9/9/2011
The NYA Girls Cross Country team had its first home meet of the season on Friday afternoon in the Royal River Park. The temperature was perfect for the 3 team race although the course was a bit slippery. Tons of parent and faculty fans showed to the meet and volunteered to help us run an execptionally smooth race. The team fielded all 8 girls for the first time this season with impressive results finishing 2nd to Greely and ahead of Poland. See Full Results.
From the gun the girls knew how to pace themselves and used their knowledge of their home course to their advantage as they all cut smooth straight lines between each of the turns in the open field sections of the race. First mile times were fantastic and set the NYA runners up for a successful day. Hillary and Maggie were together for the a large portion of the first mile followed closely by Hadley and Hannah. After the one major hill on the course (Bridge St.) the girls looked strong coming into the baseball field en route to the 2nd 
mile mark. Morgan held strong in her pace and Sarah pushed herself to her limit given the fact that she was running “under the weather”. Ellis and Emilie pushed through the open field with a strong and steady determination that certainly paid off in the end.
By the end of the race the NYA runners had spread out a bit but still showed that they have been working hard so far this season by providing the team with a steady stream of finishers with very little gap between runners. Hillary was first to finish for NYA and ended up scoring 5th with the fastest per mile average she has hit so far this season. Maggie was next up for NYA who had to battle all the way to the finish line with 2 Greely runners and also hit her fastest average of the season. Hadley had a strong finish to cap a phenomenal race hitting a time just seconds off her best ever time on the course and equally exciting followed just feet by Hannah who ran under 8 minute mile pace for the first time in her young career. Sarah and Morgan were next up both finishing strong – while Sarah pushed through her current condition Morgan once again bettered her time and showed that she is ready to continue to drop her times consistently. Ellis was the 7th runner for NYA finishing 3 minutes faster than last week – a ridiculous improvement and Emilie was 8th finishing in just under 30 minutes which is a testament to her willpower given that she has only been training for a week.
The NYA runners mixed it up very well with the Greely girls and with about 4 weeks until we race our course again our times look strong. The girls are back in action on Friday at GNG at 4:30pm.
Thanks to all those who volunteered or offered to volunteer at the meet – it was a worry-free meet for the coaches and that is the best case scenario!