State Meet SUNY Canton (Potsdam) 2014

Hamilton Harriers run at States

Frigid temperatures and mud make for tough going

Once again the Hamilton Harriers returned to the state meet. Six runners made the long trip to SUNY Canton, 10 miles south of Potsdam. Mikayla, Gabby, Naomi, Rachel and Lily represented the girls' team and Stevie B.  ran for our guys, Aden also qualified, but opted out to take the SATs. What a long, strange trip it was. This year's trip was a bit longer with the team departing on

beautiful upstate New York

Thursday afternoon for the seven hour journey to Canton. We spent the night in the Section 1 hotel and headed to the course for a jog through on Friday morning.

breakfast

As we jogged the muddy, rain soaked course in a cold, windy, rain/snow mix, I couldn't help feeling that I had seen this movie before several years earlier at Vernon Hills High School. The SUNY Canton course was a beauty, wide open grassy lanes, a wooded section by the river, one fairly steady hill at the two mile mark, followed by a steep descent and rolling 800m descent to the finish line. On a sunny October day, it would have been absolutely beautiful, but on this day in November, well, not so much. 

Saturday dawned overcast and frigid. The race time temperature for the girls was about 31 degrees. I warned them back in July that if they made it to states in November it very well could be snowing. It wasn't, but it was plenty cold enough to. Our ladies all ran their hardest and represented us well. Mikayla was our first finisher, as she was at every race this year. Gabby was close behind her today, running her best race of the year on the muddy course Gabby's time of 26:22 was almost a three minute PR.

Gabby sprinting to a PR

Naomi, Rachel and Lily rounded out our finishers. Though the course wasn't as muddy as states in 2011 it did slow the times down for most of our runners. In the boys' class D race Stevie B. turned in a fine performance in his last  XC run for Hamilton as he

Stevie B.

matched his PR of 20:14.Going to the state meet is something that I hope our team doesn't take for granted. It's an honor to compete against the best in the state, and to get a look at the best teams. The level of competition was simply outstanding. I have to say this was one of the finest settings I have seen for a state meet. I spent the whole morning right at the last stretch to the finish line. What a treat it was to watch these runners rolling down the grassy path heading for the finish. Mud splattered they were sprinting full speed past the

Energy food?

packed cheering crowd. The sound of the cowbells and the frosty vapor coming from the spectators mouths as they shouted just made the atmosphere even better. You all know that I love track, but nothing can match a cross country scene like that. It's kind of ironic that as I was standing there watching the 2014 season ending all I could think about was how I can't wait for the 2015 season to start.  Have a great winter, see you next summer.

Section 1 Championship Meet

Hamilton 2014 XC regular season ends 

7 runners qualify for State Meet in Potsdam

Class D runners up

Bowdoin Park:
It was a typical November day at Bowdoin, cold, windy and grey. It is quite likely that this might be our last time running here. Much as I dislike the long ride to get there, it is the park I associate with our championship performances.  Jacey's, Robin's and Jason's individual titles and the girls team title in 2011 are memories that I will never forget, and they warmed my heart a little as I walked the course on this cloudy raw morning. The team however was focused on the present and not the past, they spent most of the morning huddled in the walled tent trying to stay warm. Girls Class D was the first race of the day, and it featured as usual, Hamilton and Haldane. No championships for us today, we are after all in a rebuilding phase, but we had some solid performances. Mikayla was the first Lady Raider to punch a ticket to Potsdam.  Rachel,  and Gabby followed, with each one posting their best 5K time ever. Naomi was our fourth finisher and Lily also PRd to take the last state qualifying spot. Alana and Erin finished out of the money, but that didn't stop both ladies from also recording their fastest times for 5 kilometers. You can't do better than your best and when you end the season with a PR, well that's just about a perfect finish.
It was the guys who really stole the show today. We still haven't won a plaque, but we might be getting a little closer. Steveen was our top finisher today covering the 5Kin 20:13 a PR. Aden was next across the line with a 20:39 for his fastest time ever on the Bowdoin course. Ryan, who is really developing into a fine runner PRd with a 22:02, not fast enough to qualify for states this year, but his time may come next November.

Ryan running strong

 Jonathon followed, turning in his 3rd PR in as many Saturdays. He shaved his 5K time down from 29:44 at the beginning of the season to 23:11. Luciano was our number five guy today putting up a 23:58 PR. Lowell and James finished out of the scoring today, but also ran tough races on this cold November day.
What was really impressive was how much our boys team has improved since last year. At the 2013 Sectional Meet our top 5 average time was 25:36, and our spread between #1 and #5 was seven minutes and ten seconds. This year our average time finishing time was 22:01 and our spread was 3:44. That's a tremendous improvement, and it didn't come at the top. That was our #2 -5 spots getting faster and closing the gap.

Boys' team's best year ever at Bowdoin

We lose Aden and Steveen next year, but the rest of the guys are showing that they're ready to step up and lead the team. When you end the season thinking about how much better you're going to be next year, that's pretty nice.
Stay tuned for a report from the State Meet next week.

Nasty day

trying to stay warm

think you're cold now?
wait till Potsdam