“You reap what you sow”. That was the motto on race day this past weekend. The work we put it in will reflect in the work we get out of the race and we surely had good results.
It was a humid and early morning for me and the rest of the Saint Augustine cross country team.We were getting ready to run the 16th annual “Bob Hans” Invitational at Ridgeview High School.The boys’ varsity race was the first event of the day, beginning at 7:30 am. After waiting in a long line for the bathroom, and having to warm up rather quickly, I was finally on the line. I couldn’t wait to get the race started. Pack running was going to be the strategy and each of us had a certain performance planned out.
The start to the race was packed and chaotic, but nothing I am not used to. We made our way through the horde of anxious runners, determined to hit our splits for the first mile. About 800 meters into the race Noah Kemp was able to call out a “roll call” to which we runners all responded. Noah than led us into picking up the pace, coming through the first mile at a reasonable time. We aimed to race smart, and racing smart was exactly what we did. We made it through the minor changes to the course and the soft sand as we sped to the second mile marker. At this moment our coach instructed us to “drop the hammer”, to which we all responded well. Our last mile went by quickly, as we dodged roots, runners, and more roots. I ended up watching my team mate Ryan Aponte out kick me in the last 400 meters of the race. Ryan ended up getting eighth place, and I wasn’t far behind finishing in tenth. Noah finished right behind me in eleventh place.
Our top five all finished in the top 25, securing a second place spot for Saint Augustine High. The team in front of us was Chiles high, and they surely have an impressive team. It felt great to see results from the hard work we put in this summer, as our season started out well. Our girls’ varsity team ended up placing fourth in their race, which was a great start to their season too. It was an exciting first race of the season, and I am looking forward to what is in store for the future. We’ll be at Bishop Kenny to run the Katie Caples invitational this Saturday. To those of you that are running in the boys’ elite race, I cannot wait to see you out there this weekend. It is going to be an enjoyable race. I can guarantee it!