Fleet-Footed ILCA CC Athletes Run from the Crowd in Stroud
While the sunlight glistened on the droplets of dew on the blades of grass on the grounds of Stroud High School’s Sports Complex on August 15th, the Immanuel Lutheran Christian Academy’s Cross Country Middle School and High School runners competed at the Stroud Invitational. As the sun’s rays increased in vigor, so did the legs of the ILCA runners as they persevered throughout their 1-mile and 2-mile races, overcoming muscle fatigue and Oklahoma’s notoriously hot August weather. Leading the way for the ILCA team across the meads and atop the hills of Stroud was Meg, placing in the Top-3 of her division, coming excruciatingly close to her best-ever time for the 1-mile distance. Joining Meg in the Victor’s Circle, Jacob earned himself a Top-10 medal in his division as well due to his tenacious will to continue running, despite the dizzying late summer heat. Like their teammates, Nick and Lily also finished the race strong: climbing the final incline leading to the finish line with determination. As a result of their labors, Nick finished with a new personal record time that proved more than a half-of-a-minute faster than his previous best, while Lily very nearly set a new record time for herself as well. Why such achievements so early? The consistent leadership of Emily, the Cross Country Captain, is one major reason for the success of ILCA’s runners on Saturday; not only did Emily lead by example by maintaining a consistent pace when racing on Saturday, but she has also done so on a regular basis while practicing throughout the summer. Emily’s reliability was again visible when she led the team during the walk-through and warm-up, contributing to her teammates’ successes and helping to establish the foundation for ILCA Cross Country accomplishments in the future—such as our next competition, the Owasso meet in late August. As Saturday in Stroud showed, Emily–and her teammates Meg, Jacob, Nick, and Lily—continue to make every effort to fulfill the commands of 1 Corinthians 6:19–20: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” May we readers do likewise.
All the Best,
Coach K
