last year. That was good for 18th place and a medal at the meet for a second year in a row.  Jocelyn might have put in the best personal performance of the day. Last year was a physical struggle, one ultimately largely influenced by low iron levels. With solid numbers on that count and a consistent summer of training under her belt, she was ready to run. She actually finished the race with negative splits. And if you find that hard to believe, try wrapping your head around the fact that her time this year was more than six minutes faster than last year!!! That's not a typo. This earned Jocelyn a medal for 24th place and a lot of confidence going forward.  Sybina was our next finisher. She's shown year after year through her finish times that she loves running in the cold. That meant she wasn't a fan of Saturday's heat. All the same, she battled across the two miles to dip below 20 minutes, finishing more than 40 seconds faster than in 2024.  Sybella rounded out the senior girls. She chose to return to running after a year away from the sport. That's meant shaking some dust off of her ability and rebuilding some strength. She finished just short of her goal of 20 minutes but more than showed that such a pace is well within her reach. We're happy to have her back on the team and look forward to her regaining some of her old form!  All in all it was a great first meet for our team. We always use it as a learning experience as we make adjustments for the bigger races ahead. But our runners set solid foundations to launch toward success from going forward, and we're proud of what they accomplished!  Head here for more photos from the meet!Comments are closed.
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