He didn't win but neither did he lose. He DID earn points for the TEAM, but he had nothing to show for himself. So, is Colin pleased with his first middle school cross country meet? I think so. He started on the line near "the fast kids" but quickly fell back to near 20th place - behind "the fastest kids" and behind his swimming buddies and behind his friend from down the street who he has known since they were toddlers.
The horn sounded and they were off: a mass of more than a hundred boys, maybe closer to two hundred, in grades 6 through 8. Colin broke with the crowd; but quickly fell back - crowds aren't his thing. I watched as the lead pack thinned and the pace was set by one of Colin's Raa teammates - not by the boys who leapt out to the front. I watched as another of Colin's Raa teammates began to edge up towards the front and a couple of the ATAC swimmers were striding along at a pretty peppy pace. Colin was moving up in the ranks, I guess when the pack thinned at first he was about 25th maybe 20th, but he was slowly working his way to the front.
Colin - far left - getting ready to leave the track
The leaders left the track and headed out "to the country" portion of the race. Through a parking lot; around the baseball field and then behind the soccer/football practice field; around the high school and through another parking lot; around the outside of the track and then back in for one quarter of a lap around the track to the finish line and the clock. I can probably name half of the top ten boy runners, and at least down to 11th or 12th where Colin finished - still earning points as the third runner finishing for Raa Middle School. I know there was a Montford boy and a Belle Vue boy in there, and another Deerlake runner I think.
Top Ten Boys - Chiles XC Meet - 9.11.2008
1st - Will Henderson, Raa
2nd - Cameron Wong, Raa
3rd - Scott Fortier, Switft Creek (ATAC swimmer)
6th - Sergey Rogachev, Deerlake (ATAC swimmer)
7th - Trevor Touchton, Swift Creek (friend from the neighborhood)
Top Ten Girls - Chiles XC Meet - 9.11.2008
1st - Rachel Givens, Raa
2nd - Cece Williams, Deerlake (ATAC swimmer)
3rd - Lia Lombardi, Deerlake (ATAC swimmer)
4th - Jessica Beyer, Raa
5th - Ursula McPherson-Vitkus, Raa
9th - Camille Baker, Raa
By-the-way, I find it amusing and important to point out that many of the top ten runners are friends in some way, shape, or form of Colin's. It's a small world.
Raa took first place in both the boys' and girls' divisions of this meet. A great start to a very short season: 3 meets, one championship meet. Way to go Raa Rams! Happy Running!
See you on the streets ...
No comments:
Post a Comment