Litchfield

Because of the heavy rains earlier in the week, the course was creatively rerouted to run partly on the golf course but mostly on the roads. It was a new situation for most of our runners as few had road-racing experience; but the flat, mostly-paved course provided the opportunity to run especially fast. Fast running times aside, what was most exciting to see was the teamwork on the varsity boys' team, where our 2nd through 6th runners held a 16-second spread at the finish. Their JV comrades are closing in, and it's fun to watch. On the girls' side, there were a few major time drops, and we're hoping that boosts their confidence. We've emphasized strength more this year, which is important for these young women in many ways. Nighthawk strong!

CC Junior Championships

 "CC Junior" is an annual tradition where Nighthawk team members host younger siblings for a cross country meet of their own. Nighthawks are assigned jobs such as race directors, "golf carts" (run as fast as you can ahead of the racers), "sag wagons" (make sure no one gets lost), timers, chute organizers, snack wranglers, award presenters, and more. Races include the 400m (ages 3-5 only), 800m (anyone age 8 or younger), and the 1600m (anyone age 11 or younger). This year, we had over 25 siblings participating, accompanied by dozens and dozens of cheering fans. Cutest thing ever.

Picture Day

As much as we'd like a tight ship, it's always more like a crazy train... But once again, we pulled it off!

CC Poker

Because sometimes long runs need a little distraction...

Rocori

Another unseasonably hot September day. The weather this season has been a surprise for everyone, but spirits remain positive and we roll with it. This was also a tough meet competitionwise, with almost all teams coming from AA schools. Still, the Nighthawks hung in there and gave their all.

Mora

Hot! That's the best way to describe this meet. Since this is the location of the Section 5A meet this year, we wanted to check it out. This meet's novelty was cookies (instead of medals or ribbons) for top finishers. Lots of good work out there, and now we know what to expect at the end of October!

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.