{"id":1353,"date":"2016-12-13T14:21:59","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T19:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=1353"},"modified":"2016-12-13T14:21:59","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T19:21:59","slug":"intense-training-propels-runners-to-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=1353","title":{"rendered":"Intense training propels runners to states"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joslyn Fox
\n<\/strong>The Blue and White
\nGrand Rapids Catholic Central
\n1st Place
\nDivision 4, News Writing
\nSports Feature Story<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

High-mileage, fast-paced running, cross training, and dieting were all part of junior Dylan Sykes\u2019 five-month plan for a breakout season that ended Nov. 7 at the state finals.<\/p>\n

Sykes established three goals prior to the season: to win the conference title, break the junior school record, and earn All State honors. He succeeded at all three.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trained extremely hard, running up to 60 miles a week,\u201d Sykes said. \u201cI completed excruciating Greg Meyer workouts two days a week and ran up a 450-meter-long, treacherously steep hill elevation of 700 feet four times. I also swam, biked, and lifted seven days a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a new personal record (PR) of 15:55.8, Sykes was named the conference champion, and he placed 15th overall at the Division II state finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am elated with my performance and can\u2019t wait to see what I can accomplish this upcoming track season and next year,\u201d Sykes said.<\/p>\n

Sykes was not the only one who amped up his training; several other team members also devoted themselves to improving their times.<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Klein and Liam Perdue also put in significant work over the summer,\u201d said cross country coach, Jackson Fox, \u201cresulting in Michael earning All-Conference and Liam earning Honorable Mention All-Conference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team as a whole fell short of its goal to claim its fourth consecutive conference title, though, winding up third in the conference.<\/p>\n

For the girls\u2019 team, sophomore Elise Marshall also earned All Conference honors, and she qualified for states with a 50-second improvement, making her new PR 19:53.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really pushed myself during the workouts and wouldn\u2019t allow myself to slow down or give up,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cMy teammates also really pushed me forward and had upbeat and inspiring things to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marshall ended up placing 136th at the state meet, finishing in the middle of the pack. According to the girls\u2019 coach, Jessica Malecki, a runner\u2019s first time at the state meet is to gain experience of running in a large group and to learn how to handle pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext year she will have more experience,\u201d Malecki said, \u201cand the goal for her will be to get a personal best and to place a little bit higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Sykes and Marshall plan on attending the state finals next year and improving their PR\u2019s, but regardless of success in upcoming seasons, both agree running is a lifestyle they will maintain the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning is an escape from reality and helps me focus on the task at hand, which is the race,\u201d Marshall said.<\/p>\n

Although many runners succumb to the mental and physical obstacles of long distance training, those who can push through often attest to the rewards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy competing and the direct payoff from all the hard work,\u201d Sykes said. \u201cRunning challenges you and allows you to break barriers that you previously thought were impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Joslyn Fox The Blue and White Grand Rapids Catholic Central 1st Place Division 4, News Writing Sports Feature Story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,67],"tags":[135,23],"class_list":["post-1353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-nw","category-sportsfeaturestory","tag-2015-16","tag-division4","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jaimie Bozack","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=7"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-lP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}