Today was our first time back at Sun Prairie in about 6 or 7 years. It is a great course but we were again challenged by a "new" course. Those people who were mentally prepared to run fast regardless had a really nice day today. Others will have another day to race in the future. It is important that we start to get every athlete focused for every meet, as the opportunities for races are winding down. I'm really looking for the fire to compete and to place well at every meet now. Big props to Liam, Sam K., Connor W., Brendon, and Justin with PRs tonight.
The split meet is run with all boys in one race and only scored as one meet. Varsity scored 36 points to outdistance Madison East with 55 points (SP=59, Parker=117, and Craig=187). Junior Varsity scored a very impressive 16 points (one place away from a perfect score and a score that is good enough to "beat the field"). In the mean time we will gear up for Saturday and put our best foot forward for Stoughton. It is always tough to stay focused the week of Homecoming but I hope we can put the distractions aside and put a great performance together for Saturday. The varsity will get to see how we compare with Middleton and our JV will get one more shot at SPASH.
Light of Life Walk -Thanks to everyone who participated and donated $ -- Boys Cross Country raised almost $400 for Cancer Research :)
NEXT COMPETITION - October 1st (Saturday)
Stoughton Invitational - Stoughton High School
9:30 am - Girls JV
10:05 am - Boys JV (2010 Results)
10:40 am - Girls Varsity
11:15 am - Boys Varsity (2010 Results)
11:45 am - Open Race
12:15 pm - Awards -- Varsity 1st - 25th = medals and 2 teams -- JV 1st - 15th and 1 team
WE WILL NOT STOP TO EAT...bring $ for concessions or bag lunch or eat when you get home
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Midwest Invite - Varsity = 13th, JV = 4th, & Frosh/Soph = 14th
It is the time of year when practices seem long, legs seem tired, and minds are packed full. Sometimes the best break is getting out to the cross country course and JUST RUNNING. It was fun to see our team compete at the Midwest Invite, arguably one of the most competitive meets in the state (outside of the state meet) and definetly one of the most overall "fast meets" that we go to throughout the season. I was amazed to see so many PRs after such a tough week of practice. I really think we can still improve upon these times in the coming weeks because of the work we put in this week at practice. I encourage every boy on the team to commit to cross country over the upcoming weeks and plan on ending the season on a high note.
The day started off with a great performance by our frosh/soph group. Some teams run their varsity frosh/soph kids in this race and we do not (so NO Sam, Bryce, or Brad) I was impressed how well our boys competed in this race. This group went 7 for 7 on PRs for the day. Mason and Connor G-T led the way with 18:00 and 18:04 performances. I really hope these guys continue the improvent and see that sub 18:00 yet this season. John H. and Marcus worked together throughout the middle of the race to pull our whole pack through the big field. This group will continue to pursue that 19:00 barrier. Jacob R., Liam, and Calder ran great races there was a little bit of "holding on" at the end of the race and hopefully these guys will continue to get stronger going into the next couple of years and we look forward to big things from these guys.
Our varsity was led by an oustanding performance by Jonah as he was able to go under 16:00 for the first time in his career (and unofficially the first athlete to do it at Memorial since Phil Downs). This performance helped a ton at a meet of this caliber. Our gap of 1:20 between 1-5 stayed the same and we will need to close this down a little bit. We didn't hit on all cylinders today and we still placed similiar to last seasons finish (12th in 2010). If we can correct just a few things going ahead we are still in really good shape. Jordan B. performed well at #2 and Sam B. had a nice race today, closing the gap back up for our #3 runner. It was fun to see Bryce and Brad G. pass a lot of guys in the last mile of this race and I wish I would have seen Ben A. finish because when I saw him at 400 meters to go I wouldn't thought he would of caught these guys. It is nice to have a group of guys working together to improve this # 5 spot.
Our JV proved again that it can be a factor at any meet we compete at during the season. I hope this is a trend that continues because these athletes will be the guys leading our varsity in the future. Andy R, Ryan W, Nick H, and Joey D ran as a great group spending most of the time in the top 20. Arrowhead and Lax Logan are ranked 1 and 4 in the state for varsity and have great depth on their JV teams we competed well with them and Lake Park, IL today. We are getting healthier as Thejas joined the ranks of competing to help our team score. The last step for this group will be putting some guys in the top 10 at every meet. Chris D. and Max B had great races today to lead a large group of guys including Nick S, Stefan, and Edwin all under 19:00. Also Ben B. joined Liam and Calder as freshman who have run under 20:00 this season. It was nice to see many of the freshman really compete hard today and see the process pay off with some great PRs in this group. It has taken awhile for us to get into shape but we have many great runners in this class that I hope can commit to 4 years of running.
MIDWEST INVITE RESULTS
Frosh/Soph
Varsity
Junior Varsity
Pictures have been added to the 2011 Album
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 28th - Light of Life Walk ($5 to Coach Casey by 3:45pm on Wednesday -- a fundraiser for cancer research that is a part of Homecoming Week festivities...we will be doing this as a team (required) parents and familes are welcome to join)
NEXT COMPETITION - September 27th (Tuesday)
Big Eight Split Meet @ Sun Prairie
4:45pm - Girls Race
5:30pm - Boys Race (all boys in ONE race)
TEAM NOTES
Clothing Items -- MOST items are in (some had to be "back ordered")...put names into clothing items so boys can keep track of their clothing
Captains Shirts -- $12 is due to captains ASAP if you are hoping to get the 2011 Team Shirt
Homecoming Week -- Make good choices, boys are still expected to be at all practices and meets, take care of yourself and get some sleep so we can compete well still this week
The day started off with a great performance by our frosh/soph group. Some teams run their varsity frosh/soph kids in this race and we do not (so NO Sam, Bryce, or Brad) I was impressed how well our boys competed in this race. This group went 7 for 7 on PRs for the day. Mason and Connor G-T led the way with 18:00 and 18:04 performances. I really hope these guys continue the improvent and see that sub 18:00 yet this season. John H. and Marcus worked together throughout the middle of the race to pull our whole pack through the big field. This group will continue to pursue that 19:00 barrier. Jacob R., Liam, and Calder ran great races there was a little bit of "holding on" at the end of the race and hopefully these guys will continue to get stronger going into the next couple of years and we look forward to big things from these guys.
Our varsity was led by an oustanding performance by Jonah as he was able to go under 16:00 for the first time in his career (and unofficially the first athlete to do it at Memorial since Phil Downs). This performance helped a ton at a meet of this caliber. Our gap of 1:20 between 1-5 stayed the same and we will need to close this down a little bit. We didn't hit on all cylinders today and we still placed similiar to last seasons finish (12th in 2010). If we can correct just a few things going ahead we are still in really good shape. Jordan B. performed well at #2 and Sam B. had a nice race today, closing the gap back up for our #3 runner. It was fun to see Bryce and Brad G. pass a lot of guys in the last mile of this race and I wish I would have seen Ben A. finish because when I saw him at 400 meters to go I wouldn't thought he would of caught these guys. It is nice to have a group of guys working together to improve this # 5 spot.
Our JV proved again that it can be a factor at any meet we compete at during the season. I hope this is a trend that continues because these athletes will be the guys leading our varsity in the future. Andy R, Ryan W, Nick H, and Joey D ran as a great group spending most of the time in the top 20. Arrowhead and Lax Logan are ranked 1 and 4 in the state for varsity and have great depth on their JV teams we competed well with them and Lake Park, IL today. We are getting healthier as Thejas joined the ranks of competing to help our team score. The last step for this group will be putting some guys in the top 10 at every meet. Chris D. and Max B had great races today to lead a large group of guys including Nick S, Stefan, and Edwin all under 19:00. Also Ben B. joined Liam and Calder as freshman who have run under 20:00 this season. It was nice to see many of the freshman really compete hard today and see the process pay off with some great PRs in this group. It has taken awhile for us to get into shape but we have many great runners in this class that I hope can commit to 4 years of running.
MIDWEST INVITE RESULTS
Frosh/Soph
Varsity
Junior Varsity
Pictures have been added to the 2011 Album
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 28th - Light of Life Walk ($5 to Coach Casey by 3:45pm on Wednesday -- a fundraiser for cancer research that is a part of Homecoming Week festivities...we will be doing this as a team (required) parents and familes are welcome to join)
NEXT COMPETITION - September 27th (Tuesday)
Big Eight Split Meet @ Sun Prairie
4:45pm - Girls Race
5:30pm - Boys Race (all boys in ONE race)
TEAM NOTES
Clothing Items -- MOST items are in (some had to be "back ordered")...put names into clothing items so boys can keep track of their clothing
Captains Shirts -- $12 is due to captains ASAP if you are hoping to get the 2011 Team Shirt
Homecoming Week -- Make good choices, boys are still expected to be at all practices and meets, take care of yourself and get some sleep so we can compete well still this week
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Smiley Invite - Varsity = 4th place and Junior Varsity = 2nd place
Whew...what a long day...many lessons learned, great fun had, and a few stories for the future. This week was a tough one to stay healthy but we got most of our athletes through the week and are bringing a few more guys back from injuries as we make our way towards the stretch run of the season. It was fun getting to see some new competition and learn some different race stategies. I hope our non-seniors learned a lot from todays race so that when we come back next season we are better prepared to race at Smiley. It is a tough course but with the right race strategy it can be a PR course (we had dozen PRs today). It was nice to have the coach buses for the ride to Wausau (thanks to all the donations provided, collected, and fundraised for this effort...we'll have to do it again next year to have the "sweet" rides). It was fun for us as coaches seeing all of our athletes hanging out and enjoying each others company all day long.
Our varsity team finished 4th in the large schools and 6th overall in division one teams. We had come into the day hoping to finish 3rd and had a rough start to our race today. Jonah did a wonderful job getting to the front of the race but many of our athletes got buried in the pack. Our 2 - 8 runners probably passed over 80 runners each during the race and that is having to do too much work during the race. We needed our pack to be about 10 seconds faster in the first mile and this would have led to 10 - 20 spots differnce at the finish of the race. Our 2 - 8 pack was a nice group but it needs to be closer to our #1 runner. Today provided a nice learning experience for our varsity squad and will be something we needed to learn before the end of the season. If we have it fixed by next week it will make a huge difference at the Midwest Invite. Jonah continued his solid season with a sixth place finish overall (4th in large schools) and will be the #2 returner to this meet next season.
Our JV team continues a great season. We were missing some key pieces to our squad (injuries and 8 runners in varsity) and new guys stepped in for the challenge. Nick H., Ryan W., and Joey D. led the charge today with Nick and Ryan holding on for the 6th and 7th finishes. Connor G-T had a great race to PR, earn a medal, and be a solid #4 runner for our JV today. Mason rounded out our top 5 and had plenty of company from John H and Max B during the race. Our team performed well against a very tough SPASH JV squad (3 of their runners were sub 18:00). I hope these guys learned something from today's race because we will see SPASH again in two weeks at Stoughton and if we have everyone healthy it will be fun to see if we can compete with them in two weeks.
Overall today had many positives, it was so nice to see so many Memorial faces in the crowd...a big THANK YOU to all the parents and relatives who made the trip to Wausau to support the squad. I hope every parent has the opportunity to get to a meet this year to see their son compete. I'm excited for the coming weeks and continue to encourage the boys to keep their academics, health, and running on the forefront of their minds.
SMILEY RESULTS
Division One Varsity - Overall
Division One Varsity - Large School
Division One JV
Pictures added to the Picasa Album
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 28th - Light of Life Walk ($5 to Coach Casey ASAP -- a fundraiser for cancer research that is a part of Homecoming Week festivities...we will be doing this as a team (required) parents and familes are welcome to join)
NEXT COMPETITION - September 24th (Saturday)
Midwest Invite - Janesville, WI
9:15am - Meet Begins
9:50am - Frosh/Soph Race (top 7 frosh/soph not on varsity) (2010 results)
11:00am - Varsity (top 7 runners) (2010 results)
12:10pm - JV (remainder of team) (2010 results)
12:55pm - Awards - JV and Frosh/Soph - top 20 get medals -- Varsity - top 30 get medals
***We will make a final decision on Saturday but most likely will stop for food on the way home from Janesville...so bring $$$
Our varsity team finished 4th in the large schools and 6th overall in division one teams. We had come into the day hoping to finish 3rd and had a rough start to our race today. Jonah did a wonderful job getting to the front of the race but many of our athletes got buried in the pack. Our 2 - 8 runners probably passed over 80 runners each during the race and that is having to do too much work during the race. We needed our pack to be about 10 seconds faster in the first mile and this would have led to 10 - 20 spots differnce at the finish of the race. Our 2 - 8 pack was a nice group but it needs to be closer to our #1 runner. Today provided a nice learning experience for our varsity squad and will be something we needed to learn before the end of the season. If we have it fixed by next week it will make a huge difference at the Midwest Invite. Jonah continued his solid season with a sixth place finish overall (4th in large schools) and will be the #2 returner to this meet next season.
Our JV team continues a great season. We were missing some key pieces to our squad (injuries and 8 runners in varsity) and new guys stepped in for the challenge. Nick H., Ryan W., and Joey D. led the charge today with Nick and Ryan holding on for the 6th and 7th finishes. Connor G-T had a great race to PR, earn a medal, and be a solid #4 runner for our JV today. Mason rounded out our top 5 and had plenty of company from John H and Max B during the race. Our team performed well against a very tough SPASH JV squad (3 of their runners were sub 18:00). I hope these guys learned something from today's race because we will see SPASH again in two weeks at Stoughton and if we have everyone healthy it will be fun to see if we can compete with them in two weeks.
Overall today had many positives, it was so nice to see so many Memorial faces in the crowd...a big THANK YOU to all the parents and relatives who made the trip to Wausau to support the squad. I hope every parent has the opportunity to get to a meet this year to see their son compete. I'm excited for the coming weeks and continue to encourage the boys to keep their academics, health, and running on the forefront of their minds.
SMILEY RESULTS
Division One Varsity - Overall
Division One Varsity - Large School
Division One JV
Pictures added to the Picasa Album
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 28th - Light of Life Walk ($5 to Coach Casey ASAP -- a fundraiser for cancer research that is a part of Homecoming Week festivities...we will be doing this as a team (required) parents and familes are welcome to join)
NEXT COMPETITION - September 24th (Saturday)
Midwest Invite - Janesville, WI
9:15am - Meet Begins
9:50am - Frosh/Soph Race (top 7 frosh/soph not on varsity) (2010 results)
11:00am - Varsity (top 7 runners) (2010 results)
12:10pm - JV (remainder of team) (2010 results)
12:55pm - Awards - JV and Frosh/Soph - top 20 get medals -- Varsity - top 30 get medals
***We will make a final decision on Saturday but most likely will stop for food on the way home from Janesville...so bring $$$
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Big 8 Grade Level Challenge - 4th Place
Great weather, great course, great competition....equals great times. It was fun to see our team be competitive with some of the best athletes in the state and show that we are a team that will need to be reckoned with at the end of the season. We have a lot of season left to continue to improve and we are already in a great place. If we stay healthy, take care of business away from the course, and keep up the great work we are looking for a great finish to our 2011 season.
The meet started with a great performance in the Frosh/Soph race. Sam B. went to the lead and work hard from the front. Bryce and Brad took the first mile relaxed and charged towards Sam. All three joined forces in the last mile and it was fun to see the three JMM jerseys charging hard towards the end of the race. These guys led our group to some great PRs in the race and it will be fun to see what this group can continue to do in the future (and hopefully we return a few of our injured frosh/soph kids). Additionally, all three will be a part of our varsity at the Smiley Invite this weekend. Mason and Connor G-T worked together through much of the race and Mason finished well to be the 14th Soph and score in our team points. Our freshman group continues to improve at every meet and I hope this trend continues. Today Liam broke the 20:00 barrier and Ben B. and Calder broke 21:00. Sam K had almost a 2 minute PR and also almost broke 21:00. I would like to see if we can get some frosh under 19:00 this year and quite a few more guys under the 20:00 barrier.
The Junior/Senior race was a nice preview of what our conference race will look like. First off, it is going to be fast and second off we are going to be part of a competitive race. Craig, LaFollette, and West are all currently ranked in the state and they have shown why they are ranked. We are closing the gap and need to continue to do this in the coming month. Jonah had a great race and a nice PR and finished 7th overall (4th for Juniors) against some amazing competition. Jordan B. has closed our gap between 1-2 to less than 30 seconds. Now it is time for our 3 -5 runners to be within 30 seconds of Jordan (again we need a 1-5 of less than 60 seconds). Hunter and Ben A. had great races and made our 1-4 gap at 60 seconds and we'll see if we can keep that and one of the Sophomores into the mix to keep improving. Andy R, Joey D. and Ryan W. joined the sub 18:00 group. Andy will run varsity again this weekend at Smiley and Joey and Ryan will lead the charge in JV to take on SPASH JV this weekend. Nick H. put out a great effort to try to break 18:00 and just miss but will have more chances yet this year.
Tonight was a good night. We put 26 athletes under 20 minutes, 10 athletes under 18 minutes, and 2 athletes under 17 minutes...I hope we continue to improve these numbers in the coming week. We got another great look at the conference schools and we will dissect how we compare in a standard scored varsity and junior varsity race.
BIG EIGHT GRADE LEVEL RESULTS
Frosh Race
Soph Race
Junior Race
Senior Race
All Results
Team Results
NEXT COMPETITION - September 17th (Saturday)
Smiley Invite - Wausau, WI
BUS TIME - arrive 5:30am depart 5:45am (Boys and Girls will be leaving at the same time so we need to leave a little earlier)
Meet Starts - 8:30 am
Girls JV - 9:55
Girls D1 Varsity - 10:25
Boys D1 Varsity - 10:55 (2010 Results)
Boys D1 JV - 11:20 (2010 Results)
Awards - 11:45 (team trophy for top 2 teams varsity and top team in junior varsity, individual medals top 20 varsity and junior varsity)
Buses will stop for lunch at Culvers/DQ/Wendys...so bring money!!!
The meet started with a great performance in the Frosh/Soph race. Sam B. went to the lead and work hard from the front. Bryce and Brad took the first mile relaxed and charged towards Sam. All three joined forces in the last mile and it was fun to see the three JMM jerseys charging hard towards the end of the race. These guys led our group to some great PRs in the race and it will be fun to see what this group can continue to do in the future (and hopefully we return a few of our injured frosh/soph kids). Additionally, all three will be a part of our varsity at the Smiley Invite this weekend. Mason and Connor G-T worked together through much of the race and Mason finished well to be the 14th Soph and score in our team points. Our freshman group continues to improve at every meet and I hope this trend continues. Today Liam broke the 20:00 barrier and Ben B. and Calder broke 21:00. Sam K had almost a 2 minute PR and also almost broke 21:00. I would like to see if we can get some frosh under 19:00 this year and quite a few more guys under the 20:00 barrier.
The Junior/Senior race was a nice preview of what our conference race will look like. First off, it is going to be fast and second off we are going to be part of a competitive race. Craig, LaFollette, and West are all currently ranked in the state and they have shown why they are ranked. We are closing the gap and need to continue to do this in the coming month. Jonah had a great race and a nice PR and finished 7th overall (4th for Juniors) against some amazing competition. Jordan B. has closed our gap between 1-2 to less than 30 seconds. Now it is time for our 3 -5 runners to be within 30 seconds of Jordan (again we need a 1-5 of less than 60 seconds). Hunter and Ben A. had great races and made our 1-4 gap at 60 seconds and we'll see if we can keep that and one of the Sophomores into the mix to keep improving. Andy R, Joey D. and Ryan W. joined the sub 18:00 group. Andy will run varsity again this weekend at Smiley and Joey and Ryan will lead the charge in JV to take on SPASH JV this weekend. Nick H. put out a great effort to try to break 18:00 and just miss but will have more chances yet this year.
Tonight was a good night. We put 26 athletes under 20 minutes, 10 athletes under 18 minutes, and 2 athletes under 17 minutes...I hope we continue to improve these numbers in the coming week. We got another great look at the conference schools and we will dissect how we compare in a standard scored varsity and junior varsity race.
BIG EIGHT GRADE LEVEL RESULTS
Frosh Race
Soph Race
Junior Race
Senior Race
All Results
Team Results
NEXT COMPETITION - September 17th (Saturday)
Smiley Invite - Wausau, WI
BUS TIME - arrive 5:30am depart 5:45am (Boys and Girls will be leaving at the same time so we need to leave a little earlier)
Meet Starts - 8:30 am
Girls JV - 9:55
Girls D1 Varsity - 10:25
Boys D1 Varsity - 10:55 (2010 Results)
Boys D1 JV - 11:20 (2010 Results)
Awards - 11:45 (team trophy for top 2 teams varsity and top team in junior varsity, individual medals top 20 varsity and junior varsity)
Buses will stop for lunch at Culvers/DQ/Wendys...so bring money!!!
Monday, September 12, 2011
PSAT Same Day As Conference
Attention Junior Parents (and others hoping to take the PSAT @ Memorial)
Again this year the Memorial PSAT testing day lands on October 15th...the same day as our cross country conference meet. There are options though, as most other Madison schools will be providing the PSAT on Wednesday October 12th...you must sign up in advance.
I will post information about it when I get it...you can also contact your guidance counselor for more help in this process.
Edgewood High School
They have room for 9 more students from other schools, and you would need to send your student's name, the Memorial HS Code 501-157, and a check for $25. Send to Jordan Ross - Student Services, Edgewood HS, 2219 Monroe St, Madison, 53711. Students should go to the Krantz Center Gymnasium which is behind the Commons at 7:30am on Oct 12.
Hope to have more info soon
Again this year the Memorial PSAT testing day lands on October 15th...the same day as our cross country conference meet. There are options though, as most other Madison schools will be providing the PSAT on Wednesday October 12th...you must sign up in advance.
I will post information about it when I get it...you can also contact your guidance counselor for more help in this process.
Edgewood High School
They have room for 9 more students from other schools, and you would need to send your student's name, the Memorial HS Code 501-157, and a check for $25. Send to Jordan Ross - Student Services, Edgewood HS, 2219 Monroe St, Madison, 53711. Students should go to the Krantz Center Gymnasium which is behind the Commons at 7:30am on Oct 12.
Hope to have more info soon
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Madison West Invite - Varsity = 2nd and JV = 2nd
Beautiful cross country weather!!! Our team continued to compete and finally got the weather and a course to cooperate for some improved times. It was great to see our times start to move towards the potential we have shown in practices. There is plenty of season left and I hope to see our PRs continue to drop. This is the time of year where it is important for EVERYBODY to take care of their grades, be in class, take care of their body, get some sleep, and ensure we continue to stay eligible and healthy to keep improving. Don't forget your goals and what we are working for this season.
Our varsity team battled well today with West, as we continue to close the gap between our two teams. Jonah lead our team with a great race and a runner-up finish. Jonah continues to get comfortable running with the lead pack and we look forward to more top finishes this season. He was joined at this meet by Jordan B. pulling a single digit in 8th place. It was nice seeing two JMM jerseys in the top 10. Sam and Hunter were solid 3/4 runners, both were up front early and will add that last mile to their race to close that gap to Jordan. It was fun seeing Bryce, Ben, and Ryan work together to improve our number 5 spot. We took about 10 seconds off our 1-5 gap as we continue to try and work that gap down to 1 minute. Last year at this meet our number 5 runner was 18:15 (17:40 by end of the season) and this year we had 8 runners at 18:18 (hoping for 17:30 or under by end of the season).
Our JV team was locked in another battle with West and today did not end in our favor. Had the race stopped at 4,000 we would have won but we need to put a stronger finish on our race to compete with West (we will see them plenty this season). Last season we had NO runners in the top ten and only one in the top 20 JV. This year we had Brad, Nick, and Andy in the top ten and Tyler, Joey, and Connor G-T finishing in the top 20. Our JV2 kids are continuing to close the gap on our top kids and this will be important to do both at meets and at practice. This will help everybody improve their PRs and make our team more competitive towards the front. Our freshman are starting to learn what this whole cross country thing is about and are getting used to racing 5,000 meters. The freshman were lead by Liam, Ben B. and Calder who all broke 21:00 today and are now setting their sights for breaking 20:00 and better.
WEST INVITE RESULTS
Varsity & Junior Varsity
Madison.com Coverage
Pictures added to Picasa Photo Album
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 10th (Saturday) - Team Practice @ Elver - 8am
September 11th (Sunday) - Ironman Volunteering - UW Lot 60
September 12th (Monday) - TEAM PICTURES (must have uniform top and bottom)
NEXT COMPETITION - September 13th (Tuesday)
Grade Level Challenge @ Warner Park
4:30 - Meet Begins
5:10 - Boys Frosh/Soph (2010 Results) (Wrong time in parent handbook...5:10 is correct)
6:30 - Boys Junior/Senior (2010 Results)
***Note - they will run ahead of schedule...if they can (so Boys Jr/Sr may be earlier than 6:30)
7:15 - Awards - Top 5 at each grade level
Our varsity team battled well today with West, as we continue to close the gap between our two teams. Jonah lead our team with a great race and a runner-up finish. Jonah continues to get comfortable running with the lead pack and we look forward to more top finishes this season. He was joined at this meet by Jordan B. pulling a single digit in 8th place. It was nice seeing two JMM jerseys in the top 10. Sam and Hunter were solid 3/4 runners, both were up front early and will add that last mile to their race to close that gap to Jordan. It was fun seeing Bryce, Ben, and Ryan work together to improve our number 5 spot. We took about 10 seconds off our 1-5 gap as we continue to try and work that gap down to 1 minute. Last year at this meet our number 5 runner was 18:15 (17:40 by end of the season) and this year we had 8 runners at 18:18 (hoping for 17:30 or under by end of the season).
Our JV team was locked in another battle with West and today did not end in our favor. Had the race stopped at 4,000 we would have won but we need to put a stronger finish on our race to compete with West (we will see them plenty this season). Last season we had NO runners in the top ten and only one in the top 20 JV. This year we had Brad, Nick, and Andy in the top ten and Tyler, Joey, and Connor G-T finishing in the top 20. Our JV2 kids are continuing to close the gap on our top kids and this will be important to do both at meets and at practice. This will help everybody improve their PRs and make our team more competitive towards the front. Our freshman are starting to learn what this whole cross country thing is about and are getting used to racing 5,000 meters. The freshman were lead by Liam, Ben B. and Calder who all broke 21:00 today and are now setting their sights for breaking 20:00 and better.
WEST INVITE RESULTS
Varsity & Junior Varsity
Madison.com Coverage
Pictures added to Picasa Photo Album
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 10th (Saturday) - Team Practice @ Elver - 8am
September 11th (Sunday) - Ironman Volunteering - UW Lot 60
September 12th (Monday) - TEAM PICTURES (must have uniform top and bottom)
NEXT COMPETITION - September 13th (Tuesday)
Grade Level Challenge @ Warner Park
4:30 - Meet Begins
5:10 - Boys Frosh/Soph (2010 Results) (Wrong time in parent handbook...5:10 is correct)
6:30 - Boys Junior/Senior (2010 Results)
***Note - they will run ahead of schedule...if they can (so Boys Jr/Sr may be earlier than 6:30)
7:15 - Awards - Top 5 at each grade level
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Verona Invite -- Varsity = 4th and Junior Varsity = 1st
A wet and muddy start to the 2011 season saw many positive results (although the times may not have cooperated). A big THANK YOU to coaches Mark, Paul, and Suzanne filling in for me as I spent time with my family mourning the loss of my Grandfather. I was so proud of the team to step up and compete with all the challenges going into this first race of the season and making lemonade out of lemons. As we spoke about earlier in the season, the weather will not always cooperate but we must be ready to run and compete...it looks like it is a good thing we ran our mile repeats through the inclement weather and now it has paid off. The Verona Invite is always a great measuring stick for our team and where we can go this season. After a tough week of practice, starting school, battling all that Wisconsin weather could throw at us, and much more I am glad to say we passed our first test. We have work to do to meet many of our individual and team goals but today's competition put us in a great place to accomplish our seasons goals. Keep working hard and good things will continue to happen this season.
The varsity team finished a great 4th place at a difficult invitational. We saw what lies ahead of us in the conference (Craig, LaFollette, and West) and will now work to close the gap on the competition. Jonah led the team with a single digit finish (8th) and a strong 17:00 time for the conditions. Jordan B. and Hunter H. ran well as our 2nd/3rd runners these seniors will help close the gap on our team towards Jonah. Our gap of 1:36 between 1 - 5 is something we will work on closing all season long...we need to get that less than 1:00. Our sophomores Sam and Bryce finished close together and continue to build their varsity experience. Andy and Tyler had nice races after a tough week of practice (both rolled ankles this week) and will be back next week Thursday to keep our varsity competition alive and pushing towards that sub 18:00 mark. This group will need to continue to improve to compete in our conference and create some breathing room on teams from our sectional.
JUNIOR VARSITY CHAMPIONS!!!! So awesome, we had a talk with this group of boys on Monday about the possibility of winning at Verona and they competed to make it happen. We have had some injuries on our team and will need to continue to work hard to get people healthy but todays performance proves that the sky is the limit for our JV team this season. Ben A. led the charge with a 3rd place finish and will get his first chance to run varsity next week for the team. Ben was joined by Ryan W, Joey, and Brad in top 10 finishes...having 4 guys pulling single digit cards in this difficult meet (last season our JV took 8th here and went on to miss 2nd at conference by one point). This year our JV team should be competing for a team title at every meet we go to and will get some challenges from programs like Arrowhead, Neenah, SPASH, and Madison West. These guys work ethic will help keep our Varsity guys working hard to improve and keep our whole team competing well. I was excited to see some PR's today on a tough muddy course. Lets hope for better weather next week and more PR's for everyone.
Verona Results
Varsity
Junior Varsity
Next Competition
West Invite - September 8th (Thurs)
@ Yahara Cross Country Course (the Dump)
4:00 Girls JV
4:30 Boys JV
5:00 Girls Varsity
5:30 Boys Varsity
6:00 Awards (top 2 varsity teams, top 20 varsity individuals, top 20 jv individuals)
(2010 West Invite Results)
Events This Week
September 5th - Arboretum Practice (Directions)
September 7th - Fall Sports Banquet (Pancheros for $5...all money collected benefits athletics)
September 11th - Ironman Volunteering
September 12th - Team Pictures
The varsity team finished a great 4th place at a difficult invitational. We saw what lies ahead of us in the conference (Craig, LaFollette, and West) and will now work to close the gap on the competition. Jonah led the team with a single digit finish (8th) and a strong 17:00 time for the conditions. Jordan B. and Hunter H. ran well as our 2nd/3rd runners these seniors will help close the gap on our team towards Jonah. Our gap of 1:36 between 1 - 5 is something we will work on closing all season long...we need to get that less than 1:00. Our sophomores Sam and Bryce finished close together and continue to build their varsity experience. Andy and Tyler had nice races after a tough week of practice (both rolled ankles this week) and will be back next week Thursday to keep our varsity competition alive and pushing towards that sub 18:00 mark. This group will need to continue to improve to compete in our conference and create some breathing room on teams from our sectional.
JUNIOR VARSITY CHAMPIONS!!!! So awesome, we had a talk with this group of boys on Monday about the possibility of winning at Verona and they competed to make it happen. We have had some injuries on our team and will need to continue to work hard to get people healthy but todays performance proves that the sky is the limit for our JV team this season. Ben A. led the charge with a 3rd place finish and will get his first chance to run varsity next week for the team. Ben was joined by Ryan W, Joey, and Brad in top 10 finishes...having 4 guys pulling single digit cards in this difficult meet (last season our JV took 8th here and went on to miss 2nd at conference by one point). This year our JV team should be competing for a team title at every meet we go to and will get some challenges from programs like Arrowhead, Neenah, SPASH, and Madison West. These guys work ethic will help keep our Varsity guys working hard to improve and keep our whole team competing well. I was excited to see some PR's today on a tough muddy course. Lets hope for better weather next week and more PR's for everyone.
Verona Results
Varsity
Junior Varsity
Next Competition
West Invite - September 8th (Thurs)
@ Yahara Cross Country Course (the Dump)
4:00 Girls JV
4:30 Boys JV
5:00 Girls Varsity
5:30 Boys Varsity
6:00 Awards (top 2 varsity teams, top 20 varsity individuals, top 20 jv individuals)
(2010 West Invite Results)
Events This Week
September 5th - Arboretum Practice (Directions)
September 7th - Fall Sports Banquet (Pancheros for $5...all money collected benefits athletics)
September 11th - Ironman Volunteering
September 12th - Team Pictures
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