Bridge City crosscountry teams take short detour from state goal to muck out coa

[cardinalcc]

BRIDGE CITY - Karen Bozman and her husband cleared a waist-high layer of swamp grass from the living room floor when a dozen or so high school distance runners arrived last week.

"It was a blessing," said Bozman, who has coached many of those runners since they were in junior high.

Surely, many houses ruined by Hurricane Ike will be cleaned and rebuilt with help by neighbors, but Bridge City High School runners lent a hand at this house. Team members did so after they kept alive a dream with their first post-Ike practice, held Wednesday at the school's track.

"I didn't have any clue it would be this bad, but you've got to go along and help everybody out," Bridge City sophomore Brandon Simoneaux said. "Everybody needs a little bit of help."

Many runners wore Bridge City cross country T-shirts as they shoveled long brown shards of grass into piles in front of a house that no longer has a front wall. Then they tore down drywall with hammers and croquet mallets found among flood debris.

A day later, they returned with large and small boxes to pack what didn't get ruined in a flood caused by Ike. One girl, Mary Nguyen, painted BCCC, for Bridge City Cross Country, in red, with a yellow arrow through the last two Cs on one box. She also painted IKE in gray with a red X over it.

"It's fun to help as a team," Nguyen said.

And it is as a team that the Cardinals boys and girls cross country squads didn't let Ike alter their goal of reaching the state meet, thanks in part to Bozman, an assistant cross country and head track coach at the high school.

"She makes us stay positive because we were negative all year last year," Nguyen said. "This year, we're more positive, and she's the one who told us to be positive."

Bozman said she can only feel upbeat when she receives the help she has from her runners.

"It lifts your spirits," said Bozman, who lives in the house with her husband, Bryan, their two children, Kristi, 20, and Russell, 12, and her mother, Peggy Russell. "We were worn out, because all of that marsh grass was in this house."

The Bozmans' house took about eight feet of water during a storm surge that flooded nearly every house in Bridge City. This house sits about 100 feet from marshland that borders the edges of Sabine Lake, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

The family returned home from College Station just days after Ike hit and found the house exactly like they had seen it after the storm on cnn.com, with the thick layer of marsh grass and a piano among other belongings smashed against kitchen cabinets.

"Everything was against the back wall," Bryan Bozman said.

Once inside the house, they confronted about 60 snakes, dozens of fish and a few snapping turtles inside the grass. Everything rushed in with a surge of water that destroyed neighboring homes.

Runners said Bozman encouraged their mid-summer workouts. Several boys ran more than 400 miles during the summer. Many girls topped 300 miles. They did so with hopes of reaching the state meet Nov. 15 in Round Rock. Last season, the boys finished 10th at state. The girls missed the state meet but have high hopes.

This year, the girls won at both of their first two meets and the boys won once, but both had three meets canceled by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. They competed Saturday at North Harris Community College in Houston, on the same course where the state-qualifying meet will be Nov. 8.

"We've got to run, otherwise we're going to lose everything we worked for over the summer," Simoneaux said. "I was kind of glad we started running again. We get a little break from the house and everything. It gives us a little bit of excitement, hanging out with our friends."

Although many Bridge City runners made cleaning the Bozmans' house their goal, they also have their own homes to tend to. But at the Bozmans' is where they reconnected and bonded after Ike.

"You go through moments of when you're high emotionally and you're doing OK mentally, and then you're low," Bryan Bozman said. "(Wednesday), I was kind of low, and at about the time (the runners) came, there was a wave of joy."

And no matter how the season unfolds for the Cardinals, Karen Bozman is certain about one thing.

"No matter what they do, they're already state champs, not only on the track but at the school. What they're doing right now," she said as runners passed filled boxes to each other down a stairwell, "shows their true character."

[cardinalcc]

I want to thank all of the runners who also came and helped out at my house. I had the chance to become friends and teammates with all of them last year, and Coach Bozman is definitely right about the character of these guys and girls. They are amazing people and hopefully they can be rewarded with a trip to state. They team ran at the Aldine Invitational yesterday and many of the runners didn't let Ike get to them, and went out and ran personal bests, after almost 2 weeks of not training together!!Thanks again to Coach Knight and the BCCC teams.

Ryan Kelly

[oldtrackfan]

Susan, Ryan, Jessica and I would like to thank the Bridge City XC team and Coach Knight for all of the help they gave us on cleaning up our home. These kids took time out of there day to come and help us haul wet furniture and sheetrock out of our home and we are so gratefull, and for Coach Knight I will help on any of you future XC meets just let me know.

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN

Mark

Susan

Ryan

Jessica