The Knights concluded their season with great performances, at the Indiana Middle School Cross Country Championships. Hundreds of harriers from across the state descended on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country course for a final round of racing in Cross Country Town U.S.A. The Knights raced in the 'Small Schools JV Open' category. In the girls race, our runners yet again turned in great performances. Katie Rotar led the Knights across the line, repeating her career PR of 13:41. Katie Brown, Julia Duso and Tatum Perior were in close pursuit, turning strong runs and securing the 2nd, 3rd and 4th scoring spots for the Knights. Consistent running earned Perior a repeat of her season PR of 14:58. Sixth grader Freya Britton, a rookie no more, executed well and rounded out the 5th place scoring spot, and a new career PR of 14:59. Nice running by our girls team. In the boys race veterans Patrick Seeley and Connor Brand demonstrated their power and tenacity and secured podium performances. Seeley led the Knights across the line in 11:19, and a 4th place finish in a race field of 255 harriers. Right on Seely's heels, Brand finished 11:23 and 5th place finish. Our third and fourth Knights across the line, Alex Gonzalez and Andrew Thiel, executed well in Cross Country Town, crossing the line in 12:03 and 12:07 respectively. Thiel's performance raised the career PR bar yet again with that near sub 12 performance. Veteran Jayden Silva-Amaro ran well and wrapped up his junior high XC career as the 5th scoring Knight and a 13:10 performance. Reaching a new career best performance late in the season becomes ever more challenging, when a runner is already near their performance peak. All the more special for Zach Kerr, Jeremy Sison and Beckett White. They exit the 2024 season with new career PRs of 13;19, 14:07 and 14:28 respectively. Our boys collective efforts resulted in the Knights placing 3rd of 21 teams with a score of 133 (4 5 24 27 73). Good show guys! "The real purpose of running isn't to win a race, it's to test the limits of the human heart". Bill Bowerman's words come to mind, when I think of this 2024 team. They brought all their strength, heart and passion, earning their PRs in practice when no one's looking, and repeatedly demonstrating them on race day!