Ben's JOXC Journey: State and Regionals 2016

It has been an incredible first (and likely only) season of Junior Olympics Cross Country for Ben!  He has really enjoyed getting to know his teammates, especially the other boys from the 13-14-year-old portion of the team, but mostly, he has loved the running.  It's been an adventure and a challenge and he really rose to it and gave it his all, improving throughout the season!

In early November, Ben ran the Colorado State JOXC Championship race and placed 3rd out of all the 13-14yo boys in the State of Colorado.  He had the race of his life, possibly his best race of the season, as far as confidence and push goes.  He finished the 4k in 14:15, a PR for him.  He said, "I just wanted to get on the podium."  Haha!  Amazing!  I wish I could just say it and make it so like that.

Regionals in mid-November was hosted by Colorado this year, and so it was held at the same course as the State race.  Our region, Region 10, which includes New Mexico, Texas Border, Colorado, and Arizona, is home to some of the best teams in the nation and is considered the "toughest region in the U.S." by his coach.  Ben placed 17th, shaving 2 seconds off of his State time for a 14:13 4k, finishing first for his team and helping them take 4th place as a team overall.  They tied their rival Landsharks in points, but bumped them down to 5th by the finishing time of their 5th place runner--go Lance!  The top 30 runners and 5 teams moved on to Nationals, so Ben was successful in qualifying 2 ways, as an individual and as a team.  So proud of this runner boy of ours.  What a season!  Ben and I both couldn't wait for our Nationals adventure!  

 REGIONALS: