XC 2020

 August 28 - Madison Dash 

This was the first race of Kanyon's season. It was held at a field across from Madison High School this year, rather than the Rexburg water park like it has been the last few years. I left early from school to go to it, and hadn't realized it was at a new location! Luckily, I made it there about 3 minutes before the start of Kanyon's race! Kanyon had a cold (the kids at school all got sick the first 2-3 weeks of school after not being around each other for 5 months!) and didn't feel his best during the race, but he did the best he could under the circumstances, and still sprinted at the end to pass teammate Treyson and a runner from a different school before the finish line. Kanyon ran 1.5 miles in 12:35, finishing 1 second behind teammate Ethan. 

Kanyon's teammates--now that he's an 8th grader, he was one of 
the oldest on the team, and was a team leader which was fun to see! 

September 3 - West Jefferson Invitational 

This was the first race of the twins' season. Micah placed 7th with a time of 18:01, finishing just one second behind former teammate Hyrum Spencer from West J. Jonah's time was 22:11. In the middle school race, the course was 1.7 miles long. Kanyon completed it in 14.36, and was the 2nd person from his team to finish! 

Jonah and Micah's large and talented XC team this year!

There were only 5 teams at this event:
Salmon, West J, North Fremont, Leadore, and Firth

September 11 & 12 - Tiger/Grizz at Freeman Park

They split up the event into 2 days this year, and multiple races in each division, in order to comply with COVID regulations and have smaller crowds. Kanyon ran the Middle School 1.5 mile race on Friday night. His time was 13:19, just one tenth of a second behind teammate Luke. Grandma Kathy came to watch the race, and she took Kanyon and I out to dinner at Panda Express afterwards (Kanyon's current favorite restaurant), which was fun. The twins ran in the 5k High School race on Saturday. Jonah ran in the J.V. race, placing 24th with a time of 21:09. Micah ran in the varsity race and placed 20th with a time of 18:05. 

This was the first time I've ever seen
his hair in a pony tail with a scunchie!

September 17: North Fremont Meet at Harriman State Park

Micah ran the 5k in 18:10, and Jonah ran it in 22:09. Kanyon ran 1.5 in the middle school race, with a time of 13:23, this time beating teammate Luke by a tenth of a second! I was unable to go to this meet, but thankfully, Josh drove the bus for the Salmon team, so he was able to be there and support the boys. 

September 23: Ririe Meet at 7N Ranch

Kanyon ran 1.5 miles in 12:20, barely beating teammate Ethan! This was sadly the only meet that both Josh and I missed this season, so I don't have any photos of it. 

September 25: Leadore Mustang Mountain Run

This was the first time that Leadore has hosted a meet. It was a result of 2 boys on their team choosing it as their senior project, and since the major Bob Firman meet at Eagle Island got canceled (due to area COVID regulations), the timing of them to host a meet was ideal! There were only 3 teams that came (Leadore, Salmon, & Butte); it was fun to have a small, local event! Micah surprised us and got 3rd at it! He ran it in 18:59. He does really well on downhill stretches, and the end of this race was a long downhill gravel road. Jonah also did really well, placing 18th with a time of 22:20. 

The top 10 in the H.S. boys race were all from Salmon!

The wooden medals with burnt engravings
were pretty cool! 

September 30: Salmon Savage Rumble

Kanyon ran 2 miles in 17:35, sprinting teammate Luke at the finish, but was just 4/10 of a second behind him. Micah struggled a bit in this race, since it's primarily on grass. The course was changed this year to not include the hillside trail, and instead, included more running on the grass on the golf course's fairways. He finished 16th with a time of 17:33, battling out teammate Eli at the finish and beating him by 1 second, which was exciting. Jonah wasn't feeling well during this race either, but he battled through and finished the race with a time of 20:57. I always feel so much pride watching my boys run when it's not easy--when they're sick or in pain, and they run amidst their hardship--I really admire them for their perseverance and determination!

Jonah and Micah sang the National Anthem with the Legacy Choir
at the beginning of the meet. They sounded so good!

This was the first time I'd seen Jonah's hair
in a French braid!

October 8: Bob Conley in Pocatello

Jonah ran well in the J.V. race. He got 25th place with a time of 20:13. Micah also ran well in the Varsity race--this was the same course that state was at last year, in which he P.R.'d for the season. In this particular race, he placed 10th, with a time of 17:09. I was unable to go, but thankfully Josh drove the XC bus, and was able to be there to watch the boys. 

Some of the J.V. boys warming up before the race.

The Varsity team warming up before their race.

Four of their runners were in the Top 10!

First place team out of 16 teams, with an impressive score of 34!

October 9: Number Hill Challenge in Arco

I took the afternoon off work (and BARELY made it in time!), and Josh was able to drive down to Arco to watch Kanyon run, too. Kanyon ran 1.5 miles in 12:21, just 2 seconds behind teammate Luke. It was an exciting and close finish! Josh, Kanyon, and I ate lunch together afterwards before driving home to Salmon.

That's his coach Linda cheering him on at the
finish. He has such giant strides when he sprints
to the finish! It's exciting to see every time!

October 14: Firth Invitational

It was a super windy day, and all the freeway traffic got detoured. I was worried I would miss Kanyon's race as a result, but thankfully, they postponed all the starting race times by a half hour due to some of the buses being late, too. Kanyon ran 1.6 miles in 12:47, sprinting ahead of teammate Ethan at the finish and beating him by 4 seconds. Jonah and Micah didn't run with the Salmon team, due to a SAT testing day for all the juniors in Salmon. 

The last junior high race for these four 8th grade XC runners!

October 21: 2A Districts at Firth

Jonah and Micah both ran great races, as well as several other of their teammates. I was very emotional watching them all! I haven't felt the anxiety all year like I did in this race! The Salmon boys have a very talented team, and I was so anxious who would qualify for state. It was an intensely close race within just the Salmon boys team vying for the top 7 positions to move on! I cried as Micah ran past teammates to claim the 6th place medal in our district, and be the 4th place finisher for our team. I cried watching their teammate Eli (a senior), push past two other teammates to be the 6th runner for our team, and take an individual medal. I cried watching Jonah pushing himself to the finish, completing the race under 20 minutes and getting a season P.R. of 19:41! He has tendonitis, and runs through the pain, which is incredible. I cried when I discovered that their teammate Nathan, who placed 11th in the district and came in just 2 seconds behind his teammate, would not qualify for state because only 7 runners can go from a team, even though the top 12 individual finishers from this district qualify. I cried seeing the boys team take first place, and the girls team, too! It was an amazing day! 

On the first loop: Micah with teammate Boaz

On the first loop: Jonah with teammate Erik

Check out their hair!

On the 2nd loop:
Micah running with teammates Keller & Treygan

On the 2nd loop: Jonah with teammate
M.J. behind him

Micah cheering on Jonah after his finish.

The two long-haired Salmon runners flirting with some girls
from West J!

Top 10 medalists! 

Salmon boys are District XC Champions once again!

Salmon boys and girls both won District Champions!

October 31: State XC at Pocatello

State XC was originally supposed to be held at Eagle Island State Park in the Boise area, but due to COVID regulations, it wasn't going to be possible, so they changed the venue to Pocatello a week before the event happened. The Governor released new regulations that week, too: only 2 spectators per athlete were allowed, and venues could only have 25% capacity. Thankfully, XC is an outdoor sport, so we were well within the 25% capacity at the large venue of the Wellness Complex, but we were worried that it was going to be stopped altogether like what happened last spring or have zero spectators allowed. We were so grateful that didn't happen! They split the State XC races into 2 days to spread out the race times and amounts of spectators. Our division's races were on Saturday. Micah once again blew us away: He medaled 9th in the state, with an impressive new P.R. of 16:32. He beat previous teammate Hyrum Spencer from West J, and he was the 4th finisher from our team behind Johnny, Danny, and Keller. 6 of Salmon's runners finished in the top 20, earning individual medals, and our boys' team finished with an impressive 33 points, beating Soda Springs by almost 40 points! Our team took the State trophy for the 3rd year in a row! It was an exciting moment seeing Micah do so well, and have our boys take home the goods once again!

Salmon Boys 1st place, Salmon Girls 3rd place