Boys' CC improve at Highland Invite

No two cross country courses are the same.  That said, while the Highland course is flat, fast, and without many speed-scrubbing sharp turns, the faster times are due at least in part to the "training effect" kicking in.  In other words, the boys ran faster in part because of the course, in part because they are reaching a new plateau.

The 7th place finish is notable because 1) it marks a higher finish than last year, 2) Highland--NCC rival--placed only 3 points ahead, and 3) KV runners better Hebron's score significantly, marking the first time in three outings that the Kougars bested the Hawks.

Coach's Comments:

I haven't had time yet to run down Hebron's line up to see if anyone is missing.  If so, so what?  We aren't going to spend too much time focusing on others.  For the moment, though, here are our times:

14 Travis Conley 10 Kankakee Valley 16:49
46 Justin Wicker 12 Kankakee Valley 17:53
52 Trevor Overstreet 12 Kankakee Valley 18:05
53 Brandon Hazlett 11 Kankakee Valley 18:06
57 Stephen Mezzacapo 12 Kankakee Valley 18:12

61 Cody Jones 12 Kankakee Valley 18:18
63 Bryce Gawronski 9 Kankakee Valley 18:21

19 Andrew Keister 12 Kankakee Valley 18:53

34 Jacob Stemper 9 Kankakee Valley 19:49

44 Nick Tiemens 12 Kankakee Valley 20:18
50 Brandon Martin 9 Kankakee Valley 20:40

...and Hebron's:

4 Jasen Egolf 12 Hebron 16:08
56 David Lucas 12 Hebron 18:09
68 Givoani Phan 10 Hebron 18:29
95 Matt Lyons 10 Hebron 19:36
97 Tony Rose 10 Hebron 19:43
99 Eric Brebner 9 Hebron 19:47
100 Tyler Keehn 12 Hebron 19:51

Schmidt and Hanaway evidently did not compete; I suspect that Hebron is continuing to spell a runner here and there, hoping to arrive at the end of the season a little fresher than they have in the past.

In addition, we don't know what their week of training brought; they may have chosen to run through this meet (i.e. run a hard practice a day or two prior, not worrying about their finish at Highland). 

To focus on us, though, congrats to Justin Wicker for breaking 18!  And I like that we have 2 or 3 more knocking on the door.  Our Saturday performance averaged 17:49 for the top 5.  Last year, we averaged 17:35.

Our sectional finish last year (for 2nd place to RCHS) averaged 17:42 for the scoring 5.  I suspect that we will have to better that to hold that place let alone challenge for the title. 

Keep up the hard work!