We might not have had a better start to the 2018 season than when we beat the weather, and scored two Top 5 team finishes at the CLS Invite. On a rugged, muddy Veteran’s Acres course, our varsity put up a solid 80 second pack split, earning seven medals in the process.
Daniel Occhipinti took the top pack to the limit and narrowly missed a runner up finish by 0.3 seconds. Wielgos net his own PR finish by racing to 16th overall. Our scoring was completed when our 3-5 runners crossed just six seconds apart. Lodwig and Walker at 18:02, and Adams in his first ever XC race at 18:08. For 3.1 of hills, mud, and mugginess, that’s pretty awesome!
Nosek and Neal were also close to this pack, and moving forward it will be exciting to see how this group improves as a unit. Our next wave competed as a pack as well, with Petrik leading a group of three to the finish line at 19:27, a new course best for Jacob. Klingensmith was next across the finish line one second later, followed by Finn just three seconds after. This is a great example of how we stick together in groups when we run, with one runner taking “the edge” and the others holding on with all they have.
Alex Johnston, also running his first official race, dropped his mile pace by over a minute from the scrimmage to cross at 23:13. Holder finished strong despite an aching leg, holding out for 23:50 of agony. We really started well as a varsity team this fall, and we will continue to climb against the State’s best with the bold and tough mindsets of Sharks.
Our frosh soph crew replicated the aggressive attack of the hills and terrain at Veteran’s Acres. Led by a pair of Top 10 finishes (Aa. Lodwig, 9th and Dallal, 10th) the team got into scoring, just two seconds apart. Next to sprint to the finish was Popovich, in 31st place and immediately followed by freshman teammate Nolan Allen at 32. Phillips, also running his first high school race came through just five seconds later to finalize our team points, good for fifth in a pretty competitive field.
Fountain served well as a “pusher” in the race as our 6th man, running a :38 PR on this course. Malone just barely missed a medal at 72nd, but moved up 31 places from 2017 and dropped :19 in time. Scherden was next to cross with a big mile pace improvement from the scrimmage. Huber managed the mud well enough to finish in the top 100 at 98. Cunz also looked impressive in his first run in a diamond jersey, running sub 7:00 mile pace. Fiedler was right on Logan’s heels, just two seconds later, also with a strong mile pace performance. Sussland sprinted across the line a full :30 faster than last fall. Brazee dropped mile pace by more than a minute versus his scrimmage performance, to finish at 15:32. Caleb Hwang won the dirtiest jersey award, showing toughness in rising after a fall on the course and still dropping his mile pace by :48 seconds since the scrimmage. Freshman Casey Walters demonstrated his own brand of toughness by dropping his mile pace significantly, en route to an awesome finishing kick.
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