Cross Country Season Review
God has blessed our cross country team in many ways this season. Blessing number one was in how God enabled three of our team members to qualify for the NCCAA D-II National Cross Country Meet. Our first meet of the year was sunny and mid-60's with just a few hills to run on the beautiful Oakland Acres golf course, hosted by Grinnell College. Everyone ran extremely well, with Kevin England and Dewey Rapson both qualifying for Nationals in that first meet. The remaining 3 cross country meets throughout the regular season seemed to get progressively colder, with higher winds and hills. However, at the third meet of the season, Amanda Enman ran hard through the fierce winds and beat the time standard to qualify for Nationals as well. While Kyle England, Kimberly McDaniel, and Megan Person didn't qualify to race at Nationals, they were there every step of the way, working hard and contributing to an awesome few months of running together for the glory of God.
The second blessing God gave was for health and safety for the team. Our only major injury was when Megan Pearson had severe shin splint trouble flare up prior to the first meet, and was on doctor's orders to not run on it until 2015. She didn't quit though, she was there at practice riding the bike along with the team, lifting weights during circuit training, and doing pool workouts with us at the YMCA. Amanda ran through pain in her knee, going through many bags of ice and Icy Hot packs, but was able to compete well in each of the meets all the way to the end of the season. Other than that, there were only 3 or 4 days where one of the runners was sick and not able to run at practice. Even towards the end of the season when we would run multiple 11-milers in a week at a fast pace, God kept us safe and healthy.
The third blessing from God was in spiritual growth and encouraging one another in our walk with Christ. At the start of the season, Kevin volunteered to bring a devotional for the team on Fridays. These were awesome, and then part way through the season we started taking turns sharing our testimonies and how God is working in our lives each week, which continued to draw us closer together as a team and as brothers and sisters in Christ.
There are too many more blessings to include here, but our season ended with an incredible trip to New York for the National CC Meet. While there we got to meet parents, watch Kevin be honored at the banquet with the Wheeler Award (Men's National award for outstanding Christian character, academic excellence, and athletic performance), and see Kevin, Amanda, and Dewey each set personal best times by one to two minutes. In addition, Kevin placed third and received All-American honors by the NCCAA! Thanks to the Lord for the strength and endurance he provided all throughout this season...we are truly blessed beyond measure!