This week we will travel to Gilmer for our meet. This is the first time we have run at this particular course. It is being heralded as “scenic and hilly” and a good spectators course. Hopefully the crisp fall weather that rolled in this weekend will still be around.

Where: Gilmer Elementary: 2 miles North of the intersection of HWY 154 and 271, it is a 1/2 mile past the Walmart. There are two entrances, you should take the north entrance to the elementary from there you will see parking signs for spectators. See map below.

Race schedule for Saturday: Varsity Girls 8:20
Varsity Boys 8:40
JV Girls 9:10
JV Boys 9:30
Jr. High Girls 10:00
Jr. High Boys 10:20

We will meet at the shed Saturday morning at 6:30 and leave at 6:45. Everyone will need to ride the bus home from this meet.

Map to Race site

I think everyone has dried off by now from our race today. Despite the rain, wind, and numerous schedule changes, the runners raced well,  turned in some great times, and collected some hardware to bring back to the Oak. The Varsity girls placed second as a team, led by Morgan Hill’s second place finish. The Varsity boys finished third as a team led by Clay McNeese’s seventh place finish. Blake Warren won the Junior Varsity boys race. Dylan Harris led the Junior High Boys to a close second place team finish by winning the last and wettest race of the day. Jaci Wallace and Chloe Marsh collected some hardware by placing 11th and 12th in the girls race.

We are off this week. We will return to action on October 13th in Gilmer. As soon as I get confirmation on times and a location, I will post it.

 
Gladewater Meet Results
 

Today was a great day for the White Oak runners. Everyone raced well on a tough course and turned in some great times and team finishes. All results can be found at racechiptiming.com. Look on the left sidebar under “Results”.

Upcoming Meet at Gladewater: This week’s meet will be at Gladewater High School. We will travel over as a team but the runners will be allowed to leave with their parents.
Race times: 8:20 JH Girls
8:40 JH Boys
9:25 JV Boys
9:50 Var Girls
10:15 Var Boys

We will meet at the shed at 7:00, leaving at 7:15.

**Updated Race times revised 9/17:
8:40 Varsity Girls
8:40 Varsity Boys
9:50 JV Boys
10:25 JH Boys
10:35 JH Girls

We will meet at 6:30 at the Shed (building by bus barn) and leave at 6:45. We will ride as a group to and from the meet. JH runners need to bring snacks for themselves for the meet. I will discuss with them some good choices. I will have water for them to drink.

The course at Katy’s Ranch is typically one of the hardest of the season. It is a true Cross Country course with trail running and hills, Big Mama is legendary. It will be exciting and a little anxious for the younger runners, who are starting their season. I am looking forward to watching them race on Saturday!

Directions to Katy’s Ranch

A nice cold front moved in early Saturday morning, making for great running conditions at the UT Tyler campus. Everyone ran great and faster this weekend, thanks to a little help from Mother Nature. Congrats to Nour for winning the JV Girls division. You can find complete meet results for the Tyler Lee Invitational are posted on We time races (click “results” and look for Tyler Lee meet on right side).

JH: Monday/Wednesday practice this weekend, meet at OMS at 6:20.

We are off this weekend and will resume competition on Saturday, September 22nd at Katy’s Ranch for the Pine Tree Pig Trot and Puddle Jump. Directions coming next week.

The High School Teams kicked off the season at the Hallsville Invitational on Saturday. Complete race results can be found at We Time Races (look under the Results tab and you will find the 2012 Cross Country results in the right column).

JUNIOR HIGH this week:
Junior High practice will begin Wednesday, September 5th at 6:30AM. We will meet at the OMS Gym at 6:20. Your runner should have brought home a schedule and packet on Friday. I need the information form (1 copy) and t-shirt form turned in on Wednesday.

HIGH SCHOOL this week:
Next week the High School teams will compete in the Tyler Lee Invitational at the campus of UT Tyler (the races begin behind the Patriot Center on the soccer fields). The meet begins at 8:00, and will use a rolling start format. In a rolling start format, a race will start as soon as the race before it ends. In the past this has been a well-run meet. I would anticipate a 9:00 start for the girls and 9:30 start for the boys. We will meet at 6:30 and leave at 6:45 Saturday morning. We will ride back on the bus after the meet.

We will have a meeting for all 7th and 8th graders interested in running Cross Country on Friday, August 31st at 7:30AM in Old Middle School Gym (OMS Gym). Your runner will bring home the necessary paper work, schedule, and t-shirt order form. Check their Backpacks!

Start Times and a final schedule will be available late August

September 1st at Lear Park (Hallsville host)
September 8th at UT Tyler (Tyler Lee host)
September 22nd at Katy Ranch (Pine Tree host)
September 29th at Gladewater
October 6th at Hawkins
October 13th at Gilmer
October 22nd District at Tatum (HS only)
October 23rd District at Tatum (MS only)
November 3rd Region III Meet Humble
November 10th State Old Settler’s Park

Practices Start August 6th:

8/6 7:30-9:15AM
8/7 7:30-9:15AM and 3:30-5:00
8/8 7:30-9:15AM
8/9 7:30-9:15AM and 3:30-5:00
8/10 7:30-9:15AM
8/13 7:30-9:15AM
8/14 7:30-9:15AM and 3:30-5:00
8/15 7:30-9:15AM
8/16 7:30-9:15AM
8/17 7:30-9:15AM
8/20-8/23 3:30-5:30PM

IMPORTANT DATES:
8/11 School Kickoff Supper at 6:00PM in HS Cafeteria
8/27 First Day of School NO After school Practice
September 1st Hallsville Meet at Lear Park

Brianne Mathews topped off an already great season with an individual District Champion title last Monday at Daingerfield State Park. Mathews completed the tough course, that might have been a little longer than usually, in 14:56 for the individual title. The Ladynecks saw four runners with top ten finishes. Morgan Hill finished 7th, 15:36, Paige Maly, 8th, 15:55, and Lauren Berry, 10th in 16:03. Nour Hussein rounded out the team scoring in 16:13 for a 13th place finish. Elizabeth Horne placed 14th in 16:21 and Alyssa Mathews placed 39th in 18:43. The first place finish also qualifies the team for regional competition in Humble at Atascocita High School on November 5th.

Jonathan “scarface” Spedowski led the boys team to a second place team finish by placing fourth in a time of 16:25. Austin Jordan and Clay Hunter also collected some hardware placing 9th and 10th in 17:19 and 17:21respectively. Mason Malone, 18:40, and Chase Robinson, 18:42, completed the team scoring for the boys placing 17th and 18th. Carter Tackett finished right behind Robinson in 19th place for a time of 18:43. Greyson Jones, 23rd, rounded out the boys runners for White Oak in a time of 19:06. Blake Warren collected some heavy duty hardware after he snagged the Junior Varsity boys Champion title in 18:48. Drew Frazier also brought home a medal by placing 6th in 21:17. Bryson White just missed bringing home a medal completing the course in 23:23 for 14th place. The top three teams qualify for regional competition in Humble on Saturday, November 5th. The girls are slated to start at 12:30 followed by the boys at 12:50. The course is grassy and flat with typically faster times compared to other courses.