****For an in-depth look at Saturday night’s Division I, Region 1 semifinal football game between the second-seeded Saint Ignatius Wildcats (10-1) and the sixth-seeded North Royalton Bears (10-1), see the corner’s preview that was posted Tuesday night.

Here is Coach Mike Gallagher’s final cross country report for the Wildcats’ outstanding 2012 season. Again, we express our congratulations to the Wildcats’ harriers and thank Coach Gallagher for his weekly insights on the team.

Runners and parents,

First of all let me thank everyone for the tremendous show of support at the State Meet from parents, teammates and alumni. I heard the chants of the supporters above all the other teams throughout the race. Thanks to the parents for the post-race food. We were the envy of all the other teams.

The Wildcats raced very well and finished third behind two very good teams, St. Xavier and Mason. The Wildcats average time of 16:06 was the fastest ever by a Saint Ignatius team at the State Meet. Jack Miller led the squad with a 13th place finish and a spot on the podium in 15:42PR, and All-State recognition.

Joe Arquillo followed in 16:03 and Vince Bartram in 16:06, both PR performances.

I came across a quote from the Old Testament that sums up the State Meet. "Let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1.

With all the PRs established this season, I would like all of you to continue that success. Since most of you have had a couple of weeks off, the best way to stay in shape is to continue running 2 or 3 days during the week (4-6 miles) and a one hour run on the weekend. You can aim for some local road races including the downtown Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, or the 10k cross country Turkey Trot at Lorain County Community College. Some of the guys will be organizing after school runs and some weekend runs. Try to continue to train together as a team and support each other. This will pay off in track and next year.

We’re talking baseball: Congratulations go out to Saint Ignatius senior pitcher Kyle Pluta, who, said Wildcats head baseball coach Brad Ganor, has committed to a scholarship at Tiffin.

Kyle is a mainstay on a pitching staff that helped lead the Wildcats to a 20-win season and a Division I District Championship in May.

Kyle’s commitment raises the number of players in Coach Ganor’s program who have been placed at the next level to nearly 50, something Saint Ignatius baseball can be very proud of.