Anderson Roadrunners Youth Cross Country Racing Team takes Hammond meet by Storm !!!

 

                         

 

   On a cold morning @ 4:00AM , the Anderson Roadrunners own Youth Cross Country Racing Team met at the Rax Restaurant Downtown and caravanned up to “Lost Marsh Golf Course” in Hammond, Indiana for what would turn out to be an impressive first outing by our 2005 Youth XC Team.   Coaches Perry Knox and Mark Volk called the roll for 20 youth harriers that answered the call and loaded up for the 4 hour drive north towards the windy city.  “They were definitely not wide eyed”, states coach Perry Knox, “ These kids were wrapped in sweats and ready to go back to sleep in the cars as soon as they checked in to be counted”.  “One of the kids even showed up in fuzzy slippers…we asked if she was going to run in them?” .   So after a brief checkin and driving instructions, the group took off and were on their way.

    After a stop in Merrillville for breakfast, the team arrived at about 9:00AM and the coaches immediately reported to Joe Mis, the AAU meet director and signed in all these young athletes.  Meanwhile, the men and women parents of the team set up our tent with new ‘clearview’ sides as well as a camping grill complete with a teapot to make fresh coffee and hot chocolate…we had it made.  After signing in, coaches Mark and Perry addressed the youth by telling them the order of races and the awards they would be competing for….yes there were awards for the taking and taking is what they did.  A complete start-to-finish course walk got the kids focused and the races were promptly started at 10:00AM with the combined races of all 3K competitors for 2 age groups….ages 10 & under and ages 11-12 !!  Even though the Anderson Roadrunners do not field a full team of 5 in those events (eliminating us from team awards) we still had individuals that were competing for medals within their age groups based on their finishes.

     Before I get into the meet specifics, I want to add that Tammy Dale deserves a round of thanks for arranging really cool warm-ups for the team this year.  Dressed in Black Hoodies with our Racing Team Logo, these kids looked outstanding and kept nice and warm while they waited their turns.  Our shirts this year for the Youth Racing Team are Tie-Dyed Red with Gold Lettering and you could easily tell us apart from the other runners out on the field.  To top off the look, David Stocker generously purchased for each and every teammember, Red toboggans to coordinate with their shirts.   We really looked good out there.  Red Shirts, Red Hats, Red Tent….Red is the symbol of strength and we were ready to flex our muscle.

     In girls Bantam division ages 10 & under, Ashley Dale clearly took control early and won Gold for the Club by placing first and setting the standard for the upcoming competition.  Lucy Browning, age 10, delivered an impressive 17:09 time for the challenging 3K course as she competed in her first XC meet….way to go Lucy !!!    With no boys in our 10 & under division, the girls ages 11-12 division was next to be scored as Chloe Miller and Denielle Davis scored a 2^nd and 3^rd Place respectively in 15:03 and 15:08 !!....these girls clearly worked together as each worked hard to achieve their medals.

 

                              

     …..pictured above: Lucy Browning and Ashley Dale in action..thanks to Doug Stanton for great photos !

 

     Not forgetting the boys, Isaac Miller and Erik Spencer running their first ever XC meets took their races to the max by finishing 4^th and 5^th overall in a very competitive boys 11-12 year old race….in respective times of 14:44 and 14:51 for the 3K distance.  Mark and Perry have both commented that these boys are always being seen at Mounds doing  workouts on their own and you can tell by the quick improvement that  these boys have made….keep up the hard work Isaac (pictured)  and Erik !!

 

 

     By 11:00AM the races had been extended to a longer course of 4K and I have to tell you that those hills were never ending.  This golf course can only be described as a ‘roller coaster’ that combines short steep downhills followed by long unforgiving slopes to the sky !!  There is absolutely no place where a runner can get a break with a flat area….it is a total gutcheck.  When those kids finished you could see in their faces that they had met with the monster in battle and gave it all they had.  In the end, the Anderson Roadrunners Youth Racing Team can proudly announce that not only did we win our first ever team championship, but these harriers represented us well and brought us home gold by winning both 13-14 yr old Boys and Girls Team Championships !!  Yes you read it right folks.  2 plaques will be engraved with the names of our winning team members and sent to us from the Hammond Meet Director as AAU Youth Team Champions !!  ….and with the AAU state finals just 1 week away, we just made a serious statement to our upcoming competition…we are here to do battle.  The Anderson Roadrunners Youth Racing Team is the REAL DEAL !!!  We are on the “Road to Rockhill”.

     In the girls 13-14 year old division, Mariah Linville lead the girls to a team win by finishing with gold ( that’s first folks) with a time of 18:19 for the 4K distance followed by Allie Browning (3^rd in 18:31), Jessica Stanton (19:53), Sierra Tremaine (22:18), and Janelle Davis (22:21).  These girls ran hard start to finish and we could not be prouder.  These girls will proudly have their names engraved on a plaque by the meet director as “Girls 13-14 YR OLD Meet Champions”.

     In the boys 13-14 year old division, the Anderson Roadrunners brought 9 warriors that would prove to be the dream team when lined up with other Indiana State competitors.  One particular team with coaches dressed in green with irish designation brought some really mature looking stallions that looked very mature for being only 13 or 14 years old, but even with their 1^st through 3^rd top finishes, it was not enough for our depth and Michael Stocker lead the team in 16:18 for a fourth place finish…quickly followed by Hunter Mills (16:26),  Cameron Mandrell (16:46),  Dylan Dale (16:54) ,  Zachary Wood (16:58), D.J. Morrison (17:25),  Aaron Martin (17:28), Jared Mathison (17:35), and Mathew Marstall (19:49).  These boys will also have a plaque engraved in their honor and I am sure that they will be proud to show it off at the upcoming ARRC Christmas Party in December….if you haven’t heard yet, the ARRC Youth XC Team will be presenting a program and showing off all this new hardware.

     The Youth XC Racing Team will compete next Sunday, October 30^th @ Hammond at the A.A.U. Indiana State Youth XC Championships.  This meet will not only establish individual and team state positions for INDIANA A.A.U. Youth Cross Country , but is the qualifier for the upcoming National Junior Olympics in Rockhill, South Carolina in December.  Our youth will be vying for a limited number of positions and will be working hard this week at Mounds preparing for the challenge.  The Anderson Roadrunners Membership, Coaches, and Parents are very proud of our area youth and wish them our very best in their quest ….”on the road to Rockhill !!”