The Woodberry Harrier 2015: Volume 3

…there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so -- Hamlet

RUNNNNN! TURN YOUR LEGS OVER! KEEP YOUR FORM! These phrases are all too familiar to the average cross country runner.  These are the chants that pushed me away last year and have me coming back for more this year.  I had absolutely no idea what to expect coming into cross country for the first time my junior fall.  I used to call myself a soccer player, but I didn’t envision any playing time in my future on varsity, so after I got a taste of running from a season of indoor track, I made the switch to cross country.  By about two weeks into that first season, I already decided that this sport was not for me.  An overpowering anxiety crushed down on me before races, and I felt sorry for myself.  I told myself that all I had to do was finish the season. Then it would all be over, and I could move on with my life.

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Once I finally made it to the end, I had gained a tremendous new respect for the sport, but I still had no intention to run again… not until Mr. Hale helped me make one of the best decisions of my life.

He taught me to not run away from problems but rather to fix them. I learned that simply changing your mindset toward something can make a world of difference.  This year I actually look forward to meets because I look at them positively.  And being positive doesn't just make cross country better; it makes everything better! Nothing is inherently good or bad - it just is. What makes it good or bad is our mindset toward it. When I was a kid, my mom always told me that happiness is a choice, but I never fully understood what that meant until I experienced it through running.

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As we were jogging the cool down run after the relay race under the stars in the fresh Virginian September air, I felt a warm feeling of contentment. I finally understood the simple, natural beauty of our sport that everybody always talked about, but that I could never comprehend until that night, in the presence of my favorite people.

Thanks to Mr. Hale for not giving up on me.  Thanks to the whole team for being the hardest working, most reliable, and happiest group of guys at this school and giving each other memories that we’ll carry to death.

--David Gussler ‘16

My apologies for the over-long silence.  Our season was somewhat interrupted after the Woodberry Invitational, and I’ve had to travel out of the state the last two weekends.  It's been a very disjointed time.

Indeed, it feels a bit as if we recently awoke in the last third of the season wondering how on earth we got here.   We took a break from the 5K after the WFS Invitational to race in the RVA Relays in Richmond:

RVA Relays (2500 M)
Pole Green Park Richmond, VA
26 September, 20015
11th out of 17 teams
Runner	Place	Time
Singleton	7th out of 260	7:17
Carrington	53rd	7:43
Jacobs	80th	7:52
Rich	95th	7:58
Tydings	129th	8:07
Gussler	139th	8:10
Hernandez	139th	8:10
Kacur	202nd	8:39
Wall	209th	8:43
Daphnis	229	8:55
Duke	9th grade race	8:55
Pittman	DNR

This seemed like a fine idea until our meet against St. Christopher’s and Trinity was rained out the next weekend, leaving us with an unfortunate three-week stretch with no real race.   We were, therefore, a little rusty when we took to the starting line at Albemarle:

Albemarle Invitational
Panorama Farm Earlysville, VA
10 October, 20015
20th out of 33 teams
1-5 Split 2:20
Runner	Place	Time
Singleton	22nd out of 248	16:51	a second under ‘14
Carrington	39th	17:11	a lifetime PR
Jacobs	111th	18:10	a lifetime PR
Hernandez	171st	19:05	a season PR
Tydings	181st	19:11
Kacur	203rd	19:39	a season PR
Gussler	211th	19:50	a season PR
Pittman	212th	19:51	a 2:22 PR!!!
	JV Race
Duke	107th out of 319	20:00	a season PR
Wall	DNR
Daphnis	DNR
Rich	DNR

Still we ran respectably and went home with some nice PR’s.

And this past Friday we ran our annual dual meet with Fork Union.  It was a picture-perfect day for the meet, and Fork Union brought a squad eager to run well.  We gave each other a good race all the way to the line.

WFS vs. Fork Union
Woodberry Forest Upper Course
16 October, 20015
FUMA: 27, WFS: 28
1-5 Split: 1:57
Runner	Place	Time
Singleton	2nd out of 20	17:28	25-sec. under his Invitational time
Carrington	4th	17:58	a WFS course PR
Rich	5th	18:27	tied his ’14 course PR
Jacobs	7th	18:52	a WFS course PR
Tydings	10th	19:25
Hernandez	11th	19:29	42-sec under his Invitational time
Kacur	12th	19:55	1:22 under his Invitational time!!
Gussler	14th	20:14	28-sec under his Invitational time
Pittman	15th	20:34	1:39 under his Invitational time!!
Wall	16th	21:45
Daphnis	17th	21:48
	JV Race
Duke	1st out of	20:41	1:30 under his Invitational time

Even with the promising times, we didn’t race our best as a team, but we took away some very valuable lessons.  This coming weekend we head to Alexandria for our annual dual against EHS.  It looks as if their squad matches ours very well, so it should be another exciting meet.