NWC Cross Country - October

Elizabeth closed out her first cross country season in style and we are so proud of her.  After battling the heat and humidity all fall, her running at the CCC Conference Championship Race earned her a spot in the State Championship race on Friday.  Because of the Nor'easter, the race was moved from Saturday to Friday at the last minute.  The conditions - sunny, low 40's, little wind - were perfect for Elizabeth and she had a great finish.  I think it also helped that she attended her first pep rally just before getting on the bus - the school actually ushered the XC team out of the pep rally to the bus, which was so exciting!  We are proud the work that she put in this fall and look forward to seeing her progress over the next three years.

When I was in New Jersey, my friend Krista got these great shots of Elizabeth running at the Wickham Park Invitational.  She finished in the top 50 for freshmen.

Last home race. The pre-race ritual always includes a team prayer.

Lined up as NWC 3.

Running down an opposing runner in the last ten yards. 

CCC Championship - Varsity Girls Race 

Heading to the finish.

Getting ready to warm up for the state championship race. 

Leading the girls runners - Class SS. 

At the split. 

Taking on the first big hill. 

Heading up the "Green Monster" to the finish line in her first ever state championship race. 

So proud of this girl.  PR by 1 minute, 33 seconds in her final race.  This course is brutal (only Derryfield is Manchester is considered a tougher course in New England) and she crushed it. 

Elizabeth and Julia - love these girls and so happy for their successes this fall. 

NWC varsity girls.

Catholic School Invitational

The Catholic School Invitational was on Saturday and once again, it proved to be our favorite and best race of the season.  The boys and girls teams both finished third, which was really great considering that we only had five boys at the race, so each of their finishes counted.  The school records were broken in both the girls and boys race, which was so awesome as well. As for our Emily, well once again, this turns out not to be a great race for her, but she still gave it her all, passing five runners in the last 150 yards of the race and never giving up, finishing 14th overall.  Another great year of JPII cross country!

Kid cracks me up.

#jacked 

The Dirty Jerz

As we do for most away tournaments, Emily and I drove with Kate and Abby.  We timed our Friday drive perfectly, so it only took four hours to get to Absecon; we were not as lucky on Sunday night, driving for 5 1/2 hours to get home.  In between, we drove 35 minutes from our hotel to each game, as well as to Atlantic City for dinner.  Why not?
I have to say, we've been to New Jersey for tournaments several times, but always the northern part of the state. Driving that far south was not fun and aside from the turf farm where the games were played, the area we were in was desolate and unattractive.  But when you are with your friends, you can have fun anywhere.

Obligatory selfie from the backseat as we started out. 

Obligatory selfie on the Tappan Zee Bridge. 

Friday night dinner - adding bestie Meg and her mom to the mix. 

Philly cheesesteak fries after the second game on Saturday.  She ate every single bite. 

Did you actually go to the tournament if you didn't get the sweatshirt? 

The whole team got these sweatshirts, including their name and number.  Happy kids all around. 

Atlantic City Boardwalk. 

These are my people. 

Dinner at Margaritaville. 

Ready to rock and roll on Sunday morning - reading while we waited to pack up to car. 

Our usual position at every game - with the opposing team parents. 

Last rest stop on the Garden State Parkway.

EDP Cup

Over Columbus Day weekend, Sporting took its top teams, including Emily's, to the EDP Cup in southern New Jersey.  This tournament gave the teams the opportunity to play against other top teams in eastern New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.  Although we went into the tournament with no expectations, especially as three players were unable to make the trip, it turned out to be a great experience.  Emily's team won all four games, allowing just one goal, and won their bracket.  They played really great soccer and every single player rose to the occasion in every single game.  They've lost several games by one goal so far this fall so to win at the EDP Cup was a huge confidence booster for them.  The team chemistry was amazing and it was so much fun to watch them play all weekend.  In particular, Emily had a spectacular weekend.  She played outside defense almost the entire time and really shined.  We are so proud of her and her team!

Celebrating the game winning goal. 

PDA Dynamite was definitely the best team they played (perhaps ever) and somehow, they found a way to win.  It's sounds corny, but when they pulled out the victory, I had tears in my eyes.  They completely gelled as a team and never gave up, not for even one second.

Even a full-on hold from the other team couldn't stop Emily! 

Love this sequence of photos. 

She released the ball up the field just before the hip check. 

And another hip check.

Victory run.

This makes it all worthwhile.  Love this kid; love her coach; and love this team.  And to watch them come together and play their absolute best was just so special.

Love this team and this coach.