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.

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.