Woodbridge’s Girls’ Cross Country team finishes FIFH in D 2 at the State Championships and 5th OVERALL in the State of California Cross Country results. Competing in the toughest division in the State, if not the Nation, the girls scored an impressive 116 points but were outscored by Simi Valley’s 113 (ranked # 1 in the State going into the championships), Redondo’s 101, La Costa Canyon’s 88 and Saugus’ 67. The team ran 93:16 to break the school record of 95:43 established by the ’99 State Champion team. This team time was better than the D 1, D 3, D 4 and D 5 State champion teams. As we mentioned before, tough D 2 (we missed being in D 3 by 3 students in our attendance total).
Even though it would have been very fun to have come away with some hardware from the State competition, I think all of us(Coaches, atheltes, family) in cross country feel very proud of what our athletes accomplished. I am pretty sure we would not have achieved the honors we achieved this year if we were not in this tough division. I/we am so proud of the commitment the girls made to work hard and be ready to face and challenge these outstanding cross country squads.
Molly Babcock led the team with a 4th place finish in the race and a time of 17:45 (10th best in the State). Coco Evans (25th -18:39) ran a solid second for us and Alyssa Cerminara-Gutcher (36th – 18:53), Annie Chan (41st-18:59) and Madeline Bradford (43rd – 19:00) rounded out the scoring team. Ana-Paola Laveaga (115 – 20:11) and Alexis Abad (131 – 20:25) were the remaining varsity runners.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Girls Cross Country team heading to the CA State Championships
Congratulations to the girls' cross country team on their success at the CIF - SS Championships and for qualifying for the State Championships. The girls finished 4th in D 2 (same position we have been ranked for the past 8 weeks), ran the 6th best time of all the schools in all the 5 divisions. Only 2 schools from the other divisions ran a faster time. Tough D 2 this year. Our girls ran faster than the winning team did in D 3 (our division last year). Their time (92:16) is a school record for Mt Sac and it is the # 11 best time ever in the history of D 2 at Mt Sac.
Molly Babcock (17:32) finished 7th in the race, ran the 12 best time of the day (there were 750 girls running at the CIF Championships) , and the # 62 all-time best time at Mt Sac (thousands of girls have run this course the past 36 years of its existance). Coco Evans finished (17:50) finished 15 in the race, ran the 26th best time of the day. Alyssa Gutcher finished 38th in the race (18:31) and recorded the 79th best time of the day. Annie Chan (18:46), Madeline Bradford (19:37), Ana-Paola Laveaga (19:58) and Alexis Abad (20:10) rounded up our team.
This was an excellent performance by our girls and we are proud of them!
Next, our girls will be competing at the State Championships in Fresno (Woodward park( next Saturday) where they hope to repeat last year's feat of finishing in the top 3 and standing on the podium to collect their medals. They will face the three teams that finished ahead of us today plus La Costa Canyon from Carlsbad. They stand a good chance to being up on the podium again. We are an excellent team and on a given day, we can finish ahead of those schools
Wish us luck!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your families and friends.
Coach Varvas
Molly Babcock (17:32) finished 7th in the race, ran the 12 best time of the day (there were 750 girls running at the CIF Championships) , and the # 62 all-time best time at Mt Sac (thousands of girls have run this course the past 36 years of its existance). Coco Evans finished (17:50) finished 15 in the race, ran the 26th best time of the day. Alyssa Gutcher finished 38th in the race (18:31) and recorded the 79th best time of the day. Annie Chan (18:46), Madeline Bradford (19:37), Ana-Paola Laveaga (19:58) and Alexis Abad (20:10) rounded up our team.
This was an excellent performance by our girls and we are proud of them!
Next, our girls will be competing at the State Championships in Fresno (Woodward park( next Saturday) where they hope to repeat last year's feat of finishing in the top 3 and standing on the podium to collect their medals. They will face the three teams that finished ahead of us today plus La Costa Canyon from Carlsbad. They stand a good chance to being up on the podium again. We are an excellent team and on a given day, we can finish ahead of those schools
Wish us luck!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with your families and friends.
Coach Varvas
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Girls win their heat at the CIF Prelims. On to the Finals
Congratulations to the girls' team (Molly babcock, Coco Evans, Alyssa Gutcher, Annie Chan, Maddie Bradford, alexis Abad and Olivia Rodriquez) on their first place finish at the 2011 CIF-SS Cross Country prelims. The girls turned in the 3rd best time of any division for the day.
The team will be competing at the CIF Championships next Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 10:25 at Mt Sac college. The division 2 titles will be on the line as well as a berth to the 2011 California State Championships.
The boys' team, led by Brandon Ferguson, finished 6th in their heat and did not advance to the finals. Even though this is disappointing, the crew of Dragan Simic, Brandon Ferguson, Jackson Marshall, jake Suiste, Daniel Toberty, Chris Taniguchi and jared Kopfer enjoyed a tremendous season as they won the league title and set a new school record for team time.
The team will be competing at the CIF Championships next Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 10:25 at Mt Sac college. The division 2 titles will be on the line as well as a berth to the 2011 California State Championships.
The boys' team, led by Brandon Ferguson, finished 6th in their heat and did not advance to the finals. Even though this is disappointing, the crew of Dragan Simic, Brandon Ferguson, Jackson Marshall, jake Suiste, Daniel Toberty, Chris Taniguchi and jared Kopfer enjoyed a tremendous season as they won the league title and set a new school record for team time.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The Reign Continues for the WHS Cross Country at the Leagaue Finals
REVIEW: League Finals 2011 were certainly an adventure and a big challenge for our team. Weather conditions varied from race to race (light rain to heavy rain to no rain). At the end of the day though, our athletes enjoyed tremendous success: Four team league championships (F/S boys, JV girls, Varsity boys, varsity girls), two second place team finishes (JV boys, F/S girls), two individual league championships and (Dragan Simic for the varsity boys and Molly Babcock for the varsity girls) and three individual second palce finishers (BenCrellin in boys JV, Erin Oefelein in girls JV and Justin Park in boys F/S), 73 athletes registered new PR times, 9 boys ran varsity times, 16 girls ran varsity times (including 9th graders Katie Peterson and Emilie Birchler), and two varsity team-time school records. The double varsity team titles were only the second ever in Woodbridge history.
Our varsity boys ran 76:03 (broke the previous record by about 1 minute) compared to 78:00 last year and 77:20 the first PCL meet this year. Our boys turned in the #2, 3 and 8 all time fastest individual times.
Our varsity ran 86:28 (breaking the school record by about 50 seconds) compared to 89:56 (league champions) last year and 88:51 the first PCL this year. Our girls turned in the # 2, 3 and 10 all time fastest individual times.
Even though we fell short of winning all six team titles, it was a great meet for our team. It was a fitting end to such an outstanding season. When you look at the times our athletes achieved (even under these conditions) and the improvement from last year to this year (for our returning athletes) or from the start of the season to the end (for our beginning athletes) we all get be proud of these young adults for their work ethic, their courage to try scary things and their mental toughness in pressure meets. This season ranks as one of the best, if not the best, in our long history of successful teams at Woodbridge.
ATHLETES OF THE MEET: Dragan Simic and Molly Babcock (both league champions, both # 2 all-time at WHS). Katie Peterson and Jonah Bonner (missed varsity letter by 3 seconds) turned in “rookie of the meet” efforts. Adar Karny, Justin Larios, Erin Oefelein, Paco Gilbert, Darius Chriss, James Harcastle, Avash Monajemi, Tyler Cowls, Bryant Nguyen, Ben Robinson, Bobby King we some of the most notable “most improved” runners for the meet.
WEEK’S SCHEDULE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. CIF – SS Prelims on Saturday at Mt. Sac College in Walnut (WHS to 5 north to 57 north and exit at Grant (where the 60 and the 57 meet). Turns left on Grant and go to Temple and turn right. Park in one of the lots (there is a parking fee) and walk down to the stadium. Bring your school ID to save on the entry.
2. The bus will leave at 10:50.
3. The boys will run at 12:59 in D 2 Heat 2. Top 4 teams from the heat advance to the CIF finals.
4. The girls run at 3:55 in D 2 heat 4. Top 4 teams from that heat advance to the finals
5. Uniforms are to be turned in on Monday and Tuesday. If the family wants to wash them, please keep in mind they need to be washed in cold water without bleach and dried at very cool temperatures.
6. Be sure that you reserve December 5, 2011 for our awards banquet. The banquet is always a very fun affair and a most memorable way to bring our season to a close.
7. If you will be joining other sports teams for the winter quarter, be sure that you give me a note from the coach of the sport. Stay in shape by joining us whenever you have the chance and we will see you in track.
8. Our next team race will be the 5K on January 7, 2012 at our Half Marathon event. This is a very fun way to start the preparation for the track season and to also help raise funds for our team and the athletic department for our school. We will need the families to help out in the following ways:
a. Each family recruits 3-5 neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, etc to walk or run this race.
b. We will need to provide 10 adults to supervise volunteers from other high schools that help with our race.
c. Our sport needs to identify businesses that would purchase a mile marker sponsorship for the race. We prepare a great looking sign with the company name, logo and graphics and we place it on the course where 6,000+ runners will see it. It is a great way for companies to promote themselves while giving to the community.
Congratulations on your season and thanks again for the thrills.
Coach Varvas
Our varsity boys ran 76:03 (broke the previous record by about 1 minute) compared to 78:00 last year and 77:20 the first PCL meet this year. Our boys turned in the #2, 3 and 8 all time fastest individual times.
Our varsity ran 86:28 (breaking the school record by about 50 seconds) compared to 89:56 (league champions) last year and 88:51 the first PCL this year. Our girls turned in the # 2, 3 and 10 all time fastest individual times.
Even though we fell short of winning all six team titles, it was a great meet for our team. It was a fitting end to such an outstanding season. When you look at the times our athletes achieved (even under these conditions) and the improvement from last year to this year (for our returning athletes) or from the start of the season to the end (for our beginning athletes) we all get be proud of these young adults for their work ethic, their courage to try scary things and their mental toughness in pressure meets. This season ranks as one of the best, if not the best, in our long history of successful teams at Woodbridge.
ATHLETES OF THE MEET: Dragan Simic and Molly Babcock (both league champions, both # 2 all-time at WHS). Katie Peterson and Jonah Bonner (missed varsity letter by 3 seconds) turned in “rookie of the meet” efforts. Adar Karny, Justin Larios, Erin Oefelein, Paco Gilbert, Darius Chriss, James Harcastle, Avash Monajemi, Tyler Cowls, Bryant Nguyen, Ben Robinson, Bobby King we some of the most notable “most improved” runners for the meet.
WEEK’S SCHEDULE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. CIF – SS Prelims on Saturday at Mt. Sac College in Walnut (WHS to 5 north to 57 north and exit at Grant (where the 60 and the 57 meet). Turns left on Grant and go to Temple and turn right. Park in one of the lots (there is a parking fee) and walk down to the stadium. Bring your school ID to save on the entry.
2. The bus will leave at 10:50.
3. The boys will run at 12:59 in D 2 Heat 2. Top 4 teams from the heat advance to the CIF finals.
4. The girls run at 3:55 in D 2 heat 4. Top 4 teams from that heat advance to the finals
5. Uniforms are to be turned in on Monday and Tuesday. If the family wants to wash them, please keep in mind they need to be washed in cold water without bleach and dried at very cool temperatures.
6. Be sure that you reserve December 5, 2011 for our awards banquet. The banquet is always a very fun affair and a most memorable way to bring our season to a close.
7. If you will be joining other sports teams for the winter quarter, be sure that you give me a note from the coach of the sport. Stay in shape by joining us whenever you have the chance and we will see you in track.
8. Our next team race will be the 5K on January 7, 2012 at our Half Marathon event. This is a very fun way to start the preparation for the track season and to also help raise funds for our team and the athletic department for our school. We will need the families to help out in the following ways:
a. Each family recruits 3-5 neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, etc to walk or run this race.
b. We will need to provide 10 adults to supervise volunteers from other high schools that help with our race.
c. Our sport needs to identify businesses that would purchase a mile marker sponsorship for the race. We prepare a great looking sign with the company name, logo and graphics and we place it on the course where 6,000+ runners will see it. It is a great way for companies to promote themselves while giving to the community.
Congratulations on your season and thanks again for the thrills.
Coach Varvas
Friday, October 28, 2011
Warrior Cross Country Shines at Second League Meet
Cross Country Newsletter (10-28-2011)
REVIEW: Pacific Coast League Cluster # 2 was a most exciting and successful meet for the Warrior Harrier Squad. 73 of our athletes ran season best times. Both the boys and the girls ran school record times. Woodbridge finished first in 5 of the 6 team races (we took 2nd in the G F/S). For the team league championship competition, Woodbridge is in the lead in 5 of the 6 divisions (we are still 1 pt behind in the boys JV).
Our boys ran a school record 77:06 (school record) compared to 77:07 in ’10. The boys are in first place in the league standing as we head ot the league finals. This pretty much assures Woodbridge a share of the league title. Something very tragic has to happen for us not to have part of the title. Sharing league title though is like “kissing your sister” Yuk!!!!
Our girls ran 87:15 (school record) compared to 89:07 in ‘10. The girls are in the same position as the boys in terms of the league title.
Our Lower Level Teams performed very well also.
a. Our JV boys moved from 4th to 2nd in the league standing (1 point behind Irvine) with their win,
b. Our JV girls moved from 2nd to tie for first with their defeat of CDM, The league title will be decided at the league finals.
c. Our frosh/soph boys’ team is leading the league and are in the same situation as the boys’ varsity for the league title.
d. Our frosh/soph girls are tied with CDM so the league title will be decide in the league meet.
Individually, we had Ben Crellin win the JV boys race, Ana-Paola Lavaega win the girl’s JV race, Dragan Simic win the Varsity boys’ race and Molly Babcock win the girls’ varsity race. Hannah O'Connor, Lauren Chen, Ana-Paola Laveaga, Justin Park, Rafael Lara and Ben Crllin ran varsity times in their lower division races.
ATHLETES OF THE MEET: Daniel Toberty had a super strong finish to move into the 4th scoring position for our team while also pulling Chris past Uni’s 5th runner. Ana Paola Laveaga ran a super 19:28 varsity time to 1st in the JV race and help WHS pull off the upset of CDM and move our team into first place tie. Justin Larios and Adar Karny (both improved to under 17:00) and Katie Peterson (barely over the varsity letter time) and Lauren Chen (varsity letter) were the improved standouts. Jessica Lester and Neil Mendlekern headed the rookie honors.
WEEK’S SCHEDULE
Saturday Practice as announced at our practice.
LEAGUE FINALS MEET at Irvine Regional Park on Friday. WHS to Jamboree and right. This road dead ends at the Irvine Regional Park entrance. Just be careful what lane you are in as you cross Chapman(stay on the right lane after Chapman). It will cost to park.
a. RACE SCHEDULE:
JV Boys 1:00 p.m. JV Girls 1:30 p.m.
Frosh/ Soph Boys 2:00 p.m. Frosh/Soph Girls 2:30 p.m.
Varsity Boys 3:00 p.m. Varsity Girls 3:30 p.m.
b. The buses will leave at 11:30 and you will be dismissed at the end of 3rd. This means that you need to be dressed for the meet at home as you will miss 4th and 5th period classes. Be sure that you have all assignments in these classes prepared and that you turn in any assignments that will be collected from the other students in your class. Eat lunch at snack.
c. Our teams have a lot at stake at this meet. We can pull off a sweep of the league titles. Only once in the history of our school has Cross Country won all six league title in the same year. We have the chance to be the second ever to do that. Each of our six teams has the talent and the heart to go into the league finals and win their respected races. I am pretty sure we have the winning character as a team to accomplish this rare goal.
d. This course is as fast as the WHS Invitational and the Mason Park courses and with focused and determined efforts we should run our fastest times of the year. Good luck to all!
e. Uniforms (except for the CIF athletes) must be brought to school on Monday and turned in at that time in the equipment room during 6th period. Remember to place them in a bag with your name on the outside. Lost uniforms must be paid for in order to receive and grade and credits in the class for the quarter grades coming up.
Personal Comments:
I cannot believe that our season is over this week for the majority of our athletes. I have enjoyed watching each of you mature in cross country. The sport is very tough and you have demonstrated the toughness and character needed to conquer this tough sport. I hope that each of you enjoyed and valued your participation on our team and that you want to help our teams do well in the future years, maintain good fitness and improve as runners. Many of you will compete on the varsity teams in future years. Remember that it takes time to develop the endurance and strength to run at your potential. One year is too short to realize your total potential.
I will expect all of you to join us for track in the spring and if you do not have a winter sport, you will remain in 6th period off-season track. Track will offer another great opportunity for improving your speed, competing in meets, improving as distance runners and enjoy new teammates in high school sports.
Now is the time to also do some recruiting for new distance and track & field athletes. We will have about 3 months to have these athletes ready for competition. Some athletes wanted to join our distance team when cross country started but that was not enough time to get them ready for racing. However, these next few months will give us enough time to introduce new athletes to distance running and slowly build up their miles (as we did with all of you in the summer months). Please help your distance team grow and progress to higher and higher levels by encouraging your friends that are not in sports or do not have a sport in the spring to join our distance team and participate in track in the spring.
It has been a fun year for Woodbridge Cross Country. We have accomplished a lot. Both the boys and the girls have competed well and have improved over the season. All of our teams have the chance to be league champions. We have excellent varsity athletes on the varsity teams and are stock-piling many more athletes that can be on the varsity teams in the near future (like next year). Our returning athletes have shown tremendous improvement from last year, our new athletes have progressed excellently and they have registered some impressive marks, we enjoyed a wonderful Mammoth trip and we had fun in Hawaii (even if it is a dump ). I am looking forward to a more competitive team next year as well as another special Mammoth Camp. It should be a very special and fun 2012 season for you.
As our varsity teams progress through the post season competitions (CIF-SS and CA State Championships), check our web page for news and results and plan to attend these meets to cheer the teams on. We will be training as usual during 6th period in our preparation for the January 7 5K run that our school puts on.
For the 5K and Half Marathon race in January, we will ask that each family recruits 3-5 neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc, to participate in the event. They can walk, jog or race the 5K. This is a great Woodbridge event that puts Woodbridge on the map and raises lots of money for the school’s athletic programs. Each family can help in this venture by recruiting people to walk, jog or race the 5K or the half marathon or by securing food sponsors, mile marker sponsors or cash sponsors. Let us know if a family has contacts in any of the areas mentioned. Our race committee will do the rest.
Thanks again for a most enjoyable season and best wishes for a great league Finals Meet.
REVIEW: Pacific Coast League Cluster # 2 was a most exciting and successful meet for the Warrior Harrier Squad. 73 of our athletes ran season best times. Both the boys and the girls ran school record times. Woodbridge finished first in 5 of the 6 team races (we took 2nd in the G F/S). For the team league championship competition, Woodbridge is in the lead in 5 of the 6 divisions (we are still 1 pt behind in the boys JV).
Our boys ran a school record 77:06 (school record) compared to 77:07 in ’10. The boys are in first place in the league standing as we head ot the league finals. This pretty much assures Woodbridge a share of the league title. Something very tragic has to happen for us not to have part of the title. Sharing league title though is like “kissing your sister” Yuk!!!!
Our girls ran 87:15 (school record) compared to 89:07 in ‘10. The girls are in the same position as the boys in terms of the league title.
Our Lower Level Teams performed very well also.
a. Our JV boys moved from 4th to 2nd in the league standing (1 point behind Irvine) with their win,
b. Our JV girls moved from 2nd to tie for first with their defeat of CDM, The league title will be decided at the league finals.
c. Our frosh/soph boys’ team is leading the league and are in the same situation as the boys’ varsity for the league title.
d. Our frosh/soph girls are tied with CDM so the league title will be decide in the league meet.
Individually, we had Ben Crellin win the JV boys race, Ana-Paola Lavaega win the girl’s JV race, Dragan Simic win the Varsity boys’ race and Molly Babcock win the girls’ varsity race. Hannah O'Connor, Lauren Chen, Ana-Paola Laveaga, Justin Park, Rafael Lara and Ben Crllin ran varsity times in their lower division races.
ATHLETES OF THE MEET: Daniel Toberty had a super strong finish to move into the 4th scoring position for our team while also pulling Chris past Uni’s 5th runner. Ana Paola Laveaga ran a super 19:28 varsity time to 1st in the JV race and help WHS pull off the upset of CDM and move our team into first place tie. Justin Larios and Adar Karny (both improved to under 17:00) and Katie Peterson (barely over the varsity letter time) and Lauren Chen (varsity letter) were the improved standouts. Jessica Lester and Neil Mendlekern headed the rookie honors.
WEEK’S SCHEDULE
Saturday Practice as announced at our practice.
LEAGUE FINALS MEET at Irvine Regional Park on Friday. WHS to Jamboree and right. This road dead ends at the Irvine Regional Park entrance. Just be careful what lane you are in as you cross Chapman(stay on the right lane after Chapman). It will cost to park.
a. RACE SCHEDULE:
JV Boys 1:00 p.m. JV Girls 1:30 p.m.
Frosh/ Soph Boys 2:00 p.m. Frosh/Soph Girls 2:30 p.m.
Varsity Boys 3:00 p.m. Varsity Girls 3:30 p.m.
b. The buses will leave at 11:30 and you will be dismissed at the end of 3rd. This means that you need to be dressed for the meet at home as you will miss 4th and 5th period classes. Be sure that you have all assignments in these classes prepared and that you turn in any assignments that will be collected from the other students in your class. Eat lunch at snack.
c. Our teams have a lot at stake at this meet. We can pull off a sweep of the league titles. Only once in the history of our school has Cross Country won all six league title in the same year. We have the chance to be the second ever to do that. Each of our six teams has the talent and the heart to go into the league finals and win their respected races. I am pretty sure we have the winning character as a team to accomplish this rare goal.
d. This course is as fast as the WHS Invitational and the Mason Park courses and with focused and determined efforts we should run our fastest times of the year. Good luck to all!
e. Uniforms (except for the CIF athletes) must be brought to school on Monday and turned in at that time in the equipment room during 6th period. Remember to place them in a bag with your name on the outside. Lost uniforms must be paid for in order to receive and grade and credits in the class for the quarter grades coming up.
Personal Comments:
I cannot believe that our season is over this week for the majority of our athletes. I have enjoyed watching each of you mature in cross country. The sport is very tough and you have demonstrated the toughness and character needed to conquer this tough sport. I hope that each of you enjoyed and valued your participation on our team and that you want to help our teams do well in the future years, maintain good fitness and improve as runners. Many of you will compete on the varsity teams in future years. Remember that it takes time to develop the endurance and strength to run at your potential. One year is too short to realize your total potential.
I will expect all of you to join us for track in the spring and if you do not have a winter sport, you will remain in 6th period off-season track. Track will offer another great opportunity for improving your speed, competing in meets, improving as distance runners and enjoy new teammates in high school sports.
Now is the time to also do some recruiting for new distance and track & field athletes. We will have about 3 months to have these athletes ready for competition. Some athletes wanted to join our distance team when cross country started but that was not enough time to get them ready for racing. However, these next few months will give us enough time to introduce new athletes to distance running and slowly build up their miles (as we did with all of you in the summer months). Please help your distance team grow and progress to higher and higher levels by encouraging your friends that are not in sports or do not have a sport in the spring to join our distance team and participate in track in the spring.
It has been a fun year for Woodbridge Cross Country. We have accomplished a lot. Both the boys and the girls have competed well and have improved over the season. All of our teams have the chance to be league champions. We have excellent varsity athletes on the varsity teams and are stock-piling many more athletes that can be on the varsity teams in the near future (like next year). Our returning athletes have shown tremendous improvement from last year, our new athletes have progressed excellently and they have registered some impressive marks, we enjoyed a wonderful Mammoth trip and we had fun in Hawaii (even if it is a dump ). I am looking forward to a more competitive team next year as well as another special Mammoth Camp. It should be a very special and fun 2012 season for you.
As our varsity teams progress through the post season competitions (CIF-SS and CA State Championships), check our web page for news and results and plan to attend these meets to cheer the teams on. We will be training as usual during 6th period in our preparation for the January 7 5K run that our school puts on.
For the 5K and Half Marathon race in January, we will ask that each family recruits 3-5 neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc, to participate in the event. They can walk, jog or race the 5K. This is a great Woodbridge event that puts Woodbridge on the map and raises lots of money for the school’s athletic programs. Each family can help in this venture by recruiting people to walk, jog or race the 5K or the half marathon or by securing food sponsors, mile marker sponsors or cash sponsors. Let us know if a family has contacts in any of the areas mentioned. Our race committee will do the rest.
Thanks again for a most enjoyable season and best wishes for a great league Finals Meet.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Woodbridge enjoys great results at the Jacquar Invite
Cross Country Newsletter (10-23-11)
REVIEW: We competed in the Jaguar Invitational in the SD County against some of the best programs in the San Diego section ( Mt Carmel, University City , Clairemont, etc.), and we came away with some pretty good results. This is another indication of the strength of our program when you compare us against the whole State. We must keep in mind though that we do not just want to be better than the majority of the other programs, we want to be the very best. We attend this meet to prepare for the hills that is traditional at the league finals and especially at the CIF championship meets. We were not disappointed. The hills were challenging. The boys’ course was longer than the standard Cross Country course (3.1 miles), and the girls’ course was shorter than a regular cross country course (2.6 miles).
The boys varsity, lead by Dragan Simic, finished 2nd in their race (Mt Carmel beat us this year again but we defeated Mater Dei again). The boys JV team (led by Ben Crellin) took second in the race, the boys’ Frosh/Soph team (led by Rafael Lara) took first in the race, the Varsity girls team (led by Molly Babcock) finished 1st in their race (2nd year in-a-row at this meet) and the girls’ frosh/soph JV combo led by Hannah O’Connor) finished 1st in the race .
The boys ran 85:02 compared to 84:09 (cool weather though) in ’10 and 87:21 in ’09, 86:16 in ’08, 87:51 in ’07 and 89:24 in ’06. Dragan Simic placed first in the race and had the best time of all the boys in the meet.
The girls ran 80:26 compare to 81:23 (again cool weather) in ’10 and 87:21 in ’09, 85:44 in ’08, 85:27 in ’07 and 83:19 in ’06. Molly Babcock placed first in the race and posted the fastest time of any girl in the meet.
Our lower level athletes performed well also. It is very exciting to project what these athletes will be running in future years. We have so many talented frosh and soph runners that deciding the varsity team will be extremely difficult down the line. It is tough now but it will get tougher in future years. Keep up the great improvement.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Ben Crellin turned some heads as he turned in the 6th best time for the obys team. We hope that Ben is regaining his drive and varsity form from last year to help strengthen the important back end of our boys’ team. Hannah O’Connor had a strong finish to lead our girls f/s to another first place finish. She can play a huge role on our varsity team if she can continue to stay strong at the end of her races. Lauren Chen and Darius Chriss turned in the most improved performances and Rafael Lara and Katie Peterson turned in excellent “rookies of the meet” performances.
Week’s Schedule
I. SECOND LEAGUE MEET on THURSDAY AT MASON PARK (WHS è Culver and left turn è University Drive and right turn. Make the first left turn into the park.
a. The bus leaves at 1:30 and you will be dismissed from your 5th period class. Please dress at lunch time so that you can get to the bus on time. Tell your 5th period teacher that you will be leaving for the meet before then. Get your assignment for the day ahead of time.
b. The schedule of races is : JV boys (3:00), JV girls (3:30), Varsity Boys (4:00) , Var Girls (4:30), frosh/soph boys (5:00) and frosh/soph girls (5:30).
c. For the boys: Uni will be running on their own course and will have their team at full strength for the first time in 3 weeks. Beckman and CDM, will be pushing to get in the CIF qualifying position. Our boys are capable of coming up with strong performances from our 4-7 runners to secure the league title for the 2011 season. They have not all run outstanding races in the same meet. We simply need to do that. All of these boys have unbelievable talent. We just need to run mentally tough and not bail out in the middle of the race.
d. For the girls: CDM and Northwood will be very strong again. Both of these teams ran well at Mt Sac. We are a better team than both of these squads. However, we need to keep improving each time we get on the course. We are a better team now than we were at the last league meet. If the other teams improved more than we did, then it will be even closer this time around. We simply need to keep getting stronger and stronger in our races and we need the 3-7 runners to close the gap between them selves. Potentially, we can have our scoring 5 athletes in the top 9 in the race. This will assure us of highest finish in the meet and secure the league title for 2011.
e. Practice on Saturday will be at 9:00 a.m. An unexcused miss of this practice will result in not participating in the league finals.
II. Bring sweats to all of our practices at this time of the season (the sun goes down earlier and the temperature drops quickly at the end of our practices), keep following the nutrition suggestions we have made, do not share your water/drink bottles (sick-season is upon us), keep hydrating, do homework at lunch and tutorial so that you do not go to bed early, keep up with your 50 push ups a day and 150 sit ups a day.
a. League Finals are on Friday, November 4, 2011 starting at 1:00 p.m.
Enjoy these last weeks of the regular season!
“The race does not go to the swift but to those that persevere”
REVIEW: We competed in the Jaguar Invitational in the SD County against some of the best programs in the San Diego section ( Mt Carmel, University City , Clairemont, etc.), and we came away with some pretty good results. This is another indication of the strength of our program when you compare us against the whole State. We must keep in mind though that we do not just want to be better than the majority of the other programs, we want to be the very best. We attend this meet to prepare for the hills that is traditional at the league finals and especially at the CIF championship meets. We were not disappointed. The hills were challenging. The boys’ course was longer than the standard Cross Country course (3.1 miles), and the girls’ course was shorter than a regular cross country course (2.6 miles).
The boys varsity, lead by Dragan Simic, finished 2nd in their race (Mt Carmel beat us this year again but we defeated Mater Dei again). The boys JV team (led by Ben Crellin) took second in the race, the boys’ Frosh/Soph team (led by Rafael Lara) took first in the race, the Varsity girls team (led by Molly Babcock) finished 1st in their race (2nd year in-a-row at this meet) and the girls’ frosh/soph JV combo led by Hannah O’Connor) finished 1st in the race .
The boys ran 85:02 compared to 84:09 (cool weather though) in ’10 and 87:21 in ’09, 86:16 in ’08, 87:51 in ’07 and 89:24 in ’06. Dragan Simic placed first in the race and had the best time of all the boys in the meet.
The girls ran 80:26 compare to 81:23 (again cool weather) in ’10 and 87:21 in ’09, 85:44 in ’08, 85:27 in ’07 and 83:19 in ’06. Molly Babcock placed first in the race and posted the fastest time of any girl in the meet.
Our lower level athletes performed well also. It is very exciting to project what these athletes will be running in future years. We have so many talented frosh and soph runners that deciding the varsity team will be extremely difficult down the line. It is tough now but it will get tougher in future years. Keep up the great improvement.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Ben Crellin turned some heads as he turned in the 6th best time for the obys team. We hope that Ben is regaining his drive and varsity form from last year to help strengthen the important back end of our boys’ team. Hannah O’Connor had a strong finish to lead our girls f/s to another first place finish. She can play a huge role on our varsity team if she can continue to stay strong at the end of her races. Lauren Chen and Darius Chriss turned in the most improved performances and Rafael Lara and Katie Peterson turned in excellent “rookies of the meet” performances.
Week’s Schedule
I. SECOND LEAGUE MEET on THURSDAY AT MASON PARK (WHS è Culver and left turn è University Drive and right turn. Make the first left turn into the park.
a. The bus leaves at 1:30 and you will be dismissed from your 5th period class. Please dress at lunch time so that you can get to the bus on time. Tell your 5th period teacher that you will be leaving for the meet before then. Get your assignment for the day ahead of time.
b. The schedule of races is : JV boys (3:00), JV girls (3:30), Varsity Boys (4:00) , Var Girls (4:30), frosh/soph boys (5:00) and frosh/soph girls (5:30).
c. For the boys: Uni will be running on their own course and will have their team at full strength for the first time in 3 weeks. Beckman and CDM, will be pushing to get in the CIF qualifying position. Our boys are capable of coming up with strong performances from our 4-7 runners to secure the league title for the 2011 season. They have not all run outstanding races in the same meet. We simply need to do that. All of these boys have unbelievable talent. We just need to run mentally tough and not bail out in the middle of the race.
d. For the girls: CDM and Northwood will be very strong again. Both of these teams ran well at Mt Sac. We are a better team than both of these squads. However, we need to keep improving each time we get on the course. We are a better team now than we were at the last league meet. If the other teams improved more than we did, then it will be even closer this time around. We simply need to keep getting stronger and stronger in our races and we need the 3-7 runners to close the gap between them selves. Potentially, we can have our scoring 5 athletes in the top 9 in the race. This will assure us of highest finish in the meet and secure the league title for 2011.
e. Practice on Saturday will be at 9:00 a.m. An unexcused miss of this practice will result in not participating in the league finals.
II. Bring sweats to all of our practices at this time of the season (the sun goes down earlier and the temperature drops quickly at the end of our practices), keep following the nutrition suggestions we have made, do not share your water/drink bottles (sick-season is upon us), keep hydrating, do homework at lunch and tutorial so that you do not go to bed early, keep up with your 50 push ups a day and 150 sit ups a day.
a. League Finals are on Friday, November 4, 2011 starting at 1:00 p.m.
Enjoy these last weeks of the regular season!
“The race does not go to the swift but to those that persevere”
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Cross Country News (10-16-2011)
Cross Country Newsletter (10 – 16 – 11)
REVIEW: First off, I would like to express my appreciation to our athletes (for the hard work they have put in for the season thus far and for believing in the things our coaches have asked them to do), to our coaches (for the tireless commitment to each athlete on the team) and to our parents (for all the help with the extras associated with our program) and for the successful season we are enjoying thus far. It is a privilege to be associated with such a special group of people. Saturday was a perfect example of how all these elements were at their best. Our athletes keep up performing well (even if not at 100%), our coaches ran all over the place to help our athletes and our parents did a terrific job encouraging our athletes and with our picnic (and of course our softball game which ended in a tie and the adults won on the tie-breaker). :-)
O. C. is a very strong cross country area and our teams performed well once again at the meet. Our teams earned trophies in 5 of the 7 races: frosh boys- first, f/s girls 2nd, JV girls 2nd, JV boys 2nd and Var girls 3rd.
Our boys finished 6th in the sweeps race (we were 10th in ’10, 6th in ’09, 7th in ‘08 and 10th in ’07 and ’06; 19th in ’05, 22nd in ’04 and 31st in ‘03). We ran 78:51 (our fastest time ever at the O. C. meet) and we finished ahead of all the other league schools. We ran 79:23 in ’10, 80:22 in ’09, 79:26 in ’08, 80:37 in ’06 82:24 in ‘05, 82:23 in ’04, 85:57 in ’03 and 83:54 in ’02;.
Our girls finished 3rd in the sweepstakes race and ran 90:44 (our fastest time ever at OC, 4 seconds off the fastest team time of the day and 13 points off first place). With a little more luck (all our runners healthy), we win the County easily. We ran 92:06 in ’10 and 97:51 in ’09, 97:29 in ’08, 91:27 in ’06, 93:08 in ’05, 95:14 in ’04, 96:12 in ’03, 94:55 ’02, 93:53 ’01, 95:16 ’00 and 92:49 ’99.
Individually, Molly Babcock was the 3rd fastest girl in the County and Coco Evans was the 8th fastest. (both were first team All county) while Annie Chan 23rd and Alyssa Gutcher was 34th. Dragan Simic was 13th in the County, Brandon Ferguson was 32nd and Jackson Marshall was 40th (3rd best sophomore in the County also).
A meet of this level can obscure a team’s performance and maybe minimize our accomplishments. The results were among the best we have enjoyed in the County meet. On top of that, the meet was so valuable in our preparation for the future championship meets (League meets, CIF, State). We can talk about how to handle the crowded race conditions and how to focus mentally during the race but until we actually experience these conditions, it is difficult to get used to them. I was pleased with how most of our athletes performed on the second half of the races. Even though we got stuck behind a lot of runners with our slow starts, we gained a lot of ground during the second part of the race. I saw a lot of courage and determination in our athletes at the last part of the races.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Jackson Marshall ran his best race ever (even if he did get caught behind a bunch of runners at the start of the race) to help the boys finish in the number six spot in the County. Alyssa Gutcher ran a terrific second part of the race (improved by about 1 minute from last year) as she and Annie Chan charged from way back. Most improved were: Neil Mandelkern registered a nice PR as he approaches the sub 20 time and Kyle Oefelein who improved by over 1:30 from last year. Rookie of the meet performances were turned in by Katie Peterson and Kevin Pinera among others.
WEEK’S SCHEDULE
1. Jacquar Invitational at Kit Carson in Escondido on Friday, October 21, 2011 (WHS to 405 South to 5 S to Vista Way Exit (# 51B) and merge onto 78 E to 15 S to Via Rancho Parkway exit. Turn right on W. Via Rancho Pkwy. This street becomes Bear Valley Pkwy South. You should see the Park on the left)
2. We will have a bus for this meet. It will leave at 11:00 a.m. You will be dismissed at 11:00 Come dressed for the meet from home and hurry out to the bus. Bring your lunch and drink to have on the bus. Be sure to go to your 5th period class tutorial on Thursday to get what you will miss on Friday.
3. Schedule
2:00 Large School Division JV Boys 11-12
2:25 Large School Division JV Girls
2:50 Large School Division F/S Boys 9-10
3:15 Large School Division Varsity Girls
3:40 Large School Division Varsity Boys
4. We will have the opportunity to compete on a hilly course against schools mainly from the San Diego County (Mater Dei will be there again this year I would think). The hills on this course will help us prepare for the CIF prelims at Mt Sac. It should turn out to be a fun meet. We should be back around 7:30 or so.
5. Future dates to remember
· League Meet # 2 next Thursday (10-27) at Mason Park
· Saturday (10-29) workout for the League Finals at 7:00 a.m.
· League Finals are on Friday, November 4, at Irvine Park at 1:00 p.m.
6. I hesitate to bring the bus donation up again but for us to have buses, we still need a little more help. Thanks for understanding.
*** You have to risk failing in order to accomplish great successes.
*** “To give anything less than your best is to waste the gift”
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Cross Country News for the week of 10-6-2011
Cross country Newsletter (10-6 - 11)
SUMMARY: What a terrific performance for our team at the First League Meet for 2011. Both the teams as well as the individuals enjoyed one of those memorable days. 77 of our athletes achieved season best marks.
SUMMARY: What a terrific performance for our team at the First League Meet for 2011. Both the teams as well as the individuals enjoyed one of those memorable days. 77 of our athletes achieved season best marks.
Some of the high lights included:
1. Dragan Simic turned in the 2nd best time ever by a Warrior runner (14:43), Brandon Ferguson turned in the 7th best time ever by a Woodbridge athlete (15:10), Jackson Marshall (15:22) turned in the 10th best time ever by a Warrior runners and the #2 all-Time Sophomore time Jake Suiste (15:55) turned in the #7 All-Time Sophomore time as he broke 16 for the first time.
2. Molly Babcock (17:12), Coco Evans (17:21) finished 1 and 2 in the race with great times, Madeline Bradford (17:51) and Annie Chan (17:51) finished 5 and 6 to give Woodbridge 4 girls under 18:00 in the meet.
3. Our boy’s team finished first in the race and ran 77:20 which is faster than the 78:00 we ran last year in the league finals.
4. Our girls’ team finished first and ran 88:51 compared to the 89:56 championship run we ran last year at the league finals.
5. Our Girls’ frosh/soph team (lead by race champion Hannah O’Connors 19:11 finished first in the meet
6. Our boys’ frosh/soph team (led by Justin Park’s 16:48 (first time under 17:00) also finished first in the meet.
7. Our JV girls (led by Ana-Paola Laveaga and Erin Oefelein) tied for first but lost on the tie breaker.
Our teams are at a very good place right now. We are improving nicely and our league standing is right where we want it to be. However, as we progress towards the end of the season, it is important that everyone understands that we have a long way to go towards achieving our goals. There is a lot of running to be done between now and the end of the season. Our team will need to continue improving our strength and speed if we are going to stay on the top. I know that our opponents will continue to improve and if we do not, we can be left with a big disappointment. I am confident that we will continue the success we are enjoying up to this point and we will continue to improve.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Jake Suiste ran a huge PR and finished with a devastating kick to nose out Uni’s # 4 runer. Coco Evans had a terrific last 800 to catch and pass CDM’s to runner and finish 2nd in the race. Rookies of the meet were Kevin Pineda and Brandon Ferencik had huge improvements and are making great progress to the 17 minute barrier for the boys. Caroline Vu had a huge PR and is developing towards the 20:00 minute barrier. Kyle Arguelles, Ana Takushi, Lauren Chen, Cory Cheser and Jessica Durant turned impressive most improved performances.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
I. Orange County Championships on Saturday at Irvine Park (WHS to Jamboree and right turn. Jamboree dead-ends into the park. Make sure that you are on the extreme right lane when you approach Chapman. It will cost to park ($5.00)??. Park in the zoo parking lot if possible. Parking spaces go real fast. If you come late, park at the college lot and there will be a shuttle to the meet. Do not park at the shopping center as they will ticket and tow cars away.
a. No bus for this meet at this time. If we get enough donations to cover these busses as well as the ones to Cajon, then we will let everyone know. We need to be at the meet at 6:30. We will leave Woodbridge at 6:00 am from the front parkinglot.
b. We should leave Irvine Park at about 2:00 (after the baseball game). The exact schedule of races will not be available until Tuesday evening. The schedule below is a tentative.
c. Probable Schedule:
1. FROSH/SOPH GIRLS -- 8:12
2. FROSH Boys -- 8:48
3. VARSITY GIRLS—9:27
4. VARSITY BOYS—10:06
5. JV GIRLS – 10:42
6. SOPH BOYS – 11:18
7. JV BOYS – 12:00
** (The top seven athletes in each grade will be honored as First Team All Orange County AT 1:00
d. We will be having our annual bar-b-que and softball game after the last race. Bring your gloves and make sure your family attends this event. We need to have the parents bring their gloves for the game. As usual, I will be keeping an honest and accurate score for this game!
e. For the Bar-B-Que, the following items are needed from each group:
1. Freshman athletes – salads such as green salad, potatoes salads, fruit salads or pasta salads. Kaatie Peterson and Ralph Lara will make a sign up list and assignments. Check with your parents and let us know which salad you will bring.
2. Sophomore athletes – desserts. Sign up with Jackson Marshall and Madeline Bradford
3. Junior Athletes - appetizers such as veggie trays, cheese/crackers, or salsa/dip and chips; Sign up with Alyssa Gutcher and Josh Thatcher
4. Senior athletes - BBQ supplies such as charcoal (we need 30 lbs), charcoal lighter, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayo, mustard, catsup, etc. Sign up with Annie Chan and Daniel Toberty
This meet gives our teams a great opportunity to make progress towards being on the podium for both the CIF-SS and the State Championships. The course is challenging and the competition will be strong. We need to seize the opportunity to come up with a great performance and assure a high ranking for our teams in the County. Our girls have a chance to win the County Championship for the 2nd time in the school history
*****Remember that pain is temporary and pride is forever.
*****Remember that pain is temporary and pride is forever.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Cross Country Newsletter (9-28-2011)
Cross Country Newsletter (9-28-2011)
REVIEW: We enjoyed great weather and another outstanding week in cross country this past week. We enjoyed a good week of practices and performed very well at the Sunny Hills Invitational even though we were not especially pointing to this meet. We came away with many individual awards and very good team results. Our girls finished 1st overall in the 32-team meet and the boys finished 4th out of 32 schols. Additionally, in the individual races, the senior and junior girls came in 1st, the soph girls and frosh boys came in 2nd, and the soph boys came in 3rd.
I think our athletes performed well in this meet even though we had an emotional let down from our Invitational the previous week. Practically all of our returning athletes registered a better time this year than last year and even though the course is about 20 seconds or so slower than the Woodbridge invite course, many had PRs or very close to Prs for the season. Our boys ran 79:16 compared to the 81:27 in ‘10 and 81:30 in ’09, 82:23 in ’08, 84:11 in ’07. Our girls finished with a time of 92:36 compared to 96:20 in ’10 and 98:24 in ’09, 104:25 in ’08 (we were not at 100% though) and 98:46 in ’07.
Last week was the start of a two-week heavy-training period that will prepare us for our first league meet and OC Championships. This is a key period of the season for us! The heat will get in our way this week but we will try to do the best we can. We want to make sure that each day we come out ready (especially mentally) for this hard workout period. If we put in the effort now, we will reap the benefits later and be ready for the league meet as well as the Orange County Championships. Our team enjoyed one of the best workouts ever this past Thursday. For the first time this year, all of our varsity athletes were on the same page. We need this performance at every workout each of the reamining weeks of the season.
Also, at this time of the season, most of our athletes are getting somewhat tired from not only our workouts and races but also from the homework load and we are beginning to have some atheltes getting a little sick. We have invested a whole lot in our season thus far to take chances with it. It is extremely important that each and every athlete eats healthy, hydrates well, gets enough sleep, does not share water bottles, etc. and gets as much rest as possible. Colds and different diseases occur more often when our bodies are tired and vulnerable.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Nicole (Coco) Evans ran a strong, aggresive and positive race and faster this year than last year. With this kind of performance our team is that much tougher. Jackson Marshall enjoyed another strong race and has a new PR. Vastly improved runners were Bianca Moreno, Jared Klopfer, Marcos Tabb, Sage Klemak, Josh Thatcher, John Franklin, Alexis Abad and Cory Chesser. The “rookies of the year” were Elise Ulwelling ran a PR on a course slower than WHS) and Joseph Carrillo .
WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
1. Yucaipa Invitational on Saturday at Yucaipa High School. WHS to I-5 North to 55 North to 91 East to I-10 East (towards Palm Springs) to Yucaipa Blvd (this is after the city of Redlands). Turn left. The school is on the left about 2 miles from the off ramp. We will have a bus for this meet also (keep the donations coming so that we can pay for it) and it will leave at 5:30am. Be here by 5:15am. You can bypass the longer route (taking the 55) and just take the CA-241 North (toll road) to the 91 East. The trip takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes on the bus and about 1 hour for the rest
.
2. The schedule of races is:
• Girls Frosh/Soph - 8:10am Boys Frosh/Soph - 8:40am
• Girls Varsity - 9:10am Boys Varsity - 9:40am
• Boys JV - 10:10am Girls JV - 10:35am
3. We will be going to Oak Glenn after the meet for apples and to listen to Merle. Bring money for your lunch or prepare a picnic basket with your friends. Fried chicken and potato salad would be great. We will leave Oak Glenn at 1:00 pm or so to return to WHS at about 2:30pm.
4. Let’s continue to improve as we head into the critical weeks of the season. We have league meets and the Orange County Championships coming up in the next two weeks. We can afford to really pile up the work (even if we will be feeling sluggish) this next week to assure a strong finish to our season!
5. PSAT - This important test is scheduled on the same day as the O. C. Championships. There is an alternate date for this test. Please see Ms Taylor in the counseling office to sign up for this alternate date.
6. The following week we will have our League Cluster Meet on Thursday and a practice on Saturday. Make your social plans accordingly.
7. Anybody needing uniforms must see the equipment man at lunch or before practice during 6th period.
8. Anyone needing team lockers, cometo room E-202. Each of you should have a locker in the team room.
9. Invitational T-Shirts are now on sale for $7.00 (make checks payablet o WHS)
10. If a family would like to make a donation to help with bus transportation, please make the check payable to WHS.
**** Remember that the biggest obstacle to being great is to be good! We cannot be satisfied with being good or being ranked! Being satisfied with being good (collective mediocrity) robs each one of us of the precious talents that lie dormant in us. Let us aim to be the best!
REVIEW: We enjoyed great weather and another outstanding week in cross country this past week. We enjoyed a good week of practices and performed very well at the Sunny Hills Invitational even though we were not especially pointing to this meet. We came away with many individual awards and very good team results. Our girls finished 1st overall in the 32-team meet and the boys finished 4th out of 32 schols. Additionally, in the individual races, the senior and junior girls came in 1st, the soph girls and frosh boys came in 2nd, and the soph boys came in 3rd.
I think our athletes performed well in this meet even though we had an emotional let down from our Invitational the previous week. Practically all of our returning athletes registered a better time this year than last year and even though the course is about 20 seconds or so slower than the Woodbridge invite course, many had PRs or very close to Prs for the season. Our boys ran 79:16 compared to the 81:27 in ‘10 and 81:30 in ’09, 82:23 in ’08, 84:11 in ’07. Our girls finished with a time of 92:36 compared to 96:20 in ’10 and 98:24 in ’09, 104:25 in ’08 (we were not at 100% though) and 98:46 in ’07.
Last week was the start of a two-week heavy-training period that will prepare us for our first league meet and OC Championships. This is a key period of the season for us! The heat will get in our way this week but we will try to do the best we can. We want to make sure that each day we come out ready (especially mentally) for this hard workout period. If we put in the effort now, we will reap the benefits later and be ready for the league meet as well as the Orange County Championships. Our team enjoyed one of the best workouts ever this past Thursday. For the first time this year, all of our varsity athletes were on the same page. We need this performance at every workout each of the reamining weeks of the season.
Also, at this time of the season, most of our athletes are getting somewhat tired from not only our workouts and races but also from the homework load and we are beginning to have some atheltes getting a little sick. We have invested a whole lot in our season thus far to take chances with it. It is extremely important that each and every athlete eats healthy, hydrates well, gets enough sleep, does not share water bottles, etc. and gets as much rest as possible. Colds and different diseases occur more often when our bodies are tired and vulnerable.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Nicole (Coco) Evans ran a strong, aggresive and positive race and faster this year than last year. With this kind of performance our team is that much tougher. Jackson Marshall enjoyed another strong race and has a new PR. Vastly improved runners were Bianca Moreno, Jared Klopfer, Marcos Tabb, Sage Klemak, Josh Thatcher, John Franklin, Alexis Abad and Cory Chesser. The “rookies of the year” were Elise Ulwelling ran a PR on a course slower than WHS) and Joseph Carrillo .
WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
1. Yucaipa Invitational on Saturday at Yucaipa High School. WHS to I-5 North to 55 North to 91 East to I-10 East (towards Palm Springs) to Yucaipa Blvd (this is after the city of Redlands). Turn left. The school is on the left about 2 miles from the off ramp. We will have a bus for this meet also (keep the donations coming so that we can pay for it) and it will leave at 5:30am. Be here by 5:15am. You can bypass the longer route (taking the 55) and just take the CA-241 North (toll road) to the 91 East. The trip takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes on the bus and about 1 hour for the rest
.
2. The schedule of races is:
• Girls Frosh/Soph - 8:10am Boys Frosh/Soph - 8:40am
• Girls Varsity - 9:10am Boys Varsity - 9:40am
• Boys JV - 10:10am Girls JV - 10:35am
3. We will be going to Oak Glenn after the meet for apples and to listen to Merle. Bring money for your lunch or prepare a picnic basket with your friends. Fried chicken and potato salad would be great. We will leave Oak Glenn at 1:00 pm or so to return to WHS at about 2:30pm.
4. Let’s continue to improve as we head into the critical weeks of the season. We have league meets and the Orange County Championships coming up in the next two weeks. We can afford to really pile up the work (even if we will be feeling sluggish) this next week to assure a strong finish to our season!
5. PSAT - This important test is scheduled on the same day as the O. C. Championships. There is an alternate date for this test. Please see Ms Taylor in the counseling office to sign up for this alternate date.
6. The following week we will have our League Cluster Meet on Thursday and a practice on Saturday. Make your social plans accordingly.
7. Anybody needing uniforms must see the equipment man at lunch or before practice during 6th period.
8. Anyone needing team lockers, cometo room E-202. Each of you should have a locker in the team room.
9. Invitational T-Shirts are now on sale for $7.00 (make checks payablet o WHS)
10. If a family would like to make a donation to help with bus transportation, please make the check payable to WHS.
**** Remember that the biggest obstacle to being great is to be good! We cannot be satisfied with being good or being ranked! Being satisfied with being good (collective mediocrity) robs each one of us of the precious talents that lie dormant in us. Let us aim to be the best!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Cross Country Smoke Signals (9-19-2011)
Cross Country Smoke Signals (9-19-2011)
(posted on www.gvarvas.com)
Woodbridge CC Classic 2011 was a spectacular meet and a huge success! So much energy all around the course. It was a fun, exciting, competative and loud meet. It was the largest meet in the 31 history of the event. 10% larger. Over 12,000 athletes from some 218 schools registered for the meet and over 9,300 finished the races (an increase of over 500 from the previous high).
As a member of the Woodbridge Family, I share in the pride of being part of this event. I want to personally thank and congratulate the parents, athletes, coaches and friends who volunteered much of their time, muscles and expertise to help make sure that this event went off smoothly. Whether you did a lot for the meet or the minimum, the meet could not have happened without your help! From the set up, to the break down, all of you were huge help to me personally and our coaches. Make no mistake; you all play a huge roll in this meet. It is our athletes, our parents, our friends, and our coaches that make this meet what it is... the best cross country meet in the World. The course monitors, the check-in people, the results people, the timing crews, the chute marshals, the water people, etc. are the ones that the coaches and athletes come in contact with as they participate in this meet. If any of these helpers left a bad impression with these coaches and athletes, they (coaches and athletes) would not want to come back as they do. You all must be doing a great job to have them wanting to come back year after year to this crowded and competitive meet. Share in the success of it and once again, thank you!
What a great night Woodbridge 2011 turned out to be for our team!!! Cross country does not get much better than this. As coaches (and meet managers), we always want to have our athletes experience the best that cross country can be. If they like this, then we hope that they will commit themselves (catch the cross country disease) to an endless pursuit of being the best they can possibly be. The meet was a huge success again and the performances of our athletes reached “prime time".
Our team and individuals turned in outstanding efforts at the Invitational. If you look at the results, athlete after athlete achieved PRs and showed improvement from previous meets. The Girls ran 88:34 to finish 3rd in the sweepstakes race (most competitive race of the day). This is a huge improvement over past years: 92:04 in 2010, 95:29 in ’09, 96:00 in ’08, 91:03 in ’07, 91:03 in ’06, 92:02 in ’05, 95:37 in ’04, 92:33 in ’03, 95:30 in ’02, 94:53 in ’01, 96:31 in ’00, & 95:11 in ’99 (State champs), We were 1st of the league schools (CDM-91:29, Uni-94:34, Beckman 98:10, northwood -94:08, Irvine 97:49)
The Boys ran an excellent 77:50 (fastest time ever of us at this meet) compared to 78:02, in ‘10 and 78:51 in ’09 78:42 in ’08, 79:23 in ’07, 79:11 in ’06, 82:56 in ’05, 83:35 in ’04, 83:03 in ’03, 82:50 in ’02, 83:31 in ’01, 85:13 in ’00, and 86:25 in ’99. The boys had the fastest time from our league (Beckman- 79:59, CDM-80:03, Northwood-82:40, Uni-78:14).
Many of our athletes jumped into the next level of times and came away with some nice medals to validate their hard work and tough racing. Very impressive! Lots of teen-agers running in the teens, lots of high fives, smiles and excitement in the accomplishments. Results like these show you how much mental our sport is. These results show us more about our potential than any of the other races we have run this year. We can achieve our team and individual goals when we set our minds to them, we believe in our training and ourselves and just run instead of thinking about failing as we try to reach our goals. If you like what took place on Saturday, then go after it at our workouts. It is here (workouts) that you can make the difference. When the coaches demand your best in these practices, it is because they recognize the awesome potential that is in each of you! You win races and run fast time long before your race takes place. “success demands payment in advance”
The parent help was unbelievable. The course monitors were so crucial and did an unbelievable job on this tricky course. How they kept the crowd from interfering with the runners is beyond me. The chute people handled those hectic races as if they do this for a living. Again a big, big thanks to all.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (so hard to choose just one): Molly Babcock (# 2 All time for WHS an d for a senior) and Madeline Bradford (# 5 All Time sophomore and just 2 seconds off the top ten all time). Dragan Simic (number 3 time ever for WHS and # 2 all time senior performance) and Brandon Ferguson ( # 7 all time WHS and # 7 All time Senior). Rookies of the meet: Emily Birchler and Jonah Bonner. Most improved: Alex Henderson and Jesse Lesser and Hannah O’Connor for the girls and Jarred Klopfer, Jake Suiste (# 7 all time sophomores) and Jackson Marshall (# 4 all time sophomores) for the boys
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
1) Sunny Hills Invitational on Saturday at Craig Park in Brea (WHS to 5 North to 57 North to Imperial and left to Stae College and left into the park). Gates open at 7:00am and cars are charged $5. We leave at 6:00 am from the front parking lot. Parents drive the athletes as they did for laguna Hills.
2) Race times are as follows:
8:00am Senior Girls, 8:30am Senior Boys, 9:00am Frosh Girls, 9:30am Frosh Boys, 10:00am Junior Girls, 10:30am Junior Boys, 11:00am Soph Girls, 11:30am Soph Boys
3) Catch up this week with getting glockers for the athletic rooms and uniforms. Things will settle down now that the WHS invitational is over.
4) Back to school night is coming up and we will meet in the media center after the general 6th period meeting. Pass the word to your parents.
We are beginning two weeks of hard workouts before we taper a bit for the league and OC meets. Be ready for this and make a statement about being serious of going after your goals!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Welcome to 2011 Woodbridge Cross Country
Welcome to the 2011 Woodbridge Cross Countryteam and summer camp!
It will be a privilege to serve as one of the coaches for the team!
I cannot believe that class is over and we are resuming our summer program. Even though last year went by way too fast, we are ready for a special summer as a cross country team.
We will introduce and prepare about 100 young adults for the 2011 cross country season, we build an excellent fitness base, and enjoy many activities (including the Mammoth Camp) that give us the opportunity to get to know each other better and develop new and stronger friendships.
Please be informed about the following short-term expectations of all of our athletes/families by routinely checking our Announcements section.
Thank you for your follow through of our expectations and for your cooperation throughout the season. I am looking forward to a successful, fun and rewarding season!
Our website is intended to provide the help and information our athletes and parents will need throughout the year for our sport. We think it is functional, easy to use, and contains practically everything anyone will need to enjoy and be informed about the program. Some of the features:
1) This website is cross country related. The web address is http://gvarvas.com, but it has the advantages of being part of the goWoodbridge.com family of athletics' web news and information. The expanded reach of goWoodbridge.com is a direct result of the success of our first website introduced in 2007.
2) In order to protect the privacy of our athletes, you need to Login to view the photos, videos, and athlete profiles of the website. This requires you to register for a login account one time for goWoodbridge.com. It is easy to set up. Simply go to theUser Login section below the left-side menus to "Create new account" and follow the instructions. Once we validate your identity, you will be notified that you are activated and you can Login. Note that only students/athletes, parents, coaches, and school administrators are eligible for a login account.
3) Weekly Announcements are published as a separate section from the general Cross Country News. News is also shown on the goWoodbridge.com Home Page. Simply select Announcements on the top menu and locate the dated announcements that I generate each week during the season.
4) School Records, Top 10 Performers, and Top Relay Teams can be found in the Best All-Time menu on the right-side panel.
5) In addition, Meet Results from 2005 to present are published in a spreadsheet format. You can find these also on the right-side menus.
6) Information about our featured annual events, the Cross Country Classic (Friday and Saturday, September 16-17, 2011) and the Southern California Half Marathon & 5K (Saturday, January 7, 2012) are available from this site on the right-side menus.
7) Archives of News, Schedules, and Announcements from past years can be found by clicking Archives on the top menu.
8) In addition to videos which have previously been stored in-house, we now have our own in-house Photos Gallery technology which allows us to maintain all digital images of our athletes in a secured environment. All registered users that are logged in are allowed access to all photos, videos, and athlete profiles that we have stored on our website.
We appreciate your feedback on anything you think we have overlooked or are missing. Please feel free to contact me by e-mail at any time.
George Varvas
Babcock named to All-County Cross Country team
unior Molly Babcock was named to the All-County team by OCVarsity.com.
Babcock was the Pacific Coast League champion and top runner of the Warrior team who placed third at the California State Cross Country Championships in November.
Read the OCVarsity.com article about the All-County selections.
In addition to being named All-County, Babcock was also first team All-State and second team All-CIF Southern Section.
After winning the PCL individual title, Molly was 9th at the CIF Southern Section Championships and 4th in Division 3 at the California State Championships.
Congratulations to Molly!
Warrior Girls take 3rd at State XC Championships
The Warriors Girls Cross Country team took the Division 3 third place plaque at the CIF State Championships on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Woodbridge was led by junior Molly Babcock who finished 4th overall with a time of 18:02. Junior Nicole Evans was 20th overall and took the 15th team scoring position at 18:39, followed by junior Annie Chan (26th, 18:59), freshman Madeline Bradford (33rd, 19:11), and sophomore Olivia Rodriguez (76th, 20:00) to round out the team scoring for the Warriors.
Sophomore Alyssa Gutcher was 91st at 20:17 and sophomore Alexis Abad was 132nd at 21:22. Official race results.
Read Jason Eichelberger's OCVarsity.com article on the championships.
Photo of the girls team and coaches with plaque and medals.
Congratulations to this great, young team of girls who will all be returning in 2011.
Girls take CIF D3 Runner-up title: advance to State
The Warriors Girls Cross Country team captured the Division 3 Runner-up title Saturday in a constant drizzle on Mt. SAC's rain course and now advance to the State Championships this Saturday in Fresno.
With the D3 champion Palos Verdes team winning with exceptional performances of their top two runners, the Warriors were fueled instead by an entire team effort. Woodbridge's scorers had an amazing gap spread of only 50 seconds. Team results.
With not a single senior in their top seven runners, the Warriors were led by juniorsMolly Babcock (9th place, 19:02), Nicole (Coco) Evans (21st, 19:28), freshman Madeline Bradford (27th, 19:38), and junior Annie Chan (31st, 19:41).
But, the team's runner of the meet was sophomore Alyssa Gutcher (38th, 19:52) who turned in her best performance of the season and was a major reason that Woodbridge held off third-place Corona del Mar. Individual results.
Sophomores Olivia Rodriguez (71st, 20:31) and Alexis Abad (80th, 20:46) completed the individual performances for the Warriors.
Photo of the Warriors receiving their runner-up plaque.
The Warriors now travel to Fresno to compete in the CIF State Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno (D3 Race Entries). Races begin at 8:30am with the Warriors competing in the Division 3 Girls Race at 9:30am. CIF State Championships Handbook.
For those interested in finding out the results immediately on Saturday, continue to check the State Championships Results link as races are finalized throughout the day.
Go Warriors!
Girls Qualify for CIF
Junior Molly Babcock won her second cross country race in as many weeks to lead the Warriors to the best team time in Division 3 at last Saturday's CIF Ford Cross Country Championship Prelims at Mt. San Antonio College (SAC).
In addition to Babcock's first-place effort in a time of 18:17, Woodbridge received great efforts from the entire team. Junior Nicole (Coco) Evans finished 4th in the heat at 18:55, junior Annie Chan finished 7th (19:10), freshman Madeline Bradford finished 11th (19:29), and sophomore Olivia Rodriguez finished 28th (20:28).
Sophomore Alexis Abad also came in at 31st place (20:36) and sophomore Alyssa Gutcher was 37th (20:51). Girls full individual results. Team results.
The boys team finished one team-point short of qualifying for the Finals even with good efforts from junior Dragan Simic (9th place, 15:59), senior Dillon Scott (10th, 16:00), senior Josh Kingsland (15th, 16:08), and junior Brandon Ferguson (27th, 16:33). Boys full individual results. Team results.
The girls now compete for a CIF Southern Section Division 3 Championship and as a qualifier for the State meet in Fresno. The girls' race is set to start at 8:25am (Race #3) on the Mt. SAC cross country course. CIF Finals race schedule.
Come out and cheer on your Warriors Saturday morning!
Go Warriors!
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