This would be the first race that Dani would be allowed to run this season. She finished, but not without experiencing some soreness. A few other runners were dealing with pain issues, too. Unfortunately, that's one of the issues coaches and athletes have to deal with in cross country.
Even though none of Excelsior's runners earned any medals, they showed up to compete. There were five personal records and five season best times. It would be nice to get the season best times into the personal records category, but they will come in due time. Of the season best times, three of them were the best times recorded on that course. One runner did not get a personal record nor a season best time, but still managed to run their best on this course, too. That can be thought of as a personal victory.
Once again the varsity boys were impressive. The fastest of the five ran 19:53.9 and the slowest of the group finished at 20:22.2 on a sore ankle. The difference in time between the fastest and slowest was a mere 28.3 seconds. They're closing the gap among themselves. Now, if they can all manage to get under 20 minutes, a feat only three of them have accomplished to date, they would reach another team milestone.
The girls, as a team, continue to improve, too. The three fastest girls on varsity have yet to exceed their personal records, whereas the newcomers have been improving nearly every race.
Platte County is a hilly course and covers a lot of ground. The next meet, at Smith's Fork Park at the base of the dam at Smithville Lake, also covers a lot of ground but is not nearly as hilly as Platte Ridge Park. Due to injuries, the lineups may be moved around a bit.