**Parking for spectators will be by the Union Grove Gym. There will be no parking near the football field.

When: September 28th

Where: Race location: The course is located on the Union Grove HS

Where we will meet to ride the bus: We will meet at the OMS gym. We will meet at 6:30AM and leave BY 6:45AM. Look for all the cars!

What the JH Runners need for Race Day:
All JH runners need to wear their uniform to the meet. They should wear a WO t-shirt over their uniform top and bring a bag with a towel and snacks for the morning. It is important, they eat something when they get up in the morning. If they don’t feel like eating, send something with them and I will make sure they eat before their race. JH runners should also bring a couple bottles of water and a sports drink (Gatorade, Powerade, Body Armour are good choices).
**No hats, balls, jewelry, or candy need to be brought to the race. We are here to race.

JH runners may leave with their family after they race, I will have a sign out sheet, however they must ride with family. Please email me this week before Friday and let me know if your runner will be riding the bus home. [email protected]

Race Schedule: Rolling Start: These are estimated times, as soon as races are finished, they will start the next race. Make sure to allow extra time for yourselves

8:00 AM- VG WO competitors
8:25 AM- VB WO competitors
8:50 AM- JHG WO competitors
9:15 AM- JHB WO competitors
9:45 AM- JVG
10:10 AM- JVB WO competitors

The White Oak Cross Country runners competed in the Mike Darby Invitational Meet hosted by Pine Tree on Friday, September 20th. Ally Tatum led the girls with a 17th place finish in a time of 14:11. Sophie Fisher,15:34.2, edged out teammate Lizzy Still, 15:34.4 by a toe for 78th and 79th places respectively out of 165 runners. The boys finished 9th out of 23 teams led by junior Niko Soto in 25th place in a time of 18:19. Soto was followed by Cooper Tucker in 41st, 19:03, Isaak Olvera, 59th, 19:38, and Logan Langewisch, 61st, 19:42. Luke Bueno, 95th, 20:46, rounded out the team scoring for the Roughnecks. Nathan Stringer finished in 101st for a time of 20:58 was followed by Nathan Watson, 110th, 21:25, and Kaleb Glenn 144th, 22:52, out of 192 runners. The district meet will be held on this course in three weeks. This was a good opportunity to race the course. Traditionally, this is one of the tougher courses of the year with a variety of terrain and hilly spots. The Ladynecks and Roughnecks competed well on a challenging course after a short week of training. There will be one more meet to fine tune a few things before the district meet on October 10th.

The junior high runners competed on Saturday, September 21st at the Mike Darby JH Invitational Meet held at Pine Tree Stadium. Korlyn Caton started the morning off finishing in 18th place on the two mile course in 17:19 out of 125 runners. In the eighth grade girls race Maddie Hart finished in 21st place in a time of 17:29 and Piper Watson finished in 107th, 23:56, out of 118 runners. In the seventh grade boys race Colsen Still finished in 101st place in a time of 26:50 for the two mile course out of 107 runners. In the eighth grade boys race Michael Lee complete the course in 18:03 for 89th place out of 142 runners. The high school and junior runners will compete in the Union Grove meet on Saturday, September 28th. This will be their last regular season race before the district meet.

PINE TREE JUNIOR HIGH MEET INFORMATION
When: September 21ST

Where: Race location: Pine Tree Stadium, 3737 West Loop 281

Where we will meet to ride the bus: We will meet at OMS. We will meet at 7:00AM and leave BY 7:10AM. Look for all the cars!

What the JH Runners need for Race Day:
All JH runners need to wear their uniform to the meet. They should wear a WO t-shirt over their uniform top and bring a bag with a towel and snacks for the morning. It is important, they eat something when they get up in the morning. If they don’t feel like eating, send something with them and I will make sure they eat before their race. JH runners should also bring a couple bottles of water and a sports drink (Gatorade, Powerade, Body Armour are good choices).
**No hats, balls, jewelry, or candy need to be brought to the race. We are here to race.

JH runners may leave with their family after they race, I will have a sign out sheet, however they must ride with family. Please email me this week before Friday and let me know if your runner will be riding the bus home. [email protected]

Race Schedule: Rolling Start: These are estimated times, as soon as races are finished, they will start the next race. Make sure to allow extra time for yourselves

8:30 7th Girls
8:50 8th Girls
9:10 7th Boys
9:30 8th Boys

The Ladynecks and Roughnecks returned to action this Saturday at the Quitman Bulldog Invitational. This course is traditionally a flat grassy course that provides opportunities to run fast. After two weeks of great training by the both teams, all of the runners carried their training into personal best race performances. The girls kicked off the morning with an eleventh place finish by Ally Tatum, 13:12, and a fifteenth place finish by Sophia Lacy, 13:34. In the boys race Logan Langewisch led the boys to a third place finish with 88 points. Langewisch ran 17:15 for 11th place followed closely by Cooper Tucker in 12th place with a time of 17:22. Isaak Olvera was 23rd, 18:00, Luke Bueno, 24th, 18:02, and Kaleb Glenn, 32nd, 18:35 rounded out the team scoring for the Roughnecks. Nathan Stringer finished in 33rd place in a time of 18:41. The boys raced very well as a team by packing close together to eliminate gaps. Phoenix Turner placed 2nd out of 24 runners in the JV boys race, finishing in 19:35. Emry Morris continued to improve his racing performance, placing seventh in a time of 20:33. He also collected his first individual medal of the season. The junior high girls also improved on their race times this weekend. Korlyn Caton raced in her first meet of the season. She took home hardware placing 18th in a time of 15: 05. Piper Watson also improved her race time to 18:39 for 55th place out of 79 runners. The runners will complete in the Mike Darby Invitational hosted by Pine Tree at Lear Park on Friday and Saturday. The varsity teams will compete Friday starting at 8:00. The junior high runners will compete on Saturday at Pine Tree Stadium.

Kaleb Glenn is a junior on the team this year. This is Kaleb’s second year running cross country. He is the son of Mike and Kristina Wilson as well as big brother to Kohen and McKenna. Kaleb is a member of the Regiment of Roughnecks band, track, tennis, and debate teams at school. Kaleb describes himself as funny, hard working, intelligent, and caring. He enjoys playing video games in his free time. His favorite part of being on the cross country team is being with his friends and racing in the meets. Kaleb would want Logan Langewisch on this team if there was a zombie apocalypse due to his practical skills. If Kaleb had the opportunity to have a conversation with anyone, he would have a conversation with Jesus because “he is the most influential person ever.” Kaleb aspires to be a lawyer in the future. He has already started working towards this goal by doing internships at local law firms. Kaleb brings a lot of personality to the team. He is not only a quick wit, he is compassionate and encouraging toward his teammates. He is always willing to lend a hand to help and appreciative of things people do for him. Kaleb trained this summer in preparation for the season, but in the last few weeks his training has taken on another level. He is hitting his stride. I am very grateful to have Kaleb on the team. He is a good teammate. He can have serious conversations, and make you laugh with his funny comments. He can pick you up when you need it and remind you not to get too big a head from your accomplishments. I have enjoyed getting to know Kaleb the last two years in cross country and in class. It is nice to see hard work and persistence pay off for this young man.

This week I would like to introduce you to Sophomore Cooper Tucker. Cooper is the son of Jason and Cynthia Tucker and little brother to Cryslan and Chase. Cooper has been running cross country since he was in seventh grade and just missed out on qualifying for Regionals last year as a freshman. Cooper describes himself as well-rounded, smart, dedicated, and responsible. I would have to agree, but also witty, talented, and humble. Cooper is involved in a diverse range of school organizations. Besides running cross country, he is a member of the track, tennis, and debate teams, UIL spelling team and in the top of his class. He is well-liked and respected by his teammates. Cross country gives Cooper something to look forward to while he is at school and also clears his mind when he is running. If there was a zombie apocalypse Cooper would want Logan Langewisch on his team. He writes, “I feel like he would stay calm and also calm me down so we could get something done. Also, I think he hunts so the gun skills would help and fishing skills.” When asked which school rule would you change, Cooper states, “I would change the no phones in the hallway rule. There is no room to text your parents with schedule changes and events for the people that follow the rule.” He also writes, “it would help get it out of our system, like recess in Elementary.” Cooper had a great track season last spring and diligently trained this summer. His training has improved not only his confidence but his mindset as well. Mentally, he is tough, handling any workouts or performance times that are laid out for him. This has carried over to his racing performance early in the season. Cooper is one of the quieter personalities on the team, but he frequently provides words of wisdom and logic for his teammates at just the right time. He loves flavor ice and core push ups. He brings an impeccable work ethic coupled with tremendous talent to the team. I look forward to watching him grow as a person and runner the next three years.

QUITMAN MEET INFORMATION
When: September 14th

Where: Race location: Quitman HS/JH campus, 1101 E. Goode St. Quitman, TX 75783

Where we will meet to ride the bus: We will meet at the OMS gym. We will meet at 5:45AM and leave BY 6:00AM. Look for all the cars!

What the JH Runners need for Race Day:
All JH runners need to wear their uniform to the meet. They should wear a WO t-shirt over their uniform top and bring a bag with a towel and snacks for the morning. It is important, they eat something when they get up in the morning. If they don’t feel like eating, send something with them and I will make sure they eat before their race. JH runners should also bring a couple bottles of water and a sports drink (Gatorade, Powerade, Body Armour are good choices).
**No hats, balls, jewelry, or candy need to be brought to the race. We are here to race.

JH runners may leave with their family after they race, I will have a sign out sheet, however they must ride with family. Please email me this week before Friday and let me know if your runner will be riding the bus home. [email protected]

Race Schedule: Rolling Start: These are estimated times, as soon as races are finished, they will start the next race. Make sure to allow extra time for yourselves

8:15 # 1 Varsity Girls wo competitors
8:35 # 2 Varsity Boys wo competitors
9:00 # 3 JH Girl. wo competitors
9:25 # 4 JH Boys
9:45 # 5 Junior Varsity Girls
10:00 # 6 Junior Varsity Boys wo competitors

Junior Nina Trim is also competing in her rookie season for the cross country team. She is the daughter of Blake and Amanda Trim. She has three siblings, Cassidy, Marley, and Blakely. Even though this is Nina’s first year to run cross country, she has run distance races in track for the past two seasons. She is also involved in UIL academics, and she is an athletic trainer during football season. She enjoys attending church, painting, and sleeping in her free time. I can relate to the sleeping part! If there was a zombie apocalypse teammate Cooper Tucker would be on her team. Nina writes, “Cooper isn’t annoying like the other boys and unlike Ally and Sophie, we wouldn’t die quickly from being loud and laughing too much.” Nina describes herself as a good listener, hard worker, and sometimes chatty. I would agree. Nina has worked hard to adjust to the demands of running distance. She always has a positive attitude with a sweet smile to share with others. If she could have one conversation with anyone she would choose her great grandmother, Maw maw. She would want to share one more conversation with her to chat about school and how much she loves her. The friendships and the flavor ice are the two things she likes the most about cross country. I am glad Nina approached me last spring, after encouragement from her teammates, about overcoming her “fear” of cross country. She is a great addition to the program. She also gives the girls more leverage against all the boys.

This week I would like to introduce you to freshman Phoenix Turner. Phoenix is new to White Oak this year. He is also the cousin of junior cross country runner Nathan Watson. He is the son of Lincoln and Erin Turner and big brother to August, Aniston, and Mary-Michael. Phoenix enjoys playing soccer and volunteering at Grace Creek church when he isn’t running or at school. He plans to run track in the spring for White Oak. One of the things Phoenix likes most about cross country is the long term investment. He writes, “I like competing against other people and making investments that I don’t immediately see the reward from.” I would describe Phoenix as hard working, helpful, and responsible. He always extends a helping hand and leads by example. If he was stranded on an island by himself he would bring ten five gallon water jugs, a tent, and a fire starter. He also has a very practical mindset. His cousin Nathan would be the teammate of choice if a zombie apocalypse occurred. He writes, “Nathan has a lot of physical strength and problem-solving capabilities.” Phoenix has been a great addition to the Cross Country program. I have enjoyed getting to know him and watching him progress as a person and runner. There are bright things ahead for this young person.