Braves,
I’m going to have a difficult time putting the events and
emotions from Friday into words. I cannot say enough about this team, boys and
girls, and the performances that we saw from you as individuals, and more importantly
as a team. Of the 40 medals given for top ten runners, our team had 15 of them.
That’s nearly half of the top ten finishes in each race in a field of 5 teams.
We came away with two first place team finishes (boys JV and girls Varsity),
one second (girls JV), and one third (boys varsity). Girls XC became an
official sport in Utah in the year 1979. In the previous 37 years no Bountiful
high team had won the region title. That drought ended on Friday with a
spectacular TEAM performance. Boys XC began in 1971, and only 7 times has a
team finished higher than 3rd. There were a lot of great things on Friday,
so I won’t be able to highlight them all, for which I apologize. (This is going
to be a longer email, so brace yourselves. I will try to make it worth the
read.)
This is a fairly sentimental email, highlighting the region
meet, but we are by no means finished. The state meet is on the 18th,
so we have a little over a week to get better and be ready to be at our best. We
invite all of you to continue to train with the team leading up to state, but
this is not a requirement for those who did not qualify for state. Let’s
continue this run we are on and go over achieve at the state meet. All of you
who did not qualify are still invited to ride the bus down with us to the meet
to support the team. We have a great opportunity ahead of us to really show
what we can do on an excellent course, with the best teams in the state. There
is nothing quite like the State Championships, and we are excited to see you
perform at the highest level. You’ve earned this opportunity, now let’s go make
the most of it.
The JV girls team really started us off on the right foot.
Kaitlyn Dickey ran a huge personal best to come away with the win. She, Kiwi,
and a Box Elder runner were close together for the first mile, but the next
time we saw them just after the halfway point, both had left the competition
behind and were dominating the field. It was awesome to see Kaitlyn cap off a
long xc career with a huge win and personal best in her final race. She has
been a great example of what this team is about: a good attitude, hard work,
and caring for your teammates. Shayla came back from what appeared to be a
season ending foot injury, and was able to run a strong time, right next to
Emma for a sub 10-minute pace. Keep in mind Emma’s first race was 12 minute
pace on a two mile course, so that improvement is extraordinary. I don’t know
if I have ever seen someone improve that much, in such a short time. Credit to
both Emma and Shayla for their persevering attitude. Hard work pays off.
On the boys jv side it was awesome to see 5 of our boys in
the top ten (even if they tried to change the results at the awards ceremony). Scott
ran a season best to earn his first medal, but it won’t be his last. The way he
has worked the past two seasons has been as consistent as it has been
determined. The two JV races and how fun they were to watch, I feel put us in
the right direction for the two varsity races. The team was excited because of
some great performances, and the support of the jv runners was huge during the
varsity races.
The boys varsity team lost one of their top runners, Luke,
to surgery the day before region. We feel bad for the timing for Luke’s sake,
but the team ran for him on Friday. A year ago this boys team missed out on
qualifying for state in a heartbreaking race. Losing by 7 points, in a 7 team
field is such a slim margin. That loss fueled the returning members from that
team and they were not about to let that happen again. Going in we knew that we
were the underdogs, and would really need to make some good things happen to place
anywhere higher than 4th. These boys ran their hearts out to give
themselves a chance at breaking up the other teams and sneak in to the top 1 or
2. Every single one of these kids looked spent with about 600m left in the race,
and yet every single one of them finished the race strong. Unlike last year,
they did not come up just short, they came up big, finishing 3rd in
a very talented field is an accomplish they should be proud of. Now, unlike
last year, this team has a shot at state to continue what they started. All we
as coaches can ask of you is that you give your best. Win or lose, if you can
look back and say you gave your best day in and day out then you stand proud
with no regrets. We don’t always reach our goals, especially the lofty ones,
but it is in the aiming for high goals that we achieve higher than we otherwise
would have. That’s what these boys did this year, and they deserve a lot of
respect for what they accomplished. The best news of all: there is one more race
to go to do even better.
The girls varsity race was, hands down, the greatest race I have
ever seen in my years of coaching. It was truly a team performance: we didn’t
have a top three finisher, and yet you still won it by 11 points, which is
quite a bit in a 5 team race We had an idea of how the race might go, but
during a 5k race, a lot of crazy things can happen, and a lot of variables come
into play. It made me nervous to think, “how are we going to be positioned with
800m to go.” We knew we had a chance to see history made but we didn’t know how
close it was going to be. We were in solid position right from the beginning,
but it was still anybody’s race. We had confidence in our girls that they could
make good things happen, and during the 1.5-2.5 mile stretch these girls took
control of the race. I was bracing myself to watch a last ditch effort over the
final 600m to seal the win, but by the time I could see the girls again, with
about a half mile left, the writing was on the wall: this team was going to win
it.
There were 3 or 4 things that, if they happened, we knew we
would probably win. Every single one of those things happened, and more. I
stood at the hill about 700m from the finished to give one last bit of
encouragement before the end but after seeing what had already transpired,
there really was nothing left to be said. Laurie came through first battling
for 3rd or 4th, well ahead of some critical opponents. We
have asked a lot of her this season, and she has risen to the occasion at each
and every time. Her performance Friday, and more importantly, over the course
of the season, was invaluable to the team’s success. Trisha came by next,
shortly after her best friend Laurie (that’s a joke we say to convince her to
run with Laurie). Trisha ran a huge personal best to be that close to Laurie,
and it really repositioned the team, because she was well ahead of where she
was projected. As was Sophia, who came by shortly after Trish. Sophia was
dealing with an ankle issue and through the first half of the race, pace-wise,
looked like she was in for a difficult race. Somewhere around the half way
point she found another gear and ran out of her mind to catch up to the other
two. When I saw those three girls so close together and battling some of the
other teams’ critical runners I was admittedly emotional, watching these kids
run for each other and over achieve as a team. It was a great moment. Belle
came by next, also running a big personal best. We knew we could have 4 in the
top ten, but that was a pretty lofty goal. Belle battled past some runners that
had been in front of her in previous races to finish 10th. Anna
Sophia came by next, in a position she is unaccustomed to. She was previously
our top runner, but an illness set her back, one she is still dealing with. Seeing
her battle through breathing difficulty, a brutal cough, and general exhaustion
so she could help this team be successful was a special thing to witness. We
all know she would like nothing more than to be 100% and be at her best, but
sometimes we are given less than ideal circumstances, and have to do the best
with what is given. Anna Sophia made the best of it, and the fact that she
still was able finished 14th is, frankly, incredible, and a
testament to her personal drive and desire to see the team succeed. That is a
skill everyone needs to develop, on and off the course. Emmie came through as
our sixth runner, and honestly looked like a different runner than we had seen
yet this year. She ran with a unique determination and displaced scoring
runners on three teams in the process. I am thrilled for Emmie, that after 4
years on the team she was able to be a part of such an awesome accomplishment. Sami,
a freshman who only turned 14 a week or so ago, also displaced scoring runners
from three teams. Though she was not one of our scoring runners, the importance
of displacing the other teams cannot be overstated. She battled for her
teammates, as she has all year long. There were a lot of special moments on Friday,
but my favorite one was when the girls first found out they won and were
screaming and celebrating. Months of hard work had finally paid off.
These are some awesome team accomplishments. Credit for
these results goes to each one of you on this team. No matter where you
finished in the region meet, or how well you feel that you performed, if you
showed up to practice each day with a good attitude and ready to work hard,
then you were a huge contribution to what was done on Friday. Team
accomplishments are exactly that: a team accomplishment. Meaning, members of
the team both past and present are a part of that success. When you graduate
and move on we hope you still feel connected to this team at Bountiful high. For
example, Amelia and Elizabeth Tew graduated last year but I hope that they
still feel a sense of pride for the success of the team because of the
foundation that they helped create, and that Abby continues to build. Long time
Bountiful coach, teacher, and one of the best people that I know, Mitch Wiley,
contacted me on Friday to congratulate the team for its success, both boys and
girls. Any success that this team has, or will have, is due to the foundation
he helped form and the lives that he impacted, and continues to impact. We are
all indebted to his years of sacrifice for his students and athletes. I run in
to people all the time who tell me they ran for Mitch, and they always speak
happily of their experiences on the team and with Coach. And to each of you,
any success the team has moving forward is in part due to your efforts in
building a tradition of excellence. We thank you for all of your hard work, as
it impacts many more than just yourselves.
Championships are won on a single day in October, but they
are earned throughout the course of the season, and the years. This girls team
won it on Friday and the boys team over achieved on Friday (on paper they were
projected 4th place), but you earned it back in July when we did 20
800s in one day. You earned it at camp running the trails (and many getting
lost). You earned it during the long runs in the hot weather in the summer and
early fall. You earned it in each race leading up to Friday as they battled
through the ups and downs of the season. This was earned over a long time and a
lot of miles, and I couldn’t be happier for what you accomplished.
Coach Jacobson
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