Luke on the Dixie XC Team
At Chinook Trail Middle School, Luke enjoyed Cross Country in 6th and 8th grade. No Cross Country or School in 7th Grade due to Covid. They trained for 1.5 mile races. So moving up to High School cross country’s 3 mile races seemed like a big jump. Luke is a skilled runner but because of the increased distance and pre-race anxiety, Luke wasn’t sure he wanted to take it on. During the summer we encouraged him to run and signed up for emails from the Pine Creek Cross Country Coach. And then we all of sudden decided to move to St. George. Luke ran with Dad and Matt on occasion, with Scott and Elisha at the Lodge a couple times and then, when we arrived in St. George on July 25th, he started training with the Dixie Cross Country Team every morning from 7:00-8:00. Immediately Coach Durrant was impressed with Luke’s ability and even the Seniors on the team started giving him nods of approval as he tried to keep up. Quickly, Luke felt like he belonged. Four days into practice we attended a club night at the St. George running Store and Luke won some running socks and then we purchased some very cool Goodr running sunglasses that he immediately loved.
Once school started practices started after school Monday-Thursday from 3:00 - 4:00 and then Fridays from 5:45-6:45am before school.
Cross Country Meet at Cedar High School
Wednesday, August 17th
After school I heard Luke in the kitchen say, “No one even cares that I’m running 3 miles today.” Alarmed, I quickly popped my head into the kitchen and said, “I care!” He laughed and said, “No, Mom, I was just trying to talk myself out of being nervous.” Oh, right. Well, then, I don’t even care. Haha
LUKE’S WORDS: “I was pretty worried all day about the race. After school I went home to eat and get all ready and then left to get on the bus. I received my bright blue jersey that is totally sick. It was a pretty fun ride over to Cedar City. I got to talk to people we and we all listened to music. When we got there we went to our team meeting spot and some of the boys set up hammocks on the trees. It was pretty chill, but I still felt nervous. The temperature was soooo nice. It was cold and was sprinkling most of the time. All of the girls raced first and it was fun watching and cheering for them. Because the route our team was able to run to different parts of the trail to cheer for them as much as possible. It seemed real, and like I was actually part of the team. It was so crowded that at the beginning we had to go so frickin slow. The ground was wet so it felt like I was going to slip, but we were chillin. It was a pretty good course. My goal was to run the 3 miles in under 24 minutes and I easily got that and ended up with a time of 20:55. It was pretty sick.”
After the race the team captains gathered the team back to the Dixie meeting spot and led the group in a post-run cheer. It was fun to see the kids support each other.
After the race Luke planned to ride home with me and initially checked out with one of the chaperones but after thinking about it for a few minutes told me he’d rather ride the bus home with the team. He had a great time talking, listening to music and even singing on the way home. Makes me so happy.
Katie and Matthew drove up with me to watch Luke run. Afterwards we picked up some Swig drinks for the ride home. Fun to have some time to chat with Katie.
Cross Country Meet at Bicentennial Park, Cedar City
Saturday, August 27th
LUKE’S WORDS: “I had to wake up at 5:50 in the morning and get ready so I could get on the bus at 6:30. This race was also in Cedar City, so it was a pretty long drive. We arrived there and went to our meeting spot. It felt nice and cool because of how early it was. The boys varsity went first at 8 o’clock, then the girls varsity at 8:30, and then me and the other JV boys at 9:00. We cheered for our team when they passed and also played with a hacky sac that my friend brought. For this meet, I decided to wear the short-shorts I was given with my uniform. It felt super weird at first, but I got used to it, and it was way better than just regular shorts. I really liked the course for this race. It was easy to understand and wasn’t too hard. I loved seeing Megan and Matt cheering and yelling and mom taking pictures as I passed them. I ran with another person from my team for most of the time, but then pulled ahead near the finish. When I crossed the finish line, I was so exhausted and was extremely close to throwing up but didn’t. For this race I mostly just wanted to beat my time from last time, and I did, with a new PR of 20:39! After this race I was pretty sore, but I felt good about myself. I called dad to let him know how it went and stuff and he seemed really proud. Me and the other boys cheered on the JV girls, then we all went home on the bus ride where I mostly slept and ate snacks.
So fun to watch Luke run. I’m so impressed!
When he got home he was so happy. “Mom, I just love cross country. I’m getting so much better. It’s easier for me to run than it used to be. I love my team. I love my coach. It just really feels like we moved to St. George for me.”
Luke after cross country practice one day. He loves his new training shirt and GOODR sunglasses. Love this kid.
Cross Country Meet at Dixie High
Tuesday, September 6th
LUKE’S WORDS: “This race was a home meet but it wasn’t at the school. It was at a nearby park that was very shaded with trees. It was crazy hot, like 115 degrees, so the school agreed to push the time back an hour and shorten the race. So instead of 3 miles it was only 2. After school I went home to get ready then we drove to the park where I met up with my team. First there was a youngsters race that we watched, and my 8th grade friend, Spencer, came in 1st! Next it was the high school boys race. I was kind of nervous, but it was only 2 miles. It was very hot but it was fine because it was very shady and so many people on the side were spraying the runners with water. I raced pretty good I guess, and I ended up with a time of around 13:30 for the 2 miles. The course felt super long for some reason. I didn’t get to watch the girls race because we left early to go to Megan’s soccer game.”
This was SUCH a HOT NIGHT. 115 degrees. We are rookies to hanging out in this heat, but I did think to give Luke an iced towel to take with him to keep him cool before and after the game. I was surprised the event wasn’t cancelled but these St. George residents know how to adjust and were wise enough to bring spray bottles to spray their runners. Luke did a great job. It was fun to have Brian there with us to support him.
Pre-State Meet in Salt Lake City
Wednesday, September 14th
LUKE’S WORDS: “This race was in Salt Lake so we got on the bus at 6:00 in the morning. Our bus was a shuttle instead of a school bus, which was really nice. It had really comfortable seats, and sick LED lights on the inside. It was about a 4 hour drive to get there. I slept most of the way. When we got there, we went to our spot and played a lot of frisbee and hackysack which was really fun. Everyone got paint on them and my friend Matt and I got handprints of paint on our shoulders and calves. It was sick! The races were split up in age this time, so first was freshman and sophmore girls, then freshman and sophmore boys. (That’s me) We cheered on the girls, and then warmed up and got ready for our race. The temperature was cool so that was going to be a lot easier. I felt nervous and like I wasn’t ready to run. Then the race started. My first mile was really fast, because I didn’t want to get stuck in the crowd. My second mile was hard, but I tried not to slow down like I usually do on the second mile. My pace was way faster than it usually was and I was motivated to keep it up! I was hurting really bad for the third mile but I was so close to the finish, so I kept it going. When I was nearing the end, I picked up my speed and passed a couple people. Then I came to the final stretch. I sprinted super hard and passed like 7 more people, then crossed the finish line! I was amazed and surprised by myself! My time was 19:30! I PR’d by more than a minute! It was a total distance of 3.02 miles. My 1st mile was 6:16, the 2nd was 6:25, and the 3rd mile and extra little bit together was 6:49! I was super exhausted but so happy! We played more frisbee, and watched the junior and senior girls run then the junior and senior boys. While we watched those races and cheered we were blasting music with the giant speaker someone brought. It was so fun. I ate my sandwich and a lot of my snacks and it was yummy. The bus ride home was long but fun. I played games on my friend’s phone and Mario kart with my other friend who had brought a switch. Mid-way through our drive we all stopped to get food. There was Zupa’s, five guys, and other restaurants, but of course I had to go with Costa Vida! Using the $10 my dad gave me and the quarter I found on the ground, I bought myself a delicious burrito. It was so good. I ate some of it there, and the rest on the bus. Best food in the world!! I had a great rest of the drive playing games and listening to music from the giant speaker. We got back to the school and I went to the powder puff that megan was playing in. It was a fun and successful day!