PRESS RELEASE
by Jane Ryan
FROZEN BUT FANTASTIC at STATE
We lucked out all season long with beautiful weather and ideal running
conditions, but today the luck on the weather front ran out. It was
FREEZING and very WINDY at
Maxwell Park in Bloomington/Normal this morning. DESPITE the conditions,
our ladies of BSS/SAS came home able to brag that they are
EIGHTH BEST TEAM IN THE STATE!!! WOW! Our BSS/SAS
gentlemen are able to shout to the world that they are ELEVENTH BEST
TEAM IN THE STATE! BRAVO!!!
Looking at running conditions alone, it would have been a stretch to even
hope that our superstar athletes would attain any personal best
performances, but we did have one pull it off! Jessica Megginson
had an amazing run and a personal best time of 12:57.
Jessica has been trying to break that 13:00 minute barrier
all season and she finally got the job done. Bravo Jessica!
Due to the absolutely fierce competition at the state meet, we did have a
couple of runners struggle with stumbles and falls. Sixth grade standout
Emily Delvo fell to the ground about 50 meters short of the
finish line while struggling to avoid several other runners who had fallen
down right in front of her. Everyone is jockeying for position so intensely
at this meet -- but no wonder because so much is at stake!
Emily
picked herself right up off of the ground and sprinted for the finish line,
and we are so proud of her for that. That says a lot about
Emily
Delvo and what a tough gal she is. Great job Emily! Another
runner who stumbed and barely avoided the ground was
Sean Ryan,
who was caught in the middle of a tussle around a corner in the last half
mile.
Sean tripped, staggered a few steps, and got right
back in line and finished the race strong. Way to hang tough, runners!
Individual finishes begin with wonder runner Julia Wykoff (12:55) who
crossed first for BSS/SAS and won a medal for 17th
place in the state. Julia was only 2 seconds off
of her personal best time! Taking into account the miserable running
conditions, that is awesome. Jessica Megginson (12:57)
crossed 2nd for our team and won a medal for 21st place in the
state. Next was braveheart Emily Delvo
(13:53), who had a great time and showed the crowd what she was made of,
then exceptional runners Mackenzie Wortley
(14:16), Kayla Kolis (14:27), Maddie Alexander
(14:39), and Katie Dresser (14:58). Kayla
and Maddie, in addition to the awful running conditions,
were recovering from illness this week. Way to hang in there girls.
For the guys, it was phenomenal Mike Witsman (12:07)
crossing first for BSS/SAS. Mike ran only
one second slower than his season's best time, which was a feat today! Next
was a great performance by Sean Ryan (12:16), who despite
the mishap on the course ran only 9 seconds off of his personal best time.
Third and fourth for BSS/SAS were tough guys Joey
White (12:52) and Michael Ralph (12:54) who gave
it their best efforts. Following them were very hard working Sean
Orlando (13:02), Griffin Ludwig (13:30), and
Eric Delvo (13:31). All of these gentlemen did a great
job. Sean Orlando was in pain by the end of the race, as
his heel is still bothering him a great deal. Griffin and
Eric finished so strong and looked great.
It is noteworthy to mention that overall
Mike Witsman
finished
47th in the state and
Sean
Ryan finished
53rd in the state out of 180
runners. Kudos guys!
This entire State team was so impressive today. Sometimes adversity occurs
and it really does take character and guts from our runners to meet the
challenge. Our runners are so wonderful in so many ways, and that came
through today. Team members Morgan Clem and Kaylee
Sables and Kelly Korza cheered their teammates on
with gusto, as did Joey Showtis, Matthew Wesley,
and Peter McDermott. All were ready to step in at a
moment's notice!
Coaches Enno, Cumming, and White are so PROUD of every one this season. So
am I. BSS/SAS is full of hard workers. Bravo!!!
p.s. To order plaques from State, call (309)689-0299
