9 AM in Essex Junction

Well another state championship is officially in the books and with it came a variety of surprises, close finishes and positive memories. Congrats to all our state medalists and state champions! There were a ton of impressive performances that deserve recognition, too many to honor here, but feel free to comment and compliment your fellow athletes who impressed you most here on the site. 

Everyone who qualified for the meet should be proud of their accomplishments this season and I hope everyone can appreciate how far they have come. If you are disappointed with how things ended, just remember that, no matter where you go next year, there's always another race. Maybe it's cross country, maybe it's track or maybe it's just the race of life. But there's always a chance to get use disappointment and turn it into a positive. Just ask the Carlisle boys and Sam Affolder. Or maybe Freeport's Rob Reichenbaugh. We don't always know when our next shot at redemption will be, but I'm confident you all will be ready.

But enough of the preaching. For now anyway. I'll be doing plenty of sappy writing in the next few weeks as I begin work on this year's Etrain 11 Series. These posts talk about some of the biggest stories of the track season and are more feature style articles than the recap/prediction stuff you usually get out of me. Usually, I like to try and talk with some runners/coaches to try and get more interesting interview tidbits to make the pieces go. If you are a reader of the blog and see your name or the name of someone you know on the list below and would like to reach out to help tell your/their story, feel free to email me at jarrettfelix1130@gmail.com or hit us up via twitter if you prefer that. We will honor anonymity if you would like to stay out of the spotlight. 

Here's some names for which I have story ideas already bouncing around my head. Feel free to suggest others in the comments below or reach out directly via email. If you would prefer to not have a story written, reach out and let us know. We will respect all wishes. Depending on time, I may not write about all of these if I don't have the contacts, but we will see what we can do.

Ben Bumgarner and Zach Skolnekovich

Carlisle Distance Squad

CBW, Pennridge, North Penn, Pennsbury, Penn Wood, Abington 4x8

GFS Distance Squad

Lower Dauphin Distance Squad

Matt Scarpill

Nick Wagner

Seneca Valley Distance Squad

Seneca 4x8

State College 4x8

Again, comment with your other suggestions. 

By the way, I will also be bringing back the Etrain Oscars this year for a second edition. We will have another vote to decide winners over the coming month, but for now we need nominees! I'll be posting the categories again soon, but I'll be rolling forward most of last year's award titles if you want to get a jump on sharing nominations. Would love to hear suggestions for new awards that you think would help honor some of our finest. 

My apologies for the delay in the state race recaps. They are coming, but I was doing some marathon coaching/cheering and then today has been a non stop travel sesh back from Vermont. Shout out to my best friend Charlie Kline on his BQ. None of you know him I'm sure, but he earned a shout out nonetheless.

So that's all for now. This has been Etrain via the notes section of his iPhone, typing on an Amtrak train after 9 hours in a car. The kid will be back at it again with a clear mind and a good keyboard soon. Lots of cool stuff left to come. Don't touch that dial.