Arlington Middle Cross Country

Arlington Youth XC State Championships!!!

I don’t even know where to begin, pause, or end….it was just that incredible of a weekend. Most of the weekend played out like a story your parents read you as a child and you dreamed of being in the middle of it. If you have time, read the whole post These athletes deserve it, I promise

We work and grind so hard through the season fighting injuries, heat, homework, and the world around us. And on some special days, all the hard work comes together at just the right time. That’s what State Championships felt like this year.

So many successes- So many PR’s - So many medals - And just a reminder, we are running against the best in the state.

Here’s a list of great performances. AMS Boys team ran with 3 of the 7 varsity runners being 6th graders and we placed 13th out of 33 teams. These guys are already ready for next year.

Mateo Ortiz (6th grade) medaled at state finishing 24th out of 300 runners.

William Egbert (7th grade) just missed a medal finishing 35th overall.

Our AMS Girls had 3 qualify and - two 7th and one 6th grader. They are ready to help lead the whole team back next year and we should be loaded.

Liv Benton (7th grade) finished 32 out of 288 runners, just missing a medal by 4 seconds.

And then our Elementary teams had their turn and did they seize the moment.

Elem Boys JV flew through the rolling 1 mile course and placed 4th in state. The following JV Boys received medals for their placement.

William Woodruff - 7th overall
Ty Nemeth - 16th overall
Truitt McLaughlin- 25th overall
Easton Fry - 28th overall

The Varsity Boys were up next. Although we didn’t have the absolute fastest runners in the field, all year we placed high (2nd in district championships) because all of our varsity boys were extremely fast and placed so close together.

Conner McCool placed 23rd overall receiving a medal.
Mason Haynes placed 31st and missed a medal BY 1 SECOND.

Our Elem Boys placed received a plaque for placing 4th in the state out of the top 29 teams in the state!! What an incredible year.

Special shout out to Collin Rowland who fell 2 times in the race and still placed 3rd for our team. If he doesn’t get up and grind it out - we would not have been on that stage as top 5 in state - it’s that competitive- it’s a race of seconds.

And then our Elem Varsity Girls had their shot. They were great last year, but this year we started the season knowing they had a shot. But, we don’t say it out loud. Everything you could think of seem to happen. Our #2/3 runner from last year decides not to run this year. Injures from growing pains and miles of training. Another top 5 runner sideline for what we thought was the whole year. But, they kept fighting, resting, rehabbing. (I know - it’s too much for elementary, I agree). We finally told them on race day. Ladies, if you run like you can run, if you do what we do, you can be the best at state. What did they do….they flew and when it was over, they left no doubt who the best team in the state was this year. They were just that good!!!

On top of being #1 in the state, the following young ladies received medals for their placement.

Mia Pearce #3 overall
Riley McCool #7 overall
Charlotte Lundy #8 overall

Congrats to so many athletes. Congrats to the coaches who do all of this for free for these athletes and this community.

So thankful for our team, but you can see from the first pic, we are much for than a team. Thankful for our Arlington XC Family.

Stay tuned to the next chapters of Arlington Youth XC!!!

It’s late October and for Arlington Youth Cross Country that means competing at the State Champions!!!

Don’t get me wrong, our runners don’t just “get to compete” at State.

Our athletes have to EARN an invite.

How do you earn and invite? You put in hours and hours of HARD WORK every week, every month. Striving to be just a little better, a little stronger, a little faster race by race. Then, we compete in our Regional Championships where we have to place in the top 5 teams to EARN a bid to State.

This year our AMS Boys team qualified as a team and all 13 runners are here to compete.

3 of our AMS Girls earn a bid as individuals

Our Arlington Elem Boy and Arlington Elem Girls Teams both earned a bid.

All in all we have over 40 athletes that are here in Knoxville to compete against the best in the state.

Although it’s a familiar site, we never take it for granite. We know what it takes to earn a spot. So, if you know one of the athletes coming to compete, reach out and let them know you’re excited and tell them to Run Fast and Run Hard.

Why not wish them Good Luck?? Because we don’t expect luck to be a factor. We came to do what runners do…..Runners Run and LUCK doesn’t have anything to do with what these athletes did to get here.

Crazy Fun and Successful 4 Days for Arlington Youth Cross Country!!!!

Check out this pic where our youth program participated and took home many many many awards at the Arlington 5k this past Saturday. Always a fun day supporting our community schools!!

Then, these athletes had to lock in and compete in our first competitive race series Monday and Tuesday. How did they do? Well, Arlington put the whole county on notice of who we are. WE ARE ARLINGTON!!!

Elem Boys placed 2nd out of 29 teams led by Conner McCool but, followed closely by so many others on our team.

Elem Girls placed 2nd out of 30 teams - led by trio Riley McCool, Mia Pearce, and Charlotte Lundy finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th overall in the race!

Our Middle School girls were 5th out of 15 teams led by Olivia Benton placing 7th overall and Kylie Schneider in the 12th spot. Breakout PR by Kennedy Hurd was a huge boost to our team score this week.

And, last, our Middle School Boys team places 3rd overall out of 26 teams with 6th grader Mateo Ortiz scorching the 2 mile course and finishing 2nd overall. Fellow 6th grader, Reece Davis, was 18th overall followed closely by William Egbert.

What a whirlwind 4 days and what a tremendous start to our season!! Lots of PR’s (personal records) to celebrate this week!

Hey Everyone

Looks like rain chance have dropped dramatically. Let’s hope that holds.

Practice tonight (moving time slightly-I’ll remind again later)

6:00 to 7:15 pm
P**p 💩 Pond
30 minute Run with strides

We need a popsicle volunteer. Prob 60 total to be safe on numbers.

Practice Today.

Playground of Dreams!

Hill Work, and when I say Work 😳….

Be ready to build some strength and mental toughness!!

6:15 to 7:30 pm.

Parents, also be ready for a slight shift in practice start times. The sun is now setting at 7:30 and the heat has broken a bit. We will have to start shifting our start and end times back slightly to accommodate the change in sunset.

Practice Reminder for Today.

Adjusting due to heat - looks like the brutal heat might break after today.

6:45 to 8:00 pm

Playground of Dreams

Hill Work - “There’s. GOLD in them / there hills”

Reminder….

Special Announcement for Middle School Practice today- please discuss with your athlete again this morning.

Reminder - 1st Walk over Middle School today is only middle school.

Have your runner meet at the bike rack at the car rider line. Look for the team—if your runner doesn’t know where to go, meet Ms. Burns in the library.

Walk to Arlington Sports Complex as group. DO NOT FORGET A FULL WATER BOTTLE.

Practice over at approx 5 pm.

Directions to The P**p 💩 Pond

(It’s actually the Catch & Release Lake)

Travel down Hwy 70 from Arlington toward Lakeland

Go under 385 and start looking to right.

You will see a blue address sign saying 11150 Hwy 70.

Turn right into entrance and then, turn right at the bottom on the hill to parking lot.

Walk to picnic tables past fence

Good Morning Everyone!

Thursday Practice will be at the P**p 💩 Pond location. If you are not familiar with that location, it’s actually on Google Maps as Water Plant Park. We will post exact driving directions later this afternoon.

Practice
P**p 💩 Pond

Time
6:15 to 7:30 pm

Easy Run with Introduction of Strides

We would love to have a volunteer for Popsicles for after practice. I would say approx 60 / 70 popsicles. We will ask for a volunteer each week on Thursday! It’s our tradition.

Good Morning - 2 announcements for everyone.

1) Practice tonight

6:15 to 7:30.

Same Place - Playground of Dreams on Chester St

Hill Training (modified for new / injured athletes)

2) Please work on getting your registration finished up - we will have to order uniforms by Monday to get in time for the season.

Can’t wait to see everyone. I’m already excited about tonight and seeing everyone and it’s JUST 9 AM - I have got to back off the coffee!!!!

Please Direct Message or text me at 901-921-9065 if you need help or have questions.

Good Morning Everyone.

1st Cross Country Official Practice today !!!

Both AMS Cross Country and our Elementary teams

Location
Playground of Dreams

Time
6:15 to 7:30

What to wear / bring.

Be in running attire - we are a running team, so we will be running

Also, bring water

We will still have sign ups open this week. So , even if you have not finished your paperwork or paid yet, please be at practice.

Everything we discuss tonight, we will build on the rest of our season. S

AMS Cross Coutry Registration!!!

Yes, that is correct We are now officially part of Arlington Community Schools in the middle school Same program and same incredible coaching staff.

If you have not already signed up, here are the instructions

I am attaching a document that leads you through the sign up using Final Forms - part of ACS website.

Please message me privately if you are having issues. We will help you through the process.

I am also attaching the practice and race schedule. Disregard this week’s dates.

And, I am also attaching the physical form - remember, the physical must be completed to attend practice that starts next week.

Again, middle school only.

Your fees will be paid to Mrs. Burns at school. We will not be paying online.

Elem Reminder coming next. l