By OLIVER CORPUS
Staff Writer
Boys Varsity placed 3rd and the Girls Varsity team placed 4th despite the injuries. Overall, the team did not perform as well compared to previous meets due to the fact that the race took place in the middle of the day when it is the hottest and runners are the most lethargic.
This meet was Cross Country’s Game of the Week (GOW), and was a league event at Mason Park on October 5th, meaning only the 6 local schools participated.
The Boys JV team placed 3rd, and the Girls JV team placed 4th out of only 4 teams in their division due to a lack of runners from other schools. Finally, the Boys Frosh-Soph team placed 6th out of 6 teams and the Girls Frosh-Soph finished with a placement of 5th out of 5 teams.
One of the most devastating injuries took place during the Boys Varsity race when Co-Captain Amir Guity (Sr.) rolled his ankle and fractured his foot in the first mile but still managed to finish with at time of 16:52. “The enthusiastic support from my classmates inspired me to keep going and finish the race,” Guity said despite limping and grimacing due to the pain in his foot. Eric Davies (Science Dept.) said that Guity’s injury was “A fluke [and] he was just caught in a wrong spot.”
Co-Captain Christian Go (Sr.) still has high hopes for the team even in Guity’s absence. “I’m happy with my time…because it’s a good reflection of the time Guity and I were putting in.” Go said after finishing 16th out of 42 runners with a time of 16:15.
Ryan Duffy (So.) gave the athletic trainer a scare when he finished the race hacking up blood. He had a bloody nose during the race, but it ran down his throat and so he was forced to cough it up. “I felt kind of confused but I just wanted to finish faster.” Duffy said. He finished with a time of 16:18 and was 17th out of 42 runners.
Another incident occurred after Chris Lohmeyer (Jr.)’s race when he experienced an intense pain in his heart and chest. It was Lohmeyer’s first time running varsity and he attributed that to him pushing too hard even though he was sick, resulting in him finishing with a time of 17:24.
Injuries and obstacles did not just occur during the varsity races. Reese Carlton (Jr.) was in the last mile when he had to stop and dry heave over a trashcan. Carlton has asthma, and was worried that the hot meet conditions or the vegetation may have aggravated his his asthma. He was unable to finish the race.
The meet was not all injuries and pain. Varsity runner Collette Lowengrub (Fr.) improved her personal record by a margin of about a minute compared to last race. “I was really nervous because I had never been in a varsity race before,” Lowengrub said. “For the first mile or so I kind of took it a little easy and then realized it wasn’t actually that bad…[and] then I started to run faster.” She finished 2nd in her race out of 42 girls with a time of 18:01.
Avery Klauke (So.) also ran a fast race in the varsity division with a time of 18:26 and finished 5th out of 42 runners. “This race is a lot different than others not only because it’s the GOW and you want to set a PR but it’s also the first league meet,” Klauke said.
“I really noticed the hard work the UHS cross country team put in during the summer…and I can see so much potential in them,” spectator and former varsity captain Eric Kawana said.  The Mason Park meet was where Kawana reached his top PR of 16:21.