Editor's Note: What makes a good cross-country photo? A great expression; hair flying at the finish; a lake in the middle of the course. The Photo of the Day 2009 Awards are based on photographic qualities that resulted in the most interesting pictures during the 2009 season. Congratulations to the winners!
BEST HAIR AWARD was an easy choice on the boys' side: Ryker Frohok, pictured above with his hair restrained by a headband at East Peoria. Among the girls, the award goes to Emily Robbs, flying to the finish line (below) at O'Fallon. Photos/Tom Atwood
Photo of the Day lives for photos like these: athletes giving their all at the end of the race. The BEST GRIMACE AWARD goes to Brooke Budzileni (above), and among the Tiger boys, the award is shared by Mark and Kevin O'Brien (pictured below). Photos/ Tom Atwood
BEST CHEERLEADER AWARD goes to Ellen Atwood, who roamed the Alhambra course with a stress fracture to encourage her teammates at the Madison County Meet. As for Tiger boys - the award goes to alumni runners Gil Flores and Charlie Vance (below) who teamed up to cheer for Edwardsville at the conference meet. Photos/Tom Atwood
BEST SMILE (DURING A RACE) AWARD goes to Hannah Dalla Riva (above), who consistently grinned while running. On the boys' side, the award goes to Tony Thompson (below) who smiled broadly at Granite City after a Cahokia runner slipped on the wet course. Other Cahokia runners smiled, too. Photos/Tom Atwood
BEST KICK AWARD goes to Daniel Mazar and Brett Conway of Triad (above) for their photo finish at the Tiger Fall Classic. Among the girls, the award goes to Briana Chamberlain (below) for her late charge against Belleville East's Sarah Collins. (For this photo, Briana also finished second in the BEST GRIMACE AWARD.) Photos/Tom Atwood
BEST RACE START AWARD goes to the Granite City Regional (above), which featured a small lake 100 yards into the race. WORST RACE START AWARD goes to the Madison County Meet at Alhambra (below). At that meet, instead of the traditional starter gun, a horn was used, and some runners (and Photo of the Day) were not even sure the race had begun. Photos/Tom Atwood
The best, most scenic cross country course by far is Mud Mountain. But, among the other courses this season, the BEST COURSE AWARD goes to Alhambra, Illinois, and the Fireman and Legion Park (above), site of the Madison County Meet. It is scenic and accessible to spectators. The WORST COURSE AWARD goes to O'Fallon's Family Sport Park (below). The course is flat and featureless. Photos/Tom Atwood
Garrett Sweatt holds off O'Fallon's Michael Scolarici to win the sectional meet at Normal, leading the Tiger boys to a 4th-place finish overall, good enough to qualify as a team for the state meet at Peoria one week from today. Photo/Tom Atwood
Freshman Ariane Wright moves past Belleville's Maria Effinger near the half-mile mark. Wright qualified individually for the state meet next week, but the Tiger girls finished 6th, one spot away from qualifying as a team. Photo/Tom Atwood
The Maxwell Park course in Normal had to be altered for today's race due to flooding, but most of it was still extremely wet and muddy. Photo/Tom Atwood
Chis Taglieri ran sectionals, his first race off a knee injury. Photo/Tom Atwood
Tiger girls get a good start in the middle of the course at Maxwell park. Photo/Tom Atwood
Alex Wever, Briana Chamberlain, Emily Firsching and Stephanie Dalla Riva leave the chute at Normal. Photo/Tom Atwood
Daniel Mazar finishes 7th overall at sectionals. helping Tigers advance to state. Photo/Tom Atwood
