a happy momma: December 2012

Very kind family members took the younger kids so Tom and I could go to Portland to Caleb's race. We had a great time and were so glad to be at the very exciting race. It was an amazing trip!

Tom and I waiting for our elevator to head to the race. In addition to AFXC, our shirts say "Our kids run this town". Literally, they do; at over 2,000 miles a year, they run every where in this city and much of the neighboring two.

The race was held at Portland Meadows....a horse race track.

Apparently there were torrential rains in Portland the week before the race. The course was the muddiest it had ever been in the history of this race. It made it a tricky race for the runners, but also for the spectators. Galoshes were not on the packing list so I did not have any along. :( At first we tried to avoid getting too much mud on our shoes. After we were unsuccessful with that, we just tried to avoid the puddles. It wasn't long until anything was fair game and we just ignored our wet, muddy and cold feet. After the race was over we walked through a clean-ish puddle to swish off as much mud as possible so the hotel would let us back in and so we didn't get the rental car too muddy.

During the pre-race hype, Tom and I wondered how American Fork could even compete in such a tough playing ground--the top 22 teams in the nation and so many stand-out runners, not to mention the very muddy and wet conditions. Our hopes were not high especially as they announced each team and read their credentials. We figured that it was just cool to be there.

Runners lined up for the start---this is about the only green they ran on the whole race.

Since we were at Nike and everything was high-tech, everyone had chips on their shoes so we had the luxury of knowing how the teams were doing during the race. At the first mile, American Fork was in first place by quite a bit! We were ecstatic! At each check point AF had the lead even though the gap narrowed. (For my records: entire video here. If you are interested in the muddiness of the race, watch from about 2:50-5:00 mins.)

First score readings on the Jumbotron. Lincroft has been ranked 1st the whole season; Arcadia, 2nd the whole season; American Fork moved to 3rd in the national rankings mid-season.

I'm not sure what is going on with my camera, but this is the team scores at the last check point. AF is 123; Arcadia is 154.

Caleb actually had quite a bit of video coverage. Here he is on the Jumbotron. He was fairly easy to spot because he wore tube socks on his arms for warmth. I guess AF did that last year at nationals and he wanted to do it even though the rest of the team opted out (he has was smeared with olive oil for warmth.)

One of AF runners--Tyler Bell--running through the deepest puddle on the course.

During the race the commentators discussed their biggest surprises of the day---that American Fork boys team could be competitors in this caliber of a race. Their surprise came from the fact that we are from a state with only 2.8 million people while the other real competitors in this race are typically from New York and California. They also mentioned that while American Fork was a good team, they just didn't think they had the depth other teams had.

Unfortunately, though, the way the scores lined up, American Fork ended with a 2nd place title instead of 1st-- even though AF had the first five runners in before any other team. There were no regrets, really, but it was just such a close, close race that it is worth recording that they almost won! (Arcadia beat them by just 14 points.) All in all, it was great just to be there and see them do so well. The goal for the beginning of the year was to get on the podium at nationals---and they not only did that, but almost won it! Very cool for them.

On a personal note, I am thankful for Coach Mostert for teaching the boys to be great sports regardless of the race results. The whole team is upbeat and kind about everyone they race against. But beyond that, the coach does not allow the boys to 'talk smack' (his words) about their competitors. If I ever talk about other teams to Caleb in even a slightly competitive tone, he calls me on it. I have to say that definitely isn't true of other teams. We heard some negative comments from another Utah team about AF and you can tell they don't hold themselves to that standard. I'm thankful AF does.

Also, Caleb is always the first to reach out in congratulations and encouragement to the other teams. This picture is on the award stand just after they announced that Arcadia had won it. The way they handled the 1st/2nd announcement was a bit of a let down for AF, but Caleb was the first to reach out to them to congratulate them. This is from a video, so not the best, but is really telling to one of Caleb's great traits and the coach's encouragement to keep it friendly.

In addition to the free trip from Nike, Caleb came home with $640 of free gear (2 pairs of shoes, back pack, quite a bit of running gear and a coat). All athletes who attended the race received the same package. He is working to return next year--and much of it will be on him as he is one of the team captain's this year. He's got to influence the others to want it as much as him to work hard enough to get there. I hope they do!

It's been fun to see little tidbits from around town and in the paper about their accomplishment.

(We're a bit biased, but we thought AF should have placed higher than #10 in this article. . . )

American Fork XC team went to Mesa the week before Thanksgiving for the Regionals meet (Utah, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico's top teams). With time off for Thanksgiving, Tom didn't feel like he wanted to take the weekend before off as well, so I twisted my Mom's arm to go with me (not really, she was very willing!). I couldn't have done it without her! We stayed at my sister's and it was nice to have a place to stay.

The team had a great day--everyone of them running personal records. It was an awesome race and I'm so glad I could be there. Caleb came in 20th of 280 runners (but came in 12th in for the team scores). It was such an exciting day. He has worked very hard to put himself in this position. We are pleased with his discipline.

After the race, the team gathered around to coach's phone to compare results to their previous records.
(For Coach Mostert, it's all about stats--he is the Stats teacher at the HS) After the race he quickly
added up (in his head) the team's course time to project whether they had won or not.

Caleb receiving his T-shirt for being in the top 20. I should know who this
Olympian is, but I do not.

They were the number one team in the South West region! Now they go to Portland for Nationals--
an all expense paid trip by Nike!

The team won with a score of 36, the 2nd place team was 163. (You want the lowest score--you total the points by the placement of your first 5 runners, so if you get first, your team gets 1 point; if you place 20th, 20 is added to your team's score.) So awesome to see all of their hard work pay off!