Spartan XC Invitational

[09.16.06] The Spartan Cross Country Invitational is a well run, large scale meet that hosted about 4000 high school runners from 117 different teams in 14 races. I volunteered to work the event and had a blast watching wave after wave of athletes struggling to cover the course as fast as they could. This is a fun and spectator friendly course on a good piece of property at Boardman High School. It’s basically two loops of the fields and wooded area that surround the school but the course traverses the grounds in a meandering, undulating, and interesting fashion. There was a fair amount of mud. That mud became a significant factor as the day wore on and thousands of spiked feet churned up the earth. Shoes were lost. One was reclaimed by a mother who tracked it down for her exhausted son. It was a very successful meet run by some very organized people from .

Three races stand out in my mind. First, the Boys Division I (large schools) race as it was the fastest of the day. Emil Heineking took the race by storm with a strong 15:36. He ran with eventual 2^nd place runner Mike Spooner for the first two miles and then put the hammer down for a crushing victory. As a matter of fact, not one other runner went under 16:00 minutes, although like Spooner, there was a cluster of guys who were close. Heineking looked in control as he round the hard turn to the uphill finish. It was the 3^rd fastest time 25-ish year history.

The Boys Division II race saw the Peninsula Woodridge team stomp everyone in sight. They scored 21 points to the second place team who managed 147. Woodridge took 1, 2, 4, 5, 9 (and 28, 35) and looked strong doing it. Hilditch (1^st in 16:07) and Petrack (2^nd in 16:22) were talking to one another at 2400 meters. The team averaged 16:31. If they keep this up the state meet will be theirs.

Third, the Girls Division II race might have been the best race of the day. It was certainly the most hair rising event as two young women battled it out all the way to the line. The entire field ran close together, dense all the way into the last mile. There was a lead solid pack at the halfway mark. Ultimately the two eventual winners broke away and dominated…but they had difficulty dominating one another and neither would yield. There were thousands of people lining the course and these two pulled a vicious reaction from them over the last 200 meters. Cassandra Schenck won in 18:28.57 and Emily Infeld (a junior) was end in 18:28.78 but you could see no perceptible difference from my angle. They ran 5:57 per mile. They were both so focused and so determined over the last 200 meters it was inspiring. They came into the 90 degree turn so fast it made me nervous, but they never faltered, keeping perfect form until they landed in the shoot. Third place was 53 seconds back. It was a rare kind of race and one that left an impression.

See complete results.

I worked a fantastic spot the entire day. We watched the runners go threw at 2400 meters and then again at the finish. Unfortunately I was unable to take pictures as crowd control was a big issue at our location (below). At the end of the day I took a couple quick shots of the spot I mentioned. I also snapped one of the boys middle school race (above) to illustrate the crowd and how they influenced the experience of the race.

During the day I heard a number of spectators and runners alike discuss the hilly nature of the course. Since I moved to Ohio I continue to be amazed at what people call difficult. In New York this would have been among the fastest courses. The entire Boardman course was rolling hills but there was not a single “hill” to be seen. Ok, the start and the finish were up hill but these were not steep. The finishing hill was very difficult considering the location. It is one of the distinguishing features of the competition and rightly so. Nonetheless, there were no other challenging inclines. It was short, packed grass with just enough variance to give the legs a needed change. I wonder what these guys would have thought of Van Courtland Park, Sunken Meadow, or Cardiac Hill at Bear Mountain. Perceived difficulty might be more powerful than actual difficulty.

The Salem team did not participate.