This past weekend, September 30st – October 2nd was a whirlwind of emotions for Reservoir Cross Country.
Due to Hurricane Ian, we had to cancel our trip to North Carolina. This trip is something that the coaches, families and the kids all look forward to. It’s a great team bonding event not to mention a fast course with incredible competition. Also a trip highlight is the amazing lunch we are treated to after the meet. The lunch is catered by one of the best Barbeque cooks/chefs in North Carolina! To say that we were disappointed would be an understatement. Just recently we found out that the course we were supposed to run on, was partially underwater (about 4 ft deep water on the lower areas of the course).
However, with a lot of luck, and determination, the Reservoir Coaches were able to find another meet in Montgomery, New York (near Middletown). The meet was called the NYS Nighttime Showcase. In New York they run a lot of 2.5-mile races and the Nighttime Showcase was a 2.5-mile race. We traditionally run a 3.0 or a 3.1-mile course. However, what made this a unique experience was that the meet was run at night! That’s right, a cross country race at NIGHT! They took a looped course and put up a bunch of lights and light towers!
Here is a link to a few pictures that Aiden Coler (Senior), was able to take: https://photos.app.goo.gl/fszhqJoSUWFiEbCT8
First off, I wanted to thank a few folks publicly for making this happen:
· Laura Guenin, she is a team mom and coach. She was able to fundraise quite a bit of money to help defray the cost of the trip.
· Stephanie Upson, team mom, was able to get a lot of donations to help with food, snacks, drinks, and defray the cost of the trip.
· We had quite a few amazing families to make donations to help offset the cost of the trip.
NOTE: The cost of our team trip was much higher this year due to the cost of the bus increasing by more than 25% and our smaller team. Without this financial support, the cost of the trip would have been beyond reach of most of our team.
· Coach Marcus Lewis, his support for this last-minute change from NC to NY was amazing. It’s not something most AD’s would have considered or allowed! I am truly grateful!
· Mary Mauser (Mimi), Reservoir’s amazing bookkeeper. She has been so amazing to work with and made sure things got paid for, credit card authorizations were processed and made everything from the financial side so easy!
· John Davis, Coordinator of Athletics, was able to fast track the field trip request to make sure things got approved pending we did our part and got all the paperwork turned in (and that it was correct)
· Andrea Misner and Robert Bruce, at Risk Management, for their last minute sign off on the trip.
They were extremely supportive and made sure things were approved and safe for the team. Mr. Bruce was actually off on Friday, but approved the trip from home! What a stand up guy!
· Tim Fulton, NYS Nighttime Showcase Meet director, for getting us into the meet last minute. What an amazing experience and opportunity you provided for my kids. Not to mention they got to run some fast times!
· Jason Bursick, MPSSAA Assistant Director, for helping with the Sanctioning of the Meet from Maryland to New York. Thank you for your support and making this happen for my kids!
– Finally, my amazing Coaches. Coach Eric, Rhys, Laura and Gessler are some of the best people I know. They are amazing people, care for these kids and want only the best for the team! Thank you for all your efforts and support! If it wasn’t for you, this trip would have been dead in the water.
Finally, some celebrations!
So the kids ran great! I mean great! The boys are in a rebuilding year, but these boys are showing us that the future is bright! With 9 freshmen on the team and some good Juniors and Seniors leading the way, we have a lot to be proud of.
If we take the 2.5-mile course and convert it to a 3.0 or a 3.1 mile time…
Boys: 18 of the 19 boys would have run a PR in both events.
Kidus Zeleke would have broken his own school record holder in the 3 mile and he would be ranked 3rd in the 5k rankings for Reservoir HS.
Ryan Thibaudeau would be ranked 18th in Reservoir History in the 3 mile.
Eli Dickie, Eli Stettner, Jack Waltman, Aiden Coler are among some of the biggest improvements on the boys teams!
The JV Boys team finished 3rd as a team and earned a nice little trophy to bring home!
Girls: 8 of the 9 girls that attended would have run a PR in the 3 mile conversion and all nine girls would have had a PR in the 5k.
Again, if we converted times to a 3 mile or a 5k, the following girls would now be in the Top 25 times all time at Reservoir.
Ela Muniz (9th) – 3rd for 3 miles and 7th for 5k.
Casey Moquin (12th) – 5th for 3 miles and 15th for 5k
Scarlett Guenin (10th) – 9th for 3 miles and 20th for 5k
Kyrie Moquin (10th) – 11th for 3 miles and 21st for 5k
Delaney Lortz (11th) – 12th for 3 miles and 22nd for 5k.
The girls team finished 3rd as a team and also brought home a nice trophy to remember the trip by!
Meet Results: CLICK HERE
Thank you so much to all the parents, coaches, staff and friends that help pull this event together for the kids! It was a great weekend and they had so much fun!