This Week in Sports - Week #9

Dave Levy, Athletic Director

Bringing Home the Hardware: Middle School XC Excels at Grymes! - MS XC - 10/17/24

As he approached the base of the final hill, Ethan found another gear. He had paced himself throughout the race, a very competitive one against Grymes and Fredericksburg Academy on a hilly horse farm. He had already run up several of what Coach Casey described as "VERY intense hills" and this one was the biggest. Still, Ethan went to work - passing runners as he broke the tape with a new PR of 12:38, a 41 second improvement and a second place medal. Congratulations, Ethan! Luke, finishing fourth overall, was hot on his tail in an impressive time of 12:50!
Having dedicated herself to hard work in practice, Raquel has already improved so much from her first meet a week ago at Darden Towe. This course had considerably more incline, but that didn't stop her from leading the girls team in a time of 15:36 - a forty second improvement! She earned 3rd place overall - the Badgers were dominating the podium! Working hard on the hills, Aislin also earned a new personal record - twenty seconds faster than last week - finishing in a time of 16:08 and 7th place! Wow! The Badgers had girls three in the top 11, as Willa (16:35) was right behind her.  What an impressive effort for this trio!
 
Eleanor (17:42) and Ellie (17:55) worked together, with Ellie dropping a whole MINUTE off of her time at Darden Towe. This pack truly hit their stride, extending their cadence on the downhills and looking to the top of the challenging inclines! 
 
Making their season debuts, Cord (15:58) and Emma T (21:32) both came ready to run! Despite the challenges of the cold weather, hilly course and new terrain, these Badgers brought home new PR's. Cora (24:40) completed the entire two mile course - an enormous accomplishment - and she did it with a smile! Congratulations also to Francesca (23:45) and Emma R (19:26) who showed incredible consistency - running very similar times to last week on a more difficult course!
 
In addition to their impressive times, Coach Casey noted that our "Tandem runners all worked really hard but also showed a lot of great sportsmanship, cheering on their teammates and also runners from the other schools." Thanks to Coaches Melissa and Casey for their leadership and congratulations to all Badgers - what a day on a chilly/hilly course! You should be very proud! We'll see you for practice this afternoon.

Badgers Defeat Local Powerhouse, Tune up for GPAC Championships - V XC - 10/15/24

Nearly six weeks ago, after a grueling summer of hard training, the Badgers began their competitive journey for the 2024 season on their home course.  In front of an enthusiastic and spirited crowd, Tandem pushed their August selves to their limits, and achieved great success.  In the interim, our team has been running Newtons (20 speedy 200's), Big Macs (intervals up the hill) and logging lots of miles - all throughout Charlottesville.  October Badgers are simply NOT THE SAME as August Badgers! Today, twelve of our runners got to do a direct comparison to that Inaugural Tandem Two Mile - running the prestigious two mile relay race at Panorama Farms, in the ultra competitive Ragged Mountain Cup.
 
The GPAC Championships are two weeks away, but the Tandem Boys have their eyes on a bigger goal - becoming back to back state champions. In order to do that, the Badgers are going to need extraordinary efforts out of our top runners. Today, Miles took on that challenge. Back in August, he ran 11:42 for the two mile distance, and today he ran 10:38! Sheesh, talk about stepping up and going after your goals! Running as part of Tandem's A 4 x Two Mile relay team, Miles nearly matched his talented teammate Jack Blemker (10:36) who improved dramatically off of his 11:27 earlier this season.  Hayes did the unthinkable! He was in attack mode from moment one and ran a jaw dropping 10:01 (back to back 5:00 miles!), a 33 second difference that will definitely set him up to break 16:00 in his next race. Peter, the fourth member of this epic relay, ran 11:26 - giving Tandem a total time of 42:43 - and defeating local powerhouse Louisa, among others!  
 
The Badger B Relay featured a relaxed and confident effort from Jack Johnson (11:38 - he's back!!) and Jack Nachbar (12:15!) Jack N dropped fifty seconds off his team from back in August! Gabriel continues to add speed endurance to his skill set, as his form and cadence begin to match his level of talent! Gabriel ran a PR pace of 12:10 (13:05 in August!) while Will's 12:54 closed it out.  Will has been on a tear!  The B Badgers finished in an impressive total time of 48:59!
 
One year ago, Lucy ran 13:52 on a flat, smooth, perfectly manicured track! In August, she ran a very solid 14:47 at the Tandem Two Mile. Today, Lucy ran 13:51 - sub 7:00 pace - for a new two mile PR on a tough cross country course!! Get it, Lucy! She set her relay team up for success, and her teammates were up to the task!  Claire's 14:32 is NINETY SECONDS faster than her August time, Julia's 15:23 is TWO MINUTES faster, and Hazel's 15:08 is a ONE MINUTE FIFTY SECOND improvement!  The Tandem Girls ran 58:57, our best time ever at the Ragged Mountain Cup! Congratulations to this exceptional relay team!
 
Meanwhile, over at Fredericksburg Academy, the rest of the Tandem Badgers took on both the 5K distance and the rest of the GPAC. We have spent the last few weeks setting expectations low - the course is slow... it has lots of hairpin turns, requiring runners to drop their pace to nearly a halt.  Additionally, the wooded part of the course has terrible footing with lots of rocks and roots. Super fun for a low key Sunday hike - not such a great set up to run your best time of the season.  Regardless, the Badgers gave it their all (they had high expectations anyways) from the time the gun sounded to the moment they crossed the finish line!

The clock read 27:00 as Malena exited the woods for the final time.  Determined to break the 30:00 GPAC qualifying mark, her pace was over a minute per mile faster than she has run at any other point this season.  Still, Malena had more to give - she put in a spurt as she rounded the soccer field and a big sprint as she ran towards the finish. Malena's time of 28:25 is both a THREE AND A HALF MINUTE PR and qualifies her for the GPAC Championships hosted by Tandem at Darden Towe on October 30!! Can't wait to see what she does next!
 
Eloise had her first top ten GPAC finish of the season, coming through the line in 8th place and a confident 25:54 (21 seconds faster than at Panorama Farms, on a much harder course!)  Her name was called as she lined up among the best in the league at the awards ceremony after the race! Other exciting PR's today included Dhruvi, who took her effort to a whole different level. On Saturday, Dhruvi ran nearly the entire race.  Today she RACED the entire race, resulting in a new PR of 30:52! There was not one moment where Dhruvi looked fatigued - she was in control the whole time, working with Laurel (30:40) and Nina (31:35.)  Constantly passing her competition, Annie's 31:39 resulted in a 20 second PR.  She came through the line with an epic sprint, leaning past a Highland runner right as she broke the tape! Sadie continues to be strong and consistent, her time of 27:20 has her poised to be a strong contender at GPAC's in a few weeks!  Using the hills to her advantage, Avery opened her stride on every downhill and attacked the inclines as well! Her time of 34:27 is a tribute to her sticktoitiveness. That's a word.
 
The clock went into slow motion as Daniel rounded the final curve. 27:55, 27:56... he approached the 28:00 qualifying time with a ferocious final kick - and finished officially in 27:57!  Daniel joins Lennon - another first time qualifier! Lennon ran 26:51 - nearly a FOUR MINUTE PR on a super tough course! 
 
John led the way for Tandem today, finishing 20:56 and in 11th place, his best GPAC mark of the season. Hot on his tail, Zeke dropped his PR to 22:04 - which is NINE MINUTES FASTER THAN HE RAN ON THE SAME COURSE IN 2023!!! He is unrecognizable! Holy moly! Oscar had a similar experience: his 22:56 is EIGHT MINUTES faster than his 2023 time!! Oh yeah! Working together as a pack, Bela (22:08), Jude (22:55), Oscar (22:56), Alexander (22:58 - which is two minutes faster than his 2023 time!) all had spectacular races! Right behind them, Brendan ran 23:31 - four minutes faster than last year - and outkicked an RMA runner right at the line!
 
Orro (25:09), Kai (25:58) and Ian (26:12) ran smart races, getting faster as they ran and opening their strides on the fields at the end. Perhaps our most excited runner of all was Tyler (31:50) who informed me that "this was supposed to be 1:30 slower than my Panorama time - and it's not! I ran the whole race! I will take that!" We will all take that Tyler, with pride. It's been a heck of a season for Tyler, who has grown dramatically as a runner, and his positive attitude is just one of his many leadership strengths that benefit our team.
 
With GPAC's and VISAA's on the horizon, the Badgers are tearing it up! Over in Earlysville, we saw athletes dropping consecutive 5:00 miles, and breaking their track 3200 PR's on a Cross Country course!  Are you kidding me?!! Not to mention our best girls time ever and the boys defeating local power (and a much larger school) Louisa! Up in Fredericksburg, we had a bunch of new qualifiers, PR's, and runners that dropped 8 and 9 minutes off of their times from 2023! Seriously, who are these people?!
 
Heck of a day, Badgers. I am incredibly proud of all our hard working athletes pushing themselves to the limits as we prepare for the championship portion of our season! Looking forward to running with you tomorrow! 
 
The team returns to action for GPAC Championships on 10/30 at Darden Towe hosted defending champion Tandem Friends! Hope to see you there!

Big Day for Varsity Badgers on the Road - V VB - 10/15/24

Coming out strong on the road, Tandem won the first set easily, and Eastern Mennonite altered their strategy for the second.  Regardless, Tandem was able to win the second set, but it was very close, and EMS took the third, 25-17. The momentum had clearly shifted to the home team, as EMS took a 9-4 lead early in the fourth set and the Badgers were reeling...
 
Every time Tandem rallied, EMS seemed to have an answer. Down 4-1, Tessa made a beautiful push shot to tie the game.  Down 9-4, Sofia had an epic save, setting up Maggie for a three ball kill, tying the score at 9.  Down 17-11, Sofia ran off consecutive serves to bring the team within one. Down 20-16, Maya placed a perfect cross court right on the line.  Down 19-21, Mary wound up and swatted a spike right down the middle.  EMS proved to be resilient in the fourth set - and the Badgers pushed them to their limits.
 
Tandem took the lead for the first time after a sequence of furious hits from Chloe on the left side of the court.  The EMS blockers got a hand on the ball, but only enough to watch them trickle down to the floor.  The Badgers took the lead 24-23.  EMS responded with a big hit of their own, tying the match, before serving the ball into the net.  It was 25-24.
 
Lucky for Tandem, Captain Maggie calmly took the ball to the service line, bounced in a few times, and launched a powerful serve.  EMS tried to get under it, but could only manage to deflect the ball out of bounds, giving Tandem the win!! Seriously, who else would you want to have the ball with the game on the line?  Maggie's clutch ace gave Tandem a huge win against a high quality team, improving their record to 10-4!
 
The Badgers came out swinging - Tessa had a soft push shot over the blockers to earn the first point of the match.  Sofia then set up Maggie for a slam. The scoring went back and forth for a while, and tied at 11, Maya dove to dig out a tough EMS serve. The ball came to Sofia, who spent much of the night on the floor digging out tough hits. On this occasion, she set Tessa for a vicious hit down the left line.  Tessa then served up a storm with three consecutive aces, including a jump serve with so much power that it put everybody on their heels! Tandem took a 17-13 lead.
 
The first set featured lots of long rallies, and Mary and Chloe put a lot of pressure on their competition.  Whether the hits came from Chloe on the left or Mary in the middle, they were too much for the blockers to handle.  Speaking of blockers, Maggie and Chloe combined for a huge block to take the first set 25-17.  
 
In the second set, Sofia opened with four straight points off her serve. On one occasion, Chloe dug out a tough return and Maya followed that up with a perfectly placed hit to the back line.  Maggie was strong whether she was at the net or in the back row, where she constantly dug out tough serves from her competition. She and Beatrice both set up Chloe for some big hits, Beatrice with perfect passes, as the team took an 11-6 lead.  
 
Lola was excellent in the second set, delivering big hits from the right side, and key serves as well. The team battled their way to a 16-16 tie, with Zella and Beatrice playing key roles. Beatrice dug out a big hit, passing to Sofia who set Tessa for her patented push shot over the blockers. She delivered a huge serve, and Tandem took the second set 26-24.
 
Congratulations to the Badgers on an exciting victory. There were long rallies, lots of dives to the floor and some big hitting as usual.  This was a challenging match and Tandem rose to the occasion, finding a way to dig deep and win some tough close sets, and improve their standing for a big stretch run. I am very proud of their effort tonight - this team sacrificed their bodies, supported one another with Lili/Elisabeth level energy, and came home with a big win on a late night in Harrisonburg.
 
The Badgers return to action on Thursday at home vs KAA at 6:00 and again on Friday at home vs Quantico at 4. Friday is not a school day, but both soccer and volleyball will have home games on that day. Please let me know if you cannot attend.
 
I would be remiss if I did not mention our Varsity Soccer team! The squad travelled to Stuart Hall and earned a big win 4-3! Congratulations!! I did not have the privilege of seeing them in action, but cheers to this hard working bunch of players and coach Nemanja and Nile, who are very proud! Go Badgers!
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Tandem Friends School is a co-ed Quaker day school for grades 5-12 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
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