Halloween

2018:
Doctor, Dirt Bike Racer, Lion, Reds Player, Dracula, Frog, Astronaut, Scarecrow, Egyptian, Wolfgirl

Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood with friends and lots of candy :)

The teen-aged boys jumped in for a picture too :)

Carving

A girls' pumpkin and a boys' pumpkin :)

XC - Section Champs

Sporting freshly bleached hair, the Yellowjacket Varsity boys team ran (in the rain) for the Section Championship in Bagley, MN the last weekend of October.
(Only 7 girls and 7 guys ran in the Section Championship for the Yellowjackets)

Tesfaye worked hard all season to earn a spot on this varsity squad - as an 8th grader in his first season running, it was an amazing accomplishment to be a part of this highly competitive team.

Cross country truly is a team sport.  In varsity, XC teams run only seven, and each runner is important.  The team's score is dependent on how the top five finishers place (adding up the places of the top-five), the lowest score determines the winning team.  So, if only 5 runners' scores make up the team points, why are there seven runners on the team?  Besides being the backups to the top five, the sixth and seventh runners are very influential in the overall race results, just in a different capacity.   They can displace a scoring runner from another team - if they finish ahead of any of the competing teams' top five, they cause the competition's overall score to increase.  In Cross Country, the lowest scoring team wins, so in close competition or a large race, the impact of the sixth and seventh runner (adding points to other teams) can be a game changer.

In previous Junior High races, Tesfaye ran to win.  Running Varsity, his role is different.  His job is to keep as close to the top 5 runners as he can (the top 5 Yellowjackets are fast!) and finish ahead of as many of the competition as possible. 

Our entire family was there to cheer on the team - and I kept under an umbrella with my camera to take pictures :)

Tesfaye completed this 5K in 17:50 (5:45 pace) - a PR time!   As the team's seventh runner, Tesfaye came in 23rd out of 146 runners.

We were so proud to watch our boy run in the rain - and do so well!  

Perham's top 5 placed 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 (21 points)- earning FIRST PLACE in our Section Championship.  The second place team had 63 points.  Our 6th and 7th runners finished ahead of the second team's 5th runner, and third team's 3rd runner - performing their role to help the team.  The Yellowjackets are a solid team with a tight spread.  We're excited to watch them in their 17th straight State appearance in Minneapolis the first weekend of November!

The girls team also won FIRST PLACE at Sections with 32 points - all 7 runners finishing in the top 20.  They will be making their 15th straight appearance at State.

*Both the boys and girls are hoping for repeat State wins this year!!!
We're excited to watch!

Pumpkins