George Kyte Classic

2009 George KyteThe George Kyte Classic on Saturday kicked off NAU’s 2009 Cross Country season. The team has been looking very good in all of our workouts and the race was no different. Despite the heavy rain the last 1.5 miles, many people set big course PRs, including myself with a 30 second improvement over last year to finish 8th overall. Sophomore Diego Estrada won in 24:57, a 71 second improvement. Sophomore Andrew Belus also had an outstanding performance, breaking his SEA LEVEL PR with a 25:39, a 66 second improvement.

The team won easily, despite running many runners unattached with 24 points, 32 points ahead of the University of Arizona. When I saw 24 points, it brought back memories of the 2005 California State Meet when Royal scored 24 points. Still gives me goosebumps when I think about that dominating performance.

I am really happy to be 30 seconds ahead of where I was a year ago. All of my workouts show that I am more fit than a year ago and it is nice to back that up with a race result. The crazy thing is I am in the exact same boat as a year ago… not sure where my place on the team will be. Like several other teammates, I am hoping to solidify myself as a top 7 runner. The only way I know how to do that is continue to have good workouts, take care of my health and race well when it matters. The next opportunity is in a week and a half at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Ca. I had a great performance there last year, setting a new PR of 25:32. The goal this year is to be close to 25 minutes.

Results | Article on NAUAthletics.com (with a photo of yours truly) | Photos (coming soon)

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