The District Race of Aught '19

Well this race was kind of a combination of the last 2 years.  Sampson did cramp, but it wasn't until the last mile and he was still able to gut out an all-district performance, so this should put him up for all T-L team.  He did get all Buckeye 8, All OVAC, and now All-District.  He was probably the number 2 guy this year because of the hot races.  He actually cramped in a couple of races but it never really caused him a "bad" finish.  The only races he was out of the top 10 was usually the loaded fields, and even if they would have run the large school division at Claymont he would have gotten 10th so that is really good.  The team ended up getting 3rd at the district which is one spot better than they did last year.  I think some of the boys though they could win if everyone ran their best race or at least their top 3 race, but probably only 2 or 3 of the guys did.  Sampson didn't.  One of the boys didn't even get to race because something felt wrong when he was warming up so they had to go to the alternate runner.  He has actually run here the last 2 years, but got caught a little off guard getting shoved into the action at the last minute.  He ran well, 4 seconds faster than last year, but this year he was actually the 6th guy for the team not the 5th.  The bad thing was the guy who finished 2nd for us last year was our 7th guy this year, but he has battled knee issues all year.  So now on to the regional.  Sampson is hoping for a top 50 finish.  This is a reasonable goal.  I would say State is the goal, but this division is very competitive and the whole thing about cross country is - you get what you have prepared for.  This isn't like basketball or baseball where a kid could get hot or you can ride a great arm through to the state championship.  This is all about how many miles you have ran and how many guys have put those miles in.  Sampson has definitely done enough to earn a regional birth, but probably not state.  He has the potential, if he runs his best race and 2 or 3 guys that would have beaten him, either cramp or don't have a great race, but there just isn't a way in like some other sports.  We can't sit here and hope for a fluky bounce of the ball or maybe getting a couple of calls from the official.  Cross country doesn't work that way.  There are no buzzer beaters, or in game adjustments that can sway the contest.  No this is competition in its purest form, the gun sounds and it is about who can push their body the hardest for the next 16 minutes or less.  I say 16 because whoever wins the race will probably be below 16 minutes for 5k.  That is really fast.  No where near as fast as what Eulid Kipchoge did though when he broke the marathon record, but really fast for a high school kid.  When you step to that line all you have is the miles you have run, and the prep you have put into the race.  The girls team also made the Regional, but in a different division.  They may actually get a girl or 2 through to the state if they have a great race.