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!