MXC Banquet Date Set; How to Watch MXC Ladies @ Nike Nationals Sat. Dec 6th

Two things of note for MXC fans:

1) The Marcus Cross Country Banquet date and time have been set – details as follows:

Friday, JAN 30 – 630 PM – Crossroads Bible Church, near Chinn Chapel at 8101 Justin Road, Double Oak, TX 75077

Invitation and info about how to help out with the event to follow.

2) To watch the girls run at Nationals, here’s some helpful info (we’re assuming that all times below are Pacific, so add two hours for local Central time zone viewing):

NXN RACE SCHEDULE
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Glendoveer Golf Course, Portland OR

9:30am Pacific: Webcast Starts
10:05am: Girl’s Championship Race
11:35am: Boy’s Championship Race
12:45pm: Community Race
* Awards to follow each race
* Schedule subject to change

Read more: NikeCrossNationals.com – Nike Cross Nationals Official Site – NXN – Meet Info – Meet Info http://NXN.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=13#ixzz3KOI8jCr4

Webcast likely to be found on the Nike Nationals webpage at: http://nxn.runnerspace.com/

Good luck to the Lady Marauders at Nike Nationals!

Marcus Ladies Earn Nationals Spot, Men Continue Rankings Rise, at Nike South Regional

Dateline November 22, 2014, The Woodlands, Texas: At the Nike South Regional Championship, a five state regional covering Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas, to determine which two teams will earn spots at the Nike National Championship race in two weeks time, both Marauder teams performed extremely well and the Lady M’s punched their first ever ticket for a trip to run in the “Rose City”, Portland, Oregon.

Weather forecasts had predicted severe weather, with heavy rains and thunderstorms, for race day. But, while the Houston area was blanketed with rains immediately before and after the race, the inclement weather held off to provide pleasant race conditions with temps in the lower to mid-sixties under gray skies, and no rain, drizzle or mist. However, due to the prior day’s rains, the race course was saturated and muddy.

To accommodate the potential for bad weather hitting at any moment, the race schedule was modified and the Boys’ Championship race was held first. The Marauder Men fought their way through a crowded field of talented teams to improve on the team’s strong Texas State Championship 8th place finish to move up to 7th place for the Nike South Region, finishing as the 5th fastest Texas-based team. From where the team was ranked at the beginning of the season (10th in the Texas CC Coaches poll), and the fact that some key members had to overcome injuries and health issues during this Fall’s campaign, the team’s performance today closed out a most satisfying season.

We’ll take a look back at the MXC season highlights when the Marauders shut down operations for the year, but thanks to the Lady Marauders’ performance in the Girls’ Championship race, this season isn’t over as the Lady M’s have one more race to run, the Nike National Championship.

The Ladies fought through a star-studded field to finish second with a score of 101, 27 points behind fellow LISD and District 6-6A member first place finisher Hebron (74) and 34 points ahead of third place finisher Kingwood (135), repeating the order of the Texas State Class 6A Championship two weeks earlier. For the Lady M’s, Maddy Reed earned 2nd Team All-Region honors finishing 10th overall, and Quinn Owen earned 3rd Team All-Region honors finishing 17th overall. All the scoring Lady M’s finished in the top 40 team participant spots and persevered through the mud-bath to take one of the two coveted Nike Nationals spots.

In the Boys’ Open Race (combined results), the JV Guys team finished 12th overall, notwithstanding a start that resulted in two Marauders talking a severe spill along the way, approximately 100 meters out, risking being trampled by the tail-half of the crowded starting field. Both downed Marauders, Cole Klashinsky and Devin Allen, managed to get up and shake off their scary tumble to finish the race. Cole did such a great job overcoming adversity that he actually led the Marauder JV squad, battling his way through the field to finish 29th out of 454 overall runners.

Fortunately, the JV Gals team didn’t have to deal with extreme adversity in their race, and the JV Lady M’s placed extremely well, finishing 5th overall (Open Race combined results). The Junior Ladies’ squad was led by Mallory Meiners who finished 8th overall, earning a spot on the medal stand as a Top Ten Finisher.

For results, see:

http://nxns.runnerspace.com/.

For the guys, it’s time to celebrate a season that closes on a high note as the Marauders continued their upward trajectory that saw the team continually overcome the odds and the field.

And for the senior Lady M’s, it’s time to sing their praises while they keep training and running for their appointment in the Rose City at the 11th Annual Nike National Championship. Celebrations and shout outs are in order for the gals as this is just the second Marcus team in the eleven year Nike Nationals history to earn this incredible honor, joining the 2010 Boys team which finished 10th at Nationals that year. The Lady M’s are ranked 15th in the nation today, so let’s hope the course and the force is with them two weeks from now, December 6th, at Portland, Oregon’s Glendoveer Golf Course when they toe the line for a run at the national championship.

State Fares Well for Marcus as Ladies Take Silver and Guys Work an 8th Wonder

Dateline November 8, 2014, Round Rock, Texas: This Saturday at the Texas State Class 6A Cross Country Championship, the Marcus Marauder teams both performed extremely well on a sunny, breezy day with race time highs in the lower 70s.

The Lady Marauders led off and scored a spirited 76 points for second place and the Texas State team silver medal, for which all MXC celebrates and is quite proud. The gals were paced by Maddy Reed who finished 9th overall (team score of 5) making the individual medal podium. She was joined, as Second Team All-State CC members, by Peyton Brown finishing 11th overall (team score 7) and Quinn Owen finishing 13th overall (team score 8). Also scoring and finishing in the top 50 runners were Emily Jeacock (35th overall for 25 team points) and Ashton Hutcherson (44th overall for 31 team points). Rounding out MXC’s runners were Miranda Vaash (team score 89) and Emilia Ferreyra (team score 98). Joining Marcus on the team medal stand was Hebron, finishing first, just eight points ahead of Marcus with a team score of 68, and Kingwood, finishing third, 28 points behind Marcus with a team score of 104. Fellow District 6-6A member, Flower Mound, finished 6th overall, and fellow Region I member, Southlake Carroll, finished 4th, emphasizing the strength of NTX’s local cross country competition.

The Marauder guys ran next and finished in 8th place with a team score of 193. The guys were led again by Logan Hendrix who finished with a team score of 8 and 11th overall, just off the medal podium, but earning Second Team All-State honors. Rounding out the M’s team scoring were Luke Page – 39, Cameron Blackmon – 43, Brady Steele – 47, and Benson Merrill – 56. Closing things out for the Marauders were Alec Blair – 65 and Andrew Duffy – 76. The team finished 76 points behind third place College Park (117), with 1st place going to Southlake (94) and 2nd going to The Woodlands (105). Given the ground the boys have had to cover this year due to injuries, all of MXC also celebrates and is quite proud of just how well the guys performed at State, continuing to work wonders on an out of this world upward trajectory.

And that’s important, because faring well at State is of good portent owing to the fact that State isn’t the farewell performance of the cross country season. Far from it. Both teams have earned invites to the Nike South Regional, a multi-state qualifier meet for the Nike HS Cross Country National Championship held in Portland, Oregon in early December. At the Nike South Regional to be held in two weeks in The Woodlands, the top ten individual runners, and the top two teams, for both the guys and the gals, will earn a ticket to the Nike National Championship. So neither team will be shutting things down. Rather, these next two weeks, both teams will be back at training, joined by other team members who will be running the Nike South Regional JV race. So, time to keep all options open and all dreams alive, and remember what the Happy Warrior (US VP Hubert Horatio Humphrey) had to say: “Before the fact is the dream.” So Go Marcus: Train On, Dream On, Run On!!!

DeManniquinn’s Message for MXC

From Day 1 of this cross country season to present, Janet Marcus DeMannequinn, the first lady of TX HS Cross, has been singularly focused, and so has Marcus Cross.

As a sign of the times, her 2014 message for MXC was simple…

Executing on that isn’t so simple. To get to State, it takes a lot of hard work and sweat equity, a good bit of luck, prayer, daily perseverance, and an ability to deal with adversity and overcome all obstacles. MXC took Janet D’s 2014 message to heart and has been “on message” all season.

To paraphrase another Janet, “The road to Round Rock is long, but you ran it.” Having run your way to State, it’s time now to “Run Like a Champion” and leave it all out there.

Good luck and have lots of fun! “Embrace the Race!”

And remember that a guy named Disney once said “If you can dream it, you can do it” So, keep dreaming, and dare to dream big.

May the force and the course be with you, and may you all B GR8T @ State!

***********************************************************************************************

FOR MXC FANS: 

Event: Texas State Cross Country Championship @ Lakeview Pavillion, Old Settlers Park, Round Rock, TX

Map:  http://goo.gl/maps/39GtQ

Street Address: Lakeview Pavillion, Old Settlers Park, off Harrell Parkway, Roundrock, TX

Race Times:

• Girls 6A Texas State Cross Country Championship 12:30 PM
• Boys 6A Texas State Cross Country Championship 1:00 PM

Directions: I-35 south to Round Rock. Exit on Hwy 79, exit 253 and turn left (go east on Palm Valley Road). Go 3.2 miles to Old Settlers Park. The park is on the left. Parking is at Dell Diamond with a shuttle service to the course. The course is about 1 mile into the park.

Parking: @ the Dell Diamond Stadium Lot, $5 per car.

Shuttle Bus to Course: Free

Race Admission Fee: $5 per person

Advice: Plan on it taking some time to drive from I-35 exit 253A (on to highway 79, East Palm Valley Road) to the Dell Diamond (there will be traffic), get parked, take the shuttle bus to the race course, and then find the teams to wish them good luck before the first race. It should be very doable with a 7 AM FloMo departure. Consider bringing a folding chair, some water and maybe even a picnic lunch. It should be a great day to race, and cheer on Marcus! We hope to see you there.

State Course 5K Map:

Marcus Cross Delivers Halloween Treats at Region Championship

Dateline October 31, 2014, Lubbock, Texas: In “spooktacular” fashion Marcus Cross treated its fans to a Happy Halloween by delivering two mid-afternoon medal winning race goodies at the UIL Region I Cross Country Championship held today at Mae Simmons Park in Lubbock, TX. On a crisp, clear, “mile high blue sky” kind of day, with light 10 mph winds, and a high temperature of just 64 degrees, the weather was perfect for runners to deliver great times, and on this Halloween MXC absolutely came through and delivered.

In the first ever 6-6A Region Championship, the Lady Marauders came through in flying colors and outpaced the competition, finishing first with 42 points, placing its first five in the top 18 runners, and outpacing 2nd place Hebron by 30 points (72), 3rd place Flower Mound (112), and 4th place Southlake Carroll (127). All four of these teams will travel to Round Rock, TX in the Austin area to run at the Texas State Championship next Saturday. And to show you just how competitive Marcus’ home District 6-6A is in girls’ cross-country, on the Region medal stand as the top three Region teams were the three LISD schools, Marcus, Hebron and Flower Mound, that had advanced out of District.

Pacing the Lady Marauders was Maddie Reed with a course record 16:51.18, and joining her on the top ten medal stand were Quinn Owen in 5th at 17:23.41 and Peyton Brown in 6th at 17:27.00. Rounding out the scoring were Emily Jeacock in 12th at 17:51.44 and Ashton Hutcherson in 18th at 18:14.41, and helping to put distance on the rest of the field were Emilia Ferreyra at 19:17.38 in 51st and Miranda Vassh at 19:36.45 in 62nd.

In the Boys’ 6A race, Marcus continued its upward trend by placing third, earning a spot on the medal stand with 118 points, behind first place and TX state #1 ranked Southlake (78) and second place El Paso Eastwood (87), and just two points ahead of 4th place and highly ranked Keller Timber Creek with 120 points. A close study of the team scores reveals that there were a number of performances by the Marcus top five finishers that put the team on the road not just to State, but the Regional medal stand.

Continuing his strong comeback from an early season injury, Logan Hendrix paced MXC with a 9th place finish and time of 15:14.81, earning him a spot on the top 10 individuals’ medal stand. Given the day’s events for the Hendrix family (our thoughts and prayers are with Logan’s dad Joe for a speedy and full recovery), one just cannot help but be amazed by Logan’s extraordinary performance. Strong finishes from Brady Steele, 14th, at 15:16.85, Luke Page, 27th, at 15:41.27, and two more MXC comeback kids, Cameron Blackmon, 28th, at 15:42.42, and Alec Blair, 42nd, at 15:58.17, saw MXC’s top five all finish the course in under 16 minutes. Rounding out the field with excellent times and helping distance the competition were Benson Merrill, 61st, at 16:14.73, and Parker Brady, 78th, at 16:33.88.

Results:  http://www.mychiptime.com/searchevent.php?id=8580

Thanks to their great regional performances, both MXC teams are headed back to the Texas State Cross Country Championship to be held next Saturday afternoon at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, Texas. With races to the North of Austin at 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM, the site and timing make it possible for Marcus Cross fans to drive down Saturday morning in time to cheer on MXC. So, we hope to see you out there showing your Marcus Spirit. Both of these teams have worked very hard to earn their spots at State and are getting stronger every week.

NEXT UP: NOV 8 – Times Below – Texas State Cross Country Championship @ Lakeview Pavillion, Old Settlers Park, Round Rock, TX MAP:  http://goo.gl/maps/39GtQ Street Address: Lakeview Pavillion, Old Settlers Park, off Harrell Parkway, Roundrock, TX 

• Girls 6A Texas State Cross Country Championship 12:30 PM
• Boys 6A Texas State Cross Country Championship 1:00 PM

Travel & Parking Tips for First Time Attendees: Coming down I-35 the day of the race shouldn’t be a problem if you are on the road around 7 AM or even a little later. Just remember I-35 has its construction spots and traffic thickens when you get to Round Rock, especially around the race site exit. Race parking for the Old Settlers Park course is at the Dell Diamond Stadium parking lot, so you should plan on it taking some time to get off the highway, through Round Rock traffic to the site, and parked in the lot. Plan accordingly, and understand that there are races every half hour starting at 9 AM, and once parked, you either need to hike about 3/4s of a mile to the race site or catch an event shuttle bus. But don’t let any of that deter you. With prior proper planning you can be there well ahead of the first 6A race to wish the teams good luck. Bring a chair, some water and maybe even a picnic lunch. It should be a great day to race, and cheer on Marcus!

Marcus Prevails at McKinney, Crowned Across-the-Board District 6-6A Champs

Dateline October 21, 2014, McKinney, Texas: At the District 6-6A Cross Country Championship held today at Myers Park in McKinney, the Marcus Marauder Cross Country teams faced a packed field of strong teams and deep competition. Thanks to UIL’s 2014 realignment, Marcus and its fellow LISD 6A high schools were moved from a six school district into a nine school district, making it all the more difficult this year to be one of the top three teams to advance from District to next week’s Regional. Increasing the degree of difficulty was the fact that LISD rivals Flower Mound and Hebron have had their boys and girls teams ranked in the Texas state CC coaches top 10 poll at various times throughout the season.

So the Marauders knew it would be no easy task to advance to the Regional, let alone earn blue ribbons or championship hardware at District. But, thanks to a great set of tune-up races a week and a half earlier, where Marcus swept the Birdville Flyin’ Hawks Invitational against excellent competition, Marcus entered the District Championship buoyed and optimistic.

And that optimism proved infectious for all Marauder teams as Marcus prevailed across the board, winning the Varsity Girls’ and Boys’, and JV Girls’ and Boys’, races, enjoying a rare feat, a District Championship sweep.

Both of the varsity races were predicted to be tight, as in “Wallace and Gromit, A Close Shave” tight, and could go any way, and in that regard these two races did not disappoint.

In the day’s first race, the Girls’ Varsity, the Lady Marauders proved victorious by two points in an extremely close race, 34-36. MXC placed its top five runners in the first 12 finishers and managed to overcome Hebron’s placement of its top five in the first 10, thanks to the fortuitous overall finishes of MXC’s runners (Marcus 2, 4, 5, 11 and 12 vs. Hebron 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10). The Lady Marauders and Lady Hebron Hawks will be joined in Lubbock next week at Regional by a fast rising Flower Mound Girls Varsity which finished third, placing its top five in the first 20 runners. (With UIL’s expansion from the top three, to the top four, teams advancing from the CC Regional to State, it’s quite possible that these teams just might be seeing a lot of each other over the next few weeks.)

While expectations have been high all season for the Lady Marauders, the MXC Boys’ have been more or less running under the radar, ranked behind other district teams in polls most of the season, due in part to various Marauders battling back from injuries suffered both this year and in prior years. However, the MXC Boys’ have been returning to form, growing stronger every week and showing signs they’re ready to run at an elite level and join the Lady Marauders. And the boys did just that, copying the Lady Marauders with a tight, mere two point win, 62-64, over the Hebron Hawks. Joining the Marauder and Hawks boys’ teams at Regional will be Plano West which took 3rd, just 15 points behind MXC, at 77.

To give Marauder fans a break from race anxiety the Girls JV dispatched its competition with a solid 47 point victory, 18 to 65, with Lady Marauders placing 1st (freshman Emilia Ferreyra earning JV Girls’ District Champion honors), 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, and thereby dispensing with all race tension.

The JV Boys team achieved similar success, winning 19 to 58, finishing 1st (senior Benson Merrill taking the JV boys’ individual District Championship), 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th.

District 6-6A Results can be found at: http://www.wetimeraces.com/RacingSystems/Results/2014/District6-6Aand10-5A/DistrictMenu.htm

Perhaps even more worthy of note in connection with MXC JV teams’ success was the fact they had to deal with the days’ burgeoning heat, as race time temperatures soared from the first race at 830 AM in the mid-sixties to the last race at 1210 PM in the mid-eighties, as the races were spread out throughout the morning, staggered by an hour or more between races, due to the fact this year’s District Meet was a joint one held at the site with District 10-5A. This clearly disadvantaged those JV runners who were hoping to perform well and possibly extend their season by moving up to varsity if their times beat those of any varsity runners.

In the opinion of this writer (which is not a representation of any Marcus HS Official or member of its Cross Country Coaching Staff, or that of any Officer of the MXC Booster Club), the race organizers scheduling of a weekday event and use of a spread race format was a bit shortsighted, not just for the JV runners, but for all participating teams’ fans and especially parents of participants, many of whom had weekday workweek job responsibilities and therefore could not attend. One can not help but feel sorry for those parents and fans who may have missed the opportunity to see a senior runner run his or her last race of their HS CC career given event scheduling. And so one can only hope that next year’s District Meet race organizers will be more far-sighted and run a more fan and parent friendly race on a weekend date, or in the worst case scenario of another weekday event, at least run each participating District’s races on a consecutive back to back race schedule to minimize the time commitment of attending fans, parents and student-athletes. With this year’s Region 1 Meet in Lubbock also moving to a weekday, notwithstanding the fact that all other cross country races are held on Saturdays, one can only hope that we see a return next year to a weekend District Meet. One can only hope….

Having gotten the above “rant” out there, this writer at the same time also extends a hearty thank you to the McKinney schools’ District organizers and volunteers for the thankless job of putting on the all important District Championship Meet. Having guided team buses and parent and fan cars to parking spaces the prior four years at the risk of missing my own kids’ District races, this writer gives thanks to this year’s District 6-6A volunteers. We just hope that next year better scheduling will allow more parents and fans to attend and enjoy the Meet. :)

Closing on that positive note, we also note that the Marcus Marauders mustered a marvelous effort to achieve a magnificent team accomplishment of a District Championship sweep. Time now to hope that this week’s success will breed more success next week, and the MXC Boys’ and Girls’ varsity teams will find a way to successfully run the Region I gauntlet by finishing as one of the top four teams this coming Halloween, Friday, October 31st, in Lubbock, and thus earn the “treat” to advance to Round Rock and a chance to compete for a Texas State Cross Country Championship.

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NEXT UP: OCT 31 – Region I Championship. Place: Mae Simmons Park, Lubbock TX  MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/oqxHZ Street Address: 1319 East 24th Street, Lubbock, Texas 79404 – Mae Simmons Park, MLK Blvd @ 24th St Lubbock TX. Race Times: 6A Girls Varsity Race 2:00 PM, 6A Boys Varsity Race at 2:30 PM, Award Ceremony Time: shortly after the 6A Boys’ Race.

Marcus Flocks Together and Soars at Birdville Flyin’ Hawks Invitational

Dateline October 11, 2014, Hurst, Texas: On a cool, overcast, wet (muddy) morning in Hurst at the Birdville Flyin’ Hawks Invitational held at Tarrant County College, all of the Marcus Marauders XC teams soared above the competition on this day, flocking together, like birds of a feather, with each team taking first for a Meet sweep.

Against a very strong Hebron Hawks Girls Varsity team (and fellow District 6-6A rival), the Lady Marauders eked out a close 10 point win, edging the Lady Hawks 41-51 in a race where both teams placed their top 5 runners in the top twenty against strong competition. The race sets up quite a showdown for the upcoming District 6-6A Championship when Marcus and Hebron are joined by a strong Flower Mound team and other strong individual and team district competitors.

Speaking of strong competition and a.close race, the Boys Varsity won a three-point squeaker over Canyon, 85-88, with the top five runners on each squad trading places and tightly aligned. This hopefully will be a big confidence booster for the Boys’ Varsity going into Championship Season, as the District 6-6A competition will be tough with this year’s expanded nine team District field that includes Flower Mound, Hebron and the Planos.

The Girls JV team placed first 22 points ahead of Southlake Carrol, with a 25-47 victory, thanks to four Lady Marauders finishing in the top six, with MXC’s fifth place finisher coming in #12.

Dispatching the competition and dispensing with all race outcome mystery, the Boys’ JV team rolled in the first five runners for a perfect 15 score, adding finishers 9 and 13 for good measure, resulting with an amazing 0:23 split between the top five Marauder runners who averaged race times of just 17:13.

For detailed results, see: http://tx.milesplit.com/meets/177578-birdville-flyin-hawks-invitational.

Overall, the Meet sweep was a wonderful confidence builder and tune-up for the upcoming District 6-6A Championship to be held Tuesday, October 21st at McKinney’s Myers Park. Races are spread out because the site is simultaneously hosting the District 10-5A Meet. District 6-6A and Marauder race times are as follows:

• 8:30 Varsity Girls
• 9:50 Varsity Boys
• 10:50 Girls JV
• 12:10 Boys JV

• Location:  Myers Park, McKinney TX
• MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/HXmR 
• Street Address: 7117 County Road 166, McKinney, TX 75071

We hope to see you out there to cheer on all racing Marauders. Be smart and pack a chair, and a breakfast and a lunch!!!

Cold Front at Nike South Can’t Freeze Out MXC

Dateline Saturday, October 4, 2014, The Woodlands, TX:  With a morning temp of a chilly 63, and with noon time temps barely reaching 70, and with some rarefied dry, clear air at the Nike South Invitational held in The Woodlands this Saturday, you just knew that a course that normally eats North TX runners alive due to its sand base and oppressive Gulf humidity was on this day going to surrender some PRs, especially to a motivated pack of visiting Marauders from the Metroplex.

And so it did. Of the 42 Marauders that toed the line at Nike South on Saturday, 27 recorded PRs, and nine additional runners posted season bests. As Coach T said in classic “Oklahoma!” style, “Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day.” MXC enjoyed its very own version of a “10th Avenue Freeze Out” and had one “Boss” of a day.

Janet DeMannequin was heard to say “I can’t believe I didn’t pack my warm-up suit. What was I thinking? This girl’s gotta be better prepared for the Piney North Woods of TX, next time!”

Leading the way on this “It’s way too nice, this can’t possibly be Houston, there must be a problem!” kind of day, the Marcus Varsity Girls’ team wrote themselves into the Nike South record book by finishing first with the lowest Girls’ Elite race team score total (58) in invitational history. Now’s that a pretty nice day, and a “swooshing good time!” :)

The Varsity Boys also rose to the occasion placing well a head of expectations, finishing a most respectable 6th place in the Elite race against the usual strong Nike South competition.

The Boys also ran a team in the “Green” Varsity race finishing 7th.

The Girls ran two teams in the JV Girls race, with the top team taking 4th. 

Finally the Boys JV squad finished 6th.

For results, visit the Nike South Invitational website at: http://nikesouth.runnerspace.com/. 

While after a day like that, one might want to kick back, chill out and take stock, maybe even take some photos with a pretty cool team trophy, for MXC a day like that actually serves as a great motivator to forge ahead and not let a cold wave cool down a red hot and motivated team.

So it’s time to soar this coming week over the hills and dales at the modified Birdville High Flyin’ Hawks Invitational course. OCT 11 – 730 AM – Flyin’ Hawks Invitational @ Tarrant County College, Hurst TX MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/Uy8P  Street Address: 828 Harwood Road, Hurst, Texas 76054

Marauders Roar at Colony Cougar Classic

Dateline September 27, 2014, The Colony, Texas: At The Colony Cougar Classic Invitational held on the Far Eastern Shores of Lake Lewisville, the weather was humid but rather hospitable for the early morning races, under cloud cover and temps in the lower to mid-70s, with the day’s heat not picking up until the JV races, with temps reaching the lower 80s.

And thanks to the Cougar Classic, the Marauders enjoyed a roaring good time, with more than a few Marauders enjoying roaring good times.

The Boys’ Varsity, running in the Elite race, won a two point squeaker, 40 to 42 over Frisco Wakeland.

The Boys’ JV dominated the top ten race finishers, with the team taking first and coming in with a very low score.

The Varsity girls’ team got the day off, and MXC ran a girls’ five-some in the Girls’ Elite race, taking a respectable 6th.

And this blogger has yet to locate official results for the Girls’ JV race to know where the Lady Marauders’ placed.

Partial results can be found at: http://tx.milesplit.com/meets/177728-the-colony-cougar-classic#.VC4axBDz94g

Overall, it was all a very nice tune-up, or a nice rest, for this coming week’s Nike South Invitational. Go to this page to see “Best Of” photos from The Colony.

THIS WEEK: OCT 4 – 730 or 8 AM (depending if MHS runs a team in the 730 Varsity Boys (Green) race) – Nike South Invitational @ Bear Branch Creek Sports Park, The Woodlands, TX.  MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/uLI5 Street Address: 5205 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77381, in proximity to Faith Bible Church at 5505 Research Forest Dr.

Schedule per official Nike South Invitational website: http://nikesouth.runnerspace.com/

Location:
Bear Branch Sports Park (5205 Research Forest Drive) The Woodlands, TX

Marcus Goes 1-2-3-1 at Marcus II Invitational

Dateline September 20, 2014, Hickory Creek, Texas: On a truly “great day to race” (aside: a shout out to Coach T, who will be MIA from MXC racing for this upcoming week’s meet for another truly great day, a special one in Coach’s T’s life, his oldest son’s upcoming wedding :)), the Marcus Marauders hosted approximately 1400 runners at Westlake Park in Hickory Creek, Texas for the 2014 Marcus II Invitational (“M-II“), its second year on the Eastern shores of Lake Lewisville, East of I-35E, and in the shadow of the Lake Lewisville Toll Bridge.The venue offers fantastic views of the bridge and Lake Lewisville and we think makes a “fan-tastic” venue for a cross country race.

The Marcus XC Booster Club brain-trust took all the coach/runner/fan input from last year’s inaugural M-II race at this new site to significantly revise the race course (err, reverse it, to provide for a better start) and improve overall race operations. We think all the planning resulted in a super fan and runner friendly site, course and event.

For those that attended, if anyone has any suggestions for how the MXC Booster Club can improve the event, please let us know (contact info on this site’s About page). Based on “day of race” feedback, we’re pretty pleased with how the meet played out this year, the result of a lot of hard work to carve a brand new course out of the park’s wilds, thanks to the furtive imagination of some race visionaries (and of course Coach T wanting all the runners to get the chance to hit the beach and run in some sand ;) ). We think we have a winner of a site and hope to be in Hickory Creek for years to come.

As far as the day’s races, the Marcus Varsity Girls put forth a fantastic effort to take 1st place in front of a strong Highland Park team, which due to increased student population has been promoted (again) into the largest TX HS classification, 6A (and it sure seemed like the entire HPHS student body attended and ran in the day’s races).

The MXC Varsity Boys took 2nd place, beating the field, but for a very tough and impressive highly ranked El Paso Socorro team, which outpaced MHS by 27 points. Hats off to Socorro HS for that performance, and making the long race commute, all the way up to North Texas, for this year’s M-II. We hope to see you back again next year.

The Marcus JV Girls took 3rd, behind strong performances from Southlake Carrol and new district rival Plano West (the margin of victory of Southlake over Plano West was just four points, and Plano West beat out Marcus by just one point, proving yet again that a team’s race position can be made or broken in an instant and impacted by where a team’s top five to ten runners finish).

MXC closed out its day of racing with a JV Boys victory, taking 1st, and thus the 1-2-3-1 reference in the heading above.

The event also included 6 more races, four HS and two MS. To see results from all races, including race splits, please visit these webpages:

Overall Results: http://www.my-finish.com/form.php?race_name=marcus2xc14

Splits: http://timeandmeasure.info/Results/Marcus2Splits.htm

All in all, it was a fantastic day of racing at what we think is a fantastic race venue.

Coaches and teams that attended, we hope not only that you will be back next year for the 3rd year running at “the beach & bay by the bridge,” but you’ll let other coaches and teams know that Marcus II is a “not to be missed” meet totally worth attending.

We look forward to seeing all comers next year.

And to all who came to this year’s Marcus II, we also wish you good luck, happy trails, and great times from here “to District and beyond!”

Next Up: This Saturday, the Marcus Marauder Minutemen and Women will try for some revolutionary good times at The Colony Invitational SEP 27 – 8 AM – The Colony Invitational @ Hidden Cove Park, The Colony, TX  MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/qFVz Street Address: 20400 Hackberry Creek Park Rd, The Colony, Texas 

And finally, for MXC Best Of photos from M-II, visit the 2014 Photos page.

Marcus XC Scores High Marks at McKinney

Dateline September 13, 2013, McKinney, Texas: On an exceptionally cool Saturday morning at McKinney’s Myers Park at the McKinney-Boyd sponsored invitational, the Marcus Marauders scored a number of firsts:

• a mixture of Varsity and JV Girls took first in the Varsity Girls race in a meet that featured Elite races;
• the JV Boys finished first; and
• two different Marauders won their races (congrats to Parker and Quinn!), one of whom appeared to be devilishly faster than the rest of the field.

To see some of the best of photos, please go to the 2014 Photos page. 

Next Week: It’s time to “Bridge the Gap” at the Marcus II Invitational in Hickory Creek, TX. Details, directions, and google map link follow:

SEP 20 – 730 AM – Marcus II Invitational @ Westlake Park, Hickory Creek, TX* MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/mD7Nw  Street Address: 2000 Main Street, Hickory Creek Texas

Coaches, Runners, Parents & Fans: for Marcus II Race Details & Info, please visit the Marcus II Invitational – Sept. 20, 2014 page on this site.

Marcus XC Hits the Pioneer Trail Cool Running

The pioneering grande dame of Texas Cross Country, Janet DeMannequin, dressed for success on the Old Chisholm Trail to prove a point. You’ve got to roll up your skirt and strap on your running shorts and shoes if you want to dance a celebratory jig at the end of a Hoedown.

Dateline September 6, 2014, Hurst, Texas: All of the Marcus Marauder XC teams performed well today (some would say like a boss, a trail boss that is) at the 2014 Pioneer Trail Run hosted by Boswell HS at the Hurst Northeast Campus of Tarrant County College. Weather conditions were warm (early race temps close to 80, and in lower 90s by the Boys JV race), and far more humid than usual for this time of year.

But the weather proved no factor, as each MXC team was cool running. They each showed they were “old hands” at the newly designed course, even if a Varsity Cowgirl (or two) momentarily lost the trail head – going off track and the beaten path – over the course of the race.

Notwithstanding a number of injuries plaguing each of the teams, they each corralled A1 A-OK finishes, placing first. Yee-Haw, and Carry-on!!! 

To see some of the best of photos, go to the 2014 Photos page.

Next Week: It’s time to git along little dogies to “Farmville” and the Hills and Dales at Collin County’s Myers Park and Event Center, McKinney and the McKinney-Boyd HS Meet. Details, directions, and google map link follow:

SEP 13 – 730 AM – McKinney Boyd CC Meet, Myers Park, McKinney TX MAP: http://goo.gl/maps/HXmR Street Address: Myers Park and Event Center, McKinney, TX @ 7117 County Road 166, McKinney, TX 75071