MBA JS XC Keeps It Real

 

Eager to get the day's running off to a fast start, Heuer Ross and Grayson Raggio began by chasing the bus out of the MBA parking lot. With everyone finally aboard, Coach Ferrell casually flexed his CDL S endorsement (which dwarfs the plain old CDL) as he ably drove us to the meet at USN's River Campus. We won't dwell on the smell attendant on racing at this venue, but I do need to issue a formal apology to the Cumberland River: I am sorry I pinned the odious odor on you all these years. I had no idea about the "sewage solids" treatment plant just across the tree line. Can you ever forgive me? Anyway, the MBA runners barely had time to register the offensive olfactory assault before it was time to race.

 

From the jump, it was clear this would be a race to remember. Wyatt Selph, who had apparently been planning his strategy since early May, found the race leader and planted himself directly behind him. As Wyatt tore out at a blazing pace, his teammates had no choice but to follow and watch what would happen. Wyatt stayed on this particular USN Tiger's tail throughout the grueling 2-mile race until the final 100 meters. The sizable crowd along the finishing stretch roared to life as Wyatt made his move...but the Tiger wasn't beaten yet. The two determined runners traded the lead several times within the final few meters. Finally, Wyatt, surely drawing upon all the wisdom gleaned from the all-school read, surged forward at the finish to claim his first ever victory. His teammates rolled in right on his heels as the Big Red claimed 12 of the top 15 spots. 

 

Despite Wyatt's epic individual performance--and in fact because of it--the team showed that cross country is anything but an individual sport. The rest of the top 7 all finished within 20 seconds of each other, and there's no way they would have achieved that feat without watching Wyatt and leaning on each other. There was nothing artificial about the Big Red's team effort today. It was real and it was spectacular.

 

Cross country results typically take eons to coalesce. Even though we don't have official scores yet, I think our team score of 19 can't be beaten. I'll confirm this with the math department.

 

First Last Place Time

Wyatt Selph 1 0:11:47

Tucker Robbins 3 0:12:27

Sebastian Muller 4 0:12:27

William King 5 0:12:28

Carl King 6 0:12:36

Ethan Taber 7 0:12:36

Cason Wilbert 9 0:12:46

Luke Savoie 10 0:13:22

Jonathan Lucas 11 0:13:23

Liam O'Brien 12 0:13:32

Austin Piggee 14 0:13:39

Huck Humphrey 19 0:14:31

Brooks Mettee 20 0:14:32

Sam Bess 23 0:14:39

Ahmad Abuali 28 0:15:08

Heuer Ross 29 0:15:08

James Johnson 32 0:15:20

Paul Kath 33 0:15:24

Grayson Raggio 34 0:15:27

Archer Reynolds 41 0:15:50

Joseph Oluwole 42 0:15:53

JT Greek 45 0:16:06

William Menge 48 0:16:22

Job Gresham 50 0:16:39

Hudson Ewald 51 0:16:43