2011 Cross Country Season

Parker started High School in August and before school started he decided that he would like to run Cross Country.  He started practicing a couple of weeks before school started with the team and was doing pretty well.  He's always been one of the fastest runners at his school and I warned him that he shouldn't expect that at High School, but to just do his best and he would improve over time.  Ragnar came and went and with it came some heel pain in the form of Plantar Fasciitis. I took him to the doctor, and he suggested some things we could do to help him get through the pain.  Around the end of September came the time to qualify for the Varsity team.  They had their race and Parker came in 3rd, qualifying him for Varsity.  The first race was coming and his coach decided to have him run JV since his heel was still bothering him and he was limping.  JV was only a little over 2 miles instead of a little over 3.  The day of their first meet it poured!  The sun came out just before their first race.  JV went first and Parker was a little bummed because he wasn't running Varsity.  They started off and each time we saw Parker come around he was in 1st place.  He ended up coming in 1st for the whole district with a time of 12:52 for 2.3 miles.  He was pretty excited and decided that maybe he wanted to run JV each week since he came in 1st!

Since they were the 1st race of the day and Parker was in 1st place, he collected quite a bit of mud!

 Some of the JV runners.

 His second meet was at Castle Rock.  His coach was out of town and the assistant coach decided that she needed Parker for Varsity whether or not his heel was bothering him.  He ended up finishing 8th in his race (1st for Concord High) with a time of 21:18 for 3.2 miles.  His name was in the paper since he was a top 10 finisher.  Here he is with his Varsity buddies.

This was kind of funny.  I guess Parker wasn't paying close enough attention as to where they were supposed to run.  As you can see, he started off in 1st place and then was yelling, "which way?"  The kids were pointing and running at the same time.

They had to avoid the horse poop as they were running.  YUCK!

Running up the hill at Castle Rock.

 Each week the night before their meets we had a Pasta Feed.  The kids loved getting together, eating and playing games. (It was sometimes hard to get them to go home).  The Cross Country team had a great group of kids on it and Parker enjoyed their company. 

 Here is most of the team. 

 Hanging around before the meet.

 Group hug around Parker!

 The 3rd meet of the season was at Hidden Valley in Martinez.  Parker was now on the Varsity team for good.  He did well again, finishing in 8th with a time of 18:46 for 3 miles.  He got his name in the paper again.

  The last regular season meet was at Newhall Park again.  Parker finished 12th overall and was bummed about it.  We tried to tell him that he did a great job.  He felt a little better when he got his time of 17:40 for 3 miles.  It was his best time yet!

 The DVAL championship meet was held at Hidden Valley.  All the Varsity boys ran together at this meet instead of in different heats. 

 He didn't have a great start, but made up quite a bit of ground. 

He ended up finishing 22nd overall with a time of 17:59 for 3.2 miles.  He improved quite a bit over the course of the season.  He almost made the honorable mentions.  Figured he needs a goal for next season!

 

After the Championship meet we had a pizza party at Coach Conley's house. 

 A few weeks later they had their team party at Fuddruckers.  

They did a secret Santa exchange.  Parker ended up with lots of cool things from Ronny.  Ronny said as he was giving Parker his gift, "I figure the best kid on the team deserved the best gift!"  He is a really nice kid!

 Concord High Cross Country 2011

 Parker received his Varsity letter.  (Now trying to decide if we're going to do the jacket right now or not).

He also received a Scholar Athlete Award for his 4.0 GPA.  (They were out of certificates, so he should get the official one someday!)

He also received the MVP (or MVR) for the season! 

Parker was also one of the athletes of the month at Concord High.  He got a shirt and will soon be getting a plaque.  Congratulations Parker on a most successful Cross Country Season.  (Guess I didn't know what I was talking about when I said that other kids at your school would be faster than you!)