Set A Watch: So You Think You Can Dance?!

Friends, Romans, countrymen.

Let's dance.

First, a little recap.

Friday's regional race, though not perfect, was exactly the performance we needed to get ourselves to NCAAs. We knew going in that there was the potential for six teams from our region to go (2 auto-qualifiers, 4 at-large) and there was no doubt in our minds that we would be one of those six. Will and John had the races that I know they've been striving for since their fast races at Paul Short, coming in 5th and 8th, respectively. They were right near the front of the pack for all 10K and closed well to beat some seriously fast guys from other schools. I led the contingent of our 3-6 runners, with myself in 27th, Silas in 29th, Tim in 32nd, and Henry in 34th. The four of us were close for most of the race which proved to be crucial as things got a little slippery out there and we (almost) successfully navigated a small pileup around 5K. The final team results had us in 5th place, 11 points behind 4th place Providence and 54 ahead of 6th place Harvard. Eight hours later, towards the end of an anxiety-filled bus ride home, we got the news via Jon Gault '13 and Phil Royer '13 that we were in.

It is hard to express the collective excitement, joy, satisfaction, and relief that we DXCers are feeling after our first NCAA Cross Country National Championships berth since 2005. We have been on the bubble many times since then, and it feels like eight years of agony of being on the outside looking in was partially washed away this weekend. This opportunity to race against the best teams in the nation is the result of a shared passion and desire, passed down from class to class for decades. To see that passion become something real, under our watch, is literally a dream come true. What had been just outside our grasp for so many years is finally ours and now it is time to put on our dancin' shoes and head to Terre Haute for one final race.

Alright, some photos, courtesy of Tim O'Dowd.