Smiley Reflection

Central showed its speed and depth at the epic Smiley Invitational, one of the biggest and best XC invitationals.  The varsity placed 1st in small D1 schools and 4th overall, just behind some of the highest ranked teams in the state.  The junior varsity also did very well, placing second in D1 small schools, just 1 point from 1st.

The course was different this year.  The long bridge, that usually caused havoc and large backups at the race start, was replaced with a big right turn and steep uphill that also caused some backups, especially the 2nd half of the JV race.  There were a few more sharp turns in the course, making it a lot more spectator friendly.  The turns, combined with some rainfall, made for a slick, slow course.  

Contrarily, the majority of the girls who ran both here and at Luther last week, ran quicker here than they did last week.  I believe this course was about 20 seconds slower than Luther.  Individual Improvements: 

-Maria Martell ran the same time on a slower course, 

-Lilly Nelson and 

-Kirsten Gunnarson ran 5 seconds faster

-Alex Bruley, 10 seconds

-Kaia Adams, 17"

-Karissa Harmel, 21"

-Jane Pinkowski, 23"

-Kenzie Fellenz, 31"

-Megan Degenhardt, 37"

-Skylar Dannhoff, 47"