Boys Cross Country - 10/20/2009 Conference Championships Spring Lake

Conference Championships at Laker Trail – Spring Lake

Conference Champions – 8th straight

There was an important race for us, kicking off “tournament time”.  The big focus has been on a repeat at regionals, so I was a little concerned about a let down here.  Monday we had a good “strat chat” about the meet.  The goal was to put 4 in the top 5, 6 in the top 14, and 7 in the top 21.  The boys were pretty loose on the warm up.  Doing strides on the start line they really started to look focused.  At the gun we got out well, not fast but just in solid position.  It was clear that the boys were running with confidence.  At the 1000 meter mark there was a pack of 8 runners led by Nick Butcher and including, Jake Featherstone, Tommy Jewett, and Sam Schuiteman.  Shortly thereafter Nick started to gap the field.  By the mile mark the lead pack was beginning to crack as athletes were being dropped off the back.  I believe our group of 4 really hurt the other runners mentally as they stuck together.  By the 1.5 mile mark Nick had the victory wrapped up, while Jake was trying to break away from Spring Lakes #1.  Tommy Jewett was trailing SL by about 40 meters with Sam Schuiteman 10 meters back from Tommy.  Charlie Fias was working his way through the high teens after starting conservatively, with Tyler Green trying to chase him down.  Calvin Crowley got a poor start and spent the 1st mile trying to push his way through crowds.  Josh Kreslins was running great, right on Calvin’s shoulder.  2 ¼ - Nick was clear, Jake had established a solid 2nd, but we needed him to increase the gap a little to break SL’s top runner, as Tommy was in reach of catching him.  It was clear that SL guy was hurting and he would break easy if Tommy could challenge him.  With 800 to go the charge was on.  Tommy was really closing the gap.  400 to go Tommy swings around SL and there was no response.  Tommy had a great finish almost catching Jake.  That gave us 1, 2, 3 – which was nice as Spring Lake had rolled out a winners platform for the top 3 for awards.  Tyler Green also had an outstanding race and finish catching 3 runners in the last 400 and recording a PR.

We made our goal of 4 in the top 5, just missed 6 in the top 14, and were way off on 7 in the top 21.  It was a great day for the team as we were much more dominate when compared to our last 2 conf. Meets.

Results

1. Nick Butcher        16:37
2. Jake Featherstone 17:00
3. Tommy Jewett 17:02
5. Sam Schuiteman 17:15
15. Charlie Fias 18:10
16. Tyler Green 18:15
37. Calvin Crowley 19:24
44. Josh Kreslins 19:57

1st team All Conference (7 total)– Nick Butcher, Jake Featherstone, Tommy Jewett, Sam Schuiteman

2nd Team All Conference (7 total) – none

All Conference Honorable Mention (7total) – Charlie Fias, Tyler Green

Next meet Saturday at Chip Hills

Coach

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