Region recap

It was a nice fall day for competing at the Region. Many runners ran a time that was comparable with their other top performances from this past fall. It's always hard to compare one race to another in cross country because there are many variables that change from race to race. It's not so much like track & field where the course (the track) stays the same and races usually contain a smaller number of runners. In XC, the fall weather can be drastically different from one day to the next, the course difficulty can vary greatly, sometimes courses are short... or long, the number of competitors in a particular race can benefit your running style or not, and ....

The girl's team ran well and the overall race compared to other top team performances from the year. The team's top 5 average was 21:56 at the Region.

• 21:11 @ Charlotte
  
• 21:31 Bath
• 21:47 Greater Lansing
• 21:56 Region
  
• 21:59 Haslett
• 22:02 @ Fowlerville
  
• 22:11 MSU
  
• 22:14 Corunna
• 22:18 Linden
  
• 24:10 @ Ionia
  

With this information where should the girls go now? That's a very good question and it primarly is up to the girls to decide what they want to do and what they need to do with this information. Some food for thought for the girls...

• What are the other top team's averages who are moving onto the Finals from our region running? 20:02, 20:05, and 20:20
• What will it take to get our team to that level? A few key ideas to focus on are support each other; increase the speed of our easy, medium and fast running; train year round; follow the Haslett training plan to a "T". Want more ideas, just ask. I'm here to help you get there.

The boys competed well and advanced to the Finals for the 1st time since 2002. In 2002 the Haslett boys XC team finished a solid 6th place. Here is a breakdown of the recent history of how the Vikings have done at the Finals.

• 2002. Boys 6th
• 2001. Boys 15th
• 1999. Girls 18th
• 1998. Girls 10th
• 1997. Boys 7th. Girls 17th
• 1980. Kristen Atlee 3rd 19:38 (class C - individual race)

Haslett has hosted the Cross Country Finals on two occasions over the years.

• 1973 class C/D
• 1978 class B/C

This week we need to look for a combination of medium controlled efforts and easy running. Just enough to stimulate our bodies to make it's final jump in fitness and have relatively fresh legs that are ready to run on Saturday.

I am thrilled that we have a full team at the Finals. The future at Haslett looks brighter and brighter for our cross country programs. One of my goals as a coach is to help the boys and girls consistently place in the top 1/2 of the Finals meet. The boys and girls Haslett XC teams deserve to be one of the best teams in the State. You owe it to yourself. Do it for yourself. I can't tell you in words how rewarding it is to be at the top. Once you get there, you will never want to settle for anything less. We have the talent, we have a solid training routine, and we have a tradition to uphold.