Region and state cross country were held in Salt Lake City. For me it was a long anticipated, somewhat dreaded couple of days because of how Brenden's health has been faring. I didn't have much to worry about. He placed second in region to his own teammate (and only by 1/2 second). The team easily took 1st place in region. Even Wade beat his previous best time by more than a minute. I'm pretty sure Brenden did so well because of his amazing aerodynamic shaved legs. From the pictures he sent, it looked like he had more hair on the ground as he was shaving it off than Hayden does when I cut his hair. I posted his amazing leg picture on facebook, but he demanded it be taken down, so as not to scare off his fan club members.
State was at Sugarhouse Park, and it was a beautiful day. Brenden had a good start to the race, and was running about 16th in the pack for most of the race. For much of the season, his teammates stayed pretty close together in a run, with one of three pushing through at the end. With one mile left, he was the third among the Bear River team members. His goal this year was to PLACE in the top 10... and (secretly), to beat the team member that had out-run him at region.
He met both of his aspirations.
He placed 9th overall... and in the last 50 yards of the race, he turned on the speed and passed his teammate.
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| The last 10 yards to the finish. His teammate was not happy about getting passed. |
With teammates taking 5th, 9th, 10th, 12th positions... we knew the team would fare well. Bear River had never taken a state championship before. Moments later it was announced they were 2010 STATE CHAMPS!!! I was glad I had ran to the fence by the finish line, because I was in the middle of the celebration that occurred when it was announced.
Cheering, hugging, high fives, the team cheer, smiles, phone calls, spraying of water over each other, and whooping and hollering.
So much fun to watch.
So much fun to be part of the excitement.
So much fun to see Brenden accomplish HIS goals, and have this to top it all off.
After the getting his award for placing in the top 10, the team accepted the trophy for 1st place.
Brenden was funny.
More than once he said, "I can't stop smiling. My cheeks hurt".
This has instilled the winning spirit in him. He is determined to have success in track this spring. He is going to be running indoor track this winter, and has already had me send him a couple cds with running songs on it. He could do well this spring. If he keeps up his motivation and training.
NICE JOB guys... what a great way to end the cross country season!
2 comments:
Awesome! Way to go Brenden and teammates!!!! I would have been cheering myself hoarse. What an exciting way to end the track season!
That is really cool. I have always thought Brenden looks like you but when I saw that picture of him talking on the phone I couldn't believe it. He is so handsome. That is great that he met his goals.
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