With fall temperatures finally arriving in Front Royal, the Middle School Jackets have spent the past two weeks preparing for the championship race. As the runners assessed their goals for the championship race, the coaches turned their focus to having the runners build speed and being able to break through the mental walls that come with running. Unfortunately for the runners’ legs, this meant lots of hill repeats as a means to make R-MA’s notorious hills less forlorning. While these intense workouts seemed torturous to the students, by race time today, the students were ready to race past their opponents.
At the start of the race, the R-MA Middle School Cross Country runners bounded over rocks and branches, emerging from the woods with Ben M. in 3rd place. Following not too far behind him were his teammates Christian M., Justin N., and Billy L., all running their hearts out and passing opponents with every twist and turn of the course. Chris J., Maddox N., Joseph J., and Tommy R. all improved their personal times, dropping one to three minutes off their time from the previous race.
For the girls, Kamila Y. raced with heart and determination, securing herself 7th place overall. Finishing seconds behind her was Layla D. for the black and yellow, earning 8th place. “Z” was all smiles when she crossed the finish line, knowing that she had dropped her overall time by almost 3 minutes! Ana G. remained strong and focused during the entire race as she too ran a personal best.
Overall, the cooler temperatures favored the runners as all were able to take time off their times, allowing the girls to take 3rd place and the boys 4th in today’s championship race. Well done Middle School Jackets!