Nike Team Championship

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Click here for photos by Dave Fineman
Click here for photos by Jennifer Reed
Click here for photos by Chris May
Click here for photos by Dyestat
Click here for Story in the Newton Tab-Tribune

Photos by Dave Fineman
Story by Jennifer Reed
A sleepy, turkey-filled group of runners met at Newton South on Friday morning to embark on a road trip to Wappinger's Falls, NY. An uneventful car ride - save for some petty theft of crowns at a local Burger King- landed the girls at Bowdoin Park for a pre-race run of the course, which, after a long run across a large field, climbs gradually and sometimes steeply for the next 1.5 miles with the final 1.25 miles of the course heading back (downwards at times) to the start. The girls were advised to view the features of the course (aka hills, some might even have said mountain) as positive opportunities. Some teams were out doing workouts at the Park, which could have seemed intimidating to some, but not to our well-trained runners.
Saturday arrived bright and cool - perfect running weather (thankfully not the sleet and freezing rain that had been predicted earlier in the week, which we had today). Bowdoin Park was hopping as the girls arrived and it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement. The event's MC was eager to get the crowd and runners pumped up. A Don Bosco contingent from Hackensack, NJ came complete with drums, music and dancing fans. By far, they won the most spirited and enthusiastic award and in fact, placed 2nd for the Northeast boys so will be heading to Oregon! They'll be fun to watch. The Northeast Boys Qualifier was the first race of the day and proved to be a tough match up and therefore great viewing. The Northeast Girls Qualifier was next. You've seen the results on the blog, but it was an impressive show by the Newton runners, given the hilliness of the course and the fact that they had never run it before. This was by far the most challenging course the girls had ever run. The girls had a great start and held positions throughout and then finished strong. Kelsey's first place finish was a great thing to watch. All the girls had great races and helped secure a trip to Oregon. Lincoln-Sudbury - aka Mercury XC- also had a great day and took first place as a team, but all the runners had to wait for the next 2 and 1/2 hours until the results were announced. No one wanted to second guess the points. The NY Qualifiers ran next with the greatest excitement being in the girls race where the top runner from Adirondacks finished in 18:05! On a very challenging course! The next amazing feat was watching Fayetteville Manlius finish 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th! These girls have won the Nationals the last two years and given their performance it is no wonder.
Finally around 2:30, with quite a bit of pomp and circumstance, the MC for the event announced the placement of the teams! Photos were taken and the girls were whisked away to be registered for the trip to Oregon. The Newton and Lincoln-Sudbury girls had a great time hanging out during the registration period. By the time the girls emerged from the registration tent the park was empty, the Nike flags were down, and it looked as if nothing had ever happened...very strange to be sure. A number of Newton fans drove down for the day and provided some wonderful support for the girls - Kathleen Walsh, Neil Dahlberg, Mimi Karys, Teddi, Herb and Chris May, as well as Tom O'Keefe and his mother.
The journey continues.....next notes from Oregon...

Cross Country shows how strong individuals can become an even stronger as a team.