Darts -
It has been an incredible cross country season. I know that we are not completely done with what we set out to do, but our regular season (through the state meet) was full of some great experiences and some awesome DXC performances. I want to thank all our athletes for making it such a great year - for contributing in ways more than just running, for showing up ready to work, for racing with heart and purpose, and for helping to build a unified TEAM. I want to thank all of our parents for their support and encouragement and volunteer help. We are lucky to have such a wonderful group of parents and we could not have accomplished all we did without them. And I want to thank our coaching staff - Coach Anderson and Coach Timothy have been awesome - they have given so much of their time, energy, and love to the athletes on this team - and we appreciate all they have done.
The state cross country championships were this past Wednesday at Sugarhouse Park. Although there were some changes to the final mile of the original course, it is still a very challenging course - mentally and physically. From what we can tell, the times are very similar to the old course (we estimate 0-5 seconds faster) - making this possibly our greatest state meet ever (boys and girls).
The girls started us off with a very tough effort. We finished with 51 points - only 10 points away from the championship. It would have been nice to get the victory - but the American Fork girls had to run very well to beat us. Courtney led the way with a killer 1st place performance. She took the lead right before 1/2 way and didn't look back. She pushed hard to the finish line and ran 17:24 - a course record for the new course (all divisions) - and would have been the fastest on the old course by :01. Aubrey earned her 3rd straight all-state finish with 4th place in 17:59. She is the first Davis athlete to go under 18:00 twice on the state course. Sam Hedquist ran strong in her final state meet with a 15th place finish in 18:48. Jenna and Ally came in right together at 19:03 and 19:04 at 18th and 19th to round out our top 5. Grace and Miah may not have had their best days, but they fought their way to the finish line in 29th and 35th. The girls ran our fastest ever team time of 92:19 - beating the team time of 92:27 from 2013. One thing is for certain, this is a group of girls who are putting a lot of heart into their running, and they are not finished yet! We will keep working for NXN and we will have 5 of these girls back in a year doing their all to be their best.
Our boys ran their best performance of the year when it really counted. We had a great race at region, and some solid preparation coming into the state meet. They ran the race plan to perfection - they were patient through the first half of the race - stayed steady and didn't settle in the middle - and then moved hard when it was time to move. It was so exciting watching our guys emerge from the huge pack over the final mile of the race. If you look at the video and the pictures about 1 mile into the race, we are not in the lead. Lone Peak, American Fork, and Lehi all had groups of runners in position, but we stayed calm and ready and then laid it down over the 2nd half of the race. Camren Todd ran gutsy up front with the chase pack and fought hard for a 6th place finish (15:26) to lead the way for us. Then our pack came through - Logan finished 8th (15:36 - getting all-state), Colter closed hard in 11th (15:42), Colton was 12th (15:44), and Matt was 13th (15:45). We had our best 1-5 spread of the year with only 18.4 seconds from Camren to Matt. It was a true TEAM victory. Josh and Frasier also finished well with 16:04 and 16:05 - both placing ahead of every other team's #5 guy. It was one of the most competitive state meet fields ever - and our boys came away with a 23 point victory: Davis 50, Lehi 73, American Fork 88, and Lone Peak 96. We also finished 1st in the overall combined results (all divisions), with a 34 point victory over Timpanogos. The boys team time of 78:15 is our all-time record by :46. It was our first state championship since 2007 and our 9th all time (1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007). They have worked very hard for this title, and they definitely deserve to be called champions. It was a performance that the past Davis greats would be proud of and future Davis runners will hold as legendary.
Girls State Results
1. Courtney Wayment 17:24.7
4. Aubrey Argyle 17:59.4
15. Sam Hedquist 18:48.2
18. Jenna Connell 19:03.4
19. Ally Geisler 19:04.0
29. Grace Neuenschwander 19:37.3
35. Miah Weaver 19:51.7
Team Scores
1. American Fork 41
2. Davis 51
3. Lone Peak 153
4. Riverton 157
5. Sky View 185
6. Mountain Crest 190
7. Fremont 191
8. Herriman 194
9. Weber 202
10. Jordan 245
Boys State Results
6. Camren Todd 15:26.8
8. Logan MacKay 15:36.5
11. Colter Blanchard 15:42.5
12. Colton Rimann 15:44.8
13. Matt Ward 15:45.2
26. Josh Peters 16:04.6
27. Frasier Williamson 16:05.6
Team Scores
1. Davis 50
2. Lehi 73
3. American Fork 88
4. Lone Peak 96
5. Weber 162
6. Westlake 206
7. Bingham 235
8. Syracuse 252
9. Fremont 257
10. Viewmont 262
Athletes of the Week:
Aubrey Argyle, Ally Geisler, Miah Weaver
Colton Rimann, Colter Blanchard
I saw this quote from Matt Centrowitz that really reminded me of our team this season: "The rise to greatness is an inevitable struggle. Day after day, pain, perseverance, emotion, and doubt. Early to bed, Early to rise. Get up, run, eat healthy, sleep, eat healthy, workout, eat healthy, go to bed. Start over. Do core, back strengthening, leg strengthening, lifting, agility, stair runs, sprints, It seemingly never ends, the lonely road of champions. The worst part is that you don't know if it works until you get your moment. And even if you DO get that moment, you still have to seize it. After all of that work, you still may come up short. And that's what makes the road so special. It's not the pain that scares people away, it's the fear. The fear of coming up short. The difference between the champion and the rest? The champion dismisses it."
Next 4 Weeks: I hope that all of you will continue to train with the team for the next 4 weeks. Even if you did not get invited to Nike Regionals, it will still be a fun month of training, give you some benefit for track and xc next year, and give you a chance to run in one more race (Pre-Nike at Layton Park). I have attached the workout schedule for the next 4 weeks. Please let me know if you have any questions. If you are going to commit to these 4 weeks, show up tomorrow and please commit fully to do your best to contribute to the overall team progress.
TEAM Pictures - Wednesday after school. Wear your uniform. We will meet in my classroom at 2:45. We will take senior pics first and we will wait for the 9th graders before we take the full team picture.
TEAM Banquet - Thursday, 11/5 at 6:00pm - place to be announced.
