#10 - Last race of the season

So much for commitment, I got away from the blogging for awhile and didn't even finish the season.

Well D12 ran in her first JV ("B) 4K race in the state Sectional meet in October.  The day was cool, clear, and the course, a golf course, was fast. 

My coaching, stay with your team's top JV runner until 1.5 miles and then if you feel good make a move. 

What'd she do? 

Took off like a crazy person and was in the top 15 at the half-mile mark, a good 100 meters in front of her teammates. Yikes!  She went through the mile in 6:25 and 12th place and looked ridiculously comfortable.

I was running all over the course, 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 1.5 mile, and 2 mile markers, though because I was filming on my iPhone I missed some times.

At 1.5 miles and about 200 meters from me I see her surge to catch up with 2 girls from a rival school that had 5 girls in the top 7.  The surge was too hard and by the time she reached me she was feeling the affects.

The next half-mile was tough for her and she fell back, and her teammates, who were running a much more even race caught her just past the 2 mile marker.  Seeing her teammates catch her brought her out of her mid-race funk and she re-engaged for the final 600 meters tracking down several competitors in front of her and finishing 7th overall, and 1st for her team.

Her time of 16:24 for 4K was simply awesome.  A 6:34 average!  1st 7th grader to cross the line!  Although there would be two 7th graders in the Varsity race that would beat her time.  And, after the Varsity times were collated she finished 7th for the team and earned a spot by time on the State Team.

In the end the coach decided to take the senior captain to the State Meet instead; a good decision on his part, rewarding the athlete that spent 6 years in his program.  The most impressive part was that the coach met with my daughter and explained his reasoning.  He's a good coach, but maybe even a better person. 

We went to the State Meet to cheer on the team and they finished 10th, about what was expected, led by a top 20 finish of their 8th grade star.  The coach is hopeful that his fleet of 7th graders will make the transition to varsity next year and move the team up in the top 5.