Probably more than 1.5 total while photographing and encouraging runners between the two XC meets I attended today, but that'll work. Lisa and I headed out early to attend the girls and JV boys meet in Marianna - they did well. We then jumped back on I-10 to continue west to Mobile for the boys varsity meet in the evening. Once again, to the shock of the team, coach was proven right in taking them to this out of town big time meet for some distraction and early good competition. Travis had expressed concern that the boys, who have shown waning motivation as summer ended, would fold under pressure and come back with their tails 'tween their legs. Quite to the contrary, they finished 3rd with a team average 17:31, top five all under 18 and a 1-5 split of 30 seconds - unheard of for our team over the last 4-5 years. Trav was a little disappointed that he didn't get closer to 17 flat (ran 17:15, 21st overall and 1st on the squad), but was pleased with the team performance. Coach told them he expected at least 40-60 seconds drop from each of them by State in mid Nov, and that they should start expecting more from themselves and should start practicing and racing more confidently.
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