The course had been moved from where it was hosted two years ago. Now it is in a field just north of Cardinal Hill Golf Course, on the other side of the fence south of Hallmark Cards. The course seems nice, starting with a long downhill slope leveling off just as runners enter into some woods. When they come out of the timber, they run alongside the treeline winding through the field, eventually sprinting down the same long slope that they started on to get to the finish line.
Another nice feature was that collegiate races were mixed in with the high school races. The high school team members thought it was nice to be able to see and cheer for former Excelsior Springs/Smithville runner, Josie Wilkerson, and Excelsior Springs grad, Micaela Lynch, both of whom are now running for William Jewell College.
The Varsity (5k) and First Year (2.5 k) girls started off the morning at 8:00 a.m. They would run together for a while and then be routed to two different pathways. Even though it was the first year for two of the Excelsior Springs girls, Katelen Patterson and Halley Parkin, neither were entered into in the First Year race. All five in attendance were entered into the Varsity race. In all, 73 girls crossed the finish line. Three of the Tigers' Varsity racers - Katey Moerschel, Patterson, and April Stodgel - picked up medals (top 35), while Parkin was pretty close at 38th. As a team, they finished 5th of 6 teams. They are expected to improve as a team once Danielle Pair completes the minimum number of practices before being able to compete.
The college girls ran next, and after them it was time for the Varsity boys to run their 5k at 9:00 a.m. All of the boys on the team were in attendance and the five veteran racers were entered as Varsity. All five finished in the top 35 and earned medals! Even though they were all pretty close to where they finished the season last year, two of them - Logan Stock and Lane Rogers - finished with personal records by at least 15 seconds each. As has been the case in the previous two years, the juniors, and now sophomore, Rogers, have finish times not too far apart. Stock was the first of the Tigers to cross the finish line and Edwards was the fifth finisher. There was only 66 seconds between the two of them.
Despite finishing fourth of 11 teams with only five runners (seven are allowed), the Varsity boys finished ahead of Class 3 District 8 rival, St. Pius X by 22 points. This is a testament to their hard work and determination to have a fantastic season, one which they hope gets them to State as a team. They've worked hard during the summer months and after practice officially started on Aug. 4. There's a long ways to go, though, and they know it. The long term goal is State. To get there, they must meet or exceed their short term goals of continually improving on their personal times and working together to ensure it happens.
After the Varsity boys, College men ran. There weren't any Tigers alum in that race. The Junior Varsity (4k) and First Year (2k) boys would run next at 10:00 a.m. Excelsior didn't have any JV runners. All four runners who were not on the Varsity squad were entered into the First Year race since all four have never participated in high school cross country. There were some problems with this race as the trail was not clearly marked for the 2k runners. Many of them made an incorrect turn cutting the race a few meters short. Regardless, two of the First Year runners - Alex Argyle and Jacob Scott - finished in the top 15 to earn a medal.
All in all, it was a very successful day for Excelsior Springs. Of the 10 Varsity runners, eight medals were won. There were two more medals won by First Year runners for a total of 10 medals earned by 14 runners. There were no team awards, but the Varsity boys and girls clearly see that they have an opportunity to be good enough to qualify for State near the end of this season.