Yesterday, JP and the rest of the MBA cross country team ran in the final race of the season, the Running Lane Cross Country Championships in Huntsville, AL. Jude drove down with JP and I stayed home with Joe, who had two basketball games and the ICEE preparation class. Honestly, I hated to miss the race but I had been to almost all of JP's other races and, as always, life is about balance. I wanted to see Joe's two basketball games, too.
Running Lanes always is an exciting end to the cross country season for high school boys and girls because this course is very fast. Many runners set PR's at Running Lanes. Yesterday was no different, as Jack Wallace ran a smoking 14:52:16 to grab 5th place overall. He set a new school record, besting the one he set earlier this fall in Louisville by 12 seconds. Gabe Guillamondegui set a PR, as well, finishing in 15:42:48 (86th overall).
JP finished 36th overall, running the course in 15:19:79. That's fast but, in truth, I think he was a little disappointed he didn't run faster than the PR of 15:14 he ran earlier in the season in Louisville, KY. As he mentioned to me, the fastest sophomore finished slightly ahead of him in 15:13. JP would have liked to have clipped him. In his mind, I think JP wanted to find five more seconds somewhere on the course, which would have given him a PR.
Still, finishing 36 out of 286 runners is impressive. As JP also said, had he been told at the end of last season that he would run under 15:20 twice this season, he would have taken that result in a heartbeat. Either way, I was proud of him for running as well as he did on a fast course against a very fast field with boys, literally, from all over the country. California, Florida, Texas, etc. It was a big day for him.
MBA finished 7th overall in the Gold Division, which was impressive, since they were seeded 11th or 12th. A strong finish to a memorable cross country season for the Big Red.
Next year, JP will go from being the hunter to being hunted. It will be interesting to see how he handles it. Every cross country season and every cross country team is distinct from the others.
Friday night, Joe and I had dinner at Samurai Sushi on Elliston Place. Great sushi. I introduced Joe to the term, "hole in the wall," and he used it to describe the restaurant to Jude when we spoke to her on the telephone Saturday morning. It had been years since I had been there but I knew it would be good, and it was. I have a distant memory of eating here with Hal and Kim 20 + years ago, maybe more. I think Jon Meade may have been with us, too.
Yesterday, Joe and I rushed from his ICEE prep class to West End Middle School to catch the second half of his basketball game with the Bucket Squad, the WNSL (recreational) league team he has played on for years. They won handily against an inferior opponent. Joe played fine but, I think, had difficulty getting into the flow of the game because he had no time to warm up.
Later Saturday afternoon, Joe played his first game with his Stars team. The Stars are a more competitive team for which Joe tried out a month or so ago. The team got boat raced by a more experience, more athletic Darius Garland League team. The game was never close. Playing time is merit-based on the Stars team, which is a new for Joe. Although there aren't any real athletes or basketball players on this team, I think it's going to be tough for Joe to earn playing time due to his lack of size and ball handling limitations. We'll see.
Although Joe didn't start yesterday, he played most of the first half. Upon entering the game, he promptly turned the ball over three times before settling down. He had a nice drive to the bucket, in traffic, for a lay up. He missed a three pointer that has nice rotation on it and looked like it was going in. He also had three assists, two off out of bounds plays and one on a nice entry pass to his Bucket Squad teammate, Cole.
Joe started the second half but didn't play near as much as in the first half. He hit a baseline eight foot jumper early and that was it. Defensively, he needs some work, as he was beat to the cup more than once.
What I really liked about Joe's game was how much he as moving away from the ball. His teammates weren't skilled enough to get the ball to him or, really, to notice that he was moving and getting open. I love the hustle and the way he was moving, though.
My sense is that it will be a long season for the Stars team. Time will tell.
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