Cross Country Team Running Strong

Mead boys place 2nd at Loveland Invitational

Maddo Adams

Mead runners unite before running in the Loveland Invitational

Jared Overturf, Editor
September 24, 2017

The Mead Cross Country team is running strong midway through their season. At the Loveland Sweetheart Invitational on September 22nd, the boys placed second with 81 points, and the girls placed ninth with 181 points, helping to prepare them for upcoming regional and state meets.  

Senior Justin McDaniel beat Loveland’s top finisher by 10 seconds to clinch fourth and set a new school record of 16:42:00. The racing conditions on the first day of fall were a good fit for him. “It was cooler during this race,” he said. “There were a couple of hills, but there were a lot of downhills.” 

Rounding out the top 30 finishers were Hayden Debuse in ninth, Isaac Dukes in seventeenth, Jack Weis in twenty-third, and Andrew Williams in twenty-eighth. They were edged out by Fossil Ridge High School, which had a first place runner and an 18 second faster average time.

The girls’ team was led by senior Sophia Maeda, who placed ninth with a time of 19:55:00. Maeda said that the race felt “a lot better than it’s been feeling.” Other top finishers for Mead included Kaitlynn Salazar in twenty-first, Eva Maeda in forty-third, and Sydney Postle in fifty-third.

The team has been practicing very hard in spite of injury and fatigue. To prepare for this meet, senior Isaac Dukes said there has been “lots of training. Good mileage. Been working together.”

“I am proud of the way the team ran today,” said head coach Chris Reynolds. “We had a really long, tiring week, and we had our mid-year slump at practice this week, but they came right out and they broke through. It was the best race of the season.”

A number of Mead runners set personal bests, including Jack Weis, who beat his time set at Nike Cross Nationals last year by 22 seconds. Justin McDaniel, holder of the new school record, beat his next fastest time by 34 seconds. Eva Maeda set a new personal best almost 40 seconds faster than her previous record.

The next meet will be held at Mead High School on Saturday, September 30th. Varsity girls will run at 8:30, and varsity boys will run at 9:10.