Part One (Kelsey Coates) - Part Two (Brianna Faust) - Part Three (Lindsey Graybill) -
Part Four (Amanda Faust) - Part Five (Christina Faust)
The Emmaus 2008 Cross-Country Season
Christina Faust (junior)
Summer:
During the summer my sisters and I focused on both training for the upcoming cross country season and also trained for our first triathlon. We would run 6 days a week and take off one day. My sisters and I would try to do one hill workout a week, where we would do about 6-8 repeats up a decent hill (the Lehigh Valley Parkway has a lot of them). We would also do a tempo run once a week, where we would run comfortably hard for about 4 minutes and then run normally for 2 minutes. We would do about 6 sets of these. Then we would run one long day, averaging between 8-10 miles. The three other days of the week would be recovery running days. Along with running we also biked and swam. We biked every other day and tried to swim whenever we had time. On August 10th I completed my first triathlon. It was a great experience and a lot of fun. I can’t wait to do another.
Cross Country Camp:
My team and I went to the Cross Country University camp near Tannersville, Pa. It was our second year attending, and like the last year it was a great experience. We ran twice a day and put in A LOT of quality miles. It was pretty hilly around the camp, so none of the runs we did were easy. Going to camp made our team closer and we learned a lot of things on running and staying injury free.
Cross Country Season!
This past cross country season the varsity team stepped it up a notch. We did more mileage than recent years. We did about 2 workouts a week and ran up the mountain once a week, which was our long run. It could range from 8 to 12 miles. Our workouts during the season consisted of hill repeats, tempo runs, or track workouts.
August 29th- John Sharp Viking Invitational:
The girls’ varsity team started off the season with a great race! We ran our way to first place with just 31 points. I felt great running in the first race of the season, and placed 9th overall. Everyone had a good race including the freshmen and new JV runners.
September 20th - Bowdoin Park Classic:
On this wonderful day we all woke up bright and early to leave the school at 6 a.m. On the way up to New York we all got ready for the hills that were to come. This was our team’s 3rd time running on this course. In the end our team placed third overall, which was an improvement off of last year’s place of 4th. We were all excited and couldn’t wait to improve for Nike Regionals. I did not feel too great in this race, I found it hard to breathe because of my asthma and the hills did not help. I ended up finishing 21st with a 20.13, something I knew I could improve on. After the race we lived up to our tradition of going to a little deli for lunch, and getting ice cream, which is our team’s favorite treat!
October 3rd- Paul Short Run:
Instead of going to Manhattan this year we decided to go to Paul Short. We went to the meet early to go see all the colleges run. It was very fun watching and cheering for the runners that we used to compete against, who are now running in college. When it came to our race we finished first with 77 points, we were all very happy and excited for the accomplished meet. I ran a 19.32 placing 30th which was not a well as I hoped, but that just left room for improvement.
October 14- League Meet:
Today we were all very excited to run at Lehigh, our team’s favorite course. It was a hot day but our team ran very well, capturing out 3rd straight League title. We all became very excited for next week’s District Meet. I felt good for this meet running a 19.42 and placing 11th overall. I knew I could improve since I had run a better time on this course earlier in the season. I hoped to improve my time from this race and place in the top ten at Districts.
October 23rd- District Meet:
Today was a happy and sad day at the District Meet. Our team ran great to earn our 3rd consecutive District title and ticket to Hershey for the state meet. It was also kind of sad because it would be the last time we would run as a team on the Lehigh course. I had a really good race today. I got a 19.10 my best time of the season, and I placed in the top ten which was my goal. Our team was excited and ready to go show off what we had at states.
November 1st- State Meet:
Our trip to states began on Friday morning, when the coaches picked us up at our houses and we all crammed into the van. On our way to Hershey we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for lunch, something we always do before states. After filling ourselves we headed back into the van and ate more. We had a birthday cookie since it was Kelsey’s birthday. After arriving at Hershey and getting settled into our hotel rooms, we went and ran the course. We checked out the new hill they added and did some strides. Our team was ready to go for tomorrow! On the way back to the hotel we begged the coaches to go to the outlets for a little while. They gave in and we all got to go shopping for a while. This helped relieve some of the tension for tomorrow’s race. After shopping we all went to a local restaurant and had pasta for dinner. Then on the way home we stopped at Chocolate World! We went on the little tour ride and then went and had ice cream. It had been a great day and we all were ready and anxious for tomorrow.
On the day of states, we woke up early and all piled into the van for the dreaded 15 minute drive to the course. It was very quiet in the van until we turned on our High School Musical CD. We loosened up our nerves by singing along to “Sixteen Minutes Left in Game.” When it finally came time for our race we gathered in a circle and Coach Morgan gave us some very inspiring words. It brought a tear to everyone’s eyes including Coach. It would be the last time racing together for the state title. At the starting line we gave each other hugs and encouraging words, still practically crying. As the gun went off all nerves and emotion went away, we knew what we needed to do, and we set out to do it. I ran probably one of the best races of my life even if I didn’t get a PR. I felt great and kept my breathing under control. I continuously kept trying to just pass the girl in front of me, and I worked my way up to get 30th overall. I was very excited because this was my best place ever at states. After we had finished the race we all got together to congratulate one another on a great race. We didn’t know if we had won so we went on a cool down run. We didn’t find out till we met our coach, and he gave us the good news. We were back to back STATE CHAMPS! We were all so happy and excited.
On the way back home we wrapped up our journey by getting ice cream at Chocolate World, we deserved a treat. When we got back to the school there were about 10 police cars and fire trucks waiting for us. We all hopped onto the trailer and had a parade through Emmaus. It was great to see all the people come outside and wave to us from their homes. It made our victory that much sweeter! The festivities did not end there though; we had an “after party” at Lindsey’s house. We watched one of the old Texas Chainsaw movies (weird!) and ate a lot of food. It was a great ending to a wonderful day.
Nike Nationals Training:
After states we began working hard again to train for Nike Regionals. We had 4 weeks of training; we did hill workouts, track workouts, and some long runs. We were all set and excited for Regionals until Melissa got injured on a run. She had torn a ligament running down a steep incline. She ended up aqua jogging for the next 2 weeks. We kept our hopes up and continued training.
November 29th- Nike Regionals:
Yay! The day was finally here, where we would try to make it to Nationals. Our team was very excited and anxious. In the end, we came short from making it to Nationals. We had placed 5th just like last year. I had not had a very good race and neither did most of the other girls. Things were lightened up though, when we found out Lindsey had made it as an individual. We were all so excited for her, and if anyone deserved it, it was her.
Although our team did not make it to Nationals, we still have a whole lot of accomplishments to look back on. The 2008 cross country season was a very memorable season for everyone.
Amanda Faust (junior)
June 16th (last day of school) –August: Summer Training
Finally summer, marking the end of school and the beginning of a great training period. This summer my sisters and I are opening our sights and focusing on training for the Steelman Triathlon. We’re increasing our training schedule and taking on a more intense training plan then usual. Along with our daily runs 6 days a week, we are also biking every other day and try to squeeze in swimming whenever possible. On August 10th I completed my first Triathlon. It was an amazing feeling and a great achievement. Our teammates Kelsey Coates and Melissa Meade also came and cheered us on.
August 12th -17th Camp-
My XC team and I attended Cross Country University Camp near Tannersville, PA. It was our second year at the camp and we had an amazing time. This was a great week for team bonding and a great workout schedule (Why did it have to be so hilly!!). We ran twice a day and put in quality miles. We also learned a lot at the camp meetings and became inspired after watching the 2007 NXN video. Camp made us a stronger team and challenged us both physically and mentally.
Friday, August 29th: John Sharp Viking Invitational
Today the Emmaus Girls XC started the season with a BANG!! Everybody ran a great race including our new freshmen. Our girls’ team came in 1st with 31 points. I also placed second behind Lindsey, who finished first. Everybody was happy with their performance and became very excited for the upcoming races.
9/20/08- Bowdoin Park Classic.
At 6:00 a.m. this morning we left the Emmaus High School parking lot and headed for Bowdoin Park. Although it was early in the morning all of us girls were wide awake. We were all excited to run the Bowdoin course. This would be our third time tackling the hilly course. Our team captured a third place finish which was better then last year’s fourth place. I placed 10th with a time of 19.42. After the meet we began our long drive home. As a tradition, we stopped at a little deli on the way home and grabbed some lunch. We also got ICE CREAM, one of our team's favorite treats after a race.
10/3/08- Paul Short
Instead of competing at Manhattan we decided to race the Paul Short Run. Manhattan would interfere with our Homecoming. We arrived to the Paul Short Race early to watch the college races run. We were able to cheer on some of our college friends. It was awesome to see the colleges run. Our team finished first with 77 points. It was an exciting race.
10/14/08- Leagues @ Lehigh University
Today was a very exciting day. We were all anxious to race and see the competition from the Valley. It was a great race for everyone. We finished first and captured our third consecutive League title. Individually, I finished 3rd with an 18.49. I was happy with my race and excited for next week's District meet. Lindsey also had a great race, finishing second next to Cygan. She really worked hard and pushed herself. We were all proud of her effort and excited to see what would unfold at Districts. We are all hoping that she’ll break the 18.00 min mark!
10/23/08- Districts @ Lehigh University
Today our team had an amazing race. We captured our third consecutive District title and had our pass to States!! I finished 5th individually with a PR of 18.32. I was really happy with my race and new PR. Lindsey also raced an excellent race. She broke the 18.00 min mark with a time of 17.57!! We were so proud of her. Yey… States her we come!!
11/1/08- States @ Hershey
Our team was thrilled to be going to States. We were hoping to capture a back-to-back state championship. We headed up to Hershey on Friday morning. On our way we made a quick stop at the Crackle Barrel. It’s a team tradition to stop there on the way to States. We had an amazing breakfast!! Once we got to Hershey, we made a stop at the hotel, and then went to run the course. We ran the course and checked out the new hill they added to the end of the course. We also completed some strides and stretched really well. We were all picturing tomorrow's state meet in our heads. To ease the nervousness, coaches took us to the Hershey outlets and let us splurge for a while. Shopping is like music to a girl’s ear. After shopping we went and grabbed a big pasta dinner at a local restaurant. As an added bonus, coach took us to Chocolate world. We went on the free ride and got a piece of chocolate. We also got some ICE CREAM!! Ice cream is one of my pre-race snacks!
On the morning of States, we loaded into the van and headed for the park. The ride was so quiet. The only thing you could hear was the radio playing our High School Musical CD. You could definitely feel the tension and see the nerves. As we warmed up near the line to begin our last states meet together, everyone was quiet. Coach Morgan gave us all very inspiring words. We all had tears in our eyes, including coach. As we said our Emmaus cheer, you could see the tears in everyone’s eyes. We had a group hug. This was our last chance to grab another state title and our last state meet together as a team. We lined up for the race. The gun went off, and all the nerves disappeared. We all met each other at the finish line and gave each other hugs. We had no idea if we won. We returned to the tent and went on our cool down. As we were running coach came up to us. He told us we had won by a huge margin. We all screamed and cried with joy. We had done it. BACK-TO-BACK STATE CHAMPS!!!
We all had an amazing race. Lindsey ran awesome and finished in 4th place. I finished 19th and was happy with my place. It was the same place I had finished the year before. It had been an amazing season.
Pre- Nike Regionals
After States we had 4 weeks to train. We did some fast speed work outs and hills each week. We also raced at a small meet in Easton to stay fresh. About a week into our training Melissa Meade tore some ligaments in her ankle. We thought we had lost our chance at NXN, but we continued training. Melissa spent most of her training aqua jogging.
11/29/08- Nike Regional Race @ Bowdoin Park
The meet we have all been waiting for had finally arrived. We were all excited to race and hopefully qualify for NXN. Sadly we fell short of our goal. We placed 5th, the same as the year before. We were all upset and knew we could have raced better. It was really hard to hold a peak for 4 weeks, and we were worn out. Happily Lindsey qualified individually for NXN. We were all excited about Lindsey’s accomplishment. On the way home from Bowdoin Park we made the usual stop at the deli. We also got ICE CREAM, our team’s favorite treat.
Although we didn’t accomplish our final goal, we were happy about our accomplishments in our last season together. This was definitely a season I will never forget. We had many fun pasta parties and team sleepovers. We even had our fun with team pranks on the boys. We are a really close team and I am happy to call all the girls team mates. Although many of the girls are graduating this year I will never forget the 2008 XC season. We built a lifetime of memories and were always there to push each other. We will always be teammates, friends, and sisters. I LOVE YOU GIRLS!!
Lindsey Graybill (senior)
Summer Training: June- August
After taking two weeks off after the track season, I began my summer training for my last season of XC. In my past three summers of training, I would normally just run three to six miles at a tempo pace because I hated the heat and wanted to get back indoors as soon as possible. I decided for my last summer of High School training I would make it a little more intense and do more mileage and workouts.
Throughout the summer I met at the parkway with a few other girls on my team and we followed a great training plan which had plenty of hill workouts in it. It was convenient doing workouts right by the Little Lehigh Creek because we would jump in after doing runs in the intense heat.
Another great thing about my summer training plan was that there was an “adventure run” day built in every week, which has been a pretty popular kind of run on my team. It started in winter track where we would get bored doing normal runs, so we randomly ran into the woods (normally up and over South Mountain) often finding ourselves in other counties! These two hour adventures were the highlights of my winter runs, so we decided to continue doing those “adventure runs” in the summer too. I went river rafting a few times with the team in the summer after a few runs, which was so fun! We also went to XCU camp in the Poconos which was great too!
In July I went on a cruise with my family to the Caribbean. The whole trip was great except for one thing. The ship only had treadmills and an awkwardly shaped track with 90 degree turns and only two lanes. Five laps equaled one mile! I hate treadmills, so I ended up doing 35 laps for a normal 7 mile run in the blisteringly hot sun on the top of the ship! Fortunately, I was not the only High School runner on the cruise because coincidentally, Lindsey Rheiner from Council Rock North was on the same ship as me. By the end of the summer, I was ready for our team to begin a great season of Cross Country!
John Sharp Viking Invitational: 8/29/08
The first invitational of the season was the John Sharp Viking Invitational. Going into the race, we knew we would have competition from Council Rock North, so we were ready to see what we could do as a team in this early part of our season. My personal goal was to win the invitational with a good time. The course was mostly on a trail in the woods, which was kind of bad because I wasn’t completely comfortable with the course and didn’t know where I was going once I was in front. I never did get lost and I won the Invitational, along with our team. We were excited to start off so well, and looked forward to, yet kind of dreaded our next Invitational which took place on one of the toughest courses I have ever run on.
Penn State Visit 9/5/08-9/6/08:
I went on an official visit to Penn State, and got to meet the team and coaching staff. I really loved everything about Penn State, and was even visiting on the same weekend as Natalie Bower from Greater Latrobe. I just recently verbally committed to Penn State and found our Natalie was going there too, so now we’re going to be teammates!
Bowdoin Park Classic: 9/20/08
This was our third time running on this course at the Bowdoin Park Classic. It’s a good preview for Nike Cross Regionals held at this park later in the season. I think it’s one of the toughest courses we run on because there is a mile long uphill climb after about 800 meters, and then is all downhill from the two-mile mark. You would think the downhill would be a relief, but I find it more challenging than the uphill! That’s because your legs are dead from climbing up the hill, and the pounding on the downhill just kills you. I ended up getting my course PR with a 19:10, and got 6th place, so I was happy with how it turned out.
Paul Short Invitational: 10/3/08
We opted out of doing the Manhattan Invitational this year because of conflicts with Homecoming, so we ran in the Paul Short Invitational. This is the same course where our Leagues and Districts are held, so I was very familiar with the course. It has some rolling hills through cornfields and a nice straight finish, so it’s my favorite course. Going into the race, I was pretty confident in our team getting first place, so I tried focusing on my own race. My goal was to get my PR, which was 18:26 from the sophomore year. I ended up running 18:41, but I just decided to focus on our next race which was Leagues. I thought that if I was ever going to break my PR, I was going to have to do it either at Leagues or Districts because after that, the courses were too hard to run fast times.
Leagues: 10/14/08
I knew that I needed to run fast on this day. Jess Cygan (the 2007 PIAA Runner-up) was in my league, and I wanted to really see what I could do. I normally go out conservatively, and then try to catch up to her, but mentally couldn’t do it because of the gap between us. I knew that if I was going to try to run my PR, I would have to stay with her the whole time. I went into the race deciding to use a different running strategy, because it’s better to take risks than have regrets after the race. After saying a prayer on the starting line, I tried to stay with Jess who goes out pretty fast, and was able to stay with her the whole time. It came down to the last 100, where she beat me by less than half a second, and I then realized I finally broke my PR by getting an 18:02! I was so happy with how it went, because I realized I could push myself farther than I ever thought. It was a little frustrating being so close to breaking the 18:00 minute mark, but I then had something to strive for at Districts.
Districts: 10/23/08
My goal was to break 18:00 minutes, and I was pretty nervous, but decided to have fun with it, because it was my last time running at Lehigh University on the fast course. I went with my same strategy from Leagues of trying to stay with Jess, but she broke away at the two mile mark. Coming down the final stretch, I saw the clock and knew it would be close, but I finally broke 18 minutes with a 17:57! I was thrilled to finally break 18 minutes at my last shot on a fast course. Our girls team qualified for states, and we were ready to repeat as state champs.
States: 11/1/08
Our team was so excited to be at states again, but we knew it was our last time as a team to go for the state championship. When race day came, we were more than nervous because we felt a lot of pressure to defend our title from the previous year, and with half of us being seniors, we knew it would be a great way to end the PIAA season. My personal goals were to place somewhere in the top five. On the way to the course from our hotel, we listened to “Now or Never” from the High School Musical 3 Soundtrack, which was about back-to-back state championships. We got pretty pumped up! On the starting line, everyone got really nervous because it was our last shot and we knew this was a tough course with a really steep hill at the end. After the gun went off, all the nerves were gone and we ran a great race! We were the PIAA State Champs again! I was able to achieve my goal by getting 4th place with a 19:10, which was a great way to end the PIAA part of our season.
NXN Regionals Training:
After the state meet, it was the longest four weeks ever training for NXN Regionals in Bowdoin, New York. It was really hard to maintain a peak for four weeks between the two races. One week after training, Melissa Meade rolled her ankle over and it got very swollen within a matter of minutes. We all thought that our shot of going to Nationals was ruined at that point, but she ended up being able to run in the Regionals race after all. So, we trained without her for 2.5 weeks, and ran a local 5K two weeks after states to keep our legs moving.
NXN Regionals: 11/29/08
It was finally the day we had been working towards for weeks, and once again, we were nervous. It was the same course as the Bowdoin Park Classic, which was a real challenge. We really wanted to make it to Nationals, and did not want Regionals to be our last XC race together. My personal goal was to be in the top 5 individuals because they automatically get to go to Portland, Oregon for the NXN meet. I think that trying to hold a peak from states for four weeks kind of wore me down, so I didn’t have my best race, but I ended up being the 5th individual to qualify for the National meet in Oregon. Unfortunately, our team didn’t qualify and we got 5th place again like the previous year and only the top two teams qualify. I really wanted to experience Nationals with my whole team, but I was still happy I made it.
NXN: 12/4/08 – 12/7/08
I would say this was the most memorable experience of my High School running career. I flew out to Portland with Brad Miles (a North Penn individual qualifier) and my family. I was kind of nervous because being an individual, I didn’t know anyone, and it was kind of hard seeing all the other teams having fun together, but I knew I wasn’t the only individual there.
Portland is the coolest place with Mt. Hood within sight of the city. Everyone there said it was strange because it was sunny the whole time, whereas it’s normally cloudy, cold, and rainy at this time of year. We stayed in a hotel and I roomed with another Northeast Individual, and they gave us warm-ups, uniforms, running shoes, spikes, long sleeve shirt, and much more to use on race day!
During the opening ceremonies, they introduced us to ten Olympic Athletes, such as Bernard Lagat, Alan Webb, Shalane Flanagan, Adam and Kara Goucher, etc! I was even able to get their signatures! My favorite part of the whole trip was when the Northeast Individuals were all eating dinner and Kara Goucher came to our table and talked to us for an hour!! It was amazing, because I was even able to ask her questions. The people running the race really treated us like professional runners because of the great food, hotel, and other stuff they gave us.
We practiced on the course the day before the race and saw the “whoop-de-doo” hills and hay bails. I always thought the hills looked like they were easy and fun, but they were the hardest things ever!! During the race, both obstacles really threw off my rhythm more than I thought, and the hay bails were especially difficult the fourth time over them because my legs felt so tired and heavy. The start was especially difficult because everyone sprints to get in the front pack. One of the Northeast girls even fell, getting trampled by everyone behind her. It was really intense. Unfortunately, the course was not as muddy as past years because of the good weather, and I really wanted it to be muddy and wet because it looked so awesome in pictures! It was undoubtedly the coolest experience ever!
Brianna Faust (junior)
Introduction:
Hello fellow runners,
My name is Brianna Faust and I am a junior at Emmaus High School. I found my passion for running when I was in 6th grade and have stuck with it ever since. Tagging along with me are my two triplet sisters, Amanda and Christina, and yes…it does get competitive. I also have the best teammates that anyone could ever ask for. We all complement each other well and have shared some of the most memorable moments together.
June 16th (last day of school) – August: Summer Training
I had a busy summer this year. My sisters and I trained hard this summer not only for the upcoming cross country season but fo
r our first triathlon. We ran 6 days a week, biked 3 days a week, and got a swim in whenever possible. My running workouts were made up of long runs, tempo runs, hills, and an easy run in between. Our mileage ranged from 30-35 miles per week and was around 35-40 by the end of the summer. Oh and I can’t forget the push-ups and sit-ups. Training for both xc and the triathlon was very time consuming and physically draining but it was definitely worth every workout.
Sunday, August 10th: Triathlon
Today I was up by 5 a.m. and completed by 1st triathlon and all the training I did finally paid off! It was exciting but exhausting. I raced in the “Sprint” which was a ½ mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 5k run. That might not seem tough for some but for me it definitely wasn’t easy. Maybe next year I will try the “Olympic” which is a 1 mile swim, 24 mile bike and 10k run! I can’t wait till next year. Some of our teammates, Melissa Meade and Kelsey Coates, came to watch the triathlon (maybe they will do it next year!!)
Tuesday, August 12th- August 17th: CAMP!!!
On the 12th, me and my XC teammates headed to Cross Country University Camp near Tannersville, Pa. We had the greatest time ever! We ran twice a day and were able to get in some quality miles. In the morning we usually ran a longer run (with lots of hills!!!!) and usually ran an easy run in the afternoon. During one of our morning workouts we ran “rhythm miles” which are similar to mile repeats. During the week we were entertained with a hypnotist show and talent show. Our team also won camp Olympics and made some pretty cool team shirts (Go Team Tennessee!!). We swam and aqua jogged (oh and got really burnt!! ). All in all it was a great experience and we all enjoyed the team bonding. Can’t wait to go next year!!
Friday, August 29th: John Sharp Viking Invitational
We finally had our first race of the season. It was at the Viking Invitational. I finished in 5th place with a time of 19.02 and the team had a great showing, coming in 1st. Everybody ran well today especially Lindsey, who took 1st place. Our team is definitely shining.
Saturday, September 20th: Bowdoin Classic, New York
We ran our second invitational today and it was one of the most important races of the season. We ran at the Bowdoin Classic in New York, on the course of Nike Cross Regionals for the Northeast region. It was a hard course but it's one of my favorites. I ran a 19.53 which is better than last year’s time. I hope to improve at regionals. The team came in third place which was better than last year's fourth place finish. We finished off the day with a long drive home but made a short stop for some much needed ice-cream!
Friday, October 3rd: Paul Short Run
We ran the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. Before racing, the team spent the day watching the college races and cheering for some former District 11 runners. This was definitely not my best race of the season. I finished in 20th place and ran 19.18 which is my slowest time on this course. However the team did great and placed first. At least there is plenty of room for improvement for Leagues and Districts.
Tuesday, October 18th: Lehigh Valley Conference Championships
We ran Leagues today at Lehigh University and I had a fantastic race. I placed 4th and ran an 18.56, my best time this season. Everyone did well and our team walked away with the LVC crown. This has so far been an incredible season, and everybody is pumped for next week's District Championship.
Thursday, October 23rd: PIAA District Championships
Districts were held at Lehigh University today and Emmaus had a great showing. I ran my best time of the season and for the course. I ran an 18.43 and placed 7th. Our team became two time district champs and everyone celebrated. It was definitely a great race day and memorable since it was the last time we would all run on this course as a team again. Hershey here we come!!
Saturday, November 1st: PIAA State Championships; Hershey, PA
What a day to remember. We ran at the state championships today and made Emmaus History. We became two time state champions. Everybody ran an amazing race and definitely left it all out there. I ran a 19.43 and placed 23rd. I received my first state medal and was ecstatic. We finished the day by celebrating. First it was ice cream at Chocolate World at Hershey Park, than a parade through Emmaus showing off our hardware and celebrating our victory, than a relaxing dinner and movie at Lindsey Graybill’s house with the team. What a season and what a day. We came out to show everyone that we could do it and we did!!
Saturday, November 29th: Nike Cross Nationals Regional Race; Bowdoin Park, New York
Today was the end of a long journey. We raced at Bowdoin Park for the Nike Cross Regionals race in New York. It was our last race together and we had hoped to make it to Nike Cross Nationals. However two weeks earlier, Melissa Meade had sprained her ankle tearing two tendons. But she was a trooper and still went out there and ran. It was definitely a bitter day but the weather held up and seemed to warm up by the time we raced. Despite our team’s 5th place finish, we still had a great day and I am proud of the whole team for the great season we all ran. I ran my PR for the course and placed 16th, which was better than my last years finish at 26th. Lindsey also ran an amazing race, qualifying herself for Nationals as an individual. It was a great end to an unbelievable season!
Kelsey Coates (junior)
Beginning of the summer:
At the beginning of the summer I started off running about 35 to 40 miles a week. My weeks consisted of a long run, a hill run and an “adventure run”; among other shorter easier runs. I ran with Melissa Meade 6 days a week and most of the time Lindsey Graybill and Kelsey Leonard joined us. At the beginning of the summer I was also able to go to Oregon and watch the Track and Field Olympic Trials. This was probably the most amazing thing I have ever done. I went to the trials with my dad because it was one of my Christmas presents, (the best Christmas present ever). I had a chance to run on the Pre Trails and watch all of the famous distance runners. This event got me so excited to maybe come back to Oregon later in the season for NXN.
End of the summer:
By the end of the summer my mileage was closer to 40 miles a week. The weeks consisted of mountain runs, and long runs. I also added a bit of speed but not much. My team and I went to the XCU Camp for a week where we ran twice a day and worked on speed and a lot of hills. Camp was so much fun but also sad because we knew it would be the last time at camp with all the seniors.
Start of the Season:
At the beginning of the season my workouts weren’t going too well. I got really discouraged with still being number 6 on the team and being a little behind in the speed workouts. Although I was doing a bit better than my previous Cross Country season it was still very hard to be number 6 even though I was on one of the best teams in the State. I pushed through it though while still having fun with my teammates. When we went to the Bowdoin Invitational I had a pretty good race and I was happy with the way our team placed. Things were looking good for the end of the season races.
Mid Season:
During the middle of the season our mileage was around 45 miles which consisted of long runs, speed workouts and mountain/hill runs. During the workouts I was getting closer to the other 5 girls and was pretty happy about that. By districts I ran my best time of the season and was excited for states. We all knew we had a very good chance of getting back-to-back state titles but it wouldn’t be easy.
End of the Season:
By the end of the season we were getting ready for states. We really did not lower our mileage all that much because we still had post season races to run. We knew it wouldn’t be handed to us. Before the race we were all very nervous and we all even started to cry on the line. When the race had ended I knew it was defiantly not the race I had hoped to run. After the race we were all waiting to see if we had done it and then when coach told us we just started screaming and even crying with joy. We were all very happy because we had done it, we had gotten BACK TO BACK STATE CHAMPS!!!! Everyone was so happy but we knew our season wasn’t over. When we got back from states we had 4 weeks until regionals. We focused on a lot of hill training because the course at Bowdoin is very hilly. Everything seemed to be going well but then one day 30 seconds away from the end of our run the most terrible thing happened. Melissa fell and tore a ligament. She had done this over the summer before but this time it was worse. We all knew she was tough but that she had to take off for two weeks and swim. She did end up coming back and seemed pretty good. Two weeks into our training we ran at an open XC race in Easton on their XC course. The weather conditions were very rainy so our times were slow but, we still ran pretty well. Nearing the end of the season we tapered down and worked on shorter speed.
By the day of the Regional’s race we were all excited but very nervous. The day was pretty cold but seemed to warm up for our race. We all hoped that we would make it to NXN. When the race started I was in position 6 like always, but by the time we started to go up the hill I could see Melissa and knew something was wrong. When I passed her I wanted to say something but I could tell she was in a lot of pain, and being as close as we are, I knew I just needed to leave her alone. When I finished I knew we didn’t make it. I had run a very slow time and finished far back. I also could tell that none of the other girls ran that well except for Lindsey. When we listened to the awards it was very hard to hear other teams cheer. We had ended up placing 5th again (as we did in 2007). When Lindsey was called for her 8th place metal we had all thought she had just missed qualifying as an individual but then the announcer said NXN individual qualifier and all of us started cheering. We were all very upset that we didn’t make it as a team but if anyone deserved it, it would have been Lindsey. All in all I’m happy with my team and season but I just wished I would have run better at States and Regional’s.