Cross Country's Fresno Sectionals
- Masey Zimmerman
- Nov 23, 2016
- 5 min read
The FMHS cross country season officially ended in Fresno on Thursday, November 17th during the California Central Section Finals. The stakes were high, but our runners were confident and determined to PR (personal record) in one way or another. The weather was great, and so was the course; it was a beautiful day for running! Six of our boys and one girl ran today against other division five runners. Here are their times (individual and team placements not recorded):
Aden Wiebers had a time of 19:08.
Dawson Ford wasn’t far behind with a time of 19:48.
Next was Lucas Flores with a time of 20:22.
Nathan Steers had a time of 20:49.
Austin Flores had a time of 23:14.
Johnn Castro came in at 24:40.
Masey Zimmerman had a time of 27:52.
Great job Falcons for a great cross country season!
To Bianca and the boys:
I’ll never forget the obstacle course we made, the many games of capture the flag, and the 24 hours (yes, I counted) we spent on the road (filled with danger puddles, tiny ponies, Aden’s turkeys, mom’s spaghetti, and spooky-scary skeletons)! Thank you all for being so welcoming; and for helping me to genuinely enjoy cross country. You are all family in my heart. I can’t wait for the next season :)
Interview With Team Captain Aden Wiebers - via email
FB (The Falcon Beat): Did you achieve your goals as team captains for this season?
AW (Aden Wiebers): I am able to say that I achieved my goals as a team captain this season. I am happy that I was able to help [get the team up] to ten runners, compared to our six runners from last year. It may not seem like many, but every person that joins the team helps us out so much. Having a large team makes everything a lot more fun; as well as a lot more competitive at the same time. My other primary goal was to help motivate and inspire the rest of the team. I am not sure if I was able to accomplish that, but it is something that I would still like to work on for the years to come. My last goal was to do fundraising; and that is something that can be continuously worked on. We were able to do a few fundraisers; and we have many more ideas and plans. I hope to help get more funds for the team in the years to come; as well as bringing in funds to help get a … track team running. All in all I am proud of the progress that we have made.
FB: Did you achieve your goals as runners this season?
AW: Yes, I did achieve my goals as a runner for this season. I was able to get within nineteen minutes at our first home race; and [moved] down to a low nineteen-minute run for my best time on our course. I was also able to run a 19:07 at our semi-finals race in Fresno at the end of the season. My goal was to break nineteen minutes at this race, but seeing that I was only a few seconds off and able to drop my time from the same course last year by over a minute, I am [pleased overall] with how I performed. My biggest accomplishment was at our race [in] California City. I was able to barely break eighteen minutes with a final time of 17:59; and it was also the first time I had finished a race in first place. I then finished in first place the next two races, got tenth in our first league invitational meet, and finished in twelfth in our league finals race. All of the hard work we did in practice helped me to achieve my goals and overall do much better than I was expecting.
FB: What are your goals for the next cross country season?
AW: I have a few goals for next cross country season, some personal, some for the team. For the team I would (as always) like to continue growing the team as much as possible to get more athletes involved; and to give us as best of a fighting chance against the other teams as we can get. I would like to continue fundraising throughout the year to help with things such as organizing home invitational races and getting gear for the team. I also hope to get more support for the team; especially when it comes to spectators for when we are hosting home races. When it comes to personal goals, I am hoping to get within sixteen minutes for a flat course next year; as well as running within eighteen minutes for our course at home [and] the course at Fresno. I feel that I will be able to reach these goals if I continue to train throughout the coming year.
Letter From Coach Christy Zimmerman - via email
First of all, I'd like to thank Sarah Haflich, Sharon Lemburg, Coach Sandall, and all the parents and friends who supported the team this season!
After packing up the van at 6am, we made the 2 1/2 hour trek to Fresno with six boys (Aden Wiebers, Dawson Ford, Nathan Steers, Lucas Flores, Austin Flores, and John Castro) and one girl (Masey Zimmerman). Check-in was at 9am; It was a crisp morning with beautiful blue skies. Perfect for racing!
Since the boys didn't race until 11:30 and the girls race started at 12:30, we all went for a walk on the course so the [runners] could see what the race would "feel" like. The course has rolling hills and easy access for spectators at every mile marker with only one "big" hill in the back of the second mile. For me, this was a walk down memory lane. 1995-1997 I ran for Mt. Sac (Mount San Antonio College) and this course is where we had … won State several times.
After the walk, we talked about strategy for "settling down" after the start (it was sure to be very fast), how/where to push the pace, to run "your race", to make sure no one else "dictates" the pace, and where/when to start the sprint for the finish. Each athlete made a goal for their race time/pace. The Falcons were pumped and ready to go with a cadre of spectators from home (Aden's father: David Wiebers, Dawson's mother: Debbie Ford, The Castro family: mother, father, and sister Zaira to Johnn, as well as Nathan's mother Kandi Mcken - Steers).
Both the boys and girls races started out like a flash and I was there, timer in hand, about 200 meters from the start, to remind them to "settle." I could see each one take a breath and check their form (posture for running). The parents and I ran to the first mile to cheer them on and we were met with a shock - every athlete was on a PR (personal record) pace and looked so strong. I hadn't ever seen them look that good at that pace and I was pleasantly amazed at their mental and physical growth.
At mile two, the parents and I were going crazy. The [runners] were still on pace to PR. We yelled the mile time at each (even the other team's athletes - we were that excited) and I made adjustment suggestions on my athletes' form.
I raced over to the third mile (the race is a 5K - 3.2 miles) while the parents went to the finish line. With 200 meters to go, I let each runner know it was time to "SPRINT!" and, no matter how tired they looked, they all stood tall, checked their form and sprinted to the finish line. These were the athletes I knew they could be.
I'm proud to say that EVERY Falcon had a personal best that day - either for the season or for the course (from last year). All their hard work paid off and I can't wait to see what they do next season!
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