Tristan is winding down in his cross-country season. It has been a great experience and super fun to watch. Tristan ran in the varsity (top 10 runners from each school) county middle school meet over a week ago, but it left such a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't blog about it for a while. Tristan ran a great race. Unfortunately, there was a team from another school who portrayed the worst sportsman-like conduct I have ever seen. They were out to win and were going to do whatever it took to do it. Right off the starting line, there was a kid who sprinted out with Tristan, right on his side, and then proceeded to try to run Tristan off the course (this kid's job was to wear Tristan out early, so his teammate had a better chance of winning). Tristan had to basically stop, then let the kid go in front of him so that he wouldn't miss going around a cone (he could have been disqualified if he didn't go around it). It was horrible. I was furious. I heard from many other parents from Tristan's school talking about how their kids were experiencing the same type of thing throughout the course from runners from this other school. It was really frustrating. Tristan still ran a good race, but I also don't think he was feeling 100%. When he came up the home stretch, he looked very much in pain (he never looks like that....normally he looks like he could go another lap). He ended up placing 3rd (nothing to be ashamed of...at all...he did great). He was really having trouble getting his breath after the race (another abnormality)...when I finally got a chance to talk to him, I told him he ran an awesome race....he ran a good, clean, honest race, and sometimes it is more important to keep your integrity than to win. I was really proud of how he handled himself out there. He never once made it look like these kids were phasing him. When Addi saw Tristan not come in first place she burst into uncontrollable tears and sobs. It was actually really sweet. I guess we know who Tristan's biggest fan is!!! This other school brought in the first place runner, and their team ended up winning the county title (although in my opinion, they should have been disqualified). They came to win, and did WHATEVER it took. So lame....but I couldn't have been prouder of my son.
Right after the gun shot.
At the finish line.
Since Tristan's school team didn't win the county race, they didn't qualify for Regionals. Luckily, Tristan got involved with this other team made of kids from all over the county....he was able to go to regionals with this team...unaffiliated with any school. His team couldn't actually enter as a "team" since they aren't from a specific school....and it is against the rules to have an "all-star" team, so they each had to enter individually. Anyway...today, the girls and I (with Tristan) left the house at 7:55 this morning to make the 1.5 hour drive northeast to Macon County High School for the Regional Middle School Cross-Country Meet (thankfully the school that had won the county meet was not there). We had no idea we would end up being there until 2pm. Avery was beside herself and we all have rosy faces (since I didn't bring sunscreen)....but it was totally worth it!! For some reason, our county only has middle schools run 1.5 miles. The Regional race is a 2 mile course (every other county in the state seems to run 2 mile races...I don't know why our county does 1.5), so it was a little longer than Tristan was used to, and it was also pretty hilly. He did great, though! He came in 2nd place overall with a time of 11:44 (that's 5:52 miles!). He told me he felt good during the race, but he definitely felt the last 1/2 mile. The real tough part was that the home stretch was UP-HILL. I felt so sorry for the runners. I was so busy screaming and cheering at the finish line, that I didn't get any photos...oh well! If these boys had been able to actually run as a team, they would have won the meet. The winning team had 88 points, and they would have had 57 (lowest points wins), so they were bummed, but also proud of themselves. We are now looking forward to the state meet in Knoxville next weekend.
A look at the course. The finish line tunnel is to the right (the red, white, and blue flags). The course wound thru the field you see on the left side of the photo....lots of hills.
The course is directly behind Macon County High School. This is a look to the right of the course and the school. If you look closely, you'll notice that the field behind all those people is a tobacco field. Nice, eh? Yes...we were in the middle of no where. I had ZERO cell service.
This is the middle of the course. The kid up front in the black/white uniform ended up 3rd, and the kid just behind Tristan in the blue was the one who finished 1st.
The top 5 runners got a trophy. I was so glad he turned to look at me afterwards so I could get a somewhat descent photo.
Tristan with 2 of the boys he runs with under the unaffiliated county team (that isn't considered a team....confused yet?). We had 5 boys run, and they all finished in the top 18. Which is amazing since there were A LOT of kids running today and our boys are used to only running 1.5 mile races!!
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