Hi all!
I hope the past few weeks of races and training have treated you well. The results have already been crazy impressive, which only makes me more anxious and excited to see what the next few have in store. Its been fun lacing up the spikes again and getting back into racing, for sure.
As far as Orono XC goes- We've had a great start to our season! After a fun, but hard preseason, and a scrumptious team dinner, we headed down to Ellsworth (aka HELLsworth, for obvious reasons, if you have ever run their course before) for our first meet of the season. It was a hot one for sure, as Ellsworth always is, but it was a great one, nonetheless. It seemed as if everyone was able to toughen out the infamous hill and run very well. Its always such a joy watching all of the cross country newbies battle through their first meet ever, as well as watching everyone else competing in their first cross country race in almost a year, and what's even better is seeing all of the faces afterwards, with the looks of accomplishment and, "wow, I really did this." Overall, we Orono kids saw great success that day, as both boys and girls varsity teams, as well as our JV boys, were able to leave with wins. Our JV girls ran exceptionally well, too, leading them to receive runner-up honors.
Meet two looked a little different for us this year. In the past, we usually go to Bucksport to take part in their invitational, but this year, instead, we took a much longer trip to join our friends up north for the Caribou Invitational. This one was a lot of fun. It wasn't your traditional cross country race, however, as the set up was very different. For this race, we wouldn't run with our teammates, but instead, we would run with runners of the same scoring position from each team. All of the number one runners from each team would run together, all the number twos, number threes, etc... In total, there were 14 varsity races, plus a JV race following that, and each race would start within seven minutes from the previous one. It was pretty cool getting to switch things up a bit and run a different style race, although it did bring me to realize just how much I truly love running alongside my teammates, and how glad I am to have the spectacular ones that I do. It was a long (and I mean, LONG) day up in the county, but it was full of great races, people, cheers, food, and laughs, and it will always be one to remember.
For meet three, Orono XC went to Lee. A few of us, myself included, didn't run this one, but we did get to cheer on our teammates to the finish, and it was awesome getting to watch them tear it up on the course.
Meet four- another one on new terrain! This time, we got on a bus that took us to East Corinth, for a meet at Central High School. It was a fast and flat course for a change, and it showed in all the performances. It reminded me a lot of my middle school days in Indiana, with all of the corn fields and openness. It was very spectator-friendly. The sun was beating down throughout the entire thing, and dust was flying everywhere. Also, a little something worth sharing; for those of you who don't know, September is childhood cancer awareness month, and in honor of all the little kids fighting the horrible disease, Orono XC wore gold ribbon to help spread awareness. This is just another reason why I love this team so much. This day at Central was another great day for us, and we celebrated by singing and dancing to Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, and more on the bus ride home. Did I mention how much I love this team?
So, there's a little inside look at how our first few meets have gone. What's exciting is that there's still much more ahead! Festival of Champions is in just a couple of weeks, and championship season will be here before we know it... Seriously, how exciting is that?! I can't wait to see how it will all play out. As for you all- Keep killing it out there! Best of luck as the season progresses.
The best is yet to come!
- Hannah
