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Cross Country Finals, the race!
After the breathtaking walk that Paul and I took (see the pics here), the twelve middle school teams (at least I think it was 12 teams) began to arrive. Each school was allowed to select its seven best boys and seven best girls for the “varsity” race of about 2.2 miles over the hilliest (and therefore slowest) course in the region; the rest of the teams were invited to be in the fun run, a bit more than a mile, after the main races. Since not each team had enough students to field a full seven in the varsity race, the field for each (boys and girls) was in the upper 50 range.
Coach Morse (aka the 6th grade social studies teacher!) talks to our very large team
The girls ran first....about halfway down the photo you can see a long line of girls.....far in the lead, as usual, was Camden-Rockport's Jacquie
Each team lined up in the tent, then was announced and ran past the spectators, up a small hill to the starting line; that's Eli in the middle
And they're OFF and running! Talk about a thundering herd of boys!
And away they go!
The pack of about 56 boys soon draws out into a long line headed down the to lagoon, peninsula, up the hill, up another hill, around past the start for another loop and repeat on the hills....
Look at that sunlight! What a place to race! The gray line shows the boys spread out on the trail
Heading into the woods and out to the little peninsula
On the right, our fastest runner is Ben W. Tho small, he is unbelievably fast, and has won most of his races this season!
Eli is on the left, with hair spray painted red--go Schooners!, heading out for his second loop around the course
Ben sprints up the final hill (GASP!)
This photo shows how steep that hill is. Eli is the one in red, and he actually OVERTOOK the boy in burgundy and black (one of the fastest kids in the region) on this hill! Alas, in the last 30 yards, the boy ahead in this photo overtook Eli just at the finish line!
Headed to the finish line! Eli had his fastest race of the season, on the toughest course, had his his highest finish amongst his team for this year (second only to Ben--there have been other team members who have been faster than Eli up to this race) and actually outran one or two of the kids who were thought to be Ben's stiffest competition!
Eli and Ben after the race. Ben and his twin Kyle have been Eli's best friends since we arrived in first grade. It has been so heartwarming to see them grow, mature, come into themselves as 7th graders turning into young men. Ben finished second (a boy from Belfast I think won) and Eli finished 5th!!!!!
The Camden-Rockport Girls team wins the Championship!
Eli gets a ribbon for 5th place (out of a varsity field of about 56+ boys!)
Ben W. receives his second place trophy (and I think he set a personal best time too!)
The Camden-Rockport boys win! the championship
What an incredible season! The C-R team had such depth that many of the kids who didn’t make it into the top 7 for the varsity race were actually faster than kids from other schools who led their teams! Even the slowest of the kids finished all the races, with love and support and encouragement from their teammates! Mr. Morse, one of the awesome-est teachers ever, was just as outstanding as a coach. He researched on his own time issues the kids were having to figure out what they needed…in Eli’s case, his side cramps indicated he needed to hydrate in the mornings on the day of a race. How amazing is that, for Mr. Morse to do that for ALL of the kids? It goes to show why they dominated and what makes Mr. Morse so wonderful as both teacher and coach. And it was a good race all around for the Great Salt Bay course, with the winning boy (from Belfast I think) and winning girl (Jacquie from Camden) setting course records…WOW!
BOTH the boys and the girls were not only the Champions, but they both had undefeated seasons–every meet they were in, they won! And in addition to being outstanding athletes, their sportsmanship and grace were tops. Well done to everyone: kids, coaches, bus drivers, parents…what a season–one that will definitely go down in the school record books!
November 15th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Congratulations to them all!
November 15th, 2010 at 10:03 am
It looks as though a great season was had by all he kids who participated. Kudos to Eli!
It is a pity that this level of participation and commitment with such a great coach can’t be extended to all kids. There would be so much less concern about obesity, diabetes, etc.