Things couldn't get more exciting for the Strafford cross country program. The 2009 season is off to a great start with an outstanding victory at our opening home meet. For the first time the Strafford Varsity boys brought home both the 1st place trophy but also had the overall meet winner with Jesse Snow running a 17:06. Other highlights for the Strafford meet included a new girls school record set by Ashley Wilks with a time of 21:54, an outstanding 2nd place JV finish by Ben Taken, and Jackson Eicken being the overall winner in the Jr. High division.
Following the Strafford meet the team traveled to Joplin and ran in the huge Missouri Southern Stampede. With a field of 395 varsity boys most of who were from large schools the Strafford Indians were in for a tough run. When the dust finally settled and the results were in the VB had ran an outstanding race finishing 28th out of the 52 teams and 3rd amongst Missouri's 1A-2A schools.
The next weekend the team traveled just a little closer to participate in the Richard Clark invitational at Springfield Underground. The day was off to a great start with Jackson Eicken once again bringing home the 1st place medal for Strafford Jr. High. In addition to Jackson, Anthony Gott and Ryleigh Askren also medaled for Strafford in a race which only medaled the top 5. Great job Jr. High! With another competitive field of very large schools the Strafford VB held tough with an outstanding finish by Will Lee who led the Indians with a time of 17:43 and finished just one spot out of the overall medals. The team as a whole ran very well showing some very impressive kicking talent at the end of the race. When the scores had been totaled the VB came home with the 2nd place finish and an amazing victory cup to remember it by. The JV boys also destroyed the 1A-2A division by finishing with a perfect score of 15 and bringing home their own victory cup.
As the season begins to turn from summer to fall let's keep running strong staying on pace and meeting our goals. With out a doubt this could be one of the best seasons yet.
Thank you to all the parents, students, and fans who have came out and supported the team. It means a ton to these kids.
Next race Ash Grove Oct 1st 4:00 pm. See ya there!
