A Day of Firsts

October 5 was a day of firsts. It was the first time that we have had three meets within five days. It was the first time we had a run in Hantsport (in my memory). It was the first time that we have arrived at a location, ran two races, then been on our way within an hour. It may have also been the first time that we have won two junior races at the same meet. And, I might be stretching this here as a “first”, but it was our first biggest junior team. (That just means we have more junior runners than ever. A few boys were off playing soccer.) Many reasons to celebrate.

 

Like a couple of the girls (Ali and Maggie), Natalia Shaw ‘27 traded her soccer cleats for running shoes to enter her first cross-country race of the season. Shaw got off to a fantastic start to her season by handily winning the junior girls division. Just six seconds behind her, also running for the first time this season, was Ali MacLean ‘27 for bronze, and just two seconds off the podium, running her second race in less than 24 hours was Chelsea James ‘29 in fourth. Maggie Wellard ‘29 made up ground on the second lap to finish 16th. Maho Pedroza ‘27 ran her third race in five days and earned 17th. In her first race of the cross-country season, and her first race ever, Nathaelle Etou ‘27 finished 22nd.  

 

In the spirit of developing multi-sport athletes, many of our runners have a primary sport, and then join us for races. Harvey Hadley ‘27 hung up his swimsuit today and battled back and forth on the cross-country course before wearing down the eventual second place runner and grabbing the gold. Ken Hojo ‘25 is usually swinging for the fences, but he had a second strong race less than 24 hours apart as he ran for bronze today. Running his third meet in five days and just three seconds behind was Carlos De Los Santos ‘27 for fourth (just like the girls, the boys went 1-3-4). It takes a team of four to make it official, and Altyn Hood ‘29 was that for us putting in a very strong effort for 13th after a very strong run as well at NKEC.

 

This was a very fun “day” of racing. With a couple of hundred elementary students screaming and cheering, it was an exciting atmosphere. 

 

Our next race is Tuesday, October 11. Come out and cheer us on!