Cross Country - Meet #6

Saturday, September 8th was the big Parkside Invitational, our biggest meet so far. With 44 schools represented, Parkside did very well, here is the blurb from the website:

" The boys team scored 17 points to win the meet. The girls team tied Chatham for 1st place, but lost on the 6th runner tie-breaker (39th to 40th place). Logan Abeling won the race in a time of 11:02. Carly Pederson from Chiddix set a new invitational record time of 11:33. Brooke Gordon finished 2nd in a personal record time of 12:09. The boys team placed all seven runners in the top 10 and under 11:31."

Some of the Pythons parade their mascot around the field.

Alex and some fellow athletes watch as the girls varsity prepare to race.


Leading the girl's varsity are Carly Pederson from Chiddix, and Brooke Gordon from Parkside. They held these positions throughout the race, all the way to the finish line.


Parkside volunteers assist one of the runners.

This girl collapsed right after crossing the finish line.
Michele takes a break and heads for the concession stand.
Alex and Nick take in the sights with some other athletes from Parkside.
The boys varsity at the starting line.
Leading the boys varsity was Logan Abeling and Logan DeGroot, seen here neck and neck. Logan Abeling edged out Logan DeGroot in the last 20 feet to finish first.
Dneesha Hamiel from A.M. Jackson Math Science Academy finishes first in the girl's open.
Taking second in the girl's open was Brittany Peterburs from Chatham Glenwood.
These next three shots show a girl perfectly content with walking, while her Mother tries desparately to get her to run.


Here is the official discharging his gun at the start of the boys open. This was the race that Alex was in, so I made sure to get a good spot at the finish line.
Here are the 3 leaders, all from Parkside.
Justin deDianous finished in the top ten.
I thought Justin was going to lose his position near the finish since this guy behind him looked awfully determined, but he held on.
Evan Goodyear finished strong, garnering his second invitational medal.
Reed Henry finishing strong.
J.T. Goodman has a strong performance.
This was my first view of Alex as he made his way down the home stretch.
Alex flies by in passing mode, making a strong finish.






This was a great event, the Cross Country Team did all of us parents proud.

Distance 2.02 miles, Alex's time 15:44