Hello Dyestaters! My name is Elise Beattie. I am a senior at Woodstock High School, home of the Blue Streaks! This will be my school’s first year in class 2A. Our town recently built a new high school and split the sports teams this year. Due to the changes my team is smaller than most, but we are a tight-knit group led by three great coaches: Marty Sobczak, Bill Macaulay, and Matt McCulley.
The cross country Grace Team posing with our friend LeRoy (aka...Wayne) who let us keep our shirts and keys in his secret hiding spot in New Orleans!
This past summer I spent the majority of my time running, working at the town library, and spending time with my family. Although I stayed close to home most of the summer, I did get to attend running camp and take a trip to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Youth gathering in New Orleans. Over 31,000 youth attended the gathering, and many of my teammates were among the members from my church that attended. Having teammates around made it fun to explore the city while running, but the high humidity and urban setting of New Orleans was quite different from the rural roads of Woodstock. This year marked my fourth year attending the Northeast Ohio Cross Country Camp. It was a fun week of volleyball, bags, and of course running! I am looking forward to going back next year as a counselor.
To add more about my running background, I began running in sixth grade at my middle school. My parents were/are runners and encouraged me to try cross country as a way to make friends. It was only a matter of time before I began to love running. Running has developed into a shared passion in my family as my four siblings and I are all competing in cross country at our respective schools. My family is also hosting a Japanese exchange student this year. She is working her way through the Illinois tennis season playing matches, some exceeding three hours in length. I’m sure glad our races don’t take that long! Last track season I finished third in the 3A 3200m. I am excited to continue on that path of improvement in my final high school Cross Country Season. Best of luck to all those competing this weekend!
My Sister Kayla (left), our teammate Natasha (right), and I with the 3rd Place Trophy from Peoria Woodruff.
Hello everyone!
Seeing that I am feeling a bit unmotivated to continue working on my homework, it seems like the perfect time to recap this week/weekend. This week happened to be my school’s homecoming so the week was far from normal to say the least. Excitement was high the entire week as each class competed to win the days competitions. I don’t know what homecoming is like at your schools, but at Woodstock the class competition is taken pretty seriously. Friday marked the climax as the school gathered to award the spirit stick and parade through the town. Since the team was leaving for Peoria following the parade, our practice involved running the parade route. Much to my dismay we passed what seemed to be the entire town of Woodstock on our short run. It then became time for the three hour trip down to Peoria. Although a bit hot, Saturday proved to be a great day for racing. Having been slowed by the ridiculously sloppy conditions of last year, I was excited to run without the risk of getting stuck in mud. The race marked the first 2A race for my team and the debut of our new uniforms! Although there is still much work to be done, the day brought many positive results. My sister Kayla and I finished in first and second place respectively and the rest of the girls all ran huge PRs to help our team finish third. The boys team finished in fourth place led by multiple improvements as well. It was a pleasant surprise to come home with two trophies and I must say this year’s trophies have got to be the largest I have ever seen. I always love the excitement that radiates from racing at Detweiller and am happy to know I came away one step closer to achieving my season goals.
My sisters Hope and Grace before the Homecoming dance (Grace wanted to be in the blog)
This past Saturday was the annual Woodstock Ryan Byrne Cross Country Festival. I always enjoy running this invite not only because I am quite partial to my home course, but also because the format is different than the other meets we race. Our festival is run in flights with each flight containing both boys and girls varsity and JV. Although separated from my other teammates, I do enjoy racing the JV boys! This year’s Byrne festival took on a special significance because we not only ran in memory of Ryan Byrne, but also in support of a teammate’s sister. Each team received a message stating: “The Woodstock High School cross country team has been running workouts and races this season with a green piece of ribbon tied around their shoes. The ribbon is a simple way to show support and dedication to a teammate and his family. While a little girl is suffering from a brain tumor, the WHS runners are striding alongside her and helping to give her support for the challenges that must be overcome. The Ryan Byrne XC festival is in memory of a past runner and sports writer who died from cancer. During today’s race we hope that every team stops to think about Ryan and also will wear a lime green ribbon tied to their racing spike to acknowledge support of a little girl who needs friends surrounding her.” Word has spread and more people than we ever could have imagined are embracing the simple lime green knot and remembering to always have Hope. Northwest Herald Sports Editor Joe Stevenson wrote a nice article about our friend Hope(pictured right with brother JD), please check it out at: http://mchenrycountysports.com/columnists/columns/2009/09/21/r_0izqkiitc6acy7pqoiefg/index.xml
Well it has been a crazy couple of weeks. Between school, practice, work, and college visits I haven’t had time for much else; however, this past weekend I did enjoy a Saturday off from racing. Seeing that we didn’t have a meet, I found it to be the perfect opportunity to go see Taylor Swift in concert! It was an awesome concert and well worth staying up way past my already late bed time of 11:00. Seeing as I don’t have any meet results to report on today, I thought I would tell you all a story.
I’m sure you all have experienced those people who just cannot seem to hold in their thoughts as you run by. From the overused “Run Forrest Run!” to the silly ten year old boy yelling “Go joggers and jogetts!” the list of annoying phrases is seemingly endless. It was a pleasant spring day; my team was just over one mile short of completing a nice recovery run on our weekly run to the schools located on the north side of town. Seeing as we had run this route numerous times, the thought of encountering something out of the ordinary was far from our minds. However, fate has a different plan. As we passed a man standing outside of his home, we gave the customary “hello” and continued on. The man held back a pleasant greeting and instead offered us an interesting response. Much to our surprise he yelled, “You are never going to make it to state running like that” as if he knew all about our running and desired to give us a swift kick in the butt. None of us knew who this man was or what connection he had to running, but he sure gave us a good laugh! As you all know this weekend was the Chicago Marathon. Although I did not go to Chicago to cheer on my coach and former teammate as they took on the challenge, I did watch the TV footage. It was a pleasant surprise to find my coach, Matt McCulley, leading the elite women’s pack and getting some nice TV coverage as he raced towards a fast time of 2:33. My former teammate Josh ran his first marathon and qualified for Boston in 3:09 as well. Congrats to both of them! Having seen their soreness, I must say I am quite glad that we will only be racing three miles these next few weeks.
First off for all of you who qualified for state, congratulations! Between the rainy weather and the looming college applications deadlines, the past two weeks have been a bit unpleasant at times. However, the post season has brought many great surprises to Woodstock. Prior to this year my team has always hosted the regional, but this year we made the trip to Freeport, home of the Pretzels. Both teams earned berths to sectionals and the girls won the title. One week and more mud later, we found ourselves ankle deep in sectional competition at Belvidere. My sister Kayla and I led our team to our school’s first 2A sectional title. As we both neared the finish line, an amusing cheer erupted from a boy’s team lining the course. Together the boys were urging Kayla and I to beat each other because the one who got second would have to live with that for the rest of her life. Although I finished second, I think that the loss to Kayla will not haunt me to my grave. Despite the cold temperatures, a large contingent of Woodstock fans including friends, school officials, and even retired teachers came to cheer on the streaks. Although winning the sectional title was special, the day was a bit bittersweet as the boy’s team failed to qualify. Juniors JD Fuller and Phil Meyer qualified as individuals and will join us girls in the trip to state next weekend. Keeping in the spirit of Halloween, the team celebrated the season’s pre state accomplishments with a bonfire. The last smile of the day came as I turned the clock back an hour and enjoyed an extra hour of well deserved sleep.
partial to my home course, but also because the format is different than the other meets we race. Our festival is run in flights with each flight containing both boys and girls varsity and JV. Although separated from my other teammates, I do enjoy racing the JV boys! This year’s Byrne festival took on a special significance because we not only ran in memory of 
I’m sure you all have experienced those people who just cannot seem to hold in their thoughts as you run by. From the overused “Run Forrest Run!” to the silly ten year old boy yelling “Go joggers and jogetts!” the list of annoying phrases is seemingly endless. It was a pleasant spring day; my team was just over one mile short of completing a nice recovery run on our weekly run to the schools located on the north side of town. Seeing as we had run this route numerous times, the thought of encountering something out of the ordinary was far from our minds. However, fate has a different plan. As we passed a man standing outside of his home, we gave the customary “hello” and continued on. The man held back a pleasant greeting and instead offered us an interesting response. Much to our surprise he yelled, “You are never going to make it to state running like that” as if he knew all about our running and desired to give us a swift kick in the butt. None of us knew who this man was or what connection he had to running, but he sure gave us a good laugh! 
