We didn’t win, but we moved the needle in the right direction. In our last meet against the teams in our conference we placed 6th. Today we finished 5th. It may not be much, but I will take moving the needle in a positive direction every single time!

Ladies, hold your heads up high. Everyone battled today. Some battled their anxiety, some battled their demons, some battled because battling for each other is what you do. Some battled cramps, some battled calf issues, and everyone battled the weather. 

I don’t ask many things of you, but I asked you to control the controllables. I asked you to control your attitude…to be positive. I asked you to control your decision making…to do the next logical thing. I also asked that you control your effort…by giving maximum effort for what your body is giving you on the day. 

You were reluctant about the cold, the rain, and the wind. You acknowledged it. You wondered about how you dress for it. You undoubtedly noticed it, but you knew you could not control it, so you adapted and carried on because it’s what you do. 

You made decisions about when to sleep the night before, what to eat, how to manage your time, and you decided to compete not only because it’s what we do, but because it’s what we do for each other.

You gave maximum effort. Some of you felt strong, some of you felt weary, some of you had a real struggle on your hands, but you gave everything you had for what your body was going to give you on the day.

Thank you for gettin’ after it today ladies. I am proud of you and you should be proud of yourselves.

Varsity:

Ava Crews placed 6th tonight. She earned All-Conference honors. Congratulations you’re a rockstar!

Holly Velting looked the strongest I’ve seen her look all year. She ran a season record of 21:34. She nailed it.

Lucy VanDemark ran in the low 22’s, but more importantly, laid it on the line in the last 1000 meters like a boss. I’m older. I still say things like…”Like a boss”.

Lindsey Velting helped hold the middle together like she does. She’s the glue.

Mady Kietzman was only eight seconds off her personal best and ran tough with her upperclassmen leaders. She’s up and coming.

Emma Thompson was only nine seconds off her season best and ran with determination. She perseveres.

What Kate Powers didn’t do was run her fastest time of the season. What Kate Powers did do was compete and she threw everything she had at this race. Kate is a girl on fire.

JV:

Lucy Teunessen ran a 26:04, and in my mind is her season best on a legit course. Lucy is untapped potential. Beware.

Liz Gaunt did not back down for a moment and competed today. She was fierce, and she earned a personal best time in 26:14. Liz was on a mission.

Laine Hinton gave a lot today. Laine always gives it what she’s got. She improved from her last race by over 15 seconds! She doesn’t back down

Mollie Moore is a warrior. Each time she starts a race it’s like rolling the dice. Will her hips hold up? Will she be alright? She chose to toe the line. She didn’t have to, but she did. She gave maximum effort, but her body wasn’t having it. The cold did not help her circumstances. She had to step off the course, but not before staring down a challenge and taking it on. She’s brave.

We didn’t win tonight, but we moved the needle. We showed up, and we battled, and we controlled what we could control. We represented TK well because we didn’t back down and we fought the good fight.

Nice work ladies.