The goal going into NXR was to qualify for nationals, so I knew going into Saturday that I would have to be in the top 10 through the mile in order to be in a good position to move up into a qualifying spot. I didn't get off the line as quickly as I wanted to, so with a lot of guys moving through the relatively narrow cinders before the mile, I found myself working the sides and weaving in and out to regain contact with the lead chase pack (Kevin Murray of DE had a lead of maybe 10-15 meters). Going up the long hill right after the mile is when I picked up my effort a little bit to move from about 12th into 8th, and then right before the road crossing is when my mind committed itself to my legs, and when my legs committed themselves to my mind. I told myself "If you're gonna do this, then do it fully," and opened up going down the next few rolling hills before the 2 mile, which gained me 1 or 2 places. I caught up to Colin Schaefer on the long downhill after the 2 mile, and we both picked it up and caught another guy. We were surging and trying to make moves to put some distance between the other all along the bottom of the hill, but neither one of us could quite drop each other. I made a move going up the last hill with maybe 400 or 500 to go that finally gained me some ground, but I could still feel somebody not too far off behind me, so I gave it all I had to the finish.
I'm really honored and humbled to be able to represent my team, my state, and my region on the national stage, and I look forward to getting to know my Southeast teammates.
