Wingfoot Review
We were hoping for lightning fast runs on the Wingfoot course on Saturday. Little did we know it the evening would be started with an actual lightning delay for almost two hours.
As a coach, the thing that I want the least is an injury or illness for a runner ocurring during a race. After that, in no particular order, are delays, changes to schedules, and unplanned co-ed races. While we escaped with no major injuries on Saturday, we were hit with the triple whammy otherwise. A round of pop-up storms hit Bartow County right as we were arriving to set up our tents (and try for the Spirit Decoration Award), and everyone was instructed to shelter in their cars until the weather passed.
Nearly two hours later we were finally able to enter the venue, but Mother Nature had forced race organizers to reconfigure the entire evening. Instead of two races, the entire middle school field would share the course at once, making for a crowded start and difficult navigation for our runners for much of the first mile.
Expectations coming in were to challenge for a top-3 finish on both sides, and we nearly met those expectations at the premier event of the regular season here in the Southeast!
Racing without three front-of-pack leaders on the boys side due to Fall Break, the 8th grade boys did exactly what was asked of them and clustered together for a pack finish at the top. Derek C led the way, finishing in a two-mile time of 12:57, followed almost immediately by Nick (13:07), Patrick S (13:09) and Bryce (13:13). Then it was a pair of exciting 6th graders continuing to improve this season, as Luke G and Michual ran 13:37 and 13:45 respectively. Seventh grader Colin would round out our scoring at 14:46, edging out Haseong (15:05), Ben (15:09) and Royce (15:22). Of this crew, Luke would manage a PR and narrowly miss a top-10 all-time race time for 6th graders in the JRCXC record books. However, he wouldn't be the only runner to PR, as every runner after them would set personal bests! Patrick F knocked of 50 seconds (16:15), Kaden dropped 16 seconds (16:19), Ricardo bested by 43 seconds (16:58), Aadit by 48 (17:18), Vihaan by 12 (18:47) and James felled his former PR by 16 seconds, finishing at 23:50.
Overall the boys placed 5th with 171 points, behind three club teams in Atlanta Track Club, Peachtree City Flash and Cherokee Youth Track, and one middle school team: Cartersville (home course advantage!). As we enter the homestretch and eyes turn towards the State competition, we don't consider clubs to be our competition; they draw from entire cities or regions. We keep our eyes on middle school competitors. Cartersville will be a team we face again at State. However, if we factor in running with a full squad at their average times, we beat Cartersville and CYT at Wingfoot and secure a 3rd place finish on the stage.
Speaking of being on the stage, the night wasn't over for JRCXC. Led by a tenth place finish from Tamar (13:21 two-mile time - also narrowly missing the JRCXC 8th grade record books) and an eleventh-place finish from Hanna (13:35 and securing the 4th best 6th grade time JRCXC has ever seen, beating her last PR by 13 seconds), our ladies would take 2nd place overall, behind only the Atlanta Track Club and edging out Creekland MS with a score of 89. The ladies would also pack finish, securing spots 19, 24, 25, 27, 30 and 31. Emily had the top-20 finish at 14:25, then it was Rena (14:31), Gabi (14:40), Ezri (14:43), Caroline (14:41) and Ellie (14:54, a 2 second PR). Akshara would cross next for the Junior Cougars at a 15:42 two-mile time, followed very closely by Mia (15:47), Zahra (15:52) and Payton (15:58). Mia's was a PR by 48 seconds, and Payton's a PR by 37.
Shortly afterwards Kerrigan would sprint across the line at 16:45 - a 57 second PR - then Jiyu at 17:02 and Kyra at 17:33. Elin would PR by 2:03 (!) to finish under 19:00 at 18:57, Carsyn would drop 18 seconds on her PR (19:18), Kamila narrowly missed a PR at 20:45, Riina PR'd by 54 seconds at 21:16, and Aria would round out our runners with a season best of 23:31!
All told 15 runners PR'd on a course that was more difficult than Warpath, an amazing result for a night that began with very little warm-up and barely enough time for strategy talk. Seeing the ladies on stage accepting their team trophy and knowing the boys would have been right there let's us know we're continuing to Chase our Greatest Races and Do Hard Things as we wind down the regular season.
Our final meet is Wednesday, September 30th at Wesleyan, a JRCXC tradition we celebrate with grateful hearts and thankfulness for our friends at Wesleyan. After the dust settles and shoes are untied, we will reflect briefly on the 2026 regular season before our final prep for State: 10 days to prepare for runners who have qualified for that competition.
Comments