Saturday, November 01, 2008

Bittersweet Ending of Season for Shorewood Boys.

David Drews great pictures - really tells the story:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=benxbof.4u9zmrwr&Uy=abndnb&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=791423203009_654523271211&localeid=en_US

My Instamatic camera shots:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dontyler22/2008CCStateMeet#

Results:
http://www.wiaawi.org/results/crosscountry/2008/bd2results.pdf

Shorewood Boys Place 5th; Tyler 5th; Drews 8th; Emily Takes Third!
The boys wrapped up their 2008 cross country season on The Ridges in Wisconsin Rapids at the Wisconsin State Meet in fine fashion. It was a beautiful day; almost like the kids were cheating or something. It's suppose to be raw and windy for state meet. A light breeze out of the northeast, temperature in the low 50s and the sun shining made for perfect conditions for running and cheering.

Some might say that we should be disappointed with a 5th place finish; perhaps that's so. But considering what this rag-tag team had to do to have the rare privilege of making it to state, it's quite a remarkable achievement. This young team had to step up and come together after learning that their state champion runner, Kevin McCollow, was not likely to return. Many teams might have rolled over at that point. Not this young team of champions. They came together like I have never seen before, and truly ran as one, finding more within themselves than they ever thought possible. I believe as they look back as adults on this year, many will point to this season as a formative period in their life. They learned much about coming together as a team; learned about the value of remaining disciplined; and they learned much about the power of believing in themselves. I suspect that most of the boys achieved more this year than than imagined they could. To me, that's the making of a championship team...and most of them are returning next year! Finally, Dom, Alec, the alumni and our co-captains should be commended for their great leadership in shaping, directing and managing this team.

The Rundown
So what do you get when you combine a beautiful fall day in northern Wisconsin, 1,000 of the best cross country runners in the state and 10,000 fans on a golf course that has for its name, The Ridges? A day of energized runners and fans! There is nothing like a state meet experience: for a champion runner, it's running with the best of the best as fans line up four deep to cheer you on; for the fans, it's sprinting across the golf course from one vantage point to another, with a big smile on your face because it is so cool to see these kids reach deep for all of what they've got. What a great day!

The starting line is a wide stretch of lawn at the base of the golf course driving range; just behind the line are six 30 foot stars and stripes banners taking in the surprisingly light breeze. The boys are going through their final warm up drills as the fans line up along the first 400 yard stretch, waiting with nervous energy for the 1 minute announcement. The countdown starts at ten and stops at five when the gun goes off. A mass of 150 runners converge toward the fans as the course narrows.

A Mad Dash for Position
As the runners volley for position and turn east behind team tents (that has the look of a scout jamboree according to one Shorewood dad), a wave of fans run madly across the field for the next best position either at the one mile mark or just above a valley that takes the boys right past you after a steep curving incline.

The elite runners are tightly packed together as they charge this hill, charging the turn and the hill, bumping and jockeying for position. As expected, the two Port boys, Allen and Ross are there along with Lauderbach, Holguin and a surprise contender in the name of Kinnard. Ben Tyler is in the middle of the pack at this point. The masses swarm by with Peter Drews right in the mix, followed by Aidan Mazur, John Taylor, Joe Pendleton, Brendan Vorpahl and as always, followed by Sam Dupuis hanging back for his move later in the race.

At the mile mark, the lead group is pacing at 5 minutes, about what is expected. The course widens as it takes a turn down the long 9th hole fairway. This wide stretch of the course starts off relatively flat but then suddenly drops down a long hill. Watching from the bottom of the hill you hear the crowds first and then you see the lead ATV crest the hill on the horizon. Then, suddenly, the leaders pop over the hill and you can see that the top five or six runners are all running side by side. It's a remarkable scene, watching these top state runners "run as one", blasting down the hill together. Tyler is in the thick of the lead while Drews is not far behind, starting to think about making his move. The Shorewood Core is doing there job in the middle of the pack.

The Sweep Around the Pond
Fans race to the next vantage point on a ridge overlooking a pond. From a distance you can hear the sound of the lead ATV as it approaches the big sweep around the pond. As the ATV pierces the line of trees, the fans see that a lead runner broke from the pack. It was Tyler, breaking away at the 1.5 mile mark as counseled by Coach Dom. Port Washington's Allen is about four strides away. Tyler holds the lead around the pond, through the beach, the woods, up the 18th hole fairway, up into the roller coaster twist and turns past the storage shed and back down the hill toward the pond. The boys drive hard down the hill on their way to the lonely outlying area of the course to the 2.5 mile mark. During this time, Drews begins to make his steady climb to the top of the pack, working on one of his nemesis, Alex Holguin and aiming his sights on Bobby Laabs. As the dedicated Shorewood fans were watching the scene develop, the news was somewhat bifurcated. On one hand, Tyler had the lead with Drews making a strong move to the head of the pack; John Taylor was looking good but Aidan Mazur started slipping and Vorpahl, Pendleton and Dupuis looked solid. The potential outcome was unclear for sure.


The Long Wait....
As the runners stretched out the last 3/4 mile in the distance, the fans rushed and fought for position along the long uphill finish chute. Others ran to the base of the chute, upward toward the long loop around to get a glimpse of the lead runners. As the ATV popped out of the woods, you could see that the lead had changed. Allen was now in the lead with Tyler having a tough time. Kinnard, Lauderbach and Ross were not far behind him. Tyler was still second at the turn toward the chute but you could tell he was in trouble. By the finish line, Ross had sprinted to virtually tie Allen for first and Lauderbach and Kinnard had a kick that blew them by Tyler, who finished fifth with a time of 16:10.

While this dramatic finish was playing out, Drews had plenty on his hands. Always with a strong kick, he was working on Laabs as Holguin was working on him. It was a sprint for all three of them right to the finish with Laabs coming in just before Drews and Drews out striding Holguin. Drews finished 8th with an impressive time of 16:17. Tyler had the third fastest Shorewood time at state.

The Shorewood Core Finishes Strong
As the number 3 runner for Shorewood, Taylor hit the hill hard trying hard to fight off a pack of boys sprinting for position; he finished with an impressive 17:21 (about what Drews and Tyler did last year at State), placing 62nd. Vorpahl did what he needed to do, breaking 18 minutes on this tough course, coming in at 17:59. Same Dupuis was directly behind him at 18:02, and Joe Pendleton at 18:07. Mazur appeared to have lost his stride somewhere at the halfway point and had a very tough, and I know disappointing, finish for him. Of course, there is always a lesson in both good and bad experiences. I remember watching Ben's devastating 3200 run at the State Track Meet last spring. You could tell he was hurting; but he apparently took something away from the experience because he quickly moved on and had a great cross country season. I suspect that's where Aidan will be as well.


And That's the Way it Was...
So we bid adieu to the wonderful season, all the great times and memories and our boys and girls who learned so much about sportsmanship, camaraderie and pushing themselves beyond their limits. Thanks coaches for taking on our projects and helping us shape them into wonderful adults. You've been great! See most everyone next year!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

And many thanks to our extraordinary reporter this season, Don Tyler! Your coverage has been a great addition to the experience. And you're created a lasting record of the season that these athletes can print, save, and savor in years to come. What a gift!