Cross Country - Meet #3

Our 3rd meet took place in Champaign on August 25th, where we competed against 29 schools. As with the prior 2 meets this year, Parkside dominated. Here is the writeup posted on the Parkside website:

The team had its most dominant performance in program history earning 28 out of 60 available medals. Logan Abeling and Brooke Gordon won the individual title in both varsity races. Alex Anderson won the open boys race and Kelsey Kinley was runner-up in the open girls race.

Here are the medal winners from Parkside for this event.

 

It was exciting to watch as over 500 athletes competed in 5 different running events. I took a lot of pictures and I would love to post them all, but I'm not sure the internet is big enough to absorb them, so I've condensed them down to a few dozen of the best. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fastest time for the girls came from a Chiddix student.

 

The fastest time for the boys came from a Parkside student.

 

Alex shares a laugh with a couple of his teammates.

 

Distance: 2.08 miles, Alex's time 16:19

Cross Country - Meet #2

August 20th was the the second Cross Country Meet of the season which took place at Parkside against Chatham and Morton. Once again Parkside was victorious.

The girls start off strong.

Brook Gordon comes in first for the girls.

The boys warm up before the race.

And they're off!

Parkside holds top seven positions.

Caleb comes in first for the boys.

That's J.T.

Alex finishes strong.

Here is the information posted on the Parkside website:

The first home meet saw many impressive performances. Brooke ran the 8th fastest time on the PJHS course and Caleb the 12th fastest time as both won their races. Logan D. and Taylor both made the all-time PJHS course records list. Eric, Logan A., Peyton and River rounded out the top seven. Running in the top seven for the girls were Michaella, Bailey, Hannah, Amy, Brie and Lexie. Alex, Tyler, Mike and Becca ran PR's. The boys score was PJHS 15 Chatham 51 & Morton 78 and the girls score was PJHS 29 Chatham 41 & Morton 81

Total distance: 2.02 miles, Alex's Time: 16:20

Field Museum

After a full day of hot sun and cool rides at Six Flags on Friday, we decided to spend Saturday at the Field Museum in Chicago. The day was just the opposite of the day before, with cool temps and rain.

The Field Museum is absolutely huge, and is situated right across from Soldier Field. This photo is of just the front entrance, leaving much of the size to the readers imagination. To give you an idea of just how incredibly big this place is, we were there for about 7 hours, and still did not see the entire museum.

 

This is the great hall just inside the entrance. Off in the distance on the other side are a couple of elephants, and Sue, the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex.

 

This is Sue from up close and personal. Isn't she a beauty? By clicking here you can read about the fantastic journey Sue took to get from her 65 million year resting place, to where she is perched today.

 

 

One of the first exhibits we viewed was the Charles Darwin exhibit. The exhibit takes the viewer on a journey through Darwin's life, starting with his love of zoology, his historic 5 year journey on the HMS Beagle, and of his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.

The exhibit also addressed the controversy that has persisted since this theory was first proposed. My own personal experience has been that those who refuse to accept Evolution, typically lack an understanding of what Evolution is, and are typically unaware of the evidence that backs it up. There are innumerable resources for those that are skeptical, like here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here, just to mention a few.

All in all, it was a fascinating journey, one that I highly recommend to anyone curious about the origins and diversity of life, and especially to those who remain skeptical.

 

An exciting highlight was coming across this exhibit of Lucy, a hominid that lived approximately 3.2 million years ago, unearthed in 1970 by a research group in Ethiopia. Having read about her years ago, I was fascinated with the opportunity to meet her in person (even if this one was only a replica), the real Lucy will be embarking on a controversial US Tour very soon.

 

Alex and Nick reacting to a giant spider in the Underground Adventure exhibit.

 

A whale skeleton, very cool, and very big.

 

Hmm, now I think I know what the ALF character from the TV series was modeled after.

 

The rest of the exhibits we looked at were of dinosaurs, and more dinosaurs. It just doesn't get any better than dinosaurs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great time was had by all, we hope to get back again soon.