The DTC returned to full competition this month after a two year hiatus. Our athletes competed in multiple events across the nation: Air Force Holiday Open in Colorado Springs, CO, The College Street Mile in Bowling Green, KY, the California International Marathon in Sacramento, CA, and lastly the Olympic Qualifier 1 for the Modern Pentathlon.
Nick Borne kicked off our 2019-2020 campaign on Dec. 6th with a second place finish in the 800m at the Air Force Holiday Open. Aware of the fact that he'd be facing the Air Force Academy's entire 800m squad, his strategy was to run in a position where he could best control the race. At one point this required for him to make an anaerobic surge to stay in contact with the first place runner. To our surprise, the first place runner was a rabbit who pulled out of the race at the 600m mark. Nick spent the rest of his race defending himself against a full strength surge from the pack of Air Force Cadets. He did not get first place this time, it was a learning experience, but he is training hard and is eager for payback.
On Dec. 7th our newcomer Ben Peterson scored a 9th place finish at the College Street Mile in Bowling Green, KY.
The California International Marathon was a challenge for our athletes Brandon Krage and Courtney Combs. Krage had a goal of qualifying for the Olympic trails and was on pace to meet his goal for most of the race but struggled to maintain it in the later portion of the race. Krage finished CIM in an impressive 2:21! Courtney Combs also had a strong performance at CIM! Prior to the race she struggled with a potential race ending injury, but she was able to stave it off and toe the line. Courtney finished CIM with a 12 minute PR at 3:14--fantastic improvement for a seasoned marathoner!
Heidi Hendrick had a challenging weekend at part 1 of 2 Olympic Qualifiers. She posted top-10 marks in fencing (10th) and the swim (2nd), but had difficulties with both aspects of the the laser run; running and shooting. This was followed up with the misfortune of having a runaway horse during show jumping. We are in the process of a root cause analysis, but she will return as a stronger and wiser athlete.