It doesn't happen often that I'm asked, " does (Boys or Girls team, specific runner) have the chance to win the State Championship?" And frankly it is a difficult question to answer intelligently. "On any given day" comes to mind immediately. But consider this . . . this weekend's Division 1 Championship actually began last week with nearly 90 Boys and 90 Girls teams and a total of close to 1300 extraordinary student-athletes all competing for one title. One team of Boys. One team of Girls. One overall Boys Winner. One overall Girls Winner. That said, an intelligent answer to the question posed, statistically speaking, is simple. No! But, on any given day . . .
And with an inspirational effort at the All-State meet Nathan did not disappoint. Of course, next time will be the first time! Yesterday I thought back to last year's final dual meet versus Marshfield, which the Boys won to close out an undefeated season and earn Patriot League title honors. I know I often reference the high emotions of the coaches and the athletes when we saw Gordon Johnson come through the gate across the field and we knew victory was at hand, but there was another very important element in the victory. That day was an early dismissal day and Nathan had been under the weather. After school was dismissed he told some of his teammates he felt poorly and he went home to take a nap, unsure if he would be able to run. When the team began warm up Nathan had not yet arrived and honestly, I thought we were not likely to see him. But lo and behold Nathan soon arrived and stated he felt a little better and was ready to give it his best effort. I just hoped for respectable finish. Nathan's 5th place finish in a season record time was the result. As stated, he never disappoints. And yesterday, after continuing his string of sub 17:00 performances started at last month's Twilight Meet, Nathan stepped up again. It was an incredible season from an incredible runner! You have a lot to be proud of!
On any given day . . .
So it was with that in mind our Girls traveled to Wrentham to run in the All State Championship Meet as one of 23 teams (from the aforementioned 90) that earned an invite. That alone is an incredible accomplishment. Again, consider the numbers. And the road the Girls traveled up to that point was not an easy one. Dual meet losses to Hingham, Plymouth North and Marshfield were very hard fought efforts although they included some pretty outstanding performances. But with a 3-3 record the ladies had some work to do. And they proved to be up for the challenge. A second place finish at the Patriot League Championship behind eventual Division 1 champion Marshfield was surprising to many around the League. Not necessarily to our Girls, who maintained their positive attitudes and continued to work extremely hard each and every day to improve. And when it came time for the coaches to select a top 10 it wasn't an easy task, all were deserving of consideration. And when those 10 were pared down to 7 (by rule) we had discussions. But as we had previously, we looked to our stop watches and made some tough decisions. At the 1C Divisional Meet last weekend the ladies needed excellent performances from all in order to advance and they came through with flying colors finishing 7th to qualify for the All-State meet. However the battles throughout the long season and the effort required to break into the group of teams qualifying took its toll on our kids. Two of our top 7, Erin and Adriana, were unable to compete following that race due to injury. After giving it their all to help the team qualify, they would not get the opportunity to enjoy the reward. Without their results at the Divisional Meet, we would not have moved on. And the other Girls were exhausted. Now two girls had to replace those injured, and each did so admirably. Being thrown into the lion's den, so to speak, is not an easy thing to do, but Anne and Paige put in extraordinary efforts in the All-State meet and we are proud of their performance just as we are proud of Myah's, Anna's, McKenna's, Sarah's and Caroline's results yesterday at Wrentham. I could not have asked for a more rewarding season from our Girls team. If there was one thing I could "do over" it would be this. I would have taken a picture at the finish line of our Girls who all waited for each of their teammates to come across. No rush for water. No hurry to put on warm clothing. Just a group of phenomenal kids cheering on each of their friends as they finished. Best moment of my day!
On our final day . . .
Great job Panthers. Each and every one of you. Every boy, every girl. I have loved this season. I hate to see it all end. You've earned a week off. We hope to see many of you when Track and Field gets underway next week. And while I am looking forward to that, I'll spend much of the next week reflecting on the season just ended and probably spend more than a moment or two making projections for 2022. Thank you all!
POST SCRIPT: Apparently somebody saw the same thing I did. 👀😄
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