08/30/2026
"ORR"IGINALS INVITE AOM- Layla Schmitz, Jovie Howard.
🔴 Layla Schmitz had an impressive showing for our first meet last Saturday. She ran the JV 4k in 19:30, staying consistent throughout the race, which is difficult this early in the season. She placed 4th for our team, helping our JV team finish 4th. Layla ended up PR’ing her 4k by 24 seconds and comes into the 2026 season right where she left off last season. Layla has put quite a bit of time into training during the off-season, and it is wonderful to see her hard work and determination paying off so soon. We look forward to her continued effort to improve and can't wait to see the growth she has in her sophomore season.
🔴 Jovie Howard is an essential part of our middle school team as she enters her second season with the Riders. Jovie competed in the MS 3k, narrowly missing her PR by 2 seconds. She, like Layla, comes into the season right where she left off, and we are very excited to see her continued growth this year. On top of Jovie’s great performance, what truly stood out to the coaches was how she led the new middle schoolers throughout the day, including during the race. Jovie was locked in throughout the race, but whenever she saw one of her teammates, she was immediately encouraging and helped pull them through to the finish line. Jovie showed great composure and poise at the meet, and we are so excited to have her lead our middle school team whenever they need her.
"ORR"IGINALS INVITE POP AWARD
🍿The POP award, voted on by our captains each meet, went to Esme Suriano. Esme showed all of our core values while competing at her very 1st XC meet, but what really made her stand out was the relentless persistence she displayed during her 4k race. Esme continued to push hard throughout her race, even when her body tried to hold her back, and she maintained a positive mindset all the way to the finish line. Great job, Esme!
