Looking Back and Looking Forward

The start of championship season

-Great performances by the team this weekend. 2nd for the girls at the Rock Canyon Invite, 3rd for the boys. With a few exceptions, this was essentially a league championship meet, and I am very proud of both squads. We had a table full of medals and ribbons to give away on Monday, that is always a good thing.

-We had quite a few kids reach new season bests this weekend. Over at Dakota Ridge, Dom got a new best in the two mile, and James did in the mile (9:45 and 4:29). I know Matty got a new best in the two mile, and in the mile, so did Steven, Whitney Erika, and Ciara. Caleb got a new best in the 800, as well as Jill & Ellen. And there were a slew of new bests in the 400, lead by Alek going sub 50 in the open
race. Wow!

-This week is a pretty crazy week. For some, it will be the last week of racing. For others, it is the springboard to the State Meet.  On Thursday, at Highlands Ranch HS, we have the JV Championship. Same rules as usual for the transportation. We will have a bus to Highlands Ranch, but not one back.  Dismissal at 2:05, bus leaves at 2:15 sharp. We will be running lots of kids here, I think we have a good chance to win the overall trophy.

-On Friday afternoon/evening and all day Saturday, we have the Varsity Liberty Bell Invite at Littleton High School. This is the biggest invitational of the year, and it only allows two entries per open event. This is a big time meet, I am hoping we run well there. For Friday prelims and elite 3200, there will be no bus. For Saturday, all participants will ride the bus to Littleton and it will leave CHS at 8:15 am.  This is our first real bus ride of the year, I am looking forward to it! There will be no bus back, so you must arrange a ride home when you are done.

-Because of weird rules that disallow JV Champ kids from participating in Var. League Champs, and because Lib Bell only allows two entries, there will be some kids who are not racing this weekend. There really is nothing we can do about this. We cannot risk running those third and fourth event ranked kids at JV Champs, as we will need them eligible for Var Champs. All we can say is, you get a day off to rest and recover for the upcoming weeks!

-The following week, we have Freshman/Sophomore Championships at Regis HS on Thursday. This is a state qualification meet, so we will be running the best freshman and sophomores we have, regardless of JV/V status. Same thing as JV Champs, dismissal at 2:05, bis leaves at 2:15, no bus back from Regis.

-Friday we are heading down to Pueblo all day for the Pueblo Twilight meet. This is an elite meet,  with strict qualifying standards, and it's really our last chance to run some state qualifying times. We have been preparing all year for this meet, so I hope we will be at our best. Participants will be dismissed from school at 10:15 am for the meet and are responsible for any missed schoolwork. We are still trying to figure out if we will need a bus to come back, that will be discussed today at practice.

-Finally, the Saturday afternoon after the Pueblo Meet, we will be holding our annual pep rally BBQ banquet at Chaparral. More details will be forthcoming, but it is a low key, burgers and dogs, pep rally to get kids psyched up for League Championships. We will be handing out team awards and senior gifts, playing some games, and generally having a good time reflecting on the season so far and the season to come.  We will certainly need some help from parents pulling this off, but I hope everyone and their families can make it out, it is a really fun time.

SEP