XC Update # 6

Darts –
I hope you all enjoyed your fall break. I find it hard to believe that the season will be over in 2 ½ weeks. With only 3 races to go, I am excited about the position we are in. We still have some great challenges in front of us, both individually and as a TEAM.
This week was one of our strongest of the season. I was really pleased in the way we came back and raced after some great performances at Bob Firman last week. Although the meets this week were a little more low-key, I learned a lot about the character of this TEAM. I like the positive attitude you brought into the open region meet. It was cold, and the course wasn’t the greatest, but we were positive and energetic, and we helped each other out. I wasn’t at the Top of Utah Relay, but everything I have heard from the coaches who were there shows me that you had fun and ran hard. I want to see you do that again this week at the open region meet at Syracuse on Wednesday.

Open Region Meet:
Through the mud and slop we tore,
Each race we had the lowest score.
Our boys looked strong and ripped and mean,
They raced together as a TEAM.
The JV kept their win streak going,
Their guts and toughness ever showing.
Our varsity ran smart and steady
State and Region, we’ll be ready.

The girls are looking equally fit—
The wetness and sludge didn’t slow them a bit.
The JV girls showed off their speed
Our tight pack running gave us the lead.
Varsity got lost, but still found a way
To run the right distance and blow teams away.
I nearly killed Cody, but things ended up fine—
I hope he accepts this ‘sorry’ of mine.

All together our TEAM is the best in the region,
We’re having ourselves one heckuva season.
Let’s keep things going and run with real passion—
And win the last three in Davis High fashion.

For results visit www.davisxc.blogspot.com. Although the varsity girls’ course was messed up, it still ended up being extremely close to the other course. Thanks to all who helped – we had athletes and parents step in where we needed them.

Top of Utah Relay: Since I was not there, I will give you what Janae wrote up -
Thoughts on the TOU Relay from Janae:
I thought it was the perfect day to race and a great course to run fast on (although I did find out from the Bear River coach that it was probably more like 2.3 miles instead of 2.5). It was fun to watch the Varsity Boys and Girls work hard together and compete for the relay win. The boys ran a very smart race. It was great to see their tight back positioned behind the leaders. They were patient and then made their move at the right time to finish strong. Logan came through first with Jeff only a few seconds behind. That sent Anna and Brooke "darting" from the start line. Next came Brian and Joe in 4th and 5th place. As they crossed the line Emily and Abby took off to catch up to their "sistas" on the team. Brad and Austin came through next in 8th and 10th place. Adam fought hard to hang on to our tight pack of guys and came through in 13th place. Meghan, Anni, and Brooke G. started their race with some ground to make up and some girls to catch. It was fun to see Meghan working her way up from the back for a change :-) She ran tough, but Kelsey Braithwaite from Box Elder had a pretty good head start, making her tough to catch. I thought the girls worked to stay together and ran as a pack as much as possible. We definitely looked like a team out there.
The JV races were awesome to watch. The JV boys took the top seven places for another perfect score (the next team's score was 63) and the JV girls dominated as well.
I think by the end of the awards ceremony the other teams were sick of hearing the word "Davis" and probably thinking "who invited them". We won all the races, had the tightest spread for the Varsity relay, Emily and Logan won the "Fastest Senior Award", Meghan won the "Fastest Junior Award", Brad Nye won the "Fastest Sophomore Award", Preston won the "Fastest Freshman Award", and we definitely had the cutest Varsity relay couples.
Overall it was a fun meet and another great day to be Dart!
--Janae

JV Boys:
1. Jason Thomas 12:53
2. Preston Johnson 12:53
3. Alex Hedquist 12:54
4. Brayden Cromar 12:56
5. Spencer Jones 13:08
6. Logan Wood 13:19
7. James Stenquist 13:20
10. Colton Cottrell 13:29
11. Hayden Hansen 13:30
14. Nate Lee 13:38
16. Keigunn Kunz 13:55
17. Jackson Sagers 13:58
25. Joe Albrechtsen 14:20
29. Taylor Goldsberry 14:25
31. Mike Arnold 14:29
34. Curtis Knight 14:41
36. Kaden Gilchrist 14:45
42. Cameron Layton 14:58
77. Isaac Clouse 18:41
Team Scores:
1. Davis 15
2. Bear River 63
3. Bingham 98
4. Morgan 116

Girls JV
1. Becca Albrechtsen 15:50
2. Megan Parker 16:32
4. Janice Hartvigsen 16:51
6. Sarah Parker 17:31
7. Kayla Sagers 17:32
8. Missy Lott 17:40
24. Whitney Williams 20:49
Team Scores:
1. Davis 18
2. Bingham 44
3. Bear River 69

Varsity Combined
2. Austin Neuner/Meghan Hedquist 26:45
4. Brian Alfaro/Emily Hansen 27:14
6. Joe White/Abby Frodsham 27:33
8. Logan Petty/Anna Ward 27:46
10. Jeff Taylor/Brooke Stromberg 27:50
11. Brad Nye/Anni Andersen 27:51
14. Adam Mathias/Brooke Gutzwiller 28:22
Team Scores:
1. Davis 28
2. Bingham 45
3. Box Elder 85
4. Bear River 118

St. George Marathon:
Stefanie finished as the 8th overall female with a time of 2:51.34 – a great time for her first marathon. She says to say thanks for your support and encouragement.
Hollie King finished 1st in the 15-18 age division with 3:31. Lizzy Wallin was 3rd in the same age division in 3:37. Both ran great times for their age and for their first marathon, and both qualified for the Boston Marathon by running under 3:40.

Athletes of the Week (all seniors):
Brooke Stromberg – Putting together some solid end of the season races.
Missy Lott – Bringing a lot of energy and really helping the younger girls.
Jason Thomas – Hanging tough despite the constant battle with injury; good leadership Friday.
Jeff Taylor – came back strong from his illness with 2 killer races

Coming Up:
Wednesday 7th – Open Region Meet at Syracuse High. Girls JV – 3:30, Boys JV – 4:00, Girls Varsity – 4:30, Boys Varsity – 5:00
Wednesday 14th – Region Championships @ Layton Park
Wednesday 21st – State Championships @ Sugarhouse Park