Weekends are always fun, but last weekend was truly special for the Ravenwood cross country team as they made the longest trip in program history to compete at the XC Town Twilight Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana. The meet featured teams from all over the midwest racing on an NCAA championship course, capped off with a fireworks display.
First up were the JV boys, led by Caleb MacDonald, Grayson Elder, Reid Johnson, Graham Higginbotham, and Jack West. After navigating a hip injury earlier in the season, Graham was competing in his first race. "This freshman class is easily the strongest we've ever had, and with Graham healthy, it's now even stronger," said Coach Mueller. Jack Meyer and Connor Owens were 6th and 7th for Ravenwood, and Cameron Wilson turned in a huge 40 second PR to break 20:00 for the first time. "I'm so happy for Cameron. He's been cranking out the miles on his bike along with all the running we do at practice, and it's paying off." The boys finished 8th out of 29 scoring teams.
The varsity boys snuck into the Race of Champions, which was basically a thundering herd featuring nearly 400 super fast runners. Battling a virus, Miles Ramer hung on for an 8th place finish to pace Ravenwood. Kevin Rocha and AJ Algood finished 2nd and 3rd for Ravenwood, and Jacob Meucci broke 17:00 for the first time, giving the Raptors a big boost at #4. Robert Hininger came in 5th for Ravenwood with John Schaefer and Wesley Franklin running PRs at 6th and 7th.
"This was a deceptively tough course. Not really hilly, but with all those twists and turns and the sheer volume of runners, it's hard to get into a rhythm or pass people without swinging really wide. Our split between 3 and 4 shrunk to almost nothing, which is big for us. We have some more work to do but are trending in the right direction for sure. These guys know how train hard, race hard, and still have fun," noted Coach Mueller.
The boys have two weeks of training before their next race, October 14 at the Mid State Cross Country Association championship.
