As you are all well-aware, it has been a very succesful XC season so far for Austin, and even Erik. Facebook and Instagram are bursting with updates of our fabulous runners. It's hard to keep from shouting to the world of how proud we are of the hard work their putting into their running that is paying off. Some runners aren't so lucky, as we know a few on Austin's team would like to feel better, do better, and make the kind of strides he's making.
Even though it's already on social media, I'm copying the link to Austin's interview here, just to make sure we can find it more easily in the future.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19fbwqMdAz/
Not only was that posted this week on Social News, but he learned that he was awarded the Male Wild Card from Fleet Feet of Detroit to run in the Brooks Midwest Regional Championship the Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Wisconsin Dannehl National XC course. He'll be up against some of the best runners from CO, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, and WI. Jason and I have known for a month and have to keep quiet about it to make it a surprise. It was hard!
Yesterday, Austin knocked off 3 more seconds from his previous PR in the Gabriel Richard meet. He came in 2nd, though he led the race for most of the time. Apparently, the guy who beat him has a crazy good kick! Erik came in hot during the JV race, shaving a whopping 30 seconds off his time, for a 17:36. This course tends to be where a lot runners make new PRs, so we weren't too surprised that he cut off so much time, but we were surprised that he came in 9th since he was up against some very fast runners. He was our team's first JV runner to finish, again.
It was the perfect day for a race- beautiful fall weather and chilly for the spectators!
Fantastic finish for Erik!
At the mile, Austin was with the first group.
He was in front just after the second mile.
Austin's finish. These pics aren't very close up, but the scenery is gorgeous!
It's always fun when your friends and teammates do well also.
JV top finishers got ribbons, to Erik's dismay!
Varsity got medals!
My boys!
A few days earlier, to no one's surprise, Salem took first place in our dual meet against Plymouth and Canton, winning us the PCEP Championship (PCEP, meaning our highschool of 3 schools). Austin and his two fastest teammates took 1,2, and 3 for an easy run in the 16:40s. Austin kept looking behind him to see how far the Plynouth runner was behind them so he could make sure they ran fast enough to beat him, but not too fast that they would be too tired for the meet yesterday. The first Plymouth runner is actaully a freshman and is crazy good! He's also about one of the nicest kids around, and so are his parents. Since he runs varsity, but is in Erik's grade, he always cheers Erik on. This particular meet included the Varsity and JV running together. Erik did well and had fun. There were no PRs for anyone because of the hot/humid weather, but he was in a good place.
Our top 3!
Erik, looking good behind some Canton Varisty runners!
Our top 3!
Winners!
Seniors!
With our coaches!
The next day, Austin performed in the orchestra/choir concert for his first time with the Symphony. Not only did he get to play the cello with the symphony for the first time, but he tried out for and was selcted as the piano accompianst for their first selection of the night- Water Lily. You can't see him playing as the piano was at the back, but the music is so beautiful and it was the best piece of the night. (I may be a little bias, but I was told the same thing from a musical friend.) I'll include that here, followed by the next piece they played that was so cool. Beware, Water Lily is like a lullaby and put Erik to sleep a few different nights when Austin was practicing!
Final accomplishment: Kade is an assistant manager at Zumiez now!!
Every fall, my dad and Mary Lou have come to visit. They didn't disappoint this year! Usually, they don't come over General Conference weekend, but they did this time. And usually, there's a XC meet on General Conference Saturday, but there wasn't this time. While we really wanted them to have a chance to see Austin run, they only got to see Erik run at the dual meet on Tuesday. Austin doens't usually run in the dual meets because Coach wants to save him for the invitationals on Saturdays where he gets the biggest bang for his buck.
At the dual meet Erik had a great race to showcase for Grandma and Grandpa. The race was a combination of Varsity and JV runners. Erik came in 6th for our team at 18:28 and 18th overall. After Grandma and Grandpa left, I attended the Portage meet with Austin, 2 hours away and the bigeest meet in the state of Michigan, even bigger tha States since that one requires qualifying for it, where our top 7 guys ran with the fastest runners in the state, including the fastest guy in the nation, who's not in Austin's division, but faster than every single highschool runner in the US. It was a hot, tough course and unkown to our guys. Austin didn't run his best, though 15:46 is still crazy fast. He placed 13th and won a medal. Meanwhile, Erik and Jason were at the Wayne County Chamionships, which our team hosts. The rest of our Varsity and our JV went there. Jason was the mc. Erik had a great race, winning 2nd place of the JV with a 18:06 time and a PR for him.
Tuesday's dual meet.
Big fans!
Saturday's meet
Lots of fast runners here.
Erik's Saturday medal.
Aside from XC, we had fun with Grandma and Grandpa attending the cider mill, shopping at Kohl's (only I am privileged with that trip!), walking around Downtown Plymouth, enjoying General Conference, playing games, seeing Austin off for HOCO, and going to lunch (for Jason and me) and breakfast (for Kade on the way to the airport with them). The weather was about as nice as it can be, though I think they wanted some rain. We got no rain, but had beautiful, sunny fall weather in the 70s, mostly.
We're so happy they could still come and see us, even as they are aging!
We ate dinner outside a few times because it was so nice!
Plymouth Apple Orchard for cider and donuts!
HOCO!
The guys
Erik went to a different HOCO a week earlier and he didn't want much fanfare.
General Conference. We also watch Ellie, our neighbor's dog, during part of their stay here.
Ellie is good at begging!
At the Downtown Plymouth pumkin/scarecrow display. I loved the tributes to Dolly.
I found Austin's interview from last week's meet and it was pretty easy to insert here, so I did!
Not only that, but we're pretty excited about his race yesterday. I went to the Jackson Invitational with a good feeling, after watching how he raced last week at Holly. He's got all the tools he needs and he can keep up with the best of them. So when he shaved 33 seconds off his PR to get him a 15:06 finishing time, plus a 20 second crushing of the all-time Salem record, I wasn't surprised. As I've said in the past, the Jackson meet is always a fast one, so we thought he would probably PR, though I didn't think he would crush the record just yet. It all makes sense, though. Last year he ran Jackson super sick, and that was his last PR. He kept getting sick all season, so he never had a chance to really show up. Now, thanks to all the viatmins he's taking (thanks for helping, Dr. Uncle Thomas!) and the gargling, neti pot, and extra healthy diet, he's making leaps and bounds! His teammates all had some incredible PRs as well and we're so happy for all of them!
Here, you can see Austin in white on the right. He's right up in front with the fastest guys!
He came in 5th with this final push at the end!
Many happy guys with their PRs! Their team came in 4th.
And so happy that Jack is BACK! He was struggling all of last year with some health issues.
Erik ran on Tuesday at the dual meet and continues to surprise us. He not only majorly bumped up his miles and work-out efforts in practice over the past couple of months, but he wakes up every morning at 5:20 to make it to seminary on time with Austin. They're gone almost 12 hours each day, finishing their day with their xc work-out or run. His heel was hurting a week ago, but he has managed that through icing and his gell inserts that he had during soccer when he was running in middle school and practicing for soccer at the same time. So, the gell inserts help when his mileage is high. The varsity didn't run at the dual meet on Tuesday, so Erik was our first Salem runner to finish, taking first for our JV, as a freshman, yet again. He was 9 seconds off his PR, to which he felt discouraged and kept saying he went out too fast. We assured him that he can't, and won't, PR every time and that he did so very well with the fast runners he was up against.
That's Erik with some of the varsity runners from some of the fastest teams!
A good, solid finish!
Brighton, one of the schools we ran against on Tuesday, is considerded one of the fastest in the state. Northville, the other team, is the defending state champ, but our team is ranked ahead of them now. Our varsity will run against them in an invitational coming up soon. Coach wanted them to be fresh for Jackson on Saturday. Our JV were supposed to run again in the JV meet for Jackson on Friday, but too many guys were sick and a bunch didn't show up on Tueday (a lot without telling Coach). It seems many of our JV aren't quite as serious as Coach would like them to be, so he pulled them out of Jackson's meet Friday. Erik was a great support and manager to the varsity and we're happy he got this time to rest and prepare fot the next meet, which is like 10 days away!
We enjoyed the nice temperatures and sunshine at the meet yesterday. We went out to brunch afterwards with Austin's teammate and good friend, Sam and his family. Meanwhile, Kade had a fun day at the Renaissance Festival with his friends. He got good food, saw lively entertainment, and was in excellent company with his friends. He only got me one pic, though. His artisitc abilities with never cease to amaze me, even with face paint.
My big head is blocking Jason a bit. We wore our blue proud at Bob Evans!
Kade was a jester at the Ren Fair.
Kade also has been holding down the fort while we're off at all these meets. He's mowing the lawn and caring for the kitties, among his other house jobs. Kade is also Luke's favorite person!
Victoria went to the pumpkin patch out in Idaho with her friends, and Cole. She has informed us of her success back in the dance world. She tried out and made 2 hip hop numbers, one modern, and one jazz (which happens to be the one Cole is choreographing, but he didn't choose his dancers). She said she found muscles thst she forgot she had! She's been sick this week and ended up in the ER last night where they pumped her with fluids because she was really dehydrated, among other things. Last I knew when I woke up this morning, she was home and feeling much better. When she wakes, I'll get another update. We're hoping for a better week healthwise for her, but other than that, these have all been good things for my kids.
