Cross Country Newsletter 10/29/12

Cross Country Newsletter 10/29/12

Thursday was our second league meet at Mason park. Mason Park is a flat fast course, which makes an exciting meet with the opportunity for new PR’s. We had a total of 61 new PR’s at the Meet, so I would like to congratulate all the athletes who received a new PR for the season! I was pleased with all the hard work put out by the athletes as they continued to push themselves to run faster. Keep up the great work!
On the boys side, JV boys took 1st place, Varsity boys took 2nd place (by 5 points), and Frosh Soph boys took 2nd.
On the girls side, JV girls took 2nd, Varsity Girls took 1st (by 2 points), and Frosh Soph girls took 3rd.
Very exciting races to say the least! On the boys Varsity team, we had some excellent performances from both Jackson Marshall who broke the 15 minute barrier for the first time (taking first in the meet), and Ralphy Lara who broke 16 minutes for the first time to run 15:40. Great Job guys! Next week we will need to continue working on closing the gap between our 1st and 5th runners.
On the Varsity Girls side the close spacing between our 1st and 5th runner helped win the meet. The race could easily have gone either way, but the ladies showed their determination and dedication to pull through. For just about every one of our runners, it seemed like they were being challenged for their place on the whole run, and it was a pleasure watching our girls hold on to their positions and not give in to the exhaustion. I’d like to congratulate Olivia Rodriguez for running her fastest race of the year, and Emilie Birchler and Hannah O’Conner who held off Northwood’s 5th runner, giving our team their victory. Next week we need to be prepared again for an even more intense battle, as both our team and Northwood know the league championship is within reach. We will need everyone to run their best race of the year if we want to secure that championship title.
For many of our athletes (all non-Varsity athletes), this coming meet on Friday will be their final meet of the season. It is my hope that every athlete will take advantage of this final meet (which is another fast course), and end the season not just with a lot of fun memories, but with a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
Athlete of the meet: Jackson Marshall who took 1st in his race and broke 15 minutes for the first time, and Olivia Rodriguez who ran over 30 seconds faster than her season PR on the girls team.
Weekly schedule
Monday: No Bus, practice is at Woodbridge
Tuesday -Thursday practice as usual at Woodbridge
Friday: League Championships at Irvine Regional Park.

Warrior Cross Country Briefs

Cross Country Newsletter (10/22/2012)

Friday, our team competed in the Jaguar Invitational in San Diego County, competing against some excellent teams for that section.  It was a great course for spectators, allowing the parents to see the athletes at a lot of locations.  The hills were challenging, which makes for good preparation for the CIF prelim and CIF finals races.  The boys course is slightly longer than 3 miles, and the girls course was 2.7 miles.  The course was changed from last year, and the distances have changed which make it difficult to compare times.

The girls Varsity took first place in their race, beating out some excellent schools from San Diego, and Trabuco Hills who beat us at OC champs (they got 8 ^th and we were 11^th).  I would like to congratulate the Varsity girls for running with only 35 seconds between 1^st and 5^th runners.  Great Job Ladies!  !  JV Girls also did a great job, taking 2^nd in their race.

The boys Varsity took 5^th place competing against some of the best schools in San Diego, Boys JV took 2^nd place, and the Boys Frosh/Soph took 5^th.

Athlete of the Meet:  Jake Suiste and Ana-Paola ran with a lot of focus and determination, both running great races and contributing to the team results.

Weekly Schedule:

1         Second League Meet is Thursday at Mason Park.  Bus leaves at 1:30 and you will be dismissed from your 5^th period class.  Please make sure you contact your 5^th period teacher to get assignments for the day ahead of time.

2         Schedule of races is:

a.       JV boys 3:00

b.      JV girls 3:30

c.       Varsity Boys 4:00

d.      Varsity Girls 4:30

e.      Frosh/Soph boys 5:00

f.        Frosh/Soph girls 5:30

For the boys:  This will be the most critical race so far in the season.  CDM and Northwood will be competing with us for the best position going into the league finals.  Considering the point spread at the last league meet (48, 48, 49), it is going to be an exciting race!

For the girls:  Northwood is our biggest obstacle for the league title.  We need our girl’s team to keep the gap closed, and have our 3-7 runners stay close to our front runner like you did at the Jaguar Invitational.  Like the boys race (there was only a 4 point spread at the last league meet), the meet is open, no team has a distinctive advantage.  If we want to be league champions we need to get out there run together like you did at Jaguar, and do it as a team.

3         Saturday we have mandatory practice.  We will meet 8am again, and we will be having a speed workout to prepare for our league finals.

4         League Finals are Friday November 2^nd at Irvine Regional Park.  The first race is scheduled for 2pm (times for races could change).

Coach Pacheco

Cross Country Newsletter (10/15/2012)

I would like to start off by thanking the parents who came and cooked the BBQ for all the athletes on Saturday, as well as all the parents who brought food and made sure it was a great experience for the athletes.  The food was excellent, the weather was perfect, and the athletes had fun playing Frisbee and baseball after the meet.  What an excellent way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

For the individual athletes, it was a very successful meet.  42 athletes had new PR’s.  Jackson Marshall got 3^rd overall for 11^th graders, and 12^th out of all athletes with a time of 15:12.  Ralphy Lara got 18^th overall for 10^th graders.  Maddy Bradford got 10^th overall for 11th graders and 25^th out of all athletes.   Kyle Oefelein got 15^th overall for 11^th graders and 47^th out of all athletes.,  Alyssa Gutcher got 8^th for seniors and 21^st out of all athletes.

The Varsity boys took 6^th in their Race, with a time of 81:18, Compared to 78:51 in 11’ (fastest ever), 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. This was 21^st overall for all schools, and 2^nd for league schools (behind CDM).

The Varsity girls ran 93:00, compared to 90:44 in ’11 (fastest ever), 92:06 in ’10, 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.  This time placed them 11^th in their sweepstakes race, and 12^th out of all schools, as well as 2^nd for the league schools (behind Northwood). 

Frosh girls took 5^th in their Race with a team time of 105:09.  Freshman boys took 8^th in their race with a team time of 91:50.  JV Girls took 3^rd in their race with a team time of 102:56.  Sophmore Boys took 4^th in their Race with a team time of 89:39.  JV Boys took 3^rd in their race with a team time of 88:31

Athletes of the Week:  Jackson Marshall ran a great race, finishing 1^st in his race with a time of 15:12, and Alyssa Gutcher who lead the Varsity girls with an 18:05 time.

Most Improved:  Anish Reddy ran a new PR of 17:22, getting close to the Varsity times and Bianca Moreno who ran a 20:26, getting very close to the Varsity time as well as having great PR.

Rookie of the meet: Evan Duran had a great breakthrough race, dropping his PR by 1 ½ minutes to 18:54.  Jessica Sugiura, ran a new PR time of 20:52.
 

Week’s Schedule:

1.      Thursday is Picture Day.  You will need to bring your uniform to school to get your pictures.  We will have a workout that day, so you may want to bring other clothes to run in.

2.      Jacquar Invitational at Kit Carson  in Escondido on Friday, October 21, 2011 (WHS è405 South è 5 S è Vista Way Exit (# 51B) and merge onto 78 E è 15 S èVia 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)

3.      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 5^th period class tutorial on Thursday to get what you will miss on Friday.

1:45                                        Small School JV Boys B

2:10                                        Small School JV Girls

2:35                                        Small School JV Boys                                       Max of 14

3:00                                        Small School Varsity Girls                              Max of 7

3:25                                        Small School Varsity Boys                             Max of 7

3:50                                        Large School Varsity Boys                             Max of 7

4:15                                        Large School Varsity Girls                              Max of 7

4:40                                        Large School JV Boys 9-10

5:05                                        Large School JV Girls                                       Max of 14

5:30                                        Large School JV Boys 11-12

5:55                                        Large School JV Girls B

Coach Pacheco

Cross Country News (10/07/2012

Cross Country Newsletter (10/8/2012)

Our first league meet was Thursday, and it was very exciting!  We had some great racing by our athletes, and some very close and exciting races!  Overall we had 46 athletes get a new PR!  Our Varsity teams both came in second in the league, the boys had a tied score of 48, but lost on the tiebreaker (place of 6^th runner)  This race was unbelievably close, with Northwood having 48 points, Woodbridge 48 points, and CDM 49 points.  The girls’ team took second by only 4 points to Northwood.  On the JV teams, the boys started off the races by taking 1^st place, and the JV girls took 2^nd by only 3 points.  In the F/S competitions, the boys took 2^nd, and the girls took 3^rd.  Overall a good set of races, which showed a lot of skill from all the schools.  Hard work in practice is going to be necessary to get those couple of points in these races that will make all the difference.  Come to practice every day, prepared to give your best.

Athlete of the Meet:  Hannah O’Connor ran her first sub 19 race at 18:56, and Jonah Bonner who also ran an excellent 16:31 and # 4 runner on the team.

Most improved:  Jackie Foley for the girls running 20:21 and Ken Nakama also ran an excellent time of 17:18, both getting very close to those Varsity times.

Rookie of the Meet:  For the boys, Emerson Choi ran an excellent race, breaking the 20 minute barrier for the first time.  Sophie Huisken ran an excellent 21:14, almost a 2 minute PR and is working her way towards varsity times.

Next Week Information:

Saturday is OC Championships.  There is no bus as the meet is close to home (Irvine Regional Park).  We will meet at the school at 6am, and leave together for the meet.  Parents, please make every effort to attend this meet, it is a very exciting meet and your cheering and support of the athletes is important.  The park gets very full, and we must get there early to find parking.

Schedule: 

Race 2                   8:12                        Girls F/S

Race 5                   8:52                        Boys F

Race 8                   9:31                        Girls Varsity (D1 sweeps)

Race 9                   9:43                        Boys Varsity

Race 14                 10:46                     Girls  JV

Race 17                 11:28                     Boys Sophmore

Race 20                 12:10                     Boys JV

After the Races are completed, we are planning to have traditional picnic BBQ. 

For the BBQ, there are a couple of things we need.

1)      We need a couple of parent volunteers to cook for the team, and bring BBQ grills.

2)      A parent to buy the hamburger/hotdogs and buns (you will be reimbursed, just keep a receipt and make sure you do not go over $200).

3)      In addition, each grade is responsible for organizing and bringing lots of food for everyone.

Seniors :  Condiments:  Mayo, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, tomato, onions, etc.

Juniors:  Desserts

Sophmores:  Side dishes/salads:  Potato salad, fruit salad, pasta salad, green salads etc.

Freshman:  Appetizers:  Chips, salsa, dips, veggie trays, cheese/crackers etc.

"Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'." -Paul Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner

Coach Pacheco

Cross Country News (10-1-12)

Cross Country Newsletter (10/1/2012)

I always enjoy Yucaipa.  The course is a challenging one, and the big hill is great for our training.  The weather was on the warm side.  Despite the weather, our team picked up a lot of awards and we had a lot of individual metals.  The bus ride was uneventful (no broken down busses etc), the food and apples at oak glen was great.  Overall a good meet.

Results:

F/S Girls 2^nd, F/S Boys 3^rd, Girls Varsity 1^st, Boys Varsity 3^rd JV Girls 1^st, JV boys did not score due to 4 runners.

The Varsity boys ran a team time of 84:46 with Jake not running that put us 7^th in all divisions.  This compares to 82:45 in 11’, 81:42 in ’10, 82:01 in ’09, 82:02 in ’08, 83:12 in 07’, 84:18 in ’06, 84:59 in ’05.  The Varsity girls ran 98:08, a 2^nd over all divisions, compared to 94:57 in ’11, 96:35 in ’10, 98:24 in ’09, 100:37 in ’08, 95:34 in ’07, 102:02 in ’06, 97:11 in ’05.

While this meet was enjoyable, we need to keep in mind that this meet was not as competative as our league will be, nor the OC championships.  To do well at these coming meets, we need all of our athletes at their best, and that means we need a good training week, and our athletes stop getting sick.  Yucaipa had far too many athletes not being able to compete because of illness.

Athletes of the Week:  Jonah Bonner ran an excellent 16:52 on the coarse, improving about 1 minute from his time last year, and running the second fastest time for our team.  On the girls side, Emily Bircher ran an excellent race at 20:30, compared to 21:53 last year.

Most improved: Katie Peterson had a great finish, passing both girls ahead of her to win the race!  Brandon Ferencik ran an excellent time of 17:34 to come in 4^th for his race and a 1 ½ minute improvement from last year.

Rookie of the meet:  Rini Jablonski who broke her PR on this difficult course, and Andrew Erickson who had a nice new PR of 2 ½ minutes.

Schedule of the week

1.       FIRST LEAGUE MEET on THURSDAY AT IRIVNE PARK (To get to Irvine Park: WHS è Alton è Jamboree and right turn.  Jamboree dead ends at the Irvine Park.  Try to find a parking spot by the zoo.  It will cost to park

a.        The bus leaves at 1:15 and you will be dismissed from your 5th period class.  Please dress at lunchtime so that you can get to the bus on time.  Tell your 5^th 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).  (there has been discussion of moving the times back if the heat is excessive.  I will let you know if the times change as soon as I know)

c.       For both Varsity teams, they will be facing strong teams, especially from CDM and Northwood.   We have been working hard, and we need our team to be ready to run at their best on Thursday.

2.       Saturday’s workout time will be at 8:00 am. The strength and endurance we have gained from the long intervals and hills need to be turned into speed.  It takes a good 3-4 weeks for the speed to gain hold.  No one should miss this workout.  Arrange your schedule to make this time.  This is mandatory workout for all.

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare." -Juma Ikangaa, 1989 NYC Marathon winner

Coach Pacheco