Boneless Meet

Forest Park

On Saturday, the Cross Country Spartans headed to Forest Park down their fearless leader. After leaving school early on Friday, Coach Traughber and Liz welcomed their first child, Hannah Loraine Traughber about 15 minutes before the gun went off for the Varsity race. Congrats to Coach and Liz, we are all very excited!

Knowing that T Bone would be missing, only made the boys want to give it their all that much more. The first race of the day was the Varsity. Finishing 2nd overall and earning 1st team All Conference honors while setting a new PR for the third straight week was Senior Kevin Abernathy.

"It was awesome to put up a time in the low 16s. And then to do that in a big race like MCCs made it that much better. It's fun to get out there and run fast against our cross-town rivals. It felt great and rewarding, and the best is yet to come."

Down the Bulldog, the scoring pack kept it together racing very well. Junior Nick Martini was the second man for the first time this season.

"It was a lot like Rim Rock. We were all together for the entire race. As the leader got tired, someone else would step up and take over. It helps a lot to run with someone right next to you."

Nick, Junior Matt O'Connor, and Senior Jacob Seiler all scored for the Spartans, and earned 2nd team All Conferene honors. Junior John Waller and Senior Brian Scherping also earned medals.Josh Goetz running his first Varsity race was the all important 5th man.

"I was happy with the race and while there were some key things I could have done better, such as running at a more consistant pace, I think it was a solid showing for my first race and was glad I could help the team out."

Best part of the MCC Meet? No girls. Which means we were moving quick. Minutes after the Varsity was finished, the JV squad took the line.

Leading the way for the JV squad for the second time in three meets was Senior Seamus Hamilton. Seamus finished 8th overall.

"I think the race went great, I started out going at a speed I felt was barely tolerable, and by the first mile split I realized how fast I was going. Once I realized that and that I still felt like there was a lot left in me. I felt like keeping up with Riley (Konzen, SLUH Senior), so we fought for the rest of the race and I declared him my new rival"

Also placing for the JV squad was Michael Callahan, Mackenzie Smith, Glen McGann, and Jimmy Reed. Collin Sullivan, Dan Bowman, and Justin Potter also recieved medals.

The third and final race of the day was the freshman. Steve Placht finished 5th overall with a new PR of 18:21, and even more incredibly, texted me back for blog info!

"I was really nervous going in. One thing that helped cool myself down is telling myself to breathe, and run your race as best you can. I went out strong and tried to stay with SLUH's 2nd runner. I was with him for about 2 miles. In the final mile, he got ahead and 3 other SLUH guys passed me. I was upset they passed me, but I knew I did the best I possibly could. I'v never been that close to fainting"

Also earning medals for the freshman were Blake Waters, Matt Barkofske, Ben Gleidt, and Nick Trunko. I know there was a picture taken of these guys, so if someone that has a copy could email it to milktable@gnail.com I can add it to the post.

The boys represented De Smet well, finishing second in every race. As Kabes said above, the best is yet to come. Congrats again to Coach Traughber and Liz!

From Forest Park
Alex Potter
M.T.B.L.