And you just keep runnin' runnin' and runnin' runnin'...

It has been an incredible Cross country season for the Merritt boys this year. Full of rivalry and camaraderie and PR's and losses and team wins and growth. These boys are becoming People. Young men. With goals and dreams- and thoughts of competing and challenges that never crossed my mind at their age.
Some changes shook out at the Catholic school meetings about 1st and 2nd graders participating in the team sports. And blah blah blah there's no flag football, so the younger kids got hosed. There were only two SYSA meets that they could participate in, and then the coaches "hosted" an awesome meet around Lake Arthur on the GU campus to have the older teammates show their support for their dedication and training. SOooo Will decided to take 2nd place at his all-city SYSA meet. Not bad, huh? I think he rocked a 7:20 mile. And he practiced every darn practice. Like a champ.

Ben. My sweet Ben. Started strong and improved all season until the last meet where a soccer kick to the knee and fever bug got him down. Anticlimactic to say the least. But he had nothing short of an awesome season prior to that. I think his PR was somewhere around 6:26. You'd have to ask him. He knows to the nano-second- the course, the day, the details to say the least. Whatever. He's fast.

Always out in front. Doing his thing. Battling with his rival Eric for 1st or 2nd place consistently throughout the season. And luckily, Mom's camera was in the shop for 7 weeks of the season or there would be Waaaaay more pics to sort through here late at night...

But the bottom line is Ben battled, and he battled hard.

He took 3rd place in the All City meet. 3rd. In. The. City. I know- against 150+ other fourth graders. Pretty awesome, I'd say.

Here's a link to his standing:

http://www.active4youth.org/

We learned some life lessons about trying our hardest and the frustration of not being able to do your best- for you and for the team. But we were there for each other. Mom was the assistant to the assistant to the assistant coach so that William could participate. And Ty, well he was there for moral support. And the snacks.

At the end of the day it's all worth it. Every ribbon- every breath- every thought pushing you to the finish. All worth it.

And I'm so proud of my boys and who they're becoming. Stellar athletes and better yet "good sports"

In honor of Ben's X-C quote for this year's shirt: "To finish strong, you have to start"

Amen to that. Such a fantastic start. It's only the beginning boys.