The Portage Invitational is definitively the most unique race the team runs. There is plenty of competition, almost 50 teams in our division, and a little over 300 kids at the starting line. The girls took 19th place out of 45 teams. Maggie Duba broke that 20 mark, with a time of 19:59 and a 28th place medal to add to it! Maggie stuck with the top groups and didn’t let the gaps become too big, so she could hit that season record! The other girls did not hit season records, but they worked the race together. It is hard to stay with your teammates in a race this size and still maintain good splits. But most of us stayed in those groups, and we ended up racing each other on the last stretch of the race! For missing two current varsity girls of Abby and Ali, we still scored and placed in a good position! It’s crunch time now, though. The team has conference finals and regionals left. We need to be healthy and come to our races mentally and physically prepared. That is what our full week of practice will give us! If the girls want to beat teams we have our sights and get to our goal times, it comes down to how we can show up on race day. For how many weeks we have are in now, for how many steps have hit the ground for us, no reason we can’t get to where we want to be! Conference finals are Wednesday, October 20th, at Holland Christian, an unfamiliar course, but we’ll be ready!