NXR & Brooks West XC Championships

 Rockwell's cross country team drove down to Arizona for the NXR race. They stopped at the Grand Canyon. Joel posted a few pictures on the GroupMe of their time there. :)

They've been having a lot of fun with Photoshop lately. Haha!

Rockwell said it was really cool to spend time at the Grand Canyon. It was snowing and cloudy, which was very different from the 100 degrees and sweltering sun that he experienced when he hiked the Canyon a couple years ago.

Rockwell's race went really good in Mesa! He said he could breathe fine and felt really good. He finished in 16:39.2, which was his PR for the season. He was thrilled to actually feel good!!

Rockwell finished 5th on his team. We asked him about he and Luke finishing at the exact same time. He said that they were joking before the race that it would be amazing if they finished together and held hands across the finish line. They haven't really been near each other in races, so it was just a joke. But then they happened to meet up for the last mile and were going the same pace, and so they really did hold hands for the final stretch and crossed the finish line like that. Haha! They said it slowed down their time since they couldn't really pass anyone in the final stretch, but it was totally worth it. So funny! Paul and I wish we could have seen that!

The Senior boys go to California for a final race each year. It's not part of the team season, it's just kind of like a senior trip the boys decide to do on their own. They invited Rockwell to come with them this year. It's a very senior-heavy team this year. Rockwell loves these boys and is going to miss them next year!

The race was called Brooks West XC Championships. There were people from all the western states there. Rockwell ran the Junior race because it was closer in start time to the Senior race. He said the course was really fun and different. It was dirt and gravel so they didn't wear spikes, and there were a lot of hills with names like Switchbacks and Poop Out Hill. :) He said it reminded him of the courses in the movie McFarland USA.

He had a blast on the trip! They went shopping at outlet malls, watched The Office, and spent a day at the beach. He said it was his favorite trip ever!!