2024 XC Nationals Recap

Time to celebrate our Hawks at the USATF Junior Olympics National Cross Country Championships! Making it to Nationals is a great accomplishment, but our Hawks weren’t just happy to be here, they came to race!
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The location? Blue River Cross Country Course in Shelbyville, Indiana (about 45 minutes south of Indianapolis). The weather? Cold! But luckily, the rain held off until later in the day so it was only the cold with which the racers had to contend. The competition? Fierce! The course was hard and fast with only a few muddy patches, and the races were fast. The Hawks runners took it all in stride and competed well with the national field.

Katie Cook started us off bright and early, as the 8-and-under girls was the first race of the day at 9am. The temp was 26 degrees (feels like 16!) with a slight breeze. The sun was not far above the horizon but shining brightly and the crisp air was absolutely spectacular. The tiny girls took off with a jump as the gun went off, and Nationals officially began! Katie ran like a champ, pushing herself the entire 2k course and finished with a strong kick down the last straight stretch. We were all so proud of Katie in her first (of many!) Nationals races.

Up next, Mia took to the starting line for the 9-10 girls race. It had warmed up to almost freezing and the sun was still shining so we spectators weren’t quite as miserable. Mia had a good start, fighting with the girls in the race who were older than her throughout the course. Everywhere I saw her she looked strong and focused, running with the Hawk’s strength we have come to personify. She finished well, 138th out of 291 runners, and that is with a lot of the competitors a year older than Mia. She looked great out there!

The 9-10 boys followed Mia’s race, and all four Hawks ran really well. Henry led the way, fighting the freezing cold air and some breathing challenges to still compete with the best and finish strong. Unfortunately, because he wore a replacement bib, his exact results aren’t known at this time, but he finished in the 12:30s which was around his best time of the season.  He was followed by Will, who ran nearly as fast as he did at Regionals despite the cold weather. Max ran particularly strong and was one of the only Hawks to run his personal best for 3k. Cam, ever the consistent one, finished in the exact time he finished at last year’s nationals. All 4 boys represented the Hawks well and crushed their last race of the season!

Next up was the 11-12 girls race, with four Hawks entered. By this time, clouds had rolled in to block out the sun but the temperature broke freezing so we weren’t popsicles. (Speaking of popsicles, can you believe that a Kona Ice vendor was at the meet?) Sonia had her race of the season, breaking her personal best by 30 seconds and placing 146th out of 363 runners! Even more impressive, while she finished 29th at the regional qualifying meet, she was the 5th runner from our region in this race. Following Sonia was Kate, who put together a terrific race by improving her best time by 11 seconds for the season. Maddi finished only 15 seconds behind Kate, fighting all the way to the end. Josie dealt with not feeling well but wouldn’t give up and finished the race.

Finally, Pier and David competed in the 11-12 boys race, maintaining our excellent Delta Hawks’ effort. Both boys are in the younger half of the age group, but put together great races. Pier ran close to his PR and finished in 80th place, the highest finish of any Hawk at this year’s Nationals. Even more, he ran the same time as a Sac Valley Endurance runner who beat him by almost 30 seconds at Regionals! David followed close behind Pier, matching his best 3k time for the season. Both found themselves battling the largest field of the day with 410 kids racing in the 11-12 boys race. Way to go!

No one got frostbite and I think everyone had a great time. Overall, it was an incredibly successful season and Nationals meet – the coaches are so proud of all of our athletes and their efforts throughout the season. If you’ve been running as long as I have, you know for a fact that a runner’s success is not measured in a race, but in the miles of trials throughout a career of effort. There are up days and down days and continuing to push through the hard so that the running comes easy is the best we can ever do.

As for track season, more details will be released soon. We will likely have optional weekly meet up runs throughout the winter to help our Hawks maintain their fitness, and will share those days and times on the team app.  We will begin track practice sometime in mid March, and will encourage all of our Hawks to train for and compete in the Shamrock’n 5k on March 15th. We are always here for assistance, please reach out if you have any questions. Here’s to a great 2024 XC Season and to many more to come!

Keep gettin' those long runs in!

​Coach Eric