Conference Carolinas Meet

Time: 71:27
Distance: 10.74 miles

W/u: 18:27 for 2.66 miles
W/u: 22:20 for 3.20 miles
W/o: 16:35 for 3.01 miles
C/d: 14:00 for 1.87 miles
600m Community Challenge: 1:41, 1st place

Predator Run:
Today was our last day without a car as Meagan and I would pick up a loaner from the Mini dealership after the meet, but first I had to get to Queens. I was meeting up with Benny Perez for a short workout out at McAlpine prior to the league championship meet. I used my feet as a car when I ran from the apartment to campus and then we drove out to the main entrance.

Out at McAlpine, Benny and I started by running the Footlocker course as a warm up. Scott Simmons and Jenna Wrieden, asst. coach, were out there finalizing course markings for the 5k and 8k later in the day. After a few strides Benny was ready to kick things off with a short predator run of the Footlocker course (first 3 miles). I decided to tag along because I wanted to test out the lungs with a light workout. I spent most of both warm ups coughing, but would be fine during the up tempo section.

We hit splits of:
5:29, 5:32, 5:31 for 16:32 total.

I was relaxed and in control the entire time. Benny struggled a bit after the hill on the course but responded to words of encouragement.

Community 600m:
There was a community 600 to run prior to the cross country meet. Most of the participants were Queens student-athletes and friends of the xc team who had come out to support. Meagan is taking a negotiation course this semester and her tactics are still a little green because it wasn't until 2 seconds after the race started that she convinced me to run. I weaved my way through the back of the field and targeted the leaders. Mind you, I was wearing basketball shorts, chewing gum and my left shoe was nearly falling off. I rounded the pond and by 350m I was sitting off the leader's shoulder. He was quick to throw in a surge which made the tempo pretty serious coming down the windy homestretch. It was a two man battle for nearly 200m. The crowd was in my favor and I had memories of my first beer mile when I got into a kicker's duel with Rob Sorrell. This race was meaningless, yet the competitive drive for a t-shirt and gift certificate was higher than ever. With about 15 meters left I finally got a step advantage and crossed the line first. The assistant coach for Anderson put up a great fight.

Conference Carolinas:
I was in charge of leading the women's and men's races during the Conference Carolinas Championships. Don't worry, I was on a bike. And I didn't mess things up. My instructions from Scott were: 1) Lead the race 2) Don't fall.

I did just that by keeping about a 20 meter lead in the races. I decided not to go up the only hill on the course, not because I couldn't make it, but rather I didn't want to descend. I was on Mike Crouch's Schwinn purchased from Wal-Mart and there is a swamp on the other side of the hill. I had visions of flying down the course, sliding into the turn, off the trail and into the muck. I opted to sit the hill out and pick up the racers on the other side.

Oscar and Futsum had a nice battle up front that wasn't decided until the final half mile. Simon (of "It's not a tumor" fame) ran great to finish third. The Queens men swept the top 6 spots. Results.

The women won their first ever conference title by beating Lees-Mcrae who had won the last nine championships.

Congrats to the Royals.