I'm not planning on blogging every week about the high school cross country season but since the News-Press decided that the season opener was only worth a slew of great photos, and yes they were great, I thought I should write something. Before I dive into what I saw in Buckingham I want to write about Robert Chatham. You've never heard of him. He was my first high school cross country coach.
Mr. Chatham passed away over the weekend. He was a great biology and a great cross country coach in Abilene, Kansas. I only got to run part of my freshman year for him as our family moved back to Lawrence. The team was a good one finishing third in the state. He nurtured my love of the sport by sharing his knowledge and even a book, "The Long Green Line," by legendary York XC Coach Joe Newton.
Now as to the Dunbar Tiger Jamboree. The course was short, probably by more than 100 meters. It was seriously muddy in parts of it. But for a mid-August morning the weather was fairly forgiving.
The surprise of the meet was a diminutive freshman from Bishop Verot. In her first ever cross country race Mackenzie De Lisle finished tenth. She's a former gymnast who appears to have loads of upside. Verot appears ready to give Fort Myers all it can handle for bragging rights in Lee County.
The boys race didn't go according to form. The pre-meet hype focused on Osceola senior William Stone. But Fort Myers senior Colsen Palmer wasn't having any of it cruising to an easy victory and leading his Green Wave squad to a team title. Fort Myers is going to be tough this year but if Dunbar ever finds a fifth runner things could get interesting.
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