September 26, 2020
This morning, you had a dual meet on a course with more twists and turns than a Stephen King novel. Fortunately, the only bears on the course were the Blake runners.
Our boys varsity was first up. Isak chased the top Blake runners for most of the race, finishing 3rd with his second best ever time. Peter started fast and hung on to finish 5th. His time this morning was about 90 seconds faster than his previous meet two weeks ago. Ben ran well the entire race, closing on Peter during the latter stages of the race. He improved his personal best time by 12 seconds. Evan’s breakfast was giving him a little trouble during the race, but he still managed to finish 9th and improve his time from two weeks ago by almost 30 seconds. Trevor wound up as our 5th runner. He improved his personal best by almost a minute! Eddie, in just his second varsity race, improved his personal best by about 40 seconds. Liam also has some trouble with his breakfast choices, and had to stop to get a divorce from his breakfast. He did persist and finished the race.
Next up was our girls varsity. After leading the first part of the race, Margo chased the top girls from Blake, ultimately finishing 4th. Cara started out further back, but made a strong move in the second half of the race, finishing in 5th place, and running just 2 seconds behind her personal best time. Izzy also surged in the latter part of the race, finishing 9th. Teagan, running in her first varsity race, moved up significantly during the second half of the race, finishing just 6 seconds behind Izzy. Abigail was our 5th runner, closing out the scoring for our team. She improved her personal best by 90 seconds. Sophia kept a steady quickish pace the entire race. It paid off, as she improved her personal best time by over a minute!
In this small meet format, with just two teams, I thought you did well to stick with groups of the Blake runners as long as you could. Even if you did fall back later in the race, this helped you run better times. Next up, in just ten days, is our conference championship. We will have a shot at Breck and Providence Academy.
You can see the results for our runners here.
Stock up on your favorite MPA gear and spirit wear this fall! Everything is customizable, from fall favorites like hoodies and hats to classic tees and pullovers. The MPA online Spirit Store is having a 20% off everything flash sale for 48 hours. The sale ends September 18. Use the promo code SEPTFLASH at checkout. 
One of the annual traditions our community has enjoyed celebrating is the MPA Homecoming festivities, which had been scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2020. Due to our ongoing focus on health and safety given the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as limits on social gatherings and visitors on campus, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s activities. We will miss the joy, laughter, and sense of community shared by all during Homecoming, but look forward for new ways in the coming weeks and months for current families and alumni to celebrate our Panther Pride. Look for our chance to celebrate together again during Homecoming 2021!
What do you love about MPA?
During his time at MPA, Kethan Dahlberg found his home-away-from-home. From early morning jazz band rehearsals and Nordic ski practices to late night track meets and study sessions for group projects, MPA taught him the importance of teamwork, perseverance, grit, and, importantly, the value and benefit of being an active and engaged member of the community. “Now, reflecting as an alumnus, and especially given the past few months of lock-down orders and quarantines, I feel it’s important for me to become further involved with my fellow alumni and the school to make sure the same strong sense of family and opportunities that I had during my time on campus remain in place for current students,” he said.
We hope you’ve been able to read and digest all of the information coming your way about the student experience this fall—we are working closely to ensure not only our exceptional academic program remains strong, but that we maintain the utmost attention to our students’ health and wellbeing, both at school and at home. We offer here a few more details for your planning and preparation for the start of school in just a little more than a week.