Article and Photos by Steven Hendrixson
On Saturday, the boys’ and girls’ XC teams traveled to Chrisman, Illinois. There the squads competed in the Cowchip Classic. Going into the meet, the temperatures were really hot; with temperatures all week in the 90 degree range.
Saturday was no exception, with the temperatures getting up to 94 degrees. In other words, it was really hot! The Cowchip Classic is also known for its many big, rolling hills and narrow turns. The course has been made famous for being inside of a cow pasture, with you being able to find the occasional cow chip; hence the name of the meet. The course is 3 miles long, with two loops around. So taking into account the unique terrain and hot weather, it was expected to be a pretty brutal race. Saturday was really more of a mental test than anything.
The way the meet is run is quite different compared to most other meets of the season. Unlike other meets, it is run on flights. One runner from both the boys’ and girls’ sides will compete in a flight, starting with the slowest runners in the first flights to the faster runners in the later ones. There are a total of seven flights.
There were many great times by both the Lions and Lady Lions
On the boys’ side, Cooper Crumrin started off Marshall in flight 7 with a 26:09.48 time, placing 98th overall. In flight 6, Charlie Fox ran a 22:49.23 time; placing 81st overall. In flight 5, Henry Arthur finished with a 22:02.72 time to place 80th. In flight 4, Jacob Weber ran a 21:52.54 time and placed 78th overall. In flight 3, Bricyn Cassange finished with a 20:45 time to finish 70th overall. In flight 2, Senior Thomas Weber placed 65th; finishing with a 20:28.92 time. Senior Steven Hendrixson represented the boys in flight 1, where he finished with a 19:16 time to place 43rd overall.
The boys placed 8th overall, finishing with a score of 328 points.
On the girls side, Madeleine Fox and Grace Thompson were once again the leaders for the team, with Fox running a 20:06.68 to place 3rd overall and Thompson placing 5th overall with a 20:31.8 time. Runners Addie Nave and Myah Boyd also had great times, with Nave running a 24:04.48 time to place 27th; and Boyd finishing in a 25:00 time to place 38th overall.
Since the girls’ team had less than five runners, they were not able to place as a team.
The Lions will be on the road again next Saturday, where they will travel to Shelbyville to run in the Shelbyville trail invite on September 13th.
Madeleine Fox fights the heat
Addie Nave down the stretch
Henry Arthur at Chrisman
Thomas Webber and Grace Thompson
Cow Chip XC Course