It Has Been a Pleasure!: Thank You, and 2016 DIAA State Championships, Brandywine Creek (Review)

FULL RESULTS: GIRLS (D2), BOYS (D2)

Before I get into too far into the post, I want to say thank you to all our fans who have both kept up with the blog this season and come out to support us at the meets. Your viewership makes this blog worthwhile for me and your presence at the races makes a difference in how hard I push myself at the races. I really can hear you guys cheering for us as I'm out on the course!

First of all, I have to give a shoutout to Tatnall's Keelin Hays, the Division 2 Girls champion. She almost literally won the race by a mile, leading the whole way and finishing over a minute ahead of her closest competitors. I don't know that I've ever seen a performance as dominant in my seven seasons as a cross-country runner. As for Red Lion, congratulations to our girls on placing 18th of 26 teams. We had a young team competing against some of the best teams in the state of Delaware. To earn a result like that is an accomplishment worth celebrating and a vast improvement over last year.

As for the boys (and myself), I am very proud of how the team performed on Saturday. Josh earned a phenomenal top-35 finish and the team earned a 14th-place finish of 28 teams. To my teammates, congratulations; we finished in the top half in the state meet!

Full race results can be found in the links above. All our runners finished the season on a high note and most will be able to carry that momentum into next season. As for the seniors, it's been an incredible journey. 

To my fellow members of the Class of 2017: Noah, you and I have been there since the beginning. I don't know that either of us quite knew what we were getting into when we decided to come out for JV cross-country in sixth grade. But we persevered, improved steadily over seven years and experienced loads of success as teammates, and as captains. I am proud to have had you by my side every step of the way.

Calvin, you kept up quite well considering Noah and I had a three-year head start! I'm so glad you decided to join us in ninth grade; the team was (and still is) better for it. You've showed a tremendous amount of growth this season and gave me a run for my money on multiple occasions. You're certainly stronger than me in terms of shorter distances and continue to improve in the longer ones. I am grateful for your decision to join us and only regret that you did not start your career sooner.

Jonathan, your energy and excitement you brought to every practice was contagious. Coach Paul says it normally takes about two seasons for a runner to hit his or her stride and I certainly saw that trait in you this year. I can't keep track of how many personal bests you set this season; you set one seemingly every race! Although I was only your teammate for a year, I've enjoyed getting to know you and appreciate the contribution you made to the team this season.

To my coaches: Coach Pizzulli, you handled this transition year seamlessly. The Red Lion team more than doubled in size compared to last year and you still were able to give us each individual instruction at every practice and meet. Thank you for all you did this year, including letting us TOCS runners #RememberTheTitans by using navy blue last names on our warm-up shirts!

Coach Shirley, you also handled this transition perfectly. But why am I surprised? You handled the last five years perfectly. I am proud to be able to say that I ran under the same coach my entire five years as a varsity cross-country runner. You helped me grow into a much faster runner, pushing me to achieve goals and exceed limits I thought would never be possible. More importantly, however, your spiritual guidance has furthered my in my walk with God and I could not be more thankful for everything you've given to me these last five seasons from my first varsity race as an eighth grade to helping me display the #LionsPride in my senior year.

To all of you who have supported me over the years: it has been a pleasure; moreover, it really has been unbelievable! I've loved every minute, and I can't wait to see what's next. The future of Red Lion cross-country is bright with several young runners just beginning to hit their strides (no pun intended) and multiple runners on the middle school team who will make an immediate impact when promoted to varsity within the next couple of seasons.

As I said on social media yesterday, for now, all I have left to say is that it's been one heck of a ride. Thank you all.

2016 New Castle County Championships (Review)

FULL RESULTS: JV Girls, JV Boys, Varsity Girls, Varsity Boys

Connor Nisbet leading the pack shortly past the 2-mile mark
(Photo: Blue Hen Photography)

The penultimate round of the 2016 Red Lion Cross Country season was held at Winterthur on Saturday, November 5. The field was divided into four groups, with Varsity and Junior Varsity races for both Girls' and Boys' teams. Julianna Barry ('19) of Tatnall and Lydia Olivere ('18) of Padua won the JV and Varsity Girls' races respectively. The JV Boys' race was won by Aidan Higley of Salesianum ('20), while Connor Nisbet ('19) won the Varsity Boys' division. Both Olivere and Nisbet also won their divisions at this season's Joe O'Neill Invitational.

Gabby Wilcox ('21) was the only Red Lion runner in the JV Girls' race, finishing in 32:28.68. Omari Banks ('21) was the highest RLCA finisher in the JV Boys' division, placing 115th with a time of 21:02.71. Brandan Leauby ('18) just missed out on breaking the 23-minute barrier, coming across the line with a time of 23:03.14; Ryan Silver finished 13 seconds behind Leauby. Marc Sherman ('20), Jonathan Huey ('17), and Jesse Ma ('20) rounded out the field of Red Lion runners, finishing with respective times of 24:07.99, 25:06.80, and 26.47.54.

In the Varsity Girls' division, Hannah Ye ('21) finished in the top 100 (97th) with a time of 24:25.06. Girls' Captain Naomi Mengel ('18) followed in 113, finishing in 24:53.49. Mae Willis ('20, 25:16.15), Katie Rippon ('20, 25:26.17), and Zoe Wilcox ('19, 26:17.23) rounded out the top five among the RLCA team, while Alternate Girls' Captain Anna Teather ('18) and Sarah Zhu ('20) finished in 26:39.41 and 27:29.43 respectively.

Joshua Deitrich (pictured earlier in 2016) was the highest-placing
finisher in any division for RLCA
(Photo: RLCA Facebook)

Joshua Deitrich ('19) was the highest-placing Varsity Boys' race finisher for RLCA, coming in 40th in 17:58.78. Alternate Boys' Captain Noah Pfenninger ('17) also placed in the top 100 (95th), finishing in 19:18.64. Boys' Captain Benjamin Schneider ('17) finished 26 seconds behind Pfenninger in 115th, Weston Marshall ('20) followed in 129th with a time of 19:58.93. Calvin Pozsonyi completed the team's top five, finishing in 20:32.08. Spencer Armstrong ('19) and Luke Sherman ('18) finished with respective times of 21:17.70 and 21:51.46.

In terms of team results, Red Lion's JV Boys' team placed 17th of 25 teams with 532 points. The Varsity Girls' team finished 21st of 27 teams with 589 points, while the Varsity Boys scored 521 points, placing them 19th of 32 teams.

Notes and Updates...Again

Wow, have I seriously managed only one blog post since October 1?

First of all, I want to sincerely apologize for the lack of production recently at OnTheLineXC. I haven't done as much as I've wanted to do, mainly because I've been busy with schoolwork and college applications, both of which take priority over the blog, as they should.

In terms of what has gone on since the last post, our team ran a tri-meet (against Caravel Academy and St. Elizabeth High School) at Lums Pond last Wednesday, October 26. While it was not technically a home meet for us, it was great to have an opportunity to run at a course we had already been to earlier in the season to compare our times and see how much we have improved as a team. I had been waiting to write a race review in case any pictures from the meet became available on social media, but I have not found any yet. With that, I'll go ahead and post the full results and give a short summary here.

Joshua ('19) just missed out on the win, finishing second to Caravel's Jacob Puharic, three seconds behind. Noah ('17) ended up third, while I placed fifth. I was aiming for a sub-20, so to miss out on that by five seconds is a bit disappointing. Still, ending up in P5 in a tri-meet we won easily is hard to be unhappy with. On the Girls' side, Hannah ('21) and Mae ('20) finished second and third respectively, while Red Lion as a team placed six girls in the top ten.

Full results from the tri-meet.
(Photo: Nikki Pizzulli/Paul Shirley)

Tomorrow, we travel to Winterthur for a county-wide meet in preparation for State Championships one week later. I will try to get results and a race review up for both meets as soon as possible.

Thanks,
Benjamin Schneider

Notes and Updates

I've had a fairly busy week and also have a bunch of stuff to get done this weekend. Given my time constraints, I'm going to break from tradition, speak in the first person, and just give a short summary of what has gone on the last two weeks.

Coach Pizzulli Runs Half Marathon

Coach Pizzulli competed in the Freedom's Run Half Marathon on October 1 in West Virginia. The race was run in mixed conditions, with rain rolling in about half an hour before the race start. It slowed down as the race began, but picked up again toward the end of the race.

Photo: Innovative Timing Systems, LLC

Pizzulli ran a time of 1:54:12.6 and finished 110th overall and 11th of 123 in her age group. Of the 787 runners who started the race, only 682 finished, making for 105 total DNFs.

"I was not expecting the course to be as hilly as it was (I was told [there was only] one major hill). The first hill we hit at mile three was about a mile and a half long, going up about 940 something feet (basically a little under 1000 ft elevation). Rolling hills continued the rest of the course.

"I was not able to begin training until August, so I only "trained" for two months- my longest run in those two months was nine miles. Along the way I had two slight set backs with some minor injuries (foot and right hamstring).

"Keeping this in mind, I try to remind myself that it was just one race. I can do it again, get better training, and get a time that I am satisfied with."

Given the brutality of course and her lack of training time, the mere fact that Coach Pizzulli finished is impressive, let alone in under two hours. Full race results can be found here.

Aberdeen vs. Edgewood vs. Red Lion vs. Tome vs. West Nottingham @ Bo Manor

Our fourth race was a six-school meet at Bohemia Manor High School. Both our Girls and Boys teams did well; the Girls took third-place out of four teams (Aberdeen and West Nottingham did not have Girls teams) and the Boys took second-place out of six. It was also a challenging course, and unfortunately, Micah had to pull out of the race with shin splints. We've also lost Katelyn for the season due to a stress fracture suffered before the race, which is a shame, given her decision to join our team at the last minute.

Joshua ran another fantastic race, finishing sixth overall in 18:47.01. Our fastest girl, Jessie, also finished sixth overall with a time of 22:54.91. If you would like a copy of the full race results, feel free to email me.

Battling Max for the lead in a dual meet last season
(Photo: TOCS Facebook)

Personally, it was an okay race for me. I finished 19th overall but probably could have been one spot higher had I waited longer to make my move on a Bo Manor runner. I passed him too early, ran out of gas and he passed me back, finishing about five seconds ahead of me.

It was also nice to get a chance to race against Tall Oaks' former MIL rivals, Tome and West Nottingham. It's tough to see one of Tome's fastest runners, Cody McDaniel, struggling with a knee injury right now. Cody and Josh were close rivals the past couple of seasons, though injuries have made it difficult for him to maintain that pace. 

Maxwell Green Wright was one of my rivals last year and has become WNA's fastest runner by far. I outpaced him all three races we ran against them last season, but he's beaten both times we've run against them this season. Max is a fantastic all around athlete; he's also a far better basketball player than I am and excels as a lacrosse player as well.

2016 Joe O'Neill XC Invitational

This was our fifth race of the season, and it was by far the largest high school race I have ever been a part of, perhaps the largest race period (though the Reindeer Run may come close). The meet was held at Bellevue State Park, which is where we ran the Howard Laws 5K races this summer. Mr. Laws himself was even at the race yesterday helping log the race results!

To my surprise, this really is a fast course. It has a little bit of everything. It starts out on Bellevue's wide open, one-mile gravel track before heading onto grass and into the woods, then coming back out onto the grass fields before hitting the pavement and finally crossing the original gravel track to sprint to the finish on the grass.

I could not be more pleased with my performance. If you had told me this summer that I was going to come back in October and run the exact same course in 19:25, I would have laughed in your face. But I did it, running my fastest 5K time in nearly over a year and my second fastest ever. Several of our runners ran personal best times yesterday, too many to count! 

Full race results can be found here (thanks for the link Katie!).

Looking Ahead

This was the first week we've had multiple races in the same week. The team has been instructed to get a short run in this morning and take Sunday off to fully recover as much as possible. We still have a lot of work to do to prepare for November but I'm already proud of what this team has accomplished and how far we've come in the last two months. Until next time...Go Lions!

Red Lion Christian Academy vs. Delmarva Christian High School (Review)

Round Three of Red Lion's 2016 Cross-Country season was a home race at Lums Pond State Park against Delmarva Christian High School. The event also included senior recognition, with the team honoring its four graduating seniors after the race.

Seniors, left to right: Benjamin Schneider, Noah 
Pfenninger, Calvin Pozsonyi, Jonathan Huey
(Photo: RLCA Facebook)

The Girls' race was won by Delmarva's Olivia Andersen, who finished with a time of 22:55. Red Lion then swept the next six positions; Hannah Ye ('21) finished second in 24:48, followed by Mae Willis ('20), Girls' Captain Naomi Mengel ('18), Katie Rippon ('20), Zoe Wilcox ('19), and Sarah Zhu ('20). On the Boys' side, Alternate Boys' Captain Noah Pfenninger ('17) won his first career Varsity Cross-Country race with a time of 20:15. Boys' Captain Benjamin Schneider ('17) finished second (20:54), while Delmarva junior Logan Patterson came in third. Calvin Pozsonyi ('17) and Spencer Armstrong ('19) rounded out the top five, while Jonathan Huey ('17) finished with a personal record of 27:42, beating his previous record set at White Clay Creek by over a minute.

Joshua Deitrich ('19), normally one of Red Lion's fastest runners, was battling an illness and almost did not start. However, he persevered throughout the race and finished in 31:16.

Girls' Captain Naomi Mengel (foreground)
finished fourth with Katie Rippon (background)
ten seconds behind in fifth
(Photo: RLCA Facebook)

GIRLS' RESULTS

1. Olivia Andersen (DCHS) 22:55
2. Hannah Ye (RLCA) 24:48
3. Mae Willis (RLCA) 25:21
4. Naomi Mengel (C) (RLCA) 26:11
5. Katie Rippon (RLCA) 26:21
6. Zoe Wilcox (RLCA) 27:46
7. Sarah Zhu (RLCA) 27:50
8. Anna Shipley (DCHS) 28:34
9. Brianna Taylor (DCHS) 30:04
10. Anna Teather (A) (RLCA) 30:36
11. Emelyn Owens (DHCS) 30:37
12. Grace Healy (RLCA) 31:12
13. Gabby Wilcox (RLCA) 31:14
14. Hope Kline (DCHS) 36:35
DNS-Volleyball: Jessie Silver (RLCA)
DNS-Volleyball: Josita Marshall (RLCA)
DNS-Knee Injury: Katelyn Walker (RLCA)


BOYS' RESULTS

The "podium": Noah Pfenninger won his first 

career race, followed by longtime teammate

Benjamin Schneider and Logan Patterson in 

second and third

(Photo: Garrett Schneider)

1. Noah Pfenninger (A) (RLCA) 20:15
2. Benjamin Schneider (C) (RLCA) 20:54
3. Logan Patterson (DCHS) 21:13
4. Calvin Pozsonyi (RLCA) 21:48
5. Spencer Armstrong (RLCA) 21:52
6. Luke Sherman (RLCA) 22:12
7. Michael Apgar (DCHS) 22:24
8. Omari Banks (RLCA) 22:43
9. Mason Friend (DCHS) 22:46
10. Dennis Nicholson (RLCA) 22:57
11. Micah Pope (RLCA) 23:17
12. Corlin Robinson (RLCA) 23:25
13. Hunter Wyrick (DCHS) 23:26
14. Ryan Silver (RLCA) 23:37
15. Nick Yu (RLCA) 24:13
16. Brandan Leauby (RLCA) 24:39
17. Marc Sherman (RLCA) 26:15
18. Jesse (Boyang) Ma (RLCA) 27:36
19. Jonathan Huey (RLCA) 27:42
20. John DiBonaventure (DCHS) 30:13
21. Joshua Deitrich (RLCA) 31:16
22. Aden Marnevick (DCHS) 36:34
DNS-Soccer: Weston Marshall (RLCA)

2016 White Clay Creek Classic (Review)

NOTE: For the purpose of this review, the graduation years for the runners have been omitted as they are implied given the race in which they competed.

Full race results and times can be found here.

Round Two of Red Lion's 2016 Cross-Country season brought the team to White Clay Creek State Park in Newark, Delaware for the running of the 2016 WCC Classic. The meet was different from a traditional high school race in that the field was divided by grade due to the high number of students and teams competing. Scoring was also different; rather than each runner receiving one point per finishing position, the top 20 runners in each race scored points for their teams, with the winner scoring 20 and each successive runner scoring one fewer, ending with 20th scoring one point.

Race One featured the Freshman Girls and Boys, with Sarah Donaldson and Connor Hessler (both St. Mark's) winning with times of 21:11.22 and 18:06.85 respectively. Mae Willis finished the Girls' race in 29th for Red Lion, with Katie Rippon in 41st and Sarah Zhu just behind in 43rd. In the Boys' race, Weston Marshall just missed out on scoring points, finishing in 21st with a time of 20:29.69. Ryan Silver, Jesse (Boyang) Ma, and Marc Sherman followed in 68th, 78th, and 82nd.

Joshua Deitrich was the lone Boys runner to score 
points for the team (Photo: RLCA Facebook)

The Sophomores ran Race Two, which was won by Naomi Dawkins (Newark) and Connor Nisbet (Wilmington Friends) with respective times of 20:00.58 and 16:30.66. Katelyn Walker finished the Girls' race in 72nd, while Zoe Wilcox followed in 89th. Joshua Deitrich was Red Lion's only Boys runner to finish in the points among all four grades, placing 18th in 18:32.27 and claiming three valuable points for the team. Spencer Armstrong and Micah Pope followed in 64th and 94th respectively.

Josita Marshall and Jessie Silver both finished
in the points (Photo: RLCA Facebook)

Race Three saw the Juniors take to the course and Red Lion's Girls team did not disappoint. Lydia Olivere (Padua) won the race (17:54.24), while Josita Marshall and Jessica Silver ran times of 22:57.84 and 23:04.47, good enough for 12th and 14th and 16 total points for Red Lion. Varsity Girls' Captain Naomi Mengel followed in 37th in only the second race of her career, while Alternate Girls' Captain Anna Teather placed 56th. In the Boys' race, Jonah Lane (Severna Park) finished in 16:33.93 to take the victory, while Luke Sherman, Nick Yu, and Brandan Leauby represented the Lions in 85th, 107th, 110th respectively.

Race Four featured the Senior Girls and Boys, with Padua's Maddie Olivere (20:00.63) and Smyrna's Tosin Ibironke (16:53.55) picking up the victories. The Girls' Race did not feature any Red Lion runners; Alternate Boys' Captain Noah Pfenninger led the way for the Senior Boys' team, finishing 43rd with a time of 20:06.90. Following Pfenninger were Varsity Boys' Captain Benjamin Schneider, Calvin Pozsonyi, and Jonathan Huey, placing 53rd, 59th, and 108th. Huey's time of 28:47.80 is also notable as it marked his fastest ever time for a 5K race.

Of the 23 Girls teams that scored, Red Lion's 16 points earned the team 14th place in the Girls' team rankings, while Deitrich's three points for the Boys put Red Lion in a tie for 19th in the Boys' team rankings.

2016 Maryland Track and Trail (Review)

Bohemia Manor High School, Perryview High School, and Elkton High School hosted the 2016 Maryland Track and Trail Invitational at Fair Hill Race Track this past Saturday. The race marked Red Lion Christian Academy's first official Varsity meet of the season, with both the Girls' and Boys' teams running in the Small School division.

The Girls' race was won by Julien Webster ('17) of Catoctin High School, who blew away the rest of the field, winning by over a minute and a half with a time of 19:16.3. Her teammate, Lillie Perella, finished in second coming in at 20:48.3.

Red Lion's Cross Country team after their first meet of the 
season (Photo: RLCA Facebook)

Jessie Silver ('18) performed the best among Red Lion's Varsity Girls team, finishing in 29th (only four spots shy of a top 25 medal) with a time of 25:10.9. Josita Marshall ('18) and Mae Willis ('20) followed with respective times of 26:16.9 and 26:22.8. Team Captain Naomi Mengel ('18) finished 74th in her debut race (28:33.4), while Alternate Captain Anna Teather ('18) finished 83rd (29:09.7). A total of 108 runners entered the race.

Sarah Zhu ('20) finished the race in 88th in just over 30 minutes; however, she collapsed after the race due to heat exhaustion and was taken to a local hospital for precautionary measures. Zhu was released later that same evening and returned to practice today as a full participant.

On the Boys' side, Devon Caples of Winters Mill High School won the race with a time of 17:19.4. Red Lion's top male runner, Joshua Deitrich ('19), finished eighth in 18:19.7, earning the only top 25 medal for the team. Weston Marshall ('20) followed Deitrich in 40th (20:00.6); Alternate Captain Noah Pfenninger ('17) finished 57th with a time of 20:56.7, while Captain Benjamin Schneider ('17) came in 74th at 21:59.2. A total of 137 runners comprised the field for the race.

As teams, Red Lion's Girls finished ninth of 14 teams with a score of 256, while the Boys finished tenth of 15 teams with a score of 266.

Links to full race results can be found here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I apologize for the delay in getting this post up. The weekend was really busy for me and I had other tasks that took priority over this. 

Also, shoutout to everyone who reads this blog. It's not even the middle of September and we are already approaching 1,000 page views and even have our first official Google+ "follower" (thanks Mr. Finch!). I owe a big thank you to everyone who is making this project worthwhile for me and for the team, and I hope you will continue to check in to see how our season is going.

Thanks again!

Benjamin Schneider

Where are they now?: David Walczak

David Walczak (third from left) is currently running
collegiately for Gordon College.
(Photo: Instagram (dav.wal))

A former two-year captain of Tall Oaks Classical School's cross-country team, David Walczak ('16) is currently enjoying life as a freshman at Gordon College in Massachusetts. Walczak ran for Tall Oaks' Varsity Boys' team for five years, with his best season (statistically) coming in 2013, highlighted by a second-place finish in a home race against West Nottingham Academy at the team's then-home course, Iron Hill. He also holds the distinction of being the final Varsity Boys' team captain for Tall Oaks during the Titan era.

Walczak's experience in cross-country has suited him well in college so far, as he competed in his first collegiate race for Gordon yesterday. "I'm very thankful for a strong team that has pushed me this far," Walczak wrote in an Instagram post after the race yesterday. "I can't wait to see how much we can accomplish this season."

Several former Tall Oaks runners expressed their compliments to Walczak, including former captain Jaime Weber ('14), current Red Lion Varsity Boys' team captain Benjamin Schneider ('17), and Coach Paul Shirley, who noted that Walczak is the first Tall Oaks runner to go on to run collegiately since his tenure as coach began in 2012.

It Feels Good to Be Back

We've had a great first two days of practice as we get the XC season underway. I've seen many old friends and new faces alike. The preseason, in a weird way, is almost my favorite part of the season. There's no pressure; everyone is just getting back into shape or learning the ropes, depending on each runner's level of experience.

Despite the transition to Red Lion athletics, longtime Tall Oaks coach Paul Shirley is back, and we are thrilled to have him on board for another season. At the same time, Red Lion's coach, Nikki Pizzulli, is still with the team as well. I had heard nothing but good things about her leading up to the season, and I myself have nothing but good things to say about her as we start the season. She is clearly experienced and knows what we need to be doing, and I have no doubt she will work well alongside Coach Shirley this season.

Message received, Mike. We won't let you down this season.
(Photo: Noah Pfenninger ('17))

It has been hot these past few days. But really, even though school starts next week, we're technically still in the middle third of "summer" judging by the calendar seasons, so should we expect anything different? To all our new runners, I promise you, it will cool off. Every degree of heat makes a difference in how hard the human body can push itself.

I also want to thank former Red Lion XC great Michael Collins ('16) for his kind note yesterday. I already sent out a short message via Instagram, Facebook, and Google+, but I wanted to include something about it here in case you have not gotten a chance to see it yet.

I am looking forward to a great season. More to come.

P. S. The sixth and final Laws Series 5K is tonight. Joshua Deitrich ('19) and I were the only runners even considering attending the race; however, we decided it was more important to benefit the team by attending practice instead (Coach Shirley vetoed any attempts to do "The Double"). Given that my "non"-review was basically pointless and did not receive very many page hits, I will not be writing any posts about the final race in the series. Instead, I can only be thankful for your support during the summer runs and for those runners who came out and did the runs with me.

P. P. S. To all my teammates: if you want to contribute to this blog, I have no problem with that. Just let me know and I'll send you an invitation to do so.

Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series: Race 5 ("Non"-review)

The fifth Laws 5K race was held yesterday evening, meaning the reader might expect OTLXC to do a traditional review of the race, reveal how each runner fared, etc. But for once, OTLXC is doing something a bit different: a "non"-review, because no notable TOCS or RLCA runners, to our knowledge, were at the race due to various circumstances.

That concludes this "non"-review. We will resume our traditional reviews with the season finale of the Laws Series in two weeks.

Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series: Race 4 (TEAM RACE) (Review)

Left to right: J. Deitrich, Collins, Leauby, B. Deitrich,
Rippon, Coach Paul Shirley, Schneider, Pozsonyi

The fourth Laws 5K race was held yesterday evening and was the series' annual team race. The Red Lion and Tall Oaks runners formed a joint team in representation of the upcoming season's partnership; Michael Collins ('16) represented Red Lion, while Joshua Deitrich ('19), Benjamin Schneider ('17), Calvin Pozsonyi ('17), Brandan Leauby ('18), Katie Rippon ('20), and Bryan Deitrich represented Tall Oaks. 

Collins ran the fastest time of the team and finished sixth overall; J. Deitrich finished 13th, the highest finisher among TOCS. Schneider, who ran a personal best time for the series at 22:11, finished 27th, with Pozsonyi 25 seconds behind in 35th. B. Deitrich edged out Leauby; the former finished 63rd, two spots ahead of the latter. Finally, Rippon finished 73rd overall in her series debut.

Given the team-focus of the event, the fourth race also saw the highest overall attendance for the series so far this season. Nine teams competed in the event, with the Red Lion/Tall Oaks "superteam" finishing sixth.

Collins (via Instagram): "Passing the Red Lion XC mantle to this group of guys (and one girl). Excited to see them carry on the tradition!"

Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series: Race 4 (TEAM RACE) (Preview)

First of all, thank you to Calvin for joining me on a nice, easy run this morning. I will try to give a more advanced notice for the next captain's run, which will hopefully be sometime next week.

As for tomorrow, this is the series' annual team race. Red Lion's Michael Collins ('16) has graciously offered to help recruit some RLCA runners and form a Red Lion/Tall Oaks "superteam" for the race (which is appropriate given our partnership). With that, we need to put out a call to you all to add as many participants to the team as we can. If you are interested in running tomorrow and your schedule allows it, we would love for you to come out and join us for this race.

Thanks,
Benjamin Schneider

Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series: Race 3 (Review)

Joshua Deitrich (pictured in 2014)
led the way for the TOCS, albeit with
a slower pace than he ran in Race 1.
(Photo: TOCS Facebook)

EDITOR'S NOTE: I apologize for the delay and brevity of this post. Due to time constraints, I was unable to write a preview and was also unable to get an official copy of the results before we left, but I will do my best to fill you all in on the race.


The third Laws 5K race was held yesterday evening, with Joshua Deitrich ('19), Benjamin Schneider ('17), Spencer Armstrong ('19), and Brandan Leauby ('18) competing in the male HS division. Joshua's father, Bryan Deitrich, returned to participate in the open division. J. Deitrich returned from injury to claim the fastest time of the race among TOCS runners. The heat and humidity, however, provided tough conditions once again for the entire field of runners; Leauby commented, "I'm not sure anyone met their goal today."

Schneider (via Instagram): "Very disappointing race today. Really wasn't expecting the heat to affect me this much. Maybe something else was slowing me down; I don't know. Congrats to Josh, Brandan, and [Spencer] on their finishes as well."

Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series: Race 2 (Review)

Spencer Armstrong (left, pictured
in 2016) was a surprise entry
in the second event in the six-
race series.
(Photo: TOCS Facebook)

The second Laws 5K race took place this evening at Bellveue State Park. Tall Oaks, as expected, saw a limited showing with the combination of injures, weather, and the ACCS conferences in Atlanta, Georgia. Micah Pope ('19) was expected to run but also withdrew at the last minute. TOCS Varsity Boys XC runners Calvin Pozsonyi ('17) and Spencer Armstrong ('19) made their series debuts; however, with limited coverage of the race, results are not fully available. OnTheLineXC was able to talk to Pozsonyi for a bit after the race though.

"Spencer was around 29 minutes and I was 23:15. I don't [know] if it was the heat or just me, but the course felt brutal. It was really hot and since the course is in the sun a lot you could really feel the heat."

However, Pozsonyi also said he has "no idea" where he and Armstrong ended up in terms of finishing position.

Schneider follows Deitrich's lead, will not participate in Race 2

Hey guys, I've made an executive decision that even if the race happens, I will not be running tonight. The weather is going to be bad, with the storm hitting its peak right at the start of the race. Even if the storm moves through slower or faster than expected, it will still have a great effect on the course, which takes place mostly on the fields and trails of the park. All things considered, I've decided it makes more sense to get on the road earlier tonight so that I have more time to prepare for the various stops on my trip. I'm very disappointed, but I'm convinced skipping tonight's race, if there even is one, is the best decision for me and my family. Josh told me Micah is running though, so Micah, let me know what happens!

Breaking news: J. Deitrich scratched from Race 2

Joshua Deitrich ('19), who delivered the best run out of the TOCS community in the first Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series race, is out of the second with a leg injury. Deitrich confirmed the injury to Benjamin Schneider ('17) around 1:45 this afternoon.

"I'm coming but I can't run," Deitrich confirmed. "I hurt my leg. I got kneed in the thigh playing basketball." 

When asked of the severity of the injury, Deitrich answered, "We're not sure yet. It's either out of joint or really bruised, or I strained a muscle or something. It's swelled up a lot."

Filling in for Deitrich's absence will be Micah Pope ('19), who will be making his 2016 5K debut.

Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series: Race 2 (Preview)

First off, guys, let me make one thing clear. Don't expect much detail from these race previews. My goal with these is just to give you all insight as to what our plans are for the next race. The reviews are where you're going to find most of your information and will be written in the style of a third-person post-race article.

Now, as for the purpose of this post, the second race in the Howard M. Laws Summer Cross Country 5K Series is scheduled to take place tonight; however, weather could be an issue around race time. I am still planning to drive out, unless we get notification that the race has been postponed/canceled. As far as I know, Josh, (maybe) Micah and I are planning to run at the bare minimum. I personally am leaving for a stop at Davidson College on my way to ACCS as soon as I cross the finish line. So unless Josh takes me up on my offer to let him do the race review, it will be a while (likely Thursday) before it is be posted. Of course, if the race is postponed or canceled, we will let you know as well.

Race time is 6:30. More to come.