Rocket Run

Beautiful day for our first official cross country meet of the season! We're very excited to see more of our runners working together out there on the race course, but don't get me wrong: they'll battle it out for the finish. Congrats to many who ran their first CC 5K ever! And thanks so much to Rockford High School for hosting a great invitational.

Mega Fun Day

What began in our very first season as a way to clear the original cross country trail, has now become a great team builder with different work projects each year (although brush clearing is standard). Morning practice, breakfast, a couple hours of work, lunch, and movie in the barn. Mega fun!

Season IV

First day of cross country practice, and we're so excited for Season IV! We definitely have our work cut out for us with this crew, but it is all going to be awesome.

Team Community Service Week

This week, we had a couple of opportunities to give back to the community that has been so supportive of us. The Corcoran Night to Unite brought hundreds of neighbors together to celebrate community, crime prevention, and strong police/community partnerships. We helped with food and games there. The Hanover Harvest Festival is a big, one-day event that begins with a 5K run and continues with a parade, games, vendors, bands, and lots of other activities. We set up several large tents, tables, etc. in preparation for the action. Everyone were all super appreciative of our help as we had solid crews working at different times over the course of the week. Great work, everyone!

MSHSL "No Contact" Week: July 1-7, 2017

Just a reminder that we're coming into our "no contact" week per MSHSL rules and will therefore not be hosting or organizing summer runs during that time. Feel free to meet on your own, but we coaches will not be available for consultation. Enjoy your holiday!

Catching Up

Catching up on some recently published articles--just had to share. :)

http://pressnews.com/2017/06/08/nighthawk-runner-gains-ground-at-sections/

http://pressnews.com/2017/06/05/nighthawk-runners-place-at-sub-section-track-meet/

http://pressnews.com/2017/05/06/nighthawk-runners-place-at-maple-lake-track-meet/

Season Finale

Congratulations to Erika Swanson for a great Section meet, and thanks to the team for coming to cheer her on! Erika represented the Nighthawks well as she improved her standings over last year's event, taking 7th in the 1600m (5:30.71) and 4th in the 3200m (12:05.41).

Being the only competitor from your team at a big meet like this is tough. But you couldn't ask for a better support crew--several carpools made the trek out to St. John's--which says a lot about the team. We're hoping to develop more Section qualifiers by next year, which will make the experience that much better for everyone. (The enthusiasm for summer running and cross country will certainly help!) We've had a great season of improvement in many ways and are pleased with all that these student-athletes have accomplished on both personal and performance levels.

One of the best things about this sport is how generous the other teams' coaches and athletes have been in helping us in these program-building seasons. Rockford has been especially supportive of our bringing more participants to the sport, and our athletes have made new friends through regular competition. It's been a lot of fun.