EHS Lady Blue Devils Stun Rock Valley Conference; Or, the Facts, the News, the DejaVu

First the facts: The EHS girls varsity cross country team was crowned Rock Valley champion last night at UW Whitewater. The placings and times of the winning team were:
2--Emily Thornton--16:34.8
4--Heather Patterson--16:48.5
7--Kaia Schoenenberger--16:55.7
8--Ainae Soetaert--17:07.7
11--Emily Grant----17:18
14--Leah Heimerl--17:28.1
15--Alyssa Keister--17.33.5

Total Team score os 32. Big Foot was next (56) Parkview 3rd (78), Brodhead 4th(92, Clinton 5th (105), Palmyra-Eagle 6th(170) Clinton and Turner did not field complete teams.

Now the news. It must have been a little upsetting for the rival coaches to see that the EHS girls had their winning t-shirts ready at the team tent just waiting for the victory. Just confidence. They expected and wanted to win. They did in impressive fashion.

The real stunner was the JV race. Evansville JV girls took the first five places. So, lookin for the future, the beat goes on.

And, the middle school race saw some real intensity as they not only had a lot of fun, but showed at Whitewater that the boys and girls in middle school will be a force to be reckoned with.

While the EHS boys struggled 5th and struggled with injuries, it must be noted that they ran hard in this race. It was just not their year.

Now the dejavu----At the one mile mark---this is the mark that the EHS boys team of Mike Thornton, Jay Merin, and Justin Frey as the lead three runners, used to hit with Thornton at 5.04. And that was the year that the coach, Q, could run the first mile split at that same speed and did often taking trophies throughout Madison. Now, sitting at that same mile mark it was a thrill to see the girls move to take charge of the race.

On the podium to hand out the awards---Amanda McElroy, former star runner of EHS now in cross country at Whitewater.

And finally, it was on this stage years ago, that Ann Knutson and Mike Thornton were both awarded Rock Valley individual champions. I remember how difficult it was to get Mike to smile. It was getting dark and my flash was drained. Ann and Mike are now engaged to be married.

So, lots of present thrills, past dejavu and future dreams were all there last night in Whitewater. I will have pictures on the Observer later tonight.

We are the Blue Devils; Not the swamp dogs. We build on the higher ground. Go big Blue.