St. Peter's Rockets gain valuable experience at cross-country invitational
The energy, excitement and enormity of the 59-team Troy Invitational last Saturday was a great way for the St. Peter cross-country team to begin the most important part of their season. Competing against middle schools three to five times their size, the Rockets gained experience that will more than prepare them for the upcoming high pressure conference championship and IESA sectional meets just around the corner.
There were more than 2,000 middle school cross-country athletes competing in six races over the course of the morning. St. Peter placed their varsity runners in the eighth-grade races which meant that the team would be competing with fifth- through eighth-grade athletes against almost all eighth-graders. This strategy gave the team the perfect opportunity to work together in a crowded and challenging field.
The girls team used the strategy of establishing pace and running in a pack so as not to get caught up in the fast paced race at the front. This served them well as they all had a good race in spite of being boxed out of a few corners in the crowded first mile. Finishing mid-pack and beating one of the crosstown Geneva middle schools were two goals that were set and achieved. The girls finished in a respectable 27th place and placed ahead of Geneva Middle School North in 32nd place.
With three fifth-graders on the team, the boys needed the valuable experience of a big race. Pack running seems to be their specialty and that was definitely achieved even with the crowded field. Behind front-runner William Huber, the Rockets second through fourth boys all finished within 30 seconds of each other. Unfortunately Huber's tag did not record an official finish, a point that is being resolved as of the time of this writing. With Huber's score counting, it is estimated that the boys finished in 31st place, a good mid pack finish and also ahead of Geneva Middle School North in 37th.
The Rockets have one more regular season conference meet in Hampshire. Then they move onto the Tri-County Conference Championship Meet which will take place Monday, Sept. 26, at hilly Randall Oaks Forest Preserve in West Dundee. There both the 5/6th and 7/8th teams will challenge for second place in a conference that has grown in both numbers and talent over the last several years.