The Buffalo Babes had another fun experience at Junior Olympic Nationals. Eighteen runners from the Sac-Joaquin Section plus Katie Fritzke from the North Section represented the Buffalo Chips Running Club at the national event outside Chicago, Illinois.  The team arrived on Thursday and after a team dinner in Schaumburg, immediately began making the first of several trips to either downtown Chicago or the well-known Woodfield Shopping Mall.  Course walkthrough was on Friday at the enormous Busse Woods Preserve.  The course was mostly on grass which turned into soft mud in many places, and even standing water in one or two.  Shoe selection and was a hot topic. 

 

Approximately 2000 runners were at the event in 10 different national championship races.  There were 12 teams and about 160 runners competing for honors in the Intermediate Girls age group 5K, not nearly as many in the Young Womens 5K.  Race Day found the weather much colder than the two previous days.  There was no snow on the course or any significant precipitation, but the temperature had dropped about 12 degrees down to the mid-30's, and the wind was moving at about 10 miles per hour.  Rain on Friday evening had caused the course to become even muddier.  When all was said and done, the Buffalo Babes became national team champions in both the Intermediate Girls and Young Womens age groups.  For the Intermediates it was their third straight national title and for the Young Women it was their second in a row.  In addition, eleven of the nineteen Buffalo Babes were able to finish in the Top 25 of their respective races and earn All-American designation from USA Track and Field.  Most importantly, the sport of cross country united these nineteen high schoolers on a memorable trip and led to many new friendships and experiences.  It was our fastest group and our closest-knit group of any since this was started a few years ago. Jim Wachter of Cordova HS coached the Buffalo Babes at the Junior Olympics.

 

 

5 km Run CC Intermediate Girls (88-89)=============================== Name  Year Team  Finals Points

===============================

1 #2893 Bria Wetsch 88 Unattached-Minn 18:08
2 #2904 Christy Adamyk 89 Unattached-SoCal 18:11
4 #2715 Alex Kosinski (Oak Ridge HS) 89 Buffalo Chips 18:28 2
5 #2721 Chelsea Reilly (Davis HS) 89 Buffalo Chips 18:28 3
7 #2719 Amanda Moreno (Escalon HS) 88 Buffalo Chips 18:38 5
15 #2718 Cherise McNair (Sierra HS) 88 Buffalo Chips 18:55 9
16 #2714 Katie Fritzke (Mt Shasta HS) 89 Buffalo Chips 18:56 10
21 #2712 Caitlin Clark (Granite Bay HS) 88 Buffalo Chips 19:10 11
28 #2713 Karen Frazier (St Francis HS)  88 Buffalo Chips (Ci) 19:24
36 #2717 Erin Lewis (Modesto HS) 88 Buffalo Chips 19:32 22
55 #2716 Cecily Lemmon (Vacaville HS) 88 Buffalo Chips 20:05 32
113 #2720 Merie Paddeck (Del Oro HS) 89 Buffalo Chips (Ci) 
21:51
127 #2916 Daniel Meggerson 88 Vallejo Pal 22:16
 
Team Scores
===============================
Rank Team  Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
===============================
 1 Buffalo Chips 29 2 3 5 9 10 11 22 32
 Total Time: 1:33:25.00, Average: 18:41.00
 2 Team Provo  104 7 12 13 35 37
 Total Time: 1:37:32.00, Average: 19:30.40
 
5 km Run CC Young Women (86-87)
===============================
 Name  Year Team  Finals Points
===============================
1 #3496 Claire Maduza 87 Unattached-Wisc 18:23
2 #3497 Melissa Manke 86 Unattached-Wisc 18:47
4 #3413 Kim Crouch (Placer HS) 87 Buffalo Chips 18:57 1
6 #3499 Caprice Bradshaw (Fairfield HS) 87 Vallejo Pal 19:04
8 #3414 Brecken Drager (Del Oro HS) 87 Buffalo Chips 19:13 2
10 #3418 Kaylin Pennington (Benicia HS) 87 Buffalo Chips 19:24 3
21 #3417 Mairin Meltvedt (St Francis HS) 86 Buffalo Chips 19:51 8
23 #3420 Francesca Stonum (Lodi HS) 87 Buffalo Chips 20:01 10
27 #3415 Jacqueline Lee (Del Oro HS) 87 Buffalo Chips (Ci) 20:10
32 #3416 Shannon Lingo (Nevada Union HS) 87 Buffalo Chips 20:20 13
36 #3421 Erin Wachter (Cordova HS) 86 Buffalo Chips 20:36 15
46 #3419 Allison Steinkamp (Roseville HS) 87 Buffalo Chips 20:59 18
 
Team Scores
===============================
Rank Team   Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
===============================
1 Buffalo Chips  24 1 2 3 8 10 13 15 18
 Total Time: 1:37:26.00, 
 Average: 19:29.20
2 Prospect Heights RC  41 4 5 9 11 12
 Total Time: 1:39:18.00,  Average: 19:51.60