It was nice to spend my first Saturday in almost four months actually competing. After a meet where rain and lightning disrupted the Varsity races at Trinity Prep, this week the entire Timber Creek boys and girls program took the two and a half hour commute by school bus from Orlando to Jacksonville to compete in the Katie Caples Invitational.
By the time we arrived at Bishop Kenny, it was a bright evening which set the stage for the JV races. I spent the first few hours watching and cheering teammates on during the JV races in which both the Timber Creek boys and girls team did well in. After placing first the week before at Trinity Prep, the JV girls had a great performance in which they placed 12th out of 31 teams. Like our JV girls, our JV boys had a first place performance the week before at Trinity Prep, and had another strong outing this week as a team. They were lead by Austin Logan and Jordan Chatman, whom placed in the top twenty individually to lead our JV team to a 5th placed showing out of 31 teams.
After the JV races came to a close and the Varsity races came around, the bright evening turned into a dark night. I wasn’t able to catch the Elite Girls race, as I was warming up for my race, but I was glad to hear afterwards that our Varsity girl’s got 14th out of 21 teams in their first meet, and were lead by our freshmen Briana Burnett who placed 21st in her first cross country meet of her life.
By the time I reached the starting line near the conclusion of the meet, the only feeling I felt was relief. I knew there was a tough field assembled, but I was just happy to be out there competing again and I was looking forward to starting my season with the team. By the time the gun went off and 173 guys were chasing a narrow left turn adjacent to the St. John’s River, I got out quick and established myself behind the leaders. By the first mile, I was aware of a large group surrounding me which included Austin Decker from Bolles, Cash Tampa from Creekside, David Yarborough from Bishop Kenny, and Andrew Cacciatore of Holy Trinity. I shortly after took the lead, relaxed myself and ran smoothly till the end. No matter the course conditions, time, length, or any other factor; I feel like I went out there during the race and ran strong and comfortable, which makes me feel like I am starting the season on a very positive note to build upon.
I am also beyond pleased with my varsity teammates who pulled out a 3rd place finish in the Elite race out of 21 teams. We are a fairly young team, so it was nice to see some of my teammates who have never run an XC race before perform well. I feel good knowing I ran a solid race against solid competition and was able to shake off some rust. I was also deeply honored to be presented the Individual Champion’s plaque by Mr. Caples himself. Congratulations to everyone around the state who competed this week. I am looking forward to competing next week at the Hagerty Invitational. Till next time.
I am also beyond pleased with my varsity teammates who pulled out a 3rd place finish in the Elite race out of 21 teams. We are a fairly young team, so it was nice to see some of my teammates who have never run an XC race before perform well. I feel good knowing I ran a solid race against solid competition and was able to shake off some rust. I was also deeply honored to be presented the Individual Champion’s plaque by Mr. Caples himself. Congratulations to everyone around the state who competed this week. I am looking forward to competing next week at the Hagerty Invitational. Till next time.
