November 17 - This summer, Saline Cross Country lost a dear friend. Joe Barton, a 2006 graduate of Saline High School and varsity member of both the cross country and track teams, is remembered for his friendly smile and caring nature. Like many of Saline's runners, current and past, Joe loved being part of a team where he could take care of others and be part of something positive. In late August of 2008, Joe lost his life in a car accident.
"Today, Joe Barton lives on through a memorial fund designed to encourage the values he lived by: academic achievement, strength of character, competitive spirit and concern for others. Each year, The Saline Men's Cross Country program will recognize students who embrace those values through the Be Like Joe Scholarship – a tribute to a short life full of meaning, and young man with an unforgettable smile." |
If Saline Cross Country has been an important part of your life, or perhaps your son's life, I hope you'll consider giving to the fund that honors such a great young man and encourages his lofty ideals. Visit www.BeLikeJoe.com for more information on Joe Barton and the fund his family has established.
November 17 - The alumni were out and racing again. This weekend was the NCAA Regionals, and Blake Johnson and Dustin Voss again found themselves in the same race. Check out the pictures below, courtesy of Mrs. Johnson.
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Blake and Dustin all clean, so I'm guessing it's before the race |
The course was a little muddy... |
Mid-race Blake, looking strong as usual! In the background is Mrs. Cummings! |
November 12 - And so it begins again! The distance runners met today to discuss the winter training plan for 2008/2009. After a discussion of the finer points, each of the runners committed to the goals of the program and a level of training. The complete details can be found in the team section, while the printable mileage logs can be found on the Downloads page.
November 9 - The 2008 Cross Country Season officially came to a close today, as the runners, captains, coaches, and families celebrated this fall with the annual team banquet. There was dinner, the captains' presentations, and a special recognition for Coach Smith, who was inducted into the MITCA Hall of Fame on Friday.
Following dinner, the teams split and the boys had their ceremony in the auditorium. There, the team took time to reflect on the season, recognize each individual, and pass out team awards.
Afterwards, the boys and girls teams came back together to watch the DVD.
The team booklet is available online under the Downloads page.
And as we have done all evening, a special thanks to the runners, parents, coaches, and volunteers that make Saline Cross Country possible.
November 7 - Each year, MITCA recognizes the academic efforts of the top teams and individuals. Runners can earn individual Academic All-State awards if they finish in the top half of the field and have a GPA of 3.8 or higher. The finishers are ranked based on a combination of their GPA and finish place in the State Finals. This year, three of Saline's runners earned the honor, with Kevin Hendrickson 8th, Andrew Barnett 9th, and Brian Conn 21st!
All teams qualifying for the state finals can also qualify for the team ranking. Saline's combined 3.893 GPA is an average of the top 5 GPA's of the 7 athletes that competed in the state finals, and that average is good enough to finish 4th in the team rankings!
This marks the third consecutive year that, Saline has finished in the top five of the Academic All-State Team Rankings AND in the top ten of the state finals!
November 3 - Two new photo albums have been added from the Regional Championships, along with some updates to the Saline Cross Country Hall of Fame...
November 3 - There are some important dates to keep in mind...
Wednesday, November 5 - Indoor Track Meeting - 3PM @ HS Commons
Sunday, November 9 - Banquet - 3PM @ HS Commons - Keep in mind that this is not a "jeans & t-shirt" affair for the runners. Dinner is provided.
Wednesday, November 12 - Winter Cross Country Meeting - 3PM @ Varsity Team Rooms
November 1 or 2? - Here's the awesome newsletter that you've been missing the last two weeks.
November 1 - Despite a lot of adversity, it was a history making year for Saline! Check out the completly updated Historical Lists section to see just how much was accomplished this year!
November 1 - Saline finished 9th in the MHSAA State Finals today, with Brian Conn leading the way. The Senior Captain also picked up his second All-State honor. Harper was the team's #2, running 16:26. Senior Captain Kevin Hendrickson had a big PR, running 16:30 and dropping 11 seconds over his previous best. Sophomore Andrew Barnett had a HUGE day, dropping 37 seconds to run 16:32 and be the teams #4! Nate Martis was the #5, closing out the scoring in 16:41. Croix Jastrow and David Hendrickson both had their first trip to the state meet, with Jastrow finishing in 16:51 (his first trip under 17:00) while HendrxD provided another steady performance, finishing in 17:15. Complete results for Saline are available.
Three SEC teams finished in the top ten of the race, with Pioneer (1st) and Huron (5th) making the conference look good. Monroe, who joins the conference next fall, was 10th. Bedford's Tommy Valade added to the honors collected by the SEC, as he also earned All-State Honors. Complete results for the entire race are available.
A HUGE thank you to the many Saline fans that made it out to the race. There were parents, sisters, brothers, alumni, current runners, soccer players, football players, and future runners in attendance supporting the team. Your presence was much appreciated by the coaches and the runners! When I met privately with the runners after the race to discuss the performance, one of the things that came up was how thankful they were to have YOU in attendance, and if they didn't say "thank you," let me have the honors: "Thanks!!!"
To the seniors, congratulations on a great season! You accomplished A LOT in just four years, and I know you have inspired the underclassmen like your seniors inspired you!
I'll see you all at the time trial (meet at 3:00 in the HS Commons on Tuesday) or at the banquet!
October 31 - Middle School Runners - Your photo album can be found at http://mscc08.gonzophotos.com.
October 29 - Even though their season has ended, a congratulations to Saline's soccer team, which recently won a Regional Championship and ended their season at the MHSAA Semi-Finals. One hundred twenty-three Division 1 teams started the season, and once again, Saline finishes among the best. Nice job leaving your mark!
October 29 - A preview of the state meet has been posted in the team files.
October 28 - The State Meet Send-Off is a great way for fans, alumni, teammates, and family members to share their well-wishes with the runners as they prepare to compete in the State Finals. This year's send-off will take place in the High School Commons, and all fans should arrive by 10:30AM to sign posters and leave notes. At 10:45 the runners will make their appearance, shake hands, and then head off to the races.
Directions to the State Meet are also available and we hope to see you there!
October 28 - Here's a great picture of Kevin Hendrickson and Luke Dishnow (Captain of the Soccer team) holding their Regional Championship trophies. Back in the day, Kevin used to play soccer with "Dish." In the summer, Dish runs with the cross country team on a regular basis, both participate in indoor soccer and indoor track. Last spring, both were part of Saline's 4x800, which earned All-State honors and was the tenth consecutive Saline 4x800 to score at the State Finals. This Saturday, both were on teams that picked up Regional Championships. Good story...great kids! And just two of the many that are part of both programs.
October 26 - If you are in the habit of skipping the index page, go Home to see a video of awards and hear some lovely singing. Here's a fun fact: Saline is the only D1 school to have picked up regional championships for both their boys' and girls' cross country teams this weekend! The fun continues for Hornet sports, as Saline's Soccer team won their regional last tonight, "upsetting" a tough team from Salem in overtime. Over the past few years, the soccer and cross country teams have become close friends as many of the athletes on both teams participate in cross country summer conditioning, indoor soccer, indoor track, and outdoor track together, making guys like Luke Dishnow, Patrick Valenti, and several others honorary cross country runners in my eyes, while many of the cross country runners are HUGE soccer fans and revel in the continued success of that program. Most importantly, I hope someone got a picture of the XC and Soccer trophies and those XC/Soccer guys together! Saline's Football team also won their game of Friday night, earning them a spot in the playoffs, probably giving Matt Morrow a new hairstyle and something to yell about.
Outside of Saline, congratulations are due to the several SEC cross country teams that won their regional meet, including the boys' teams from Pioneer and Tecumseh (go Calvin Heim!), and the girls' team from Dexter.
Finally, my soapbox.... The Ann Arbor News is frequently slammed for what some have called "biased" coverage of sports in the area. Maybe we should just call it weak reporting this time around. I'll provide you with links to the coverage provided by the Ann Arbor News and The Detroit Free Press and you can decide which did a better job. And then realize that the Ann Arbor newspaper is our local paper and surrounded by several of the most prestigious cross country programs in the state (Pinckney, Dexter, Pioneer, Saline, Huron, Chelsea, Brighton, Milan, and AA Greenhills, all outstanding programs in the coverage area) and the Free Press is, well, outside the hot-bed of cross country.
October 25 - Saline took home a regional championship and four All-Region honors in today's race at Lake Erie Metro Park. Through five runners Saline was tied with Monroe at 48 points each, and 6th man David Hendrickson made the difference, finishing ahead of Monroe's #5 to make the tie possible, and then breaking the tie in Saline's favor! Brian Conn finished as runner-up in the region, behind Tommy Valade of Bedford. Andrew Harper, Nate Martis, and Kevin Hendrickson each earned All-Region honors by finishing in the top fifteen. Croix Jastrow stepped up to the 5th man position for Saline, HendrxD was 6th, while Joe Lipa struggled and finished as Saline's #7.
In the reserve race, Saline scored just twenty points, taking the top two spots and a total of five of the top eight, giving the team an incredible record of 151 wins and just 1 loss! Andrew Barnett easily won the race, finishing in 17:17, and Spencer Bishop finished as runner-up and in a PR time of 17:47. Travis Littlejohn, Jonathan Parker, and Dan Lahnala finished out the teams scoring. In all, just four runners PR'ed, including Bishop (-3 seconds),, Jonathan Parker (18:04, -4 seconds), Tyler Gross (18:15, -29 seconds!!), and Robbie Carroll (18:58, -5 seconds). It's worthy to note that, in the reserve race, four of the five scorers for Saline were either freshmen or sophmores!
Complete results for Saline are available here.
Now the team will focus on the state finals next Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Check back here frequently to see updates on how the team is training and information on the SENDOFF, which I hope you'll be able to attend!