On Tuesday, most Wildcats participated in the second DeKalb County Meet at Druid Hills Middle School. Most runners improved upon their times from the first County meet, showing the hard work that the team has put in over the past few (hot) weeks. Great performances were put in on the boys side by Nathan Bryant, Gerardo Romero, and Jackson Watson. The girls were paced by great performances from Emma Nortje, Jasmin Rubio, and Samantha Cameron.
On Friday, the team traveled to South Carolina for the first overnight trip of the season. After a scenic pre-race run and hearty dinner, the annual trivia competition was taken by the team "So Unsmart We Need 9." On Saturday, the team participated in the inaugural Furman XC Classic. The girls varsity team placed 3rd out of 15 teams, and were the first
finishers from Georgia. The Wildcats were paced by top 10 performances from Alex Cameron and Ann-Marie Sills. The boys varsity team placed 8th out of 17 teams, and saw great performances from Quinton Johnson and Cullen Jones. Many of the JV runners set season or career bests on the fast Furman golf course, and the girls team was led by Sydney Drew and her
tremendous 3rd place finish (leading the team to a 3rd place team finish), along with great performances from Emma Nortje and Andrea Carrasquilla. The boys JV team finished 8th and were highlighted by great races from
Jerrett Lupoli and Ian Kelley.
A special thanks to our chaperones Deb Cameron, Meg Firebaugh, and Don and Shannon Dill for their time and effort to make this trip possible. A special thanks to Don Dill for his help with our excellent accommodations and meal for the trip. We have great parent support and that is what makes these trips a Wildcat tradition!
An additional treat was getting to see a couple of Wildcat alumni runners participate in the collegiate races early in the morning. Both Charlotte Collins (now running for Berry College) and James Dwyer (now running for Clemson) had great races and it was great catching up with them after their races. An additional shout-out goes to DHS alum Kailey Williams
(now running at UA-Huntsville) who finished in the top 10 (and 3rd on her team) in her first collegiate race on Saturday in Alabama, finishing with a PR. It is great to see our Wildcats running well at the next level!
This week, the Wildcats get a much needed rest with no meets on the schedule, but that does allow for a great week of practice to get prepared for the second half of our season. The next meet for most of the team is Tuesday, September 24th at our final DeKalb County meet. Please note that this meet will be for high schoolers only, as there is only a 3 mile Varsity race offered at this meet, and 8th graders are unfortunately not allowed to participate in the Varsity race.
The next couple of weeks will help to determine our success in late October and November, so it is already important to make smart decisions and get proper rest, hyrdation, and meals so that our workouts can be high quality. Championship races in October and November are won in August and September!
Go Wildcats!
Bryan Boucher