Yesterday was a great end to an even greater season. We are very proud of all of the kids and the work
that they put in this year to make this such a fun season. This is a very special group of athletes with
a big future. In looking over results and comparing them to the previous Rockwall meet, nearly every kid
improved their time.... some by 30 seconds to a full minute!! The growth that they've had has shown that
improvement and pushing their limits was important to them. Thank you to all of the parents for the
support throughout the year.
IMPORTANT INFO:
TEAM MEETING 8:00 AM Friday, 15th in the gym. Kids need to bring their uniform washed and ready to turn
in. We will meet briefly to recap the season, discuss track transition, and time off/rest period. Kids
come dressed for school.
1st PERIOD KIDS WILL BEGIN REPORTING TO OFF SEASON TOMORROW — Thursday.
7th Grade Girls — DISTRICT CHAMPIONS (23 points) UNDEFEATED SEASON!
Amy Morefield - District Champion (undefeated season)
Callan Snider - 3rd
Bella Landrum - 4th
Emily Reyna - 7th
Morgan Streeter - 8th
Genevieve Jones - 10th
SEVEN YOUNG LADIES IN THE TOP 10!!!!!! These girls proved they are a force to be reckoned with
yesterday! We had 6 in the top 10 at the last meet, and I challenged them to go for 7 ... AND THEY
DID IT!!! This is no small feat! Talk about some competitive kids!! Their pride in their teammates
is also so cool to see ... SPECIAL GROUP OF ATHLETES.
8th Grade Girls — DISTRICT RUNNER-UP (36 points):
Katie Armstrong - District Champion!
Avery Ashley - 4th
Jordyn Caro - 8th
Alex Willard - 9th
This was a heart-breaker. But ... I can tell you that these girls had a GREAT SEASON, and they came
very far from where they were last year! My hat is off to the Rockwall Williams team. Those little
girls came out and executed a perfect race to beat us ... it was well deserved. Nothing our girls
did wrong ... just a great day by another team! That's part of sports and never an easy lesson to
learn. But we've all been there. The good news is that these girls will move into the high school
program next year and IMMEDIATELY have a big impact on our team. The high school girls are really
looking forward to getting to know them because I've been bragging about them for the past two
years! It's a great group of young ladies with a lot of heart and passion to be great
teammates.
7th Grade Boys — DISTRICT CHAMPIONS (37 points) UNDEFEATED SEASON!
Logan Pedersen - District Champion (undefeated season!)
Landon Heruska - 5th
Hunter Reck - 9th
Andrew Stiles - 10th
These guys have been so consistent throughout the year. I have been impressed with the way many of
them are completely bought in and prepared to go on race day. I am looking forward to watching their
growth over the next year as they will try to go undefeated throughout middle school!!
8th Grade Boys — DISTRICT CHAMPIONS (34 points) UNDEFEATED SEASON!
Matthew Murray - District Runner-up in a tight battle. (would have won in an officiated meet)
Riley McGowan - 4th
Carson Person - 8th
Jake Piccirillo - 9th
This is a GREAT GROUP of young men!!! I have really enjoyed getting to know and coach them these
past two years. We have some very strong leaders and some very intense runners. I can't wait to
watch how they go into the summer with our older guys and continue the success that has been paved
for them. They are fighters ... and they showed that yesterday. It was clear that they had a huge
target on their back when I walked up to the line to give them the pre-game speech. They could have
crumbled and buckled under the pressure and taunting from other teams ... but they rose up and
solidified why they were the team to beat! They put an exclamation mark on their season and have
MUCH to be proud of!
Yesterday the "Springers" had arguably our best day EVER at the MS XC Championships. We won individual
titles in 3 of 4 races (the 4th is open to dispute as the Royse City runner was overly aggressive down
the last 400m with Matthew Murray impeding progress) ... >:(
7th Boys: Logan Pedersen (Undefeated on season)
7th Girls: Amy Morefield (Undefeated on season)
8th Boys: Matthew Murray (Would have won in an officiated meet)
8th Girls: Katie Armstrong
7th Boys Team: Undefeated
7th Girls Team: Undefeated
8th Boys Team: Undefeated
Congratulations to all of our future STATE CHAMPIONS !!!
Have a great rest of your week,
Greg
Week Update
I wanted to give you an update on a couple of items.
The "Springers" remain undefeated on the season winning the team titles in all 4 divisions
yesterday. And for the first time I think in program history, we won all 4 races individually as
well.
7th Boys: Logan Pedersen remains undefeated.
7th Girls: Amy Morefield hasn't been challenged all season.
8th Boys: Matthew Murry has won the last 2 races
8th Girls: Katie Armstrong won her first race yesterday, beating her nemesis from Rockwall
Williams
In the 8th grade girls race, the score was tied after 5 runners, and the win came from our 6th
beating Williams' 6th girls ... good lessons for them to learn early.
Lovejoy runners will be starting and ending the Dallas Marathon Challenge Sunday morning. Carson
Hockersmith will start the relay for the girls, and Brett Pedersen will start off for the boys, and
Ryan Brands will finish for the boys. The race will be televised so tune in on Sunday to see the
Leopards making their marks.
GC
WSMS XC Sweep #3
The kids had another great day at the course and remain undefeated ... although the 8th grade girls race
gave us a scare! We tied Williams and it came down to our 6th runner. It pays to have depth on the team!
I'm very proud of these youngsters, and I am looking forward to our last hoorah next Tuesday in
Rockwall. Please see below for upcoming practices, uniform turn-in, etc.
8th Grade Girls - TEAM CHAMPIONS (29 points) — this one was a nail biter!!:
Katie Armstrong - race champion (Katie has shown great tenacity this season. She has remained
confident and continued working hard, which paid off in her first win this season!)
Avery Ashley - 4th
Isabella Ospina - 6th
Jordyn Caro - 5th
Catie Koh - 7th (Catie beat the Williams girl RIGHT at the finish to help clinch the win!)
Note that Alex Willard came in strong yesterday! We needed her to step up as our #5 and she did
that. Bella Ospina was our #6, and the meet title came down to our 6th runner due to a tie with
Rockwall Williams 29-29!!! When that happens, the 6th runner decides the win. Our 6th girl beat
theirs, so we were able to continue our undefeated streak!! Whew!!!
7th Grade Boys - TEAM CHAMPIONS (34 points):
Logan Pedersen - race champion
Landon Heruska - 6th
Damon -7th
Hayden Day - 8th
The 7th grade boys were missing our #3 guy due to illness. I asked some of the other guys to really
step up and try and earn that top 10 spot. Hayden Day responded!! He came up huge with his first
top-10 finish of the season! He was followed by Jack McClure, Anthony Morgello, Devon Larimer and
Andrew Hager who were all right there on the verge of breaking into the top 10. It was a fun race to
watch!
8th Grade Boys - TEAM CHAMPIONS (31 points):
Matthew Murray - race champion
Riley McGowan - 4th
Carson Person - 7th
Andrew Houser - 8th
I spoke with the 8th grade guys the day before ... knowing that Utley would be gunning for them. We
wanted to get out faster and put some pressure on them. They soundly defeated their opponents and
showed that they are going to fight hard for their undefeated season!
Carly Littlefield
WSMS XC Sweep #2
Well, it was another great meet as the kids cleaned up again yesterday in Rockwall! Each team came
prepared to handle business and bring home the win! It was clear that the majority of our kids did some
running over the Thanksgiving break - where other teams did not. This is what creates championship teams
and individuals - the work put in behind the scenes. Our goal was for each kid to move up at least 1
place from the first meet; most were able to achieve that! It looks like we will have the BIG GOAL of
going for an undefeated season as we approach the next two meets!
Below are Team results as well as the names of the kids who were in the top 10 in their division and
earned a ribbon.
There are not enough words to express how proud I am of our runnin' leopards for their outstanding
performances yesterday! Our kids finally had the chance to get out there and compete ... and they sure
took advantage of it!! Every athlete put forth their very best effort as they fought hard and raced like
true champions. Out on the course, each kid continued to work their way up throughout the race, and it
was so much fun to watch them push their limits as they crossed the finish line.
I loved seeing the great crowd! Thank you to all of the parents and supporters out there cheering on the
kids! I hope each runner had a good experience and was able to get that amazing feeling that you have
after giving everything you've got. Regardless of how fast they are or where they finish for the team
... it's all about improving and competing to the best of their ability, and I feel like every single
kid did that. The way they cheered for teammates and raced for each other is exactly what makes our
Lovejoy program so special. I had some 8th grade boys run up to me at the end of the girls race and say,
"Coach, I think we swept the meet!" They were truly excited and pumped up to have had the entire team
win each division ... HOW COOL!!!
I was VERY proud of the way the kids competed on Saturday. I was especially impressed with their
behavior before and after the race. I told the kids this morning, that will be the most difficult meet
they have this year. The rest of the meets are fairly flat and in November/December ... so we won't be
dealing with that heat. Also... a huge thank you to all of you who helped out with the meet set-up,
tear-down, donations, etc.!
