2016 Brunswick Invitational

We couldn't have asked for better weather to open our season. With a high in the low 80s and the humidity dropping throughout the morning to around 50%, we had perfect race conditions.

DeMatha took twelve athletes to Brunswick High School. Ten raced, five each in the varsity and junior varsity races. Though large schools and small schools raced with each other, the official results were broken down into the two divisions. As a specific example of what this means, the winner of today's race in the small school division, though officially credited with a victory, was sixth overall in the varsity race because five individuals in the large school division finished in front of him.

Saturday's race was run on a 3 mile course, a bit shy of the standard 5 kilometers we will run at most cross country meets. As far as I could tell, the course was relatively fast. While the course was not flat, and though the finish line was at a higher elevation than the start, there were no significant hills. The overall fastest time of the day was 15 minutes 53 seconds and the winner of the small school division completed the course in 16 minutes 7 seconds.

Junior Varsity

Here are the results for our junior varsity athletes. The number in front of each name signifies their place in the small school division. In brackets are their first, second, and third mile splits:

12 Dominic Ximinies (Fr.) - 20:27 [(1) 6:36, (2) 6:54, (3) 6:57]

57 Manuel Legaspi (So.) - 24:25 [(1) 7:20, (2) 8:23, (3) 8:42]

60 Andrew Byrd (Sr.) - 25:10 [(1) 7:27, (2) 8:17, (3) 9:26]

63 London Bailey (Fr.) - 25:53 [(1) 7:33, (2) 8:55, (3) 9:25]

70 Caleb Ghatt (Fr.) - 28:55 [(1) 8:37, (2) 10:01, (3) 10:17]

Wednesday's scrimmage at Landon was rough on us. Spending all day in school before riding to a meet and running in the heat of the day is not an easy task. We clearly did not have our strongest showing. But we bounced back very well on Saturday. I held Manuel out of Wednesday's race as a precaution, but each of our four junior varsity runners who competed at Landon posted times significantly faster than their 3 mile projections based on Wednesday's results.

Varsity

Here are the results for our varsity athletes. The number in front of each name signifies their place in the small school division. In brackets are their first, second, and third mile splits:

15 Matthew Metz (Jr.) - 18:40 [(1) 5:21, (2) 6:15, (3) 7:04]

18 Jacob Keppler (Sr.) - 18:47 [(1) 5:39, (2) 6:07, (3) 7:01]

29 Thomas Parsons (Fr.) - 19:43 [(1) 6:03, (2) 6:32, (3) 7:08]

37 Anthony Perry (Fr.) - 20:24 [(1) 5:55, (2) 6:40, (3) 7:49]

51 Josh Gatti (Sr.) - 21:57 [(1) 6:14, (2) 7:23, (3) 8:20]

Though our varsity team did not see quite the same significant improvement over Wednesday's results as our JV guys did, I am very proud of their effort. As we enter the next phase of our season, the training we do will improve our pacing and that will have a big impact on our results.

Note: Josh Gatti was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for X-Rays after rolling his ankle early and then completing the race. I am very relieved to relay from his parents that Josh did not suffer a fracture. I do not know yet what the time table will be for his return, but we will take our time bringing him back and make sure he returns to full health, especially with the amount of trail running we do.

Team Results

Out of eight teams in the small school division, DeMatha placed sixth with 150 points. Considering our varsity team was not at full strength, I am very pleased with that result. At the meet, I announced that we beat WCAC rival St. John's. While going through the results, I realized we had actually beaten St. John's Catholic Preparatory High School in Buckeystown, MD and not St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. Our St. John's was at another meet today.

I was a bit disappointed to realize this. However, if we can get our team healthy in the next two to three weeks, train smart, and work hard, we'll be ready for our first meeting with St. John's on September 24 at the Landon Invitational, a meet that will also feature WCAC rivals Bishop Ireton, Bishop McNamara, and St. Mary's Ryken.

Final Notes

I have sent everyone instructions by text on what to do over the rest of the weekend. Everyone's instruction for tomorrow is to rest. This means stay off your feet as much as possible. Continue to hydrate and eat well. Do the little things!

Thank you to Mr. Legaspi for providing bananas, bagels, and water for the athletes to snack on before and after today's race. It's a great help to the coaches and athletes any time a parent is able to offer additional help such as providing pre- and pos-race snacks and drinks.

"Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." - Satchel Paige