Tonight we came back to Byron, looking to close the gap from a third place performance in 2016. The team caught fire early, when Drew Occhipinti left the line first and didn’t let up until 17:27 later when he won his first individual title in the sport. Klingensmith followed suit, leaving the starting line :20 after Drew, and entering the chute just 11 seconds later.
Surging was the plan all evening, and Popovich was next at the finish, with a season’s best mile pace to go with a fourth place medal. Abruzzo followed in next at a converted 17:12 time for 6th, and a new season’s best mile pace. Orczykowski closed team scoring at 8th place, and sub 18:00 pace, followed immediately by Petrik who converted to 16:56. Dallal earned the last of our varsity medals when he raced in 11th place, just 7 seconds after Petrik.
Blake Finn raced to a season’s best mile pace as well, just short of a medal at 17th overall, but improved 1:09 from ‘16. Seth Nosek was next in the chute with a time of 16:38 converted to PR by 1:14 on the course. Walker capped our night’s varsity races by passing 20 runners on his way to a 17:05 overall time at 28th place.
Orczykowski and Petrik tied with :47 improvements from 2016, while Abruzzo took off :15 and Klingensmith another :22. The challenge was laid out ahead of the race where runners know there’s more to race for this season in earning a roster spot on the Top 12. Continuing to push for that roster makes our entire team better. Keep putting up your own strong numbers. It makes a roster decision extremely difficult for coaches, but on the whole it also makes our program that much tougher.
When the sun was setting in beautiful colors of orange and purple, the open was nearly all black and white. Charles Fitts took the individual title with a season PR on mile pace, winning in 17:33. Aaron Lodwig was runner up, just :13 behind, followed :05 later by Dunne who improved by :59 over his 2016 race. Ben Purcell raced into the finish just two seconds later, for 4th, in PR time at Byron. Fountain was right behind Ben for a 5th place medal, racing in PR mile pace time.
Parker Malone turned in a sixth place performance, earning a medal at 18:37. Senior Kyle Konrad FINALLY got to race at Byron after four years sidelined by injury, and he net a 7th place medal in season’s best time. Kyle Wells earned his own medal in 8, and setting a new standard of excellence for the season at 6:40 mile pace.
Jack Holder improved 1:10 on the night, racing to 6:46 mile pace in the process. Sussland landed a Top 10 medal with a huge PR for mile pace, finishing in 19:50. Jablonski was next to the finish, without his spikes but in 12th position. Matt Konrad ran a peak race with PR mile pace, coming in 13th overall. David Brazee improved his mile pace by :50 and is really in a groove. What a huge time drop in mile pace!
Overall, there were so many highlights, but the best may have come after the race when a woman working the finish chute took a moment to speak with the coaches. She was not only impressed with the way the team ran, but she was most pleased by the genuinely good manners and respect that she was shown by all of our finishers.
What you do, how you represent your school, your team, and your family, speaks volumes when you may not even know it. While we took home many awards for great races, the fact that you left a lasting impression on a meet official who sees “Kaneland XC” in this light is a great victory for our program.
We are always proud of you boys, for the competitors you are, and how you go back at the finish to be good sports and shake hands with your peers from other schools. Always remember to C.A.R.E. about what you do, and to give your best attitude and effort; just like you did tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment