Hello, My name is Alex Riba and I am a senior from O'Fallon township high school, just east of St. Louis. It's nice to be able to blog for Illinois Mile Split and tell others a little about myself and the team. Last year my team finished 2nd place, and I finished 2nd individually in the Illinois 3A state cross country championships. I'm excited to see what the season has to offer and what the team and I can do at Detweiller this November and into the post season.
This summer I actually hit my lowest summer mileage at 610 miles, which is even 50 or so less than my freshman year. My goal for summer was just consistency to build up for the season. I had to back off a few weeks due to injury, but overall it was a good summer training session. For the first time this summer I went to a running camp other than our O'Fallon camp. I went to the Jim Ryun camp in Greeley Colorado. It was awesome to hear the knowledge and wisdom of all the guys there, like Jack Daniels, Jay Johnson, and of course Jim Ryun.
One of the goals for the team is a State Title, which has not only eluded the O'Fallon cross country team, but every O'Fallon team in any sport. O'Fallon is relatively new to being a state power in cross country and its an honor to be up there with the other great powerhouses in such a historic state for cross country. Prior to 2010 when we finished 5th in State, our best finish was 13th in 1981; our program got a revamp on the bus coming back home from State 2009. Every returning runner sat down in the back of the bus and we talked about what we think we can do for the next year. Some very ambitious juniors at the time decided they wanted a state championship, despite the fact that we had just finished 18th in the state. That was my freshman year. Following into their senior year they set the precedence for training like a team who wanted a State title, and ever since we have followed suite still pursuing their goal. My senior year I would love to accomplish what we set out to do that day, and I have a feeling we're only at the tip of the iceberg right now. I'm honored to be chosen to blog for MileSplit Illinois, and I'm excited to give a little insight into what's going on down south.