On September 27, 2023, the Huron Cross Country team raced in the Southeastern Conference Jamboree 2 (red) at Saline High School. The runners raced a 5k, which is 3.1 miles. 23 men participated, with 10 runners in junior varsity and 13 in varsity. 13 women raced, with 5 in junior varsity and 8 in varsity. Out of the 23 Huron men who competed, 17 set a personal record – they PR’d.
“The saline course is kind of notorious,” senior captain Joaquin Moore, one of the runners who PR’ed, said. “We were talking to Caine [our physics teacher] and we were like ‘hey, we ran this crazy course and he was like, ‘yeah, but it was at Saline.’ Everybody kind of knows.”
The reason why so many runners PR’d is due to the course’s design. The course was flat, with few bumps. Additionally, the three-loop 5k had many turns, bringing opportunities for strategically cutting corners, which is called apexing.
“The [course] is actually 3.1 miles if you follow the line, but there’s three laps and there’s like 11 turns and an apex on every turn,” Moore said.
The seconds shaved off from not rounding turns add up, which allows so many people’s time to drop. However, one specific spot allowed for the greatest apex.
“There was one curve that was around the baseball field,” Moore said. “It was this giant curve, but you could basically just run straight so you cut a ton of meters.”
As Moore was racing, he was just thinking about catching up with the people in front of him. He didn’t anticipate how quick his time was until got to the finish line.
“When I finished, I put my hands in the air, I gave a little whoop, and then I fell over,” Moore said.
Overall, the meet went really well for the Huron Cross Country team.
“It was raining, so we weren’t feeling great at first but then everybody was feeling good because it was cool,” Moore said.
