The real battle, however, took place on Saturday morning, as the Wildcats descended on McAlpine Park to compete in the Hare & Hounds Invitational, which is the same course used for the Foot Locker South Regionals in November. The Varsity girls competed in the Championship division, and led by a fantastic front pack of Samantha Cameron, Kelly May Sheehan, and Ansley Heavern (who finished in 8th, 9th, and 10th place, respectively), the Wildcats found themselves as the 1st place team finishers out of 30 teams, edging out 2nd place by a mere 7 points! A strong race from Ann-Marie Sills as our 5th runner helped to clinch the victory. Great job girls, as our great season continues!
While it might seem that was the highlight of the day, the coaches were equally (if not more) impressed by the performances in the other races of the day. The Boys Varsity team competed in the Invitational race, finishing a strong 8th out of 43 teams! They were led by Jackson Watson, who finished 17th and earned a coveted "dog tag" award, and the boys also saw great races from Jerett Lupoli and Brandon Gita. The girls Invitational team was not to be outdone, finishing 7th out of 34 teams, in a race where most teams were racing with their varsity squads. They were led by a gutsy race from Sophia Tarrago, and strong finishes from Julia Echols and Ellie Canalichio.
The Open races were just as impressive for the Wildcats, and the boys finished 6th out of 31 teams, led by great performances from Michael Lynch, Ben Planer, and Ethan Rudnicki. The girls Open raced closed out the day for the Wildcats, and, despite only have 6 runners in the race, the girls finished 11th out of 18 teams. They were led by a great race from Sydney Holmes, and season-best performances from Addison Duke and Andrea Carrasquilla. Overall, it was a great day for the Wildcats, and we thank all of the athletes for a great trip! Full race results for all races can be found here.
The coaches would also like to thank all of the parents who came up to Charlotte to cheer on the team, and special thanks goes out to Don Dill and Kevin and Deb Cameron for helping to plan and chaperone the trip. We would not be able to take these trips without our great parent support!
This Week:
Many of the Wildcats will be racing at our third DeKalb County Meet at Druid Hills Middle School on Tuesday. The 3 Mile race is at 5:15 PM and the 2 Mile race is at 5:45. Please see the roster posted on Thursday under 'XC News' to see if you are racing, and, if so, in which race. For some Wildcats this will be your last race of the season, so we hope to finish with a lot of PR's! Please let the coaches know if you have any questions.
For those not on the 'Championship Season' roster (which was posted under 'XC News' on Thursday), your last day of practice will be Wednesday. We will have a brief meeting at the end of practice to talk about additional team events and racing opportunities for those individuals that will be concluding their season. For those that will not be at this practice due to a religious holiday, this information will be posted on the XC website as well.
Our practice schedule is at regular times on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, however there will be no Friday practice this week. More information about workouts for Friday-Sunday will be discussed later this week in practice for those on the 'Championship Season' roster.
Thanks for your continued support of Dunwoody Cross Country, and Go Wildcats!
-- Coach Boucher