Celebrating Success

With the track season nearly upon us, there was a last recognition of the past cross country season. Saturday marked the Annual St. Louis Track Club Banquet. For the 18th year, the Track Club honored the All-Metro High School Cross Country Teams. I attended the banquet with my parents and Coach Traughber.

Banquet consisted of a good dinner followed by awards and a guest speaker. SLTC gave out its Volunteer of the Year (Jackie Corn) and Lifetime Achievement Awards (Jerry Kokesh). Jerry was part of the beginning of the St. Louis Track Club and then spent six years as the President of the Road Runners Club of America. He now balances his running with biathlons (yes, the sport that combines cross country skiing and rifle shooting) and is a manager of the US Biathlon Association. Jerry could not make the banquet because he was in some European country. He seems like a cool guy that really loves running.

Next Ben from Big River talked about each of the high school runners that made the All-Metro team as we came up to receive our awards. In a typical fashion, I was first; this time not for my last name but because I was the only Honorable Mention boy. Also there, were rivals Cushing, Mazar, Lambert, and Holmes. My SLUH counterpart, Tim Rackers, was not there to receive his top runner award because he was skiing. The rest of the boys All-Metro team was up of guys from Class 3 and Illinois.

The girls’ side was headlined by FSU bound Nerix Hall standout, Colleen Quigley. Also on the Girls First Team was friend of the Milk Table, Krista Menghini. For those of you who don’t remember, Krista is the cross country/ volleyball star from St. Joseph’s Academy. It was her second time on the All-Metro team, but the first time she was able to attend the banquet in full. She is headed to SIU to play volleyball and hopefully run track. Elise Vioxx, Cor Jesu’s top runner and a friend from Big River’s Winter Distance Camp, made the 2nd team despite getting injured during the season.Krista & Kabes
Rae Morhmann was the guest speaker. She’s ran a marathon in all 50 states. That’s probably the only thing that can top collecting all 50 state quarters while selling chocolate milk. Her story and speech were great. The part I remember the best is that when she was going through a hard time see started to run. She said, “It was empowering!” That’s what running does.

I had chance to talk with different people when the night ended. The runners mentioned above as well as Ben and Coach Porter from SLUH. The whole night was a really cool event and a lot. A nice opportunity to hang out with other top runners and get honored for our hard work.

Here comes Track!

Bitter Sweet

To the DeSmet Cross Country/Track boys:

As most of you know by now, I will unfortunately be leaving the DeSmet family to embark on a journey to Columbus, Ohio (Buckeye country--my apologies to Madey) where I will be pursuing a career with Nike Running. As you can imagine, the experience has been bittersweet and emotions have been mixed. I am excited for the new adventure but sad to leave so many good things behind. DeSmet Cross Country and Track certainly falls into that category. It has been you boys that have made my time here so memorable. Coaching you has been a humbling experience and a reminder to always stay young and goofy. As I have said so many times, I have been very lucky to re-live my high school experience through all of the team road trips and day-to-day shenanigans that went on throughout the season.

But have no fear. Remember, I did not move to Tibet. I am only six to seven hours away and will return to watch all you studs run when I can. And of course to answer all of the questions Scherping has compiled for me. I could even teach many of you how to effectively master Super Smash Brothers.

To the seniors: what a group of dudes. You were the rock of the Cross Country's amazing run this year. The backbone, the engine--all those cliches. The blend of personalities in this class always kept me laughing. I hope to keep in touch with as many of you as you move on to college.

And the juniors: though your numbers are smaller than the other classes, the opportunity for success is there for the taking. You will be the top dogs and the leaders in a few short months. Take ownership of the DeSmet jersey and the tradition of this program. Take pride in success, work hard, and enjoy the ride.

The Super Sophs: Unlike the juniors, you have the numbers. You also have enthusiasm and a well-established sense of brotherhood within your class. Use this to your advantage. You are a great handful of guys, many of which I have gotten to know well.

And the freshman: I did not get a chance to know many of you very well and I'm not sure how many of you read the Milk Table, but I will keep an eye on all of you.

Keep in touch fellas, and shoot me some e-mails (rjgarwitz@gmail.com) or Facebook messages to let me know how you are doing.

All the best,

Coach G

The Milk Father

The Milk Man is now a father. Coach Leeman, who moved away to Pittsburgh over the summer, and his wife Kim welcomed their first child to the world on Wednesday: Samantha Jane Leeman. Mom and baby are doing great. Congratulations! We are so excited for the Leeman Family.

This is the third new member of the DeSmet XC family in the past five months. Samantha Leeman joins Hannah Traughber and Amelia Williams. The Dynamic Duo is now a Terrific Trio. They will go by their unofficial nickname, the HASty Three.