... It matters where I finish!" For Isaac Harvey, it is more likely "I doesn't matter WHEN I start...". Isaac got a late start this season. Last year, he steadily worked his way up from the back of the pack of our Future Varsity squad to the front, improving every week. This year was pretty much the same, but he had about half the time to accomplish this feat. Hampered by some minor injuries, his first two races were far from his expectations. But at the league meet, Isaac had the largest Panther "Season's Best", possibly in the whole league!!! HIs improvement was right at 2 minutes from the week before! His performance was also a 31 second P.R.! Isaac's game plan of starting in the middle of pack to start with and steadily moving up through the race (just as he does at the season level) successfully earned him a top ten ribbon. He was the first Panther across the finish line of the day.
For Lydia Lyall, the answer is "BOTH!". On Thursday, she produced the biggest Panther P.R. at the League Championships. Friday she returned to the gymnasium for Dodge Ball. Both were very exciting accomplishments for her during her event-filled Homecoming week. Earlier in the year, she encountered a concussion from Dodge Ball competition that sidelined her for a couple of weeks. When she finally returned to her normal "Goofy" demeanor, we did not have much time to prepare her for the championship season. She responded in style with P.R. by 1:14 - the second largest of any of the top 20 finishers of either of the two varsity races from any school. We will continue to let Lydia enter the Dodge Ball arena as long as she continues to run P.R.s of this magnitude. We also appreciate her producing and distributing the fabulous "Goal Cones" for the team this week.