A weather system deluged us with a rain that fell all day, but by race time, the temperature began to drop. At the beginning of the girls' race at 4:15 p.m., the rain began to turn to sleet. By the mile mark, the sleet began to accumulate, and by the time the last girl had crossed the line, the ground was covered with an inch of snow.
At the start of the guys' race, the wind picked up, making it a driving snow. The ref had to push the eager runners back to search for the starting line, which was buried under the snow. Hundreds of fans were bundled up and a bunch of guys were bouncing like jumping beans in their summer singlets-that's what I mean by conditions being miserable but memorable.
Sophomores Rachel Books and Sam De Yarman, both first-year harriers, made wonderful strides this year. Both logged more than 100 miles through the season and saw their times steadily improve. Books, who has been plagued with knee pain, ran through it Friday and finished in 20:56. Perhaps the most impressive race of the afternoon belongs to De Yarman. All season she has easily secured the last position in every race, but she was bound and determined to run her best, snow or no snow. Not only did she finish in a personal best of 28:36 (her first sub-30 minute 4K), she finished 80th out of 83 runners. If she keeps at it, her times and stamina will continue to improve.
Ed Martin's goal this year was to qualify for state. He worked diligently and logged nearly 200 miles since practice began Aug. 17. He knew his work was cut out for him on Friday, but he planned to stick with Nathaniel Behnke, a 2008 state qualifier, and see what happens. By the two-mile mark, Martin was in good position, and in the uphill home stretch, he passed Behnke to cross the line at 18:53 and 12th out of 100. Because Chequamegon and Drummond placed five guys between them in the top 10, there was a possibility Martin qualified to advance, but when the details were sorted, he was three places out - or a mere 11 seconds from Wisconsin Rapids.
Given the conditions and that Chris Candler and Sam Dobbins have been struggling with injuries, these guys ran strong, finishing in 22:01 and 23:49.2, respectively. In his first year out, Candler made steady progress and trademarked his homestretch kick.
With Thomas Bunton out due to a knee injury, the last two guys running were Joey Bognar and Alex Nichols. Bognar came on the last half of the season, recording an all-time personal best at Ladysmith Oct. 1. He crossed the line Friday at 23:49.5, and Nichols, who I can always count on to bring the best he has, finished just behind him at 23:54.
And so these Dawgs hung up their spikes until next fall. It was a great season full of memorable moments like the disqualification moment at Rice Lake, the long 5K at the Chetek Invite and Friday's race.
These eight runners collectively logged 1,075.35 miles, and many of them recorded personal bests. I enjoyed working with these kids immensely, and sincerely hope to have them all back next year with others added to our ranks.
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