Each week we acknowledge a student-athlete that has exemplified excellence on the team -- the student's practice ethic, general conduct, and overall contributions to the team are as much a part of this recognition as any recent race performance.
In this past week, high school athlete
Eli Nielsen (photo coming soon!) earns that honor for both his racing guts and his continually excellent attitude while dealing with a nagging knee pain. Still growing in the sport and with much untapped potential after his standout 8th grade year, it was great to see this 9th grader willing to risk a strong move in the middle of last weekend's race. It would have been easy to sit comfortably with his group, but Eli made a little extra push in the 2nd mile plan and it paid off with his best time of the year. Great job Eli!
On the junior high side of things,
Logan Hall earns recognition for a similar experiment at Manson -- pushing himself to keep Peter in his sights -- and succeeding in fine fashion to push his pace nearly 40sec. per mile faster than ever before. It is also obvious that Logan is loving his first year of XC -- and we're excited for that as well. And finally, when he can't join us he's done a really great job of letting us know. Things come up, family plans, illness etc. and your coaches totally understand, but its incredibly helpful when these various hiccups can be brought up and discussed in advance. Thanks Logan!
 |
| Logan Hall - eating up the turf in a furious kick at Wenatchee. GREAT knee drive and relaxed/fast arms! |
