2026 Jackson Meet Recap

The Jackson Meet always makes for an interesting start to the season.  It has many unique characteristics we won't find at any of our other meets.  Along with our home meet, it's usually one of the hottest.  The races are just 2 miles long rather than the standard 5 kilometers.  Races are run by grade rather than with varsity and junior varsity divisions.  Unlike the typical meet where a team's top five runners in a race make up their score, boys team scores in races at Jackson come from their top four runners, while girls team scores come from their top three.  With the girls races starting just one minute after the boys, boys and girls often end up running side by side.

This year's meet included 35 schools, ranging from from fellow Class 1 schools like Delta and Advance to Class 5 stalwarts like Kirkwood, Lindbergh, and Northwest.  In total there were nearly 600 athletes who crossed the finish line, with medals going to the top 25 in each race.

Freshman Boys

The first race of the morning brought the freshman boys to the starting line.  Trever was our lone competitor in the race.  Despite having to run his very first cross country race without teammates, he still put in a consistent race, maintaining his position across the second mile.  While he finished a few places short of a medal, he did manage to edge out his sister's time by less than a second. 

Freshman Girls

The freshman girls race started just a minute later but offered quite the contrast.  We had 8 ladies making their cross country debut.  That gave us more than enough runners to register a team scores, and so it was going to be fun seeing what they could do as a group.  In the end they did quite well, finishing 6th.  4 of the 5 teams in front of them were Class 5 schools, most with enrollments 10 times that of our school.  We're proud of their performance and are excited to see what they can do with our other two ladies in the mix up against schools our own size.

Kiera was our first girl to the finish line.  She ran a smart race, sticking with Aubrey most of the race before pulling away in the closing segment.  Her second mile was 25 seconds faster than the first, paving the way for her to pass four runners during the second half of the race.  Unfortunately that left her in 26th place, just one spot short of a medal.  Aubrey finished just two places back in 28th.  

Our next two freshman girls also raced as a pair.  Lexi was the first of this duo.  She slowed a little through the second mile but found a strong finish in the last 150m to pull away from the runners challenging her for position.  One of those was her teammate Charlotte, who had been dealing with some ankle discomfort in the days before the meet.  In an effort that helped earn her the Spirit Stick, she decided to give the race a shot (in trainers for some added support).  Not only did she finish the race, she looked strong doing so, finishing just behind Lexi on the other side of a Lindbergh runner.

After that came Reese, she had been through a lot this past week and plenty weighing on her.  She also dealt with some shoulder pain during the race.  But she battled through all the adversity to conquer her first race.

Speaking of battling, Adele had also faced some challenges before and during the race, but she looked strong the entire two miles.  With 200 meters to go she was 30 meters behind another runner, and yet she chased them down in the home stretch and edged them out by just over a second.

Neva and Alaina rounded out our freshman girls.  Neva ran a very controlled mile before turning on the jets in the second half of the race.  Her second mile was nearly 90 seconds faster than the first.  She passed three girls in that span and even caught a boy (who got a 1-minute head start) before the finish line.  Alaina dealt with some discomfort throughout her race.  It slowed her down at times, but she never let it beat her and fought until the finish.

Sophomore Girls

Without any sophomore boys, it was onto the girls race, where Adeline was our sole athlete.  She ran a very strategic first mile before moving up over the second half of the race, passing 8 runners to slip into the top 25 and earn our first medal of the day with a 19th place finish.  Her finish time of 15:50 was nearly 30 seconds faster than last year.

Junior Boys

The only other race where we had enough runners to score was the junior boys.  It was also the biggest race of the day, with 105 finishers.  Our 6 boys in the race all battled against some tough competition.  Ultimately they finished 6th like the freshman girls, also behind five Class 5 schools and perennial Class 3 podium contender Herculaneum.

Luke was our first boy to finish.  After a challenging season last year, he's looked strong and healthy so far in 2026, and it showed during the race.  He ran a solid first mile but then doubled back to negative split the second half, getting past 7 runners to earn a medal in 11th place.

Jackson and Caden were our next two finishers.  They stayed together most of the race.  Both moved up during the second mile, but Jackson especially took off.  In 35th at the mile, he had his work cut out to claim a medal.  But with the way we train to race, we're not afraid of chasing people down.  That's exactly what Jackson did, catching a few more in the last 400m to slip into 23rd.  Caden didn't move up quite as much in the last stretch, but he got past 5 runners to finish a respectable 29th, just missing out on a medal.  Both boys improved on last year's times by around a minute.

Collin was next across the line to round out our scoring four.  Like the boys in front of him, Collin also ran a smart first. In fact, his first mile was the exact same split as last year.  The difference was the strength and stamina he's gained in the last 365 days, which allowed him to speed up rather than fade.  This boosted our team scores significantly, as he passed an impressive 10 runners over the second mile.  His time was also 44 seconds faster than in 2025.

We only have one freshman boy this year, but we did pick up an additional runner in Adam.  He has some running experience from track, but this was his first cross country race.  After staying with Collin the first mile, he faded a bit in the second half.  However, he was able to bounce back for a strong finish, getting in front of 3 runners near the end of the race.

Our last junior boy was Tristin.  He's had a busy start to the season with his brother's wedding in Washington state last weekend, but none of that seemed to slow him down much.  While the race was a little thinner on competition around him, he ran his own race, and it was a good one.  His second mile was 30 seconds faster than the first, powering him past 2 runners for a finish time 18 seconds better than last year.

Junior Girls

Like the sophomore race, we had just one junior girl competing.  But like Adeline, Anna made that one spot count.  She ran a tremendously smart race, staying just off the lead pack earlier on before picking runners off one by one as they fell off.  She dropped 18 seconds off her first mile in the second, and in the end she caught all of the other ladies but one.  Her second place finish was the best ever for a junior girl from our school at the Jackson meet.  She also shaved more than a minute off of her time from last year.

Senior Boys

Without any senior girls, the boys race was the last of the morning for our team.  It also featured one SV athlete in Carter, who also didn't disappoint.  He focused on shorter races during track season and is still building back his stamina.  He ran a careful first mile but was able to save enough for a strong finish.  He caught 3 runners in the second mile, including one in the last 200 meters, to finish 7th.  His time was within striking distance of last year and shows he is well on his way back to where he left off in 2025.

Our team finished with 5 medalists.  7 of our 8 returning runners who raced improved on their time from last year.  It was an impressive start to our season, and puts us in great position as we move to racing full 5Ks.

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