TOP TEN MONDAYS!!!!! PLUS: Dave Registers for his 2nd Semester

Ah, Monday; the day when America leisurely glides across her Hardwood Floor of Liberty on her Bunny Slippers of Bliss only to slip on the Banana Peel of Misfortune and fall and break her Coccyx of Relaxation. A day when all that was attempted to be put off over the weekend suddenly comes slamming back into the windshields of our lives. Ah, how would we ever survive Mondays if not for....

TOP TEN MONDAYS!!!! Today's Topic: Dave's Top 10 Moments from Morton's 2009 Cross Country Season! For those of you who don't know (and for those who do), this last Saturday was the Illinois High School State Cross Country Meet at Detwieller Park in Peoria. It was the "mecca of cross country" as the announcer put it. Over 15,000 people descended on Peoria this weekend to witness some of the finest athletes in the state see how fast they could run Detwiller's historic 3 mile course. Sadly, despite being one of Morton' finest running squads in history, this year's team failed to qualify for the meet by one measly place. However, Joe Zeller happened to qualify as an individual, so we were all there to support him on Saturday. For a full recap, check out this column by Morton's Head Cross Country Chief of Columnists, Steve Gifford. For a quick recap, Joe ran amazingly, prompting me to come up with the witty moniker of "Stellar Zellar" just now. Stellar Zellar ran the course in a time of 15:21 to earn 6th place All-State honors. Joe's race was a perfect way to end an amazing season in Morton's Cross Country history. Today's Top 10 post chronicles the top 10 best moments/races/quotes of the 2009 season.

• #10- My running advice, as spoken to Mr. Smith and my dad after the Dunlap Invite: "Going out conservative never usually fails."  It's true; you should try it sometime. More often than not, my advice tends to be somewhat accurate most of the time.
• #9-  Ordering pizza to Detwieller park during the state meet.  After we ordered 6 large pizzas to be delivered to the "kid in the light green shirt standing outside the Detwieller golf course," I actually got a call from Domino's 10 minutes later asking if the call was legit.  It was, and we got our pizza, and it was delicious.
  
• #8- Alex (to Mr. Zeller): "If you went to a blue school, you'd have to be a Cubs fan."  Mr. Zeller: "No."  Ha ha ha ha ha.  Oh, boy, that was hilarious!  What!?!?  You don't think that's hilarious!?!?!  *sigh* I guess you had to be there.
• #7- Getting to the know the area competition.  At the beginning of the year, we had no idea what the Potters were getting into.  We knew this was going to be a good year, but we had no idea it was going to be this good.  However, early on, we weren't very familiar with the area teams and runners we would have to be ahead of by Sectionals.  Steve was so confused that he once remarked, "Do you know which of those guys is who?" at the Galesburg Invite.  For Steve's phonetically phunny phenomenal pholkism, his quote makes it into the Top 10 moments from Morton XC '09.
• #6- Hardware.  The Potter men and women sure brought home a lot of silver and gold this fall.  It's certainly an increase from the amount of hardware we brought home in '07.  This is all a tribute to the hard work you guys put in over the summer and during the season.  Great job.
• #5- Nathan's H.E.A.R.T. messages, plus End of the Year poetry!  Even though I never raced in one of the Potter's races this year, I still was a faithful recipient of every one of Nathan's heartfelt motivational messages.  Also, that poem could easily compete with such classics such as: The Iliad, A Dream Within A Dream, The Midnight Ride of Humpty Dumpty.   Thanks for your input, Nathan.  I think we should nominate him for Cross Country Captain Emeritus.
• #4- The Potter Wedge formation.  After being made famous in Steve's famous photo, the Potter Wedge formation became the staple catch-phrase in many a race.  I think it can now stand up there with "The Long Red Train."
  
• #3- Morton Boys take 1st place at Dunlap Invitational.  As far as Steve and I can remember, this is the first Invite title that Morton has won in, what I just now declared, "the last epoch."
  
• #2- Alex thinks Steve is my father.  This occurred at the Galesburg Invite.  It was my first time meeting the freshman, but most of them knew who I was already.  Alex didn't.  He didn't know who Steve was either, and when he was introduced, he questioned, "Are you Dave's father?"  That quote will forever live on in Morton CC history.
  
• #1- Joe Zeller places 6th at State!  Before Joe, the highest a Potter had ever placed at State was Trent Hoerr, who placed 9th in 2002.  Hopefully, next year, Joe can move up in those rankings.  Is a state championship possible?  Only time, and Joe Zeller, can tell us.

So there you have it.  Those are what I consider the 10 best moments from Morton's 2009 cross country season.  If any of you readers have anything to add, feel free to comment.  I love your comments.  I'm sure I left out some great moments, such as the time when Joe slipped and fell at Sectionals, or when the Potter Who Shall Not Be Named ran a great race at Northwoods, or the Senior Night Potluck, and etc. etc. etc....  Hopefully next year's team will have just as many memorable moments, as well as some even better ones.  With Joe, Alex, and Nick all back on the guys' side, and the Pribbles and Hannah Behle returning for the girls, it could be the start of a running dynasty at Morton High School.  

Registration

This morning was registration day for the sophomore class here at IWU. The entire process is done electronically, so, as you can imagine, when 500 students all attempt to log onto the same website at the same time IWU's Internet server has no other choice but to shut down, thus causing 500 students to simultaneously bash their foreheads against their desks and call down curses upon this cantankerous institution called Formal Education. From my desk in the library, I was able to observe these actions first-hand; it was an experience.  I must admit that I was almost caught up in joining the mob, but, thankfully, after a 12-minute staring contest with my computer monitor, I was connected through to the class registration website. For the first time in Wesleyan history, Dave Getz completed his course registration without being locked out of a single class. I left the library a happy man.