The Jackson Cross Country Team completed its short five week season on Monday, October 12, 2015 at the "Big Meet", a middle school Northwest Suburban Conference Cross Country Championship at Northwoods Park in Brooklyn Park, MN. Eighteen of the team's fifty-two athletes had their personal best performance of the season as they raced the two mile course on a windy and damp autumn day. Official results are HERE. Coach Crandall's 2015 race times analysis HERE.
The Jackson girls finished in 2nd place in what was a four team race, a huge improvement from last year's 4th place finish. Oak View repeated as the team champion but didn't dominate the field like past years. Jackson lost to Oak View by one point...34 to 35, despite Jackson placing all seven runners ahead of Oak View's #5 girl and final scorer. It is worth noting that only 32 seconds separated Jackson's top five scorers...a very tight and fast pack. The remaining full teams competing were Roosevelt Middle School placing 3rd with 65 points, and Northdale 4th with 99 points.
Emily Lindell and Haley Jiracek led the Jackson girls, placing 5th and 6th, both timed in 14:16 (7:08 per mile average), a personal best performance in cross country for both girls. Emily has improved her pace per mile by 41 seconds from last year's cross country season. Rounding out the top seven for the team were Crown Bisan (7th 14:41), Cieyana Carter (8th 14:45), Kayla Benjamin (9th 14:48), Jenny Omann (13th 15:12), and Annie Miller (14th 15:12). Crown, Cieyana, and Kayla also ran personal best in the race. Annie had a season best. These girls sure went after Oak View, but Oak View's top three runners were too good. Emily and Haley had a fantastic surge in the final 1200 meters, closing the gap on Oak View's #3 to just five seconds. The trio of Crown, Cieyana, and Kayla finished strong in the final 800 meters to finish ahead of Oak View's #4. Jenny and Annie were consistent to finish ahead of Oak View's #5. What a team race! We are looking forward to next year!
The Jackson boys repeated as conference champions by a fourteen point margin over a fine Oak View program in what was a five team race. Jackson's point total was 30, followed by Oak View at 44. This was a sweet victory because Oak View was victorious over Jackson in previous meets this season. The key to the victory was breaking up the Oak View pack, which has a tight spread of less than 60 seconds. Jackson placed their #3 through #5 runners ahead of Oak View's #4...the target of the Jackson "race to place" strategy. The remaining full teams competing were Northdale placing 3rd with 64 points, Roosevelt Middle School 4th with 96 points, and Coon Rapids 5th with 149 points.
Ben Fischer led the Jackson boys by winning the race with a solid time of 12:23 (6:11 per mile average) on a tough day. Ben raced smart to become the individual conference champion and was slightly slower than his personal best. Also racing smart was Mark Scheller who placed 2nd in 12:35 (6:17). Mark was probably capable of a faster time, but knew finishing ahead of Oak View's #1 runner was critical for the team's victory, so he drafted behind the strong Oak View runner in the windy conditions, saving himself for the final 600 meters...smart racing. Sam Rose had a gutsy performance...raced to place ahead of Oak View's #3 runner, and to a personal best performance of 12:53 (6:26)...placing 7th. Owen Eerdmans and Jake Marsolek raced to place ahead of Oak View's #4 by placing 9th and 11th. Owen turned in a personal best performance of 13:01 (6:30) and has improved his pace per mile by nearly 30 seconds from last year. Jake's time was 13:10 (6:35), just shy of his personal best (slowed down by the wind?). Rounding out the top seven were Brandon Bloss (16th 13:32) and Cade Moffitt (17th 13:34). Cade had a season best performance.
The following athletes also had personal best for the season in the race:
Caitlin Bottger, Evelyn Gregornick, Evan Gustafson, Giles Koshiol, Ben Litwin, Kyle Ostendorf, Ryan Preston, Emma Stark, and Benjamin Taylor.
The following athletes were within ten seconds of their personal best pace per mile for the season in the race...the wind made conditions very unfavorable for a fast time:
Brandon Bloss, Jordan Brown, Garret Doty, Ben Fischer, Margret Jacott, Jacob Marsolek, Zac Oldroyd, Connor Preston, Mark Scheller, Griffin Sparke, and Dalton Stohlmann.
In comparison to last season, Andrew Scinicariello and Griffin Sparke have also significantly improved their pace per mile this season. Andrew has improved his pace by 49 seconds. Griffin has improved his pace by 31 seconds. Please see Coach Crandall's 2015 Analysis spreadsheet for race times by athlete HERE. It is a great tool for identifying each athlete's progress. Analysis of the 2013 and 2014 cross country seasons are also linked on the team's blog site.
The Jackson coaching staff is very proud of all the students. For some, running is not easy...they worked very hard and kept a positive attitude. Unfortunately the weather for the final race and season didn't cooperate. We're confident more students would have achieved personal best in better conditions.
For the short season the Jackson girls' win loss record was 9 to 2...a winning percentage of 82%...both losses were to Oak View. The Jackson boys' win loss record was 13 to 3...a winning percentage of 81%.
Finally, the Jackson coaching staff thanks Champlin Park High School Cross Country Head Coach Kevin Moorhead for creating and directing the "Big Meet". Without Kevin's passion and dedication to our sport and program, we would not have had the opportunity to race. We also thank the Champlin Park High School Cross Country Booster Club for funding the "Big Meet". The Booster Club's financial support is greatly appreciated. Parent's...if you would like to donate to the Booster Club, please contact Coach Crandall...donations are tax deductible.
Next action is an optional post-season race on 10/29...the Section 5AA Championships JV 5K.
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