Anna's Cross-Country Season

Anna & Ainsley

It was Anna's good friend, Ainsley, that asked her to "do track" last spring for the first time.  After experiencing success on the track, Anna decided to give cross-country a try this fall.  With her care-free approach to life and not knowing anything about the sport, Anna didn't do any running over the summer until team practices started August 10.  I wasn't sure what to expect knowing the importance of building a base, etc.  Fortunately, it's been a great season thus far with only Districts (and hopefully State) to go.  Since I've been playing catch-up with the blog, I decided to lump all these pics into one post.

Tanner, Anna, Heather - Soda Springs

Anna - 1st place at Cardinal Classic (JV race)

The morning after Tanner returned home from his mission, Anna had her first invitational in Soda Springs.  It was really nice to have him along (before everything else took over his schedule and attention) though it was a longer drive than he remembered it being.  Anna didn't know what to expect and the coaches had her run in the JV race.  She ended up winning 1st place overall!  It was a real boost to her confidence and great way to kick of the season.

After a not-so-fun run at Tiger-Grizz in extremely hot weather, Anna bounced back the following weekend at the BYU Invitational in UT.  Due to local fires, the entire invitational was relocated from Provo to Logan and the team had to leave their hotel extra early and drive to the new location for races.  It was kind of a crazy ordeal but Anna didn't seem too phased by it.  Since Aaron's flight from DC brought him back to SLC Friday night, he stayed in UT to cheer her on.

Anna in red behind the Bingham girl in blue.

Aaron & Anna after race

Anna, Mikelle, Ainsley - freshmen

Anna - back row, 4th from left

It would have been fun for me to attend the UT invitational since I would likely have seen old friends but it was also the weekend Brinley moved out and Tanner spoke in church so I had extra responsibilities.  Again, Anna raced well to finish 10th overall in the JV race - the largest invitational of the season.

Anna & Ainsley - Shelley Invitational

The top runner for MHS is dealing with an injury and the coaches would no longer let Anna race JV since she had the fastest times for the entire team.  She raced varsity at the Shelley Invitational and picked up a 16th place finish - helping the team win 2nd place overall.

 Guess we know who takes all the pics (since I'm not in any)?!?

Anna - top row, 5th from left & teammate Ashley N. top left end

Ashley, Anna, Ainsley, Hallie - 2nd place team finish

The cross-country season is different in Idaho from what I experienced in Utah in that kids do not run in mid-week dual meets.  Perhaps because of the travel involved, there are only weekend invitationals with a lot of different schools.  The Pocatello Invitational was held on a Thursday during the Harvest Break.  Again, Anna was able to snatch up another medal with her 20th place finish in the varsity race - improving her 5k time to 20:41.  That's a 6:40 mile pace on grass, hills, sand, wind, etc.  The girl's team is steadily dropping times and working hard this season.  Pretty exciting for them to pick up a 2nd place team finish with the top 5 girls placing between 20-29th.  They didn't run in a pack but kept each other in sight for a tight finish.  If they can do a repeat of that at Districts next week, these girls will be heading to Lewiston, ID for the State Championships.  We have some crazy competition throughout the state so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Hallie, Mikelle, Brynn, Whitlee, Anna, Ainsley

Anna - back row far right in black

2nd place team finish for MHS varsity girl's team.

The season is winding down just as the weather is shifting to COLD.  We'll see what the next few weeks bring.  Anna has managed to add a few medals to her growing collection - and I think she likes  doing that.