NETT teams 3rd at Wayland XC Race

It was a solid showing for the NETT Mini-Ponies at the Wayland XC Race this weekend, with both the men's and women's teams taking 3rd place in their divisions.

See the results here

The women's team was a study in contrats with three masters' one sub-master and a very speedy 14-year old making the team of five. Kristin Hall led the way for the Ponyettes running a very solid 20:44 for the rugged 5K course, good for second master. Wendy Johnecheck was next for NETT in 21:57, followed by Karen Ringheiser on a tuneup for Baystate in 22:10. Katherine De Zutter had a week off from high school racing and skated right along to a 22:27 clocking (good for 2nd in her age group)and Karyn MM finished the scoring with a sub-24 effort. Great work ladies!

On the men's side, Chris Smith gets the Medal of Honor for coming out and scoring as our fourth runner only 24 hours after finishing the Hartford Marathon! Owwwwch...But in a addition to Chris' gutsy run, NETT newcomer Barry Phelps did a fantastic job and was our second man in 17:46. Martin Bures was just a few ticks behind Barry, while Andy Hall put in a very strong effort to finish as fifth scorer in 19:35. And we even had a great saftey net (or is it "NETT"?) in the form of Janos Mako (19:42), Eri Verter (20:20) and Jim De Zuttter out on the course. And even though he runs for CSU, we all have a soft spot for Marshall Randolph, who continues to defy the laws of physics winning the 60+ age group handily.

And in the "NETT stars of the future" category, Noah Miller-Medzon kicked butt in the 3K, cranking out a 12:03, good for 7th place in his division. For the mathematically challenged, that's a 6:27 pace, which would put him in the top 50 of the adult race! Clock is ticking--we only have so much time before this kid just starts thrashing us all in open races. Also along those lines, Dima F's two sons did a great job out on the course as well.

As always, race director Eric Bucher puts on a great event for kids and adults alike--open to all, it's a great way for folks to get introduced to cross country running. Thanks to our cheering section of Doris, Anthony and Thomas out on the course.