Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Summer Training

Good morning,

Thanks to all 12-15 kids who showed up yesterday to help Maroney and I put away all the Pole Vaulting equipment.  Last year, we had significantly less help, and it took us almost double the time.  The pole vault pits are brand new, very expensive, so we are happy they are put away correctly.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the help.

In return for your help, a new training program was given out.  This program is for becoming strong for the start of your fall running season, not for you to win the Georgetown Half Marathon in August.  It is designed to be full of choices and individual decisions, but also to build intrinsic motivation by giving you, the athlete, a lot of buy-in.  I designed it like a restaurant menu, where you have to make sure you get your weekly servings of all your types of workouts every week.  Make sure to make your "diet" varied and complete, but like any restaurant, choose the items that appeal to you.  The trick is to avoid doing workouts that are easy and simple (like refined white sugar) and build in some complex demanding workouts (like broccoli and quinoa). I think it is self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, you can always email me or text me anytime this summer.

Also, if you choose to work with Coach Michael, (which I think is a great idea, he is on board with our program and I think he can supplement it very well), his email is Michael@highaltitudetennis.com  He has helped a few of our athletes become stronger and fitter, and the summertime is a perfect place to build up that power!

Enough of the boring stuff, below is an extremely NSFW-Langauage video about a boxing coach in NYC.  While he is a very "honest" fellow, I think you will get a chuckle from it.  Just don't repeat any of the inappropriate words he says in front of your little brothers and sisters!   Coach Whitenack sent it to me, and I laughed and laughed and laughed.  Maybe we can get this guy on staff next year!

Weak Men Pay This Boxing Coach To Tell Them They Are Terrible

via Coach Whitenack and The Denver Egotist



Monday, May 21, 2012

State Meet Wrap-Up

Overall the Wolverines, both men and women, had a great season.  For the men, second in League, 4th  in State, not bad at all.  While we will have a lot of holes to fill next year, I am confident we can do that.  The women, 9th in League, and our one female State representative competed very well this weekend.  We have a lot of room to grow on the women's side, and I am confident we will do that.

Excellent season everybody, hopefully the success and the disappointments you all experienced will cause you to train hard over the summer and fall, to be ready for another go at it next winter and spring.

A couple of final housekeeping items.  If you do not want a large student fee for your track uniform, please turn that into Coach Bowman by the end of today.  We will not chase you down, you are expected to turn in your uniform to us.

Also, if any distance athletes would like customized training plans for the summer, we will be putting the pole vault pits away a week from tomorrow, on Tuesday the 29th.  It will be in the evening, but I will get that out there as soon as we figure it out.  Help put the PV pits away for the year, get a free training plan.  Sounds like a good deal to me. While I do not have anything to do with the CHS XC program, I can give you some guidance on how to get in better shape over the summer.

Thanks to everyone this year, from athletes to parents to volunteers to coaches to siblings.  I wish the seniors the best of luck in the next chapter of their lives, and I hope to see all the underclassmen at full speed in November.

I will be updating this blog periodically throughout the summer, with anything that strikes my fancy, but it will not be as regular as it has been. Do not interpet that as a signal that I am not interested in racing or training however.  If anyone ever wants to go for a run, just call me, I would love to hit the trails with you!

SEP

Monday, May 14, 2012

Distance Season Bests

Wolverine 1600 m Bests

Wolverine 3200 m Bests

Wolverine 800 m Bests

The final results (with the exception four boys in the 800) are posted above for the 2012 Spring Track season.  While these charts don't show improvement directly, they do show that a lot of personal bests were achieved in the final few weeks of the season.  This is excellent, as to be able to run your fastest in the championship portion of the season is crucial.

One thing that does stand out to me is the lack of data in the two mile.  It seems like the two mile is a place where athletes can really make a mark on this team, hopefully we have a deeper 3200 m squad next year.

Great job, Wolverines.

SEP

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Uniform and Warm Ups

Monday is the last day of practice for anyone who is not competing at State this weekend.  If that is you, you need to turn in your uniform on Monday, at the track, to me or Coach Bowman.  We gave every athlete a uniform, and 95% of athletes brand new warm-ups.  Those need to be returned to the coaching staff on Monday afternoon, at the track.  Come right down after school, hand it over to Bowman or myself, and we will be all set.  We will not be meeting in the team room, unless the weather is really bad, so Monday afternoon, come right down to the track.  (Is anyone still reading not clear when and where uniform turn in is?)

These uniforms need to be washed, and they need to be complete.  If coaches determine that there are damages on the uniform that account for more than normal "wear and tear", you will be charged for them.

State Meet week is a very busy week for coaches.  Monday is uniform turn-in day.  If we do not see you Monday, your name will be sent over to administration Tuesday morning and they will be collecting a hefty fee from you.  We cannot spend this important week of preparation "tracking" down uniforms, so we will simply let the administration take care of it.

Seniors need to turn in their uniforms as well. While you might think it is cool to have a Chaparral speed-suit; rocking that the first day on the collegiate quad really brands you as a major loser, trust me.

Again, these uniforms are very expensive and very valuable to us.  We do not want to purchase new uniforms every year, we would rather use that money elsewhere, for more pressing needs.

Thanks

SEP

State Qualifiers

The following list is the athletes who have qualified for the State Meet next weekend at JeffCo Stadium.

In order to go to State, one must be in the top 18 of their event in 5A.

Katrina Bacovin: High Jump (Ranked 15th in 5A as of 9:00 pm Saturday night)

Nolan Ellis & Ryan Reasoner: Pole Vault (8th & 9th)

Curtis Ray: Long Jump (1st)

Gavin McHenry: 100 Dash, 200 Dash (7th & 9th)

Ian Campbell, Drew McReynolds, Curtis Ray, Gavin McHenry: 4 x 100 Relay (2nd)

Drew McReynolds, Spencer Bills, Curtis Ray, Gavin McHenry: 4 x 200 Relay (7th)

Alek McArther, Ryan Kwiatkowski, Fred Campbell, Curtis Ray: 4 x 400 Relay (14th)

James Kadolph, Ryan Kwiatkowski, Zach Young, John Bacovin: 4 x 800 Relay (5th)

All men, relays and open events, will be wearing the two piece white and blue uniforms.  Women will be wearing the two piece white and red uniforms.  If any athletes on this list have other uniforms in their possession, they need to turn them in on Monday.

The relays all have alternates, some of whom may be already on a relay team, some of whom may not.  These alternates have been notified individually.

Athletes will be expected to arrive at the stadium 90 minutes prior to their scheduled event.  There will be no busses.

Coaches will be there first thing at the our blue tent in the approved area.

Congratulations everyone, and contact me with any questions.

SEP


Many Thanks

I want to send out a heartfelt thanks to all the people who helped us pull this meet off with zero, count 'em, zero mishaps.  From Kris and all her people in the concessions stand, to Clint and Charlie (clerks-of-course) to all the ladies (and Justin) in the check-in shed, to the folks stuffing the ribbons, moving hurdles, and other general tasks, thank you so so so much.  Gary Thompson (who spearheads this meet, along with his staff) wants the coaches to be able to coach, and not have to worry about logistics.  That happened this weekend, and I think the results speak for themselves.

I truly am grateful to all of the volunteers, I wish I could thank you all by name, but know that I am very appreciative.

SEP

Boys League Champs Day 2 Wrap-Up

As I mentioned in the female version of this blog post, so good moments, some bad moments.  Let's stick with the good moments for the men as well.

In the boys mile, Dominic Compoz came in seventh with a time of 4:31.56, a new personal best.  James Kadoph, in only his second mile race of the season, also ran a new personal best, 4:33.79, to come in 8th. Those three points were huge points, ones we needed to stay in the hunt for the overall title.  Kaleb Roosa aslo ran the mile, lowering his best ever time by six seconds to 4:47.90.  Kaleb started the season injured, adn to come back to run a sub 4:50 is very impressive!  (While Dominic did not run his best race of the season in the two mile on Thursday, he does end his season with a a 10:03 in his pocket.  I can safely say that Dominic is the best freshman male runner we have ever had. Hopefully I don't mess him up too badly over the next three years!)

The boys 4x100 team easily outdistanced the competition, winning a second consecutive Continental League title.  Hand-offs were perfect, which they have to be, in order to win that race.  It was an example of working hard in practice, and then executing at the meet.  Great job guys!

Over in the 300H, Fred Campbell ended his stellar campaign with a 41.54, coming in 4th place.  This is a huge new season best for Fred, and while he was just short of qualifying for State, Fred deserves huge props for tackling the hurdle this year when the team really needed him too.  Excellent work Freddie, excellent work.

Ryan Kwiatkowski and Johnny Bacovin both ran tough races in the open 800 to improve upon their times, as did JJ in the 400.  Alex McArther had a breakthrough in the 400 today, running a 50.18 for third place, with a super fast time.  Finally getting through that 51.00 barrier is so tough, and Alek did it with his normal smooth style. Awesome job gentlemen!

Nolan Ellis fought through sickness to come in 4th in the pole vault, and Curtis ray followed up his stellar day on Thursday with a 6th place in the 200.  Again, more huge points for the Wolverines.

The two guys I want to talk about are two seniors who will be sorely missed.  (although they get one more week of practice, as both have qualified for State)  Ryan Reasoner and Gavin McHenry.  Ryan Reasoner had the meet of this life today, pole vaulting 13-6, coming in second, and re-establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with on Thursday up in JeffCo.  i know that Ryan has had a tough year, but his coach always believed in him, Ryan never gave up, and it turned out pretty damn good for him today,  Watching Ryan vault was a joy, it really was.  Great job Ryan, great job.

And Gavin only won the 100 and 200 outright, anchored the 4x100 to victory, and helped the 4x200 salvage a 4th place finish.  That's 35 points he had a major role in for us today, over a third of our total point score.  Uhhhh, I think the MVP award he won last week was deserved.  I have parents from rival teams coming up to me saying how great Gavin is with his competitors, I have coaches marveling at how effortless Gavin makes these sprints look, and i have Gavin with a short memory, as soon as he wins, he is preparing for his next race.  I can honestly say that this school has never seen a sprinter the likes of Gavin McHenry, and it might be a long time before we ever get close again.  Both Gavin and Ryan will be truly missed next year, in a Brendan Austin, Kirsten Lake, Jourdan Otis kind of way.  Just huge competitors, great leaders, and excellent kids.  It really was cool to have worked with both of you in some small way guys, thanks.  (But let's give me one more good week, huh?)

Overall, the boys team came in 2nd place, an improvement on our third place showing last year.   That is some good work, gentlemen, you should all be proud.

SEP

Girls League Champs Day 2 Wrap-Up

To be honest, it was an up-and-down day for the Wolverines today.  I thought we had some really great moments, and we had some moments that churned my stomach.

However, in the interest of not dwelling on what one cannot control, I want to focus on the highlights, for me at least, of today events.  Let's start with the ladies.

Overall results can be found at co.milesplit.com, but watching Oliva Perry place in the 100D and the 200D was just awesome.  Olivia ends her freshman year with marks of 12.99 in the 100 and 26.7 in the 200. Pretty freakin' good for a freshman!

Another freshman girl who I am very excited about is Jenna Lanskey.  Jenna came in 4th today in the 300H, with a new best time of 48.53.  She also placed in the long jump, jumping a hair of 16 feet.  That is awesome Jenna, great job!

Keeping on the girls side, Whitney Schultz was 1/2 a second out of the money in the open 800, running a 2:23.61, which is a huge new personal best for her.  Jill Hanrahan took two seconds off her 400 time, setting a new season best of 62.37 today as well.  I am so excited these two girls are returning for one more year.

Janey Heard ran a great mile race today, shaving four seconds off her best time, running a 5:36 for 11th place overall,  Great job Janey, and the Nyiro twins, Laura and Julia, each shaved four seconds off their two mile times, running great final races of the 2012 season.  Excellent work ladies!

Finally, all three of our relay teams scored points for us over the past two days, with each of them running great team races.

Over on the field side, I know that Mia Davies came in second in the discus, throwing over 100 feet, and Jen Calscionne caem in fourth, also flinging that disc over 100 feet.  100 feet, wow.  That really is amazing, I wish I could have seen that in person!

Awesome work ladies, today was a fine showing, and a perfect illustration of how hard all of you worked.  Congratulations!

SEP





Friday, May 11, 2012

League Champs First Day

Bacon, Goose, Kiwi, Kay-dolph -- Boys Cont. League 4x8 Champs!

Great first day at League Champs yesterday.  Out of a possible five events scored, we got 20 points, due to two first place finishes.  The boys 4x8 (above) were League Champions, as well as Curtis Ray in the Long Jump.  Curtis flew over 23 feet, not only becoming a League Champion, but also cementing his status in the entire State!  Excellent job Curtis!!

Other exemplary performances included Alleah vaulting 6-2, Curtis qualifying in the 200 finals, Dominic running to 5th place in the two mile, Julia running to 6th place in the two mile, the girls 4x8 and the girls sprint medley running to 6th place and Olivia and Gavin qualifying for both the 100 and 200 finals.  Tomorrow should be a busy day for us!

A couple of requests/reminders:  If you have a uniform/warm-up, and you are done competing, please, please, please, turn it in to me as soon as you can.  The worst part about coaching track is "tracking" down uniforms after the season is over.  Our uniforms and warm-ups are very expensive to replace, so please give them back to me as soon as you can.

If there are any extra parents at the meet on Saturday, and they want front row seats to the meet, come up and ask me if we need any help.  While we have the majority of positions filled, there always seem to be some extra jobs that we didn't anticipate popping up.  In order for the meet to run smoothly, the behind-the-scenes volunteers are essential, so the more the better!

While it might seem there is a lot of "dead time" on the track, that is by design.  Athletes and coaches need that "dead time" to get ready for upcoming events.  Coaches have assigned athletes to events based on the time schedule.  The officials will not run races ahead of the published schedule.  While running ahead of schedule might make for a faster meet, it would not be beneficial for athletes.  And the reason we are having this meet is for the athletes, not for anyone else.  (Without those breaks on the track,  how could spectators get to the snack bar?!)

See you all tomorrow!

SEP





Wednesday, May 9, 2012

League Champs Updates

The heat sheets came out last night, a few (good) surprises!

Dominic, Bryce, Janey and Julia all made the elite heat of the 3200.  They will be racing Thursday night.

Jenna was in five events, se she was scratched from the triple jump.

Johnny and Zach made the elite heat of the open 800, so did Freddie in the 300H, and Alek in the 400D.

We got three field eventers (Nolan, Katrina and Ryan) ranked in the top five of their events.

Should be a good time on Thursday and Saturday.

And remember, if you are not competing this weekend, you need to get me your uniforms and wam-ups as soon as you can.  Thank you!

SEP


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

League Champs Line-Ups

Thursday & Saturday Field Events

Thursday Track Events

Saturday Track Events

Other little facts for athletes to remember.

If you are not on the above lists, you still need to come to practice.  However, it would be a huge help to me if you turned in your uniform and warm-ups (cleaned) to me this week.  If someone gets injured, and you become pressed into service, I can easily get that uniform back to you.

Wednesday practice is at the stadium., and afterwards, we will be setting up a little bit for the meet.  Bring fast shoes!

Early dismissal is 1:30 on Thursday.  Head right over to the meet.  If you are not competing Thursday, you are still getting dismissed, so come over and cheer on your teammates.

Friday will be a light practice at the Chaparral track.

Saturday, if you are competing later in the day, sleep in, and show up a little later in the day.  We expect you to be there at least two hours before your race.

We expect ALL athletes to be at the meet on Saturday until the last race of the day, cheering our team on.  No exceptions.

That's it for now!

SEP

Friday, May 4, 2012

FR/SPH Wrap-Up

Great, but slightly windy day, at Frosh/Soph Champs yesterday.  We had a good number of younger kids competing, and a great number of older kids there cheering them on.  A few highlights:

Dominic C. ran a great strategic race to win the mile.  Congrats Dom, FR/SPH Continental League 1600 m Champ!

Fighting through the wind, Nolan E. won the pole vault.  Congrats Nolan, FR/SPH Continental League Pole Vault Champ!

Jackson Longwell and Chelsey Roosa got huge PR's in their events.  Chelsey shaving 10 seconds off her mile time, and Jackson shaving over a second off his 100 time.  Awesome work, Chels and Jackson!

Big thanks to Coach Z and the Mtn. View croo for putting on such a great meet, it was a good way to celebrate the freshman's and sophomore's seasons.

Full results can be found on milesplit.com, go check 'em out!

SEP

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Rest, Sleep, Naps, etc

Babies need sleep, so do HS athletes!



With all of the hard training we have been doing, plus the stress of the end of the year, the importance of sleep has increased.  A lovely blog post by Coach Whitenack directed me to this link, Sleep in More Important..... which I strongly suggest you all read.

Not Coach Sep, just a random stock image
If you train hard, eat right, stay hydrated, and then cut back on the sleep, it is like pouring a bucket of water into the desert, or as my dad would say, like "pissing in the ocean!"  Meaning, you are just wasting everything that you do if you don't get some sleep.  All the training in the training in the world will not make a difference if you don't get consistent solid sleep.  Sleep allows all that training and nutrition and good stuff to soak in.  It is when you grow stronger, when your cells regenerate, when your brain re-charges.

So, go to bed early, without an iPad in front of you.  Read a book, listen to relaxing music, but make sure to close your eyes and lie down!  Do whatever you can to get good sleep.  If you are racing late on Saturday and you want to sleep in, talk to me about it and we can try and make some arrangements.

Remember, sleep is more important than nutrition and hydration!  Get your beauty rest in!


SEP



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Mega Post


Lots of info for y'all, please read carefully.

1.  I think we had a great weekend at Liberty Bell.  We only earned one ribbon, but that was due to a lot of tough competition.  We did have lots of new season bests, and I think it was a great meet to propel us into the championship season.

2.  This upcoming Sunday, the team is throwing a giant cook out pep rally.  From 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, on the football field, we will be having a cookout with burgers, hot dogs, games; the works.  This is in place of the end-of-the-year banquet, we think that a pep rally to get psyched for championship season is gonna be more fun than a banquet inside.  The track team will provide almost everything, but we are asking for the athletes to bring some deserts.  Also, if anyone wants to bring lawn games (bocce, frisbee, kickball), that would be awesome.  The overall team awards will be handed out as well, so we hope to see everyone there!  Bring siblings, parents, grandparents; it will be fun!

3. Congratulations to the winning ten kilometer relay team.  We ran the race yesterday for our fundraiser, and the team of Katrina B, Dane G, JJ Johnson, Tim H, James K, Caleb L, Landon L, Jordan T, Jenna L, Jaylene M, and Kristin S came home with the prize.  Congrats!  This is a huge fundraiser for our team, and good job to everyone who participated.

4.  Freshman/Sophomore Championships are this Thursday at the new Sports Authority stadium, right after school.  Bus leaves Chaparral at 1:30, so don't be late coming out of class.  I think we have a shot to win some titles in this meet, let's go out there and do it! this meet at starts at 2:30 pm.
FR/SPH Champs Track Entries

FR/SPH Champs Field Entries

If you are not competting in the FR/SPH championships, you will be expected to attend regualr practice at Chap.


5.  On Friday night, we are heading back up to All-City Stadium for the second Twilight meet.  We are bringing only a select few kids to this meet, in hopes of getting them one more chance for a good mark to qualify for State.  Another way we are using this meet is to give kids a chance to compete Saturday with full rest.  There is no bus, kids need to get up there on their own, and remember that Friday afternoon traffic heading up to the city is notoriously tough!  Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get to the stadium so you can warm-up without stress.

Tentative Schedule of Events
TJ Twilight II
May 4th

Track Events
3:30 Girls Sprint Medley
3:40 Boys 4 x 800 Relay
3:50 Girls 4 x 800 Relay
4:05 Boys 110M Hurdles
4:20 Girls 100M Hurdles
4:35 Boys 100M Dash
4:50 Girls 100 M Dash
5:05 Boys 4 x 200 Relay
5:20 Girls 4 x 200 Relay
5:35 Boys 1600 M Run
5:45 Girls 1600 M Run
6:00 Boys 4 x 100 Relay
6:15 Girls 4 x 100 Relay
6:30 Boys 400 M Dash
6:40 Girls 400 M Dash
6:55 Boys 300 M Hurdles
7:10 Girls 300 M Hurdles
7:25 Boys 800 M Run
7:35 Girls 800 M Run
7:45 Boys 200 M Dash
8:00 Girls 200 M Dash
8:15 Boys 3200 M Run
8:30 Girls 3200 M Run
8:45 Boys 4 x 400 Relay
9:00 Girls 4 x 400 Relay

Field Events
3:45 Girls Long Jump (East pit)
3:45 Boys Triple Jump (West pit)
6:15 Girls Triple Jump (West pit)
6: 15 Boys Long Jump (East pit)

4:00 Girls High Jump
6:15 Boys High Jump

4:00 Boys Pole Vault
6:30 Girls Pole Vault

3:45 Girls Shot Put
3:45 Boys Discus

6:15 Boys Shot Put
6:15 Girls Discus


Twilight II Track Entries



Twilight II Field Entries

If you are not competing in the Twilight II Invite, ask you individual discipline coach on where you need to be.  For example, I will be at the meet, so I expect all 800 and up distance kids to be at the meet where we can have a practice on the side fields.


6.  On Saturday, we have our last invitational of the season.  The Cherry Creek Invite, at Cherry Creek HS.  Bus leaves early, 6:30 am I believe, as the first field events start off at 7:45.  Everyone, unless they communicate with me prior, will be on that bus.
This meet has a funky schedule, to all ow for prelims in some events, and finals in most others.  I incorporated the event start times on the entries.  It is imperative that athletes stay hydrated, full of good food, and out of the sun.  As I mentioned at Monday meeting, this is our last chance to compete for time and time only. In championship meets, the time slows, as athletes are just being strategic and going for the win.  Take advantage of this highly competitive meet!  

Cherry Creek Invite - Morning Track Entires

Cherry Creek Invite - Afternoon Track Entries

Cherry Creek Invite - Field Events



7.  Now, it is only Tuesday morning, many of these entries could change.  Keep the lines of communication open with your coach, and let's have a great next few days of practice!

SEP