2009 Preston Invite

The Cardinal Cross Country Teams used the Preston Invitational as a tune-up for the 2009 District Cross Country meet, and if the outcome was any indication, they are ready to roll.

Once again the Middle School runners dominated the field in both the boys and girls races. Unfortunately the Preston Middle School coach took the results before they could be recorded, so exact team scores, times, and places are unknown, we are working on getting these. I am happy with the effort of these young runners and look forward to the time when they become members of the CARDINAL CROSS COUNTRY TEAM!!! GREAT SEASON!!!

Middle School Pics:

A pack of red up front...for most of the race 8 Lady Eagles led the charge.

A. Stewart works the through the middle of the race.

C. Gronning runs well in her last race of the year.

B. Long pushes the pace in the Preston Invite.

D. Leatherman works to pass an A.F. runner.

S. Stoor gets in a rhythm during the Preston Invite.

C. Walker and J. Balls negotiate other runners after the start of the M.S. Boys race.

W. Smith pushes to the finish.

J. Gibbs cruising to the finish in the Preston Invite.

E. Campbell looks to move up in the Preston Invite.

B. Poulsen works to pass a BLMS runner.

A. Petersen cruising in the middle of the race.

In the High School races B. Siepert and K. Meyers again led the charge, but in the girls race, there was more shuffling in the top 8. The Lady Cards put 5 in the top 15 to earn the team win: B. Siepert 4th, Q. Clark 5th, C. Olson 6th, D. Deno 8th, C. Smith 13th, and D. Froehlich 15th. Great Job Ladies! M. Stein also had a break through performance finishing in 23rd place running her fastest time of the year by far.

H.S. Girls Pics:

Start of High School Girls Race.

C. Williams leads C. Olson and D. Froehlich early in the race.

C. Smith, V. Vranes, and D. Deno get read to roll the 2nd half of the race.

M. Stein and J. Berg rolling through the first mile.

J. Harris pushes to the finish of the Preston Invite.

The boys had three runners earn medals and two just miss: K. Meyers 5th, C. Young 12th, C. Moore 14th, were the medalist and M. Bowman 16th, and A. Petersen 18th just missed. J. Bailey and C. Steele helped round out an impressive top 7 performance. The boys finished in 3rd place, just 9 points from 1st. Great Job Fellas.

H.S. Boys Pics:

C. Young leads C. Moore and M. Bowman, the trio would run well for the Cards.

A. Petersen breaks through for the Cardinals.

J. Bailey has a great race for the Cardinals.

C. Steele sets his sights ahead as he makes a push the last 600 meters.

S. Stoor and J. James passing mile one.

Both teams look to continue their season for another week by qualifying for the State Meet at the 2009 District Meet at Bear Lake High School...the first 2A race will start at 12:30 pm.

Bob Conley Invite...Race Recap

Although it was cold, running conditions were a little more favorable than they have been for the last two years of the Bob Conley Invite. This year, you didn't have to dodge quarter sized snow flakes you only had to run through your own fog every time you exhaled...GREAT DAY for running!

Again I was happy with the overall performance for Soda Springs Cross Country, our tradition and reputation of a great program continues to grow week in and week out. Believe in the impossible and who knows how far we can go!!!

Complete results from the meet can be found at www.idahoxc.com

SODA XC FANS...The Cunningham's showed up ready to cheer on Soda Springs XC sporting their Soda XC Team Shirts.

Middle School Races:

Middle School Girls...are you kidding me...YOU GUYS or GALS ROCK...3 in the top 5, 5 in the top 10, and 10 in the top 20. If you keep working hard you will be ready to make the move to the next level. K. Yamauchi 2nd, D. Siepert 3rd, and J. Nielsen 4th, you made the Sugar gal earn the "W"...she knew she was in a race today. G. McCullough second week in a row, you have some talent at this. I could go on and on here, but an overall GREAT JOB goes out to all you young ladies. Team Scores: 1. Soda 21, 2. Sugar 49, 3. Jackson 74, 4. Star Valley 92. I think that I also heard that C. Gronning lost some breakfast at the end of the race...AWESOME EFFORT!!!

J. Nielsen leads K. Yamauchi, and D. Siepert early in the M.S. Girls race.

H. Farnes, C. Rasmussen, and H. Call work the uphill.

M. Martin and S. Woods work to pass a SVMS runner.

Middle School Boys, you guys continue to improve and compete each week...great job!!! S. Campbell 6th place, just missed a medal at a competitive meet. You are still figuring things out and with another year under your belt, who knows what is possible. J. Balls 12th and L. Young 13th ran solid as well, with J. James and J. Gibbs rounding out the top 5. Great Job fellas, you will be welcome additions to the High School ranks. Team Scores: 1. Irving J.H. 22, 2. Soda 52, 3. Star Valley 76, 4. Madison 99.

Start of Middle School Boys Race.

S. Campbell pushes to a 6th place finish.

L. Young sneaks a peek as J. Balls closes the gap.

M. Daniel and H. Brown get ready for the last 400 meter push.

C. Olson holds a little motivation for the runners.

High School Races:
J.V. Girls, great start to the high school races. D. Froehlich, if you needed a confidence building race, you got one. Excellent effort today, 2nd, and you looked so controlled. You are ready to be back in the Varsity races, we will need you. J. Berg, you ran tough, I was impressed with your ability to run through the pain and earn a top 10 medal. S. Lloyd, you keep closing the gap on the runners ahead of you. You are giving it everything each time out and I appreciate that. M. Stein, 22nd, and S. Taylor, 50th, rounded out the top 5 for the Lady Card J.V. team.
J.V. Team Scores: 1. Twin Falls 52, 2. Hillcrest 64, 3. Soda 75.

D. Froehlich and J. Berg lead the J.V. Lady Cards.

S. Lloyd makes a mid-race surge.

M. Stein looks ahead to the next group of runners.

J.V. Boys, you guys continue to grow and some of you just need a few more years of experience and mileage. S. Torgesen, you are on the verge of a breakthrough...keep working, it will come...I promise. L. Franson, keep closing the gap, let your teammates pull you along. W. Clark, you are still green, but you continue to improve. D. Camptell, injuries have hampered you a bit...be smart, and be positive, you will get better. J. James rounded out the J.V. team effort.

W. Clark pushes the downhill in the Bob Conley Invitational.

D. Camptell in the J.V. Boys race.

J. James kicks up a little dust in the Conley Invite.

Varsity Girls, the thing I'm most impressed with this week is the way you ladies rose to the challenge. Even though we finished 6th, we were only 14 pts from being in 3rd. B. Siepert, 11th, and Q. Clark 14th earned medals and again led the Varsity team. D. Deno and C. Smith ran solid again, and V. Vranes keeps moving toward the pack, you will be there by State!!! C. Williams, a little off today, but you still ran solid, you will be pushing of one of the State spots! Great Job Ladies, keep working on closing the gap and tightening up that pack time...we only have two meets until STATE!!! Where did the season go?

A Flock of Cardinals? Lady Cardinals get a good start in the Varsity race.

Up and over the top, Lady Cardinals attacking the hills in the Conley Invite.

V. Vranes blows off a little steam in the last 400 meters.

Varsity Boys, some real bright spots today. K. Meyers you continue to improve, this was your first week of solid running for the season, you will be ready to roll at State. C. Moore, great race today, but remember the battles at the end are important also...keep up the hard work. M. Bowman, you had a better performance this week you are moving in the right direction. C. Young, tough day today, but that is part of racing, how you respond to it will determine your success. A. Petersen...keep charging, I'm looking for that "where did that come from" race! J. Bailey and C. Steele, rounded out the Varsity team effort...good pit stop C. Steele.

C. Young attacks the hill in a mass of runners.

J. Bailey rolls on the downhill closing the gap on a Rock Springs runner.

C. Steele with his pit crew.

Bear Lake Invite

I goofed!!! Last weekend, our family went on a little get-away and I deleted the pics from the Bear Lake Invite. (I thought that I downloaded the pictures before we left.) There were some great pics of the snowy and wet conditions that the runners faced last Wednesday.

There were still many highlights for the meet and I'm happy with where we are now (not that there's not room for improvement) and I'm also excited about the future of Soda Springs Cross Country. Soda was the second smallest school at the meet and we came away with two first place team finishes in the Middle School Boys and Girls, and two second place finishes in the High School Boys and Girls.

The Middle School girls continue to dominate winning with 18 points. The Middle School boys are also getting hungry to win finishing in a dog fight with American Falls. The boys won 33 - 35. Great Job middle school boys and girls!

The High School teams continue to improve as they make their final push for State. Both the boys and girls teams have a great chance for making the State meet and doing well at the State level. Keep working hard and keep pushing to the next level. We are ready for big time breakthroughs.

*A big Thank You to the Franson's for hosting a breakfast club run on Saturday. Great breakfast and a great course.

*Here are some pics that were saved with the help of Paul Gritton...Thanks Paul! We were only able to save a few of the High School Girls photos...sorry!!!

D. Deno

C. Smith

C. Williams

C. Olson

V. Vranes

M. Stein

A. Camptell

S. Taylor

C. Nelson

T. Gritton