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Dr. Gallagher Report: The Wildcats Take Bronze at Regionals to Qualify for States

By Dr. Michael Gallagher '71, 10/29/18, 10:15AM EDT

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Runners and Parents,

"Long as I remember, (as the John Fogerty song goes) the rain been comin' down, clouds of mystery pourin', confusion on the ground, and I wonder, still I wonder, who'll stop the rain?"

That verse describes the weather and the sentiment as we drove across the turnpike to the Regional course at Boardman.  However, the leaves were finally hitting their autumn glow, especially over the waters of Meander Lake, making the trip scenic, at least.  The 'Cats were coming off a great week of training and looking forward to the race in spite of the conditions! 

 24 hours of rain, hundreds of runners and two, yes TWO, ATVs leading the runners through the course had turned  much of the ground into peanut butter with a loose layer of grass on top.  The start was like a slip and slide, with mud everywhere, runners trying to find their footing, and everyone hoping to make the cut to advance to Columbus.

Hudson moved quickly to the lead while the 'Cats, Massillon, and Medina were battling each other and the elements for the silver medal.  Nick Saul, Steve Zucca and Matt Blouch were setting the pace for the 'Cats when Matt went down hard with 1200 meters to go.  He was up in an instant and back in the race, with the mud flying off him.  Despite the team's solid efforts, they had to settle for the bronze medal behind overall winner, Hudson with Massillon Jackson second. Scoring for the blue and gold were NIck Saul 16:50, Steve Zucca 16:55, Nathan Soria who closed like a quarter miler in 17:20, Matt Blouch 17:36, Andrew Biehl 17:56, Logan Kijewski 18:03, and Jack Mayer 18:04.

Congratulations to the team, as they punched their ticket to an eleventh straight trip to the State Championships in Columbus.

Thanks to the great turnout from parents, runners and siblings!

Thanks to Cindy Blouch for the race photos. You can see them on Facebook.

This week's schedule:

Monday: Mastic 3:30 - 4:30

Tuesday: Edgewater 3:30 - 4:30

Wednesday: Mastic 3:30 - 4:30

Thursday: TBA

Friday:  11:00 AM School send off on the Mall.  Leave for Columbus 11:30.  Pre comp at state course, dinner, check in at Marriott Courtyard in Granville

Saturday:  State championship race 12:30.  Spirit bus leaves at 8:30.  Sign up with Coach Voigt.  First come. Parents and fans are invited to ride the bus and cheer the team on in Columbus! 

Go Cats,

Doc