Western JV cross country finishes out season

Final race of the season was canceled due to weather

Kokomo Tribune - Tuesday, October 28, 2014

After the last meet of the season being ended before all runners got to cross the finish line, Western's boys cross country team made the decision to get together one for one more run to finish out their season. The boys made the decision themselves that not being able to finish that last run was not how they wanted their season to go out.

So, they talked to their coach and parents and found a way to meet on Monday, Oct. 20, to get in that final race.

The sun was out as they lined up at the track out at Oakbrook Valley, and their family and friends stood nearby, ready to cheer them on.

As this race was the boys' idea, they were just running against their old personal records and to bring closure to their year.

"This race was important to me because we as a team worked too hard this season to not get to finish together," said Alec Whitacre, a sophomore at Western.

Another sophomore runner on the team, Jason Hampshire, agreed with Whitacre and said that this was his first year on the team, and he had enjoyed it too much to not get to finish it together as a team.

Freshman Mason Godfrey ended up beating his goal time when they ran on Monday evening. His family was proud of him for wanting to finish his first season strong, even though they weren't able to finish their last meet due to poor climate weather.

It was Godfrey's first year running as well, and he was happy that he got to finish out his season this way. He said he was already looking forward to next year's season.

To see such a strong bond between the boys on this team was impressive, and they are all looking forward to getting to run together again next year.

The strong team bond was evident in the boys who showed up for this ceremonial run. While they were stretching before the run, they were joking with each other and talking about what scores they were hoping to beat, and it was easy to see how well they supported each other.