On Saturday some dedicated members of the cross country team chose to forgo the Homecoming festivities and step up to the line at Saturday Night Lights. This is a premier event hosted at Centerville High School. There are 6 different boys and girls high school races throughout the evening that teams and individuals are placed into based on the times they have run so far this season.

In the boys White race we had 3 runners competing. Connor Green got out to a fast start pacing the field through the first two miles. In an exciting finish he was edged out to the finish line, but came away with 2nd place in a time of 17:04. He was closely followed by Austin Hitte in 9th place with a time of 18:09. Caleb Osborne gave a great effort as well, falling just short of a new PR with a time of 21:24.

The next race of the evening was the girls Black race and we had some Wildcats who ran great races. Sarah Wallace led the team with a huge new PR of 23:33. Also earning PR's were Kydee Shults (26:12), Laila Black (26:12) and Hailey Hitte (28:31). With these new PR's came the opportunity to hit the ceremonial PR gong which is a much loved tradition at SNL.

The main event of the night is the championship races that took place at 9:25 pm (girls) and 9:55 pm (boys). These races included many of the top runners from our region and top teams from multiple states. The girls championship race included the top teams from Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. It was an exciting race with the winner, Rachel Forsyth from Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, setting a new meet record with a time of 16:27 and finishing a minute and a half ahead of the next fastest competitors. Kensi Black was our lone entrant in this race and she went out conservatively then focused on passing and accelerating through miles two and three. Putting in a great push to the finish she came away with a 32nd place finish in a time of 19:16.

In the boys championship race the field was stacked with top teams and individuals from all over Ohio and Kentucky. Chris Bond overcame some early adversity in this race and posted a time just shy of his PR, finishing in 29th place with a time of 16:24.

This week the cross country teams will be concentrating on putting in some great workouts in preparation for the SWBL meet at Fort St. Clair in Eaton on Saturday October 14th. We will be focused on bringing home some individual and team titles as we refine our racing strategies in preparation for the start of the OHSAA post season.