To the Concord High School Crimson Tide boys' cross-country team on the eve of the Division I State Championship meet: First, a special shout-out to the seniors. Not just because this is your last D-1 race, but because of the extraordinary work you've put in for four years. No, more than four. When I was a Concord kid, there was no such thing as middle-school cross country. We ran the first cross-country races of our lives as freshmen, if not later. Some of us -- I wasn't one of them -- had done track as Rundlett 7th-and 8th-graders. At the time, there was no such thing as "middle school" anyway; Rundlett was grade 7-8-9 school, but we had the chance to trek up South Fruit Street at 3 p.m. to be part of varsity sports teams. In the fall of 1984, there was only one freshman besides me on the cross-country team. He was my best friend, and he only signed up because I talked him into it, just as my mother had talked me into it just before the first practice in August. His name was Rick Bragg. I believe you're all familiar with his son Eben.
Roll Tide
Roll Tide
Roll Tide
To the Concord High School Crimson Tide boys' cross-country team on the eve of the Division I State Championship meet: First, a special shout-out to the seniors. Not just because this is your last D-1 race, but because of the extraordinary work you've put in for four years. No, more than four. When I was a Concord kid, there was no such thing as middle-school cross country. We ran the first cross-country races of our lives as freshmen, if not later. Some of us -- I wasn't one of them -- had done track as Rundlett 7th-and 8th-graders. At the time, there was no such thing as "middle school" anyway; Rundlett was grade 7-8-9 school, but we had the chance to trek up South Fruit Street at 3 p.m. to be part of varsity sports teams. In the fall of 1984, there was only one freshman besides me on the cross-country team. He was my best friend, and he only signed up because I talked him into it, just as my mother had talked me into it just before the first practice in August. His name was Rick Bragg. I believe you're all familiar with his son Eben.