Date and Meet

Team Place

Comments

8-20-11:  Early Bird Meet @ Terre Haute

11/16

This year’s version of the XC Mustangs officially began the season this past Saturday at the Early Bird Meet in Terre Haute.  The boys took 11^th place out of 16 scoring teams.  Out of the 235 runners competing, Michael Mest was the top Edgewood runner, finishing in 38^th with a time of 17:50.  JC Hardy was the next Mustang across with a time of 18:43, good for 69^th.  Freshman Hank Phillips and Senior Nick Fiegle was not far behind with times of 18:58 (88^th) and 19:07 (92^nd) respectively.  Freshman Michael Gossett rounded out Edgewood’s scoring runners by coming in at 20:20, good for 149^th.  Junior Zane Huber came across the line in 22:33, and Nate Welch completed his first 5K ever in a time of 27:47. 

This is a really young team and a this was a course that can really trip some people up if they are not ready for the slight uphill climbs during the first two kilometers.  This was also a pretty large meet with 19 teams represented on the starting line.  It would be very easy for a young team to get wrapped up in that start and lose track of their own plan for the race.  Going into the race the Edgewood runners had a plan to start smart, and then advance through the field as their race unfolded.  For three of our runners this was their first 5K at the high school level, so we wanted to be cautious out of the gate, and see them get stronger as the race unfolded.  Most of the guys did that, running stronger during the final three kilometers.  

During the summer there has been a good pack mentality develop and we wanted to see that show up during this first meet.  Mest and JC really did work well together during the first two Ks, Phillips and Fiegle pushed one another late in the race.  The result was a gap of 1:17 from our 1-4 runners, which is a positive sign.  Gossett will get more confident as he gets some more 5Ks under his belt and will close up that gap between he and our 3 and 4 runners. 

Our next meet is this Saturday the 27^th at the Danville Hokem Karem.  The 5K races will resume the following week at Martinsville. 

8/27/11:  Danville Hokem Karem

13/18

 The Hokem Karem meets are a good way to mix things up before heading all out into the 5K meets.  Unfortunately we were without Freshman Hank Phillips today, which did have a significant impact on the final standings.  It is a chance to work on some different strategies, and the guys seemed to respond pretty well to it.  Their times were pretty consistent from their first to their third legs, though we are still learning how to race. 

More confidence that is gained through more experience at this level will certainly help with the aggressivness during the race. 

9/3/11:  Martinsville Invite

8/15

The EHS boys cross country team was in action this past Saturday at the Artesian Classic in Martinsville.  This meet typically produces some of the faster times in the area due to its flat course with solid footing.  However, this time around the heat may have played a factor, leading to times that were 30-60 seconds slower throughout the field.  Last year’s winning time in the large school division was 14:49 by Futsum Zeinasellasi of North Central.  While the senior defended his title by winning his fourth straight Artesian Classic, his time was 15:28 this year.  Winning times for the small school division went from 16:14 last year to 16:51 this year.  The rest of the field seemed to follow suit. 

The Edgewood boys placed four of their five scoring runners in the top half of the field of 110 runners in the small school race, good enough to finish 8^th in the field of 15 teams.  There was actually a tie score between the Mustangs and the 7^th place team, but the tiebreaker (6^th runner position) went to Switzerland County.  The Mustangs were paced by Michael Mest, who took 11^th in the Small School Division with a time of 17:47.  Going hard out of the gate, he was leading about 50 meters into the race.  But it appears that made him a little nervous so he fell back in the pack, to about the 16^th or 17^th position.  From there he fought to work his way back into the mix.  During the final thousand meters he was really racing two runners from Silver Creek to try to get that top-ten finish back.  Michael is trying to learn how to run at the front of the pack now, which is a different position than he has been in the past couple of years.  There will be some learning that has to take place, and I think today was one of those opportunities.  He recognized immediately after the race what he needs to do to take this experience with him and build on it for next week.

JC Hardy was the second Mustang to cross the finish line in 18:38, good for 30^th place.  Nick Fiegle came across 42^nd, in 19:18.  He and JC were really pretty close to one another at the two mile mark.  We want to continue to see them continue to push one another.  If they push one another and each one is fighting to stay ahead of the other, then they could be a solid 2 & 3 to follow up Mest.  The freshman pair of Hank Phillips and Michael Gossett finished in 52^nd and 56^th respectively in their second 5K ever.   This was Hank’s first meet back since a broken bone in his wrist put him in a cast last week.  It appeared that the cast was a cause of some discomfort, and is something that he will continue to adjust to until it is removed.  Gossett is figuring out how to put a complete race together, as he started out a little quicker this week than his first meet, and responded well during the race to move through the field as the race progressed.  Zane Huber and Jayce Lloyd were the final two Mustangs in the Varsity race,  finishing in 23:04 and 25:03 respectively.  This was Jayce’s first 5K ever, and we always emphasize that the first time out is just about finishing the distance.  That is simply a starting point for him, and he will improve from there.

Nate Welch was the only Mustang running in the JV race, finishing in 27:54.  The next race for the Mustangs is another large invitational this Saturday the 10^th at Brown County.  

9/10/11: Eagle Classic At Brown County

9/13 Fr&So Race.  No Team Score in Varsity

This meet is run as a combined varsity race, but they also run a freshman/sophomore race.  Since we have so many young guys, we actually entered in that, but didn’t get a team varsity score.  After last week at Martinsville, the guys wanted to go out a little more aggressively.  They hit the first couple of miles hard and saw how well they could hang on from there.  The results were that every one of the guys ran faster than last week.  Michael Mest ran his fastest time of the young season, finishing in 17:16.  Senior Nick Fiegle set a PR with a time of 18:10, getting himself back in the realm to break into the 17s.  The freshman duo of Gossett and Phillips ran strong races again, starting to also look like the 17s are a possibility for them.  They ran 18:21 and 18:25 respectively.   JC Hardy ran a gutsy race, even though this strategy is not best suited for him.  He will never leave anything out on the course and today is no different.  He gave everything he could it just wasn’t his strongest day.   As a team, the times from our #1 to #5 was shrunk down to about 1:30.  Last couple of weeks it has been 2:20-2:40, another positive sign. 

9/17/11:  Crawford County

15/27

The Edgewood Cross Country teams made a trip to southern Indiana to run in the Crawford County Invitational this past weekend.   The meet is run on a “true” cross country course.  There are no loops around a cornfield, no golf course, it is a hilly, winding trail through the woods on a gorgeous fall day.  All in all, the boys ran really well today.  Comparing the course to what we ran on last week, comparable times for the top boys would be about 45 seconds to one minute slower than times on Brown County’s.  The Mustangs had two who ran that comparable minute slower, five ran within 30 seconds of their previous weeks’ time, and two actually ran faster than last week. 

The race is also scored a little differently than most.  All freshmen and sophomores run one race, then all juniors and seniors run a second race.  The total times of the top five runners are combined to get a total team finish time.  With JC Hardy out for the day to perform at the Fall Festival, the boys placed 15^th out of 27 scoring teams.  I would guess that throwing him into the mix we were looking at something like a top ten finish, maybe 11^th.

The boys were once again led by junior Michael Mest, in 17:26.  He is starting to become more comfortable being our lead runner, and ran a little more aggressive this week.  For most of this race he was running in the top 20 of the junior/senior class race, at times challenging to get into the top 15.  He is still getting comfortable with the idea that he can run with the guys at the front of a race, and that going out to do so is going to pull him along to a faster time.  Mest ended up finishing 10^th in the junior division.  Nick Fiegle, was the only Mustang entry in the senior division, finishing in 18:36, good for 22^nd in the division.  Nick can run 5Ks, and we are starting to see that.  There was a time when he believed he was just a track guy, suited only for the 800m, but is now starting to believe what we’ve been telling him for some time now.  The freshman duo of Hank Phillips and Michael Gossett continue to build on their strong start to their high school running careers.  The pair worked together through most of the race, with Phillips making a strong move at the final hill to jump ahead of a few more runners in the final 200 meters.  The completed in 18:37 and 18:47, good for 8^th and 11^th respectively.   The #1 -#4 (no JC today) had a gap of 1:20, which is a few seconds closer than last week. 

The battle for the 5,6,7 positions on the team today was a close one.  Freshman Tre Bowers edged out Junior Zane Huber and fellow freshman Jayce Lloyd.  They all had finishing times within seven seconds of one another, coming in between 22:01-22:08.  This was only Tre’s second race and he made a 30+ second improvement off of his time at Brown County. Jayce and Zane have been working well in practice together for the past week.  It will only help all three of them to have Tre jumping in there and pushing the other two.  Nate Welch rounded out the Mustang’s runners today, by dropping over three minutes off his previous best time, to finish in 24:27.  Nate really challenged himself as a runner more today than ever before, and took a major step forward in his development as a result. 

The boys and girls teams will travel to BNL this coming week for what is sure to be another fantastic day of fall cross country racing.

9/24/11: Ted Fox Invitational @ BNL

12/25

The guys were excited about this race today…perhaps a little too excited.  Mest and Fiegle took off at the gun to take an early lead, only to settle back in about a half mile in.  The good thing about that approach is that these guys are starting to get a little more aggressive and starting to put themselves out there.  We are learning how to race.  To be competitive we can’t be intimidated by the competition, so we need to try things like that on occasion.  Though the times on the wet course may not fully reflect it, the boys placed better in this meet than in any large meet so far this season.  There was a gap of just over 40 seconds between Phillips (our number two today) and Hardy (our number 5 today).  That kind of pack starting to develop is going to benefit our team.  That pack needs to continue to work together, and close up the gap on Mest, who was about 1:00 ahead of them.    Overall, the #1-#5 gap was about 1:40. 

9/27/11: County Meet BHSS, BHSN, Edgewood,

3/3

With the conference meet coming up on Saturday, the boys were doing some experimenting with some race strategy today, and it seemed to work out well.  The eyeball test was that they ran well.  Most guys actually ran better than expected as far as a time goes, given that this is probably the toughest course they run on all season. 

10/1/11: WIC @ Sullivan

4/6 full scoring teams

The Mustang cross-country team ran to a 4th place finish in the WIC meet this past Saturday in Sullivan.  We have to take our hats off to Brown County, who has been really strong the past few seasons, as they pulled out another victory this year.  Over the past few years though there has been a much greater depth of talent developing in the conference, as is evidenced by the results from this competitive meet.  This was without a doubt, the Mustang's fastest race of this season as a team.  Out of our 9 team members, 8 ran either PRs (personal records) or season bests.  Those that didn’t run PRs were 2, 5, and 12 seconds off.  Unfortunately, it just was not enough to overcome W. Vigo and Northview, who also ran their best races of their seasons.  W. Vigo took 2nd place with 56pts, behind the efforts of individual champion Andrew Kump, who defended his title from last year. Northview took third with 72, and we followed up w/77.  Sullivan and South Vermillion placed fifth and sixth.  Owen Valley did not place a full team. 

Northviews #3 and 4 runners were ahead of our #3 by about 7 seconds, which was a surprise, given the times we have seen them run so far this year.  Even though our #4 and 5 came in ahead of their #5, the dominoes didn’t fall our way.  Mest ran his best race of the season, taking 5th place to earn All-Conference honors.  Nick Fiegle finally broke into the 17s today (17:45), shattering his previous PR by 25 seconds.  JC Hardy was just over 18, and Hank Phillips and Michael Gossett rounded out the scoring, in 18:16 and 18:23 respectively.  Zane Huber was our #6 again today, coming across the line in 20:11, good for 32nd, followed by Jayce Lloyd in 20:22.  Though there was no open race, Tre Bower and Nate Welch also ran a time trial on the course, with some members from the other teams, setting personal bests as well.  Nate put together what was by far his strongest race of his young running career.

This was one of those days when we knew going in that we had a realistic chance to place pretty well, and hoped to do just that.  When we go into a meet believing that and then see a fourth place finish it can honestly be a little disheartening.  When you set out to accomplish something meaningful you are putting yourself at risk for disappointment.  But I think it is important for the guys on this team to recognize that they are running faster each week, which is what we set out to do at the start of the season...get better day by day, and week by week.  As this season has unfolded, we have found instances where the inexperience of this young team has led to guys holding back, for fear of running out of gas mid-race. It is only in the past few weeks that we have started to become better at finding the point at which our bodies tell us we can’t go any faster or any further, and then pushing past it.  We have a core group of guys who are committed to doing things the right way.  We are in the process of rebuilding a program that will bring that title back to Edgewood.  Moving forward, as the guys come ready to work each day and bring a desire to improve, eventually we will start to see the results in the standings.

10/11/11: Sectionals @ Brown County

5/10

The Edgewood boys knew that advancing to the Regional meet was not a sure bet.  It was clear that they would have to continue the progress they have made over the past few weeks and that is just what they did today.  Michael Mest lead the way with an outstanding race, en route to a personal best time of 16:40 and a 9th place finish.  Over the past four weeks he has started to gain confidence in his ability, and it has been showing on race day.  For the past two years he has had Cole Reinhold being the lead guy.  Now he is getting more comfortable assuming that role.  The other guys have followed him to make their own improvements. 

We knew that Mest would be competing towards the front, but it would be our 2-5 guys trying to come in as a solid pack that would determine our advancement as a team.  Freshman Hank Phillips turned in an outstanding race, to place 26th with a time of 17:48, which is a personal best.  Senior Nick Fiegle showed that he wasn't quite ready to let his season finish.  He ran strong early, looked like he might fade about midway through the race, but then really dug in to run a strong final mile to finish in his fastest time on this course.  His time of 18:03 was good for 30th.  Freshman Michael Gossett continues to be a consistent performer on meet day.  He had to really fight through some knee pain in the latter stages of the race to hold on for a 40th place finish with a time of 18:30.  The big thing for him was that in the final mile he passed Mooresville's number four runner and put four places between them.  In a meet where we advance by just two points, that could very easily have gone the other way, with just four seconds separating the two.  Sophomore J.C. Hardy won an important battle, finishing in 51st place-just two ahead of Mooresville's number five.  Again, had the two been flip-flopped, the team results would have ended up being different.  Zane Huber and Jayce Lloyd rounded out the varsity runners for the Mustangs, finishing in 20:36 and 22:14 respectively.  Huber had to lighten his load with a mid race bout of sickness and Jayce was struggling with some knee issues that we knew might be an issue, but they continued to fight and came in to finish strong. 

All in all, the guys all battled today, which is why they get to run again on Saturday.  This team gained experience responding when the pressure is on.  For the long-term goals of this team, today was a huge step for us.  I couldn't be more proud of the effort today.  Be sure to congratulate them when you see them, and come out to Brown County on Saturday to watch them run.  The boys race is scheduled to start at 10:30. 

10/16/11: Regionals @ Brown County

8/10

Unfortunately, the competitive season for the team comes to an end at Regionals.  We knew that this meet would be a chance for us to still accomplish some things, whether or not we advanced as a team.  For one, we knew Mikey would be in the mix to have a shot at advancing as an individual, though he would have to run his strongest race yet.  Check.  He went out strong, and was in the top 15 early in the race, giving himself a chance to compete.  Midway through the race he had slipped back to 21^st, but was continuing to run relaxed and strong, keeping himself within striking distance.  With about 800m to go, he was in 18^th place, at which point he made a surge to pass two competitors.  In the final 200m he made a surge to pass a runner from Northview who had beaten him at WIC.  That final move was the difference for him.  He set a new PR of 16:38 and took the final spot that advances to Semi-State.  It was a really gutty performance, and a result of his continued dedication to doing his personal best. 

We knew that we would have a chance to get more guys down to our 18 minute mark we set early in the summer.  Check.  Gossett went under 18 for the first time, Nick was under 18 for the second time in three meets, and Hank was just at 18.  That was the first time in my three years as coach that we had four guys at that level, and it is a really good sign for things to come in the future. 

We knew that Northview, West Vigo, and Brown County would all be there, and we would have a chance to close up on the three teams that finished ahead of us in conference.  Check.  We finished ahead of Northview, and were more competitive with West Vigo and Brown County.  The guys came into the race once again focused on a task at hand, and gained experience racing with some amount of pressure.  

Of course we want to advance to the state finals, but we have to realize that today was yet another step in that direction.  Throughout the course of this season, I have had the pleasure of watching this young team mature as runners.  They have had some adversity that they had to overcome, and are now stronger young men because of it.  While we can never be certain what the future will hold, I must say that our boys have positioned themselves nicely for some continued success through their careers. 

Michael Mest competed in the IHSAA cross country Semi-Finals this past Saturday, coming in 46th out of the field of 157 finishers.    Mest earned the opportunity to compete at the meet by placing 9th at Sectional and 15th at Regional.  His season was capped off with another fine race. 

Michael’s three fastest times of his career came during these three meets, indicating that he was making improvements at the right time, setting a tone for this season’s young team.  Of our 9 members, we had five freshman, one sophomore, two juniors, and one senior.  The focus of this team this year was learning that we could be great.  Mest had to learn how to be the front runner for this team, which he struggled with early on.  He was just so accustomed to having Cole lead the way during his first two seasons here, that he really had to step out of his comfort zone to grow as an individual and for the good of the team. 

About mid-way through this season he started to believe in what he could really do.  From there, he started attacking his workouts and his races more confidently, and his times started dropping.  Watching that transition was one of the reasons that I love the opportunity to do this. He is just such a respectful and hard-working young man.  Anyone who knows him can’t help but pull for him and feel good about him accomplishing great things.   The things he accomplished this season definitely set him up for some good things during his track season, as well as for next fall.