I ran cross country all four years with Brother Brian Vetter as our head coach. We had a fantastic team winning many championships and dual meets. This was partly due to Brother Brian’s tough workouts and lengthy practices…from hill repeats to long runs (lost) somewhere in the city. Brother Brain was competitive and didn’t like second place. He was also tactical and made sure the team had an easy workout the day before any race, so we were well rested.
One day after school we gathered as usual to start our workout. Then something caught Brother Brian attention; he looked a bit surprised (and we all took notice). We watched as Loyola Blakefield’s buses rolled into the parking lot. They were there for a duel meet with us! The predicament was that Brother Brian forgot we had meet that day, and we had one of those intense practices the day before.
There was nothing we could do. So, sans MSJ team uniforms and everyone’s legs shot from the previous day…we had a home dual meet with Loyola.
Of course, we won!
