It's about time, isn't it?

All of the sleepless nights have paid off.

5A Region 5 Regional Championship Results
1. Coronado 65
2. Palmer 69
3. Rampart 70
4. Durango 107
5. Pine Creek 144
6. Liberty 164
7-12. Other teams I wasn't worried about.

We made it in! Last year, we ran a team total time of 90:38 - an average of 18:08 (rounding up) - for the 5 scoring runners and missed by a mere 2 points. The year before that, we missed by 4 points.

This year, we ran 88:11, an average of 17:38 - and still got 5th. My team really pulled through and ran fantastic just at the right time. I was anxious, to be certain, but the boys ran smart, and it paid off.

To be certain, "Run Smart" doesn't sound as cool or aggressive at the line as many of the other cheers teams shout just before the race (my favorite to laugh at: "S-C-X-C-S-C Sex it Up!" from the other ____ Creek team in our region).

Anyway, I'm elated. It's the first boys' team appearance at the State meet in school history, and I feel pretty good about the work they've put in and how it's paying off. Now, if we can just keep it up.

Fear/Anxiety

It's late--admittedly not that late for me--but here I am posting some drivel to my dilapidated blog.

You may not remember, but I've had a string of narrow defeats at the Regional Cross Country Championships of late.

But this year, I've got five of the fastest 15 PCHS runners in history on the team (4 of them in the top 10), 2 guys who have run under 17 minutes for 5k, 1 just over 17, and two more under 18, plus my next two guys are right around 18:30. Last year, our scoring 5 ran an average time of 18:07 and missed qualifying for state by two points. Two weeks ago, without my number one guy, we ran an average time of 18:05 on the same course. We ran a scoring-runner average of 17:09 earlier this season (a school record), and we expect to be that fast again at the regional meet.

But...our region got tougher this year. There are no fewer than 4 teams in our region with at least 3 guys under 17 minutes. Plus, 4A powerhouse Liberty moved up to our region, and though we beat them in the season opener, they took 4th from our region at the Coronado Cougar Classic on the 18th. Even if our top runner had raced that week, he couldn't have moved us ahead of Liberty even if he had won the race!

There are six schools in our region who will have a scoring-runner average of 17:45 or better, and one of them will stay home. The race will be so close--again--that every point will really count for everyone. I suspect that Durango will win the region and that, probably, Palmer will take second, but the next four spots are really up in the air. Who knows which team will take 2nd and which will take 6th? It's impossible to say. Last year, spots 4, 5, and 6 were separated by only 3 points! I'd bet that this year places 3 through 6 are decided by less than 25 points.

I believe we can make it through, but we can't know until the 16th.