Leading up to Saturday, we knew that the weather would be a factor for our Sectional race. Rain and cooler temperatures were in the forecast. But I don't think anyone imagined that it would turn out like it did.
Our school bus arrived with the tent crew in advance of the mini-bus carrying the 7 sectional runners. Our job was to get the team camp set up for their arrival and as we lugged our gear out towards the team area, the rain had already begun. We laid out the ground tarps and began setting up the two tents we had brought with us. Immediately, the rain picked up and began to pool on the tarps. By the time the tents were put in place, things were already a muddy mess. We finished our setup, but everyone was already pretty wet and the temperature seemed to turn a bit colder.
Our next order of business was a time trial with a few of our top runners that weren't racing at the Sectional. Being a deep team, this would give us some valuable feedback when we try to decide our final Top 7 State lineup. Danny Laskero took control from the start, with David Gleisner in hot pursuit. Both of these guys have run very well all year long and they were very determined to show that they belong on the State squad.
They passed the first mile and started heading down towards the creek. When we had checked out the course on Thursday, there had been about 3 inches of water at the bottom of the creek - requiring a quick step or two to skip across the creek bed. The boys were about to find out that this was no longer the case. They raced down the slope leading to the creek and found, as many more would later in the day, that all the rain had turned 3 inches of water into two feet of rushing river. One after the other, they hit the water at full speed and went down, face-first. This was not going to be any kind of normal cross country race.
Having gotten some feedback from our time-trial runners regarding the creek, we went over to check it out during the Girls race. I was expecting quite a bit of trouble there, as most of the girls were probably not aware of what was in store for them. Their first crossing was a complete disaster.
Hinsdale coach Noah Lawrence has some great video in his Sectional blog of both the girls and boys races. Be sure to check it out - it's amazing.
Our guys got rolling right from the gun. Six Sandburg Eagles were at the front of the pack, with Tommy Brennan (still recovering from a hamstring injury) trailing a little behind them. They circled around the start/finish area on the north end and then headed out for the first big loop of Katherine Legge Memorial Park.
In the end, Sandburg survived and prevailed, winning the Sectional title with 45 points. Hinsdale Central finished in 2nd place (65 points), ahead of Lyons Township (74 points). Downers Grove South and Downers Grove North grabbed the last two team qualifiers for the State meet.
It was a miserable day, weather-wise, with everyone soaked thru multiple layers of clothing and shivering in the cold. I can't say enough about all the team members, parents, alumni and Sandburg fans that came out to support us. It was a tough day for them too, but they all helped to keep this team going.
The Eagles stepped up to accept the Sectional trophy at the awards ceremony wearing their Thornton-Sandburg HSB long-sleeve shirts with our Thornton training partner Harry Osborne. Things hadn't gone completely smoothly, but a win is a win and we're moving on to the State Meet this week.
We will all be looking forward to some nicer weather in Peoria.