First League Meet vs. St. Vincent's
Wednesday we had our first first league meet. It was a home meet which means we run our campus course. Our home course is 2.6 miles in length with three pretty good size hills for the runners to get over. The way we run league meets is done by having the JV boys and Varsity girls run together, and the varsity boys run their own race. Although we usually have four or more teams running in the meet, as far as scoring goes, we are scored against only one other team. This week we were against Saint Vincents. All three teams ended up with victories, although SV was incomplete, (not having five runners). In both boys races we would have had a perfect score. This is done by a team sweeping the first 5 places. The varsity boys actually took the top 8 places in the meet. The JV boys took the top 6 places. In the girls race we took the top 3 spots, and 7 of the top 10 places.
A big thank you to all the parents that helped with the running of the meet, what a wonderful job you did. As always, Kevin and Chris did an outstanding job of getting the facility ready for the competition.
Recap of races:
JV boys: The boys were led by Austin Garcia in a fine time of 17:08. ( which would have placed him 11th in the varsity race). The second runner for us today was Hayden in 18:02. Strong race for Hayden. Third across the line was Hayden's Brother Kendall ( first frosh). Kenday was also dealing with some sickness, so a mighty effort for him. Taking 4th was Logan, who continues to get stronger. Rounding out the top five was Chauncey who was made huge strides from last year. Placing in 6th place was Ian, showing good signs of being an up and coming young runner. Chris was our next runner across the line; like last year, as his fitness improves we will see his times drop rapidly.
JV boys 15........... SV Inc
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Varsity Boys: Another great run by this group. Before the meet we found out that the boys got ranked as the 10th best team in the state at the Division 5 level. Schools under 500 students. They took it upon themselves to run like a top 10 team, taking the first 8 spots by taking control of the race shortly after the 800 meter mark. Leading the team today was Austin Orr. Austin continues to show that he means business when it comes to racing. Our second runnner today was Jacob who is running with real confidence and continues to impress. Third runner was Jax, whom I believe will be hard to beat in a few more weeks. Another strong performance was put in by Patrick, who also had a really nice PR. Rounding out our top 5 was Freshman sensation Caleb, who has been a big surprise, and I only see him getting much better. Graham was 6th today and is a rock of a runner, consistent and strong. Following close behind Graham was Morgan who is making us very deep and solid through our top seven runners. The 8th runner for us today, also 8th in the entire race was Eli (Johnny). On most any other team he would be a top seven runnner. A nice PR for him and his improvement is great to see. Because of his steady improvement, we are a much better and deeper team.
Varsity Boys 15........... SV Inc
Varsity Girls: The girls are being led by two outstanding Freshmen in Alyssa Goody and Lilly Reinstein. They led the way from start to finish going 1-2 in the race, and as with all their races, they were within just a few seconds of each other. They both were over a minute in front of the next girl. Third accross the line was Kiana. It is good to see that she is getting back into some shape after her knee surgury from last spring. As she gets in better shape watch out girls. Amy was the team's 4th runner and as of right now I feel she has made the biggest improvment from last season. Yzzy was number 5 runner, she continues to run strong and looks better each week. The number 6 runner was Sinclaire who looks much better from a year ago, and continues to work on running form for improvement to her running. Allison rounded out the top 7 runners by placing in the top 10 in the race. She continues to close the gap on the other girls, and it is nice to see her continue to work hard in practice to make that happen.
Thanks,
Coach Danny
Recap of Super Septo and Viking Opener
Good stuff!!!!!!!!! We as a team are running out of our heads. In the last two meets we have had everyone run or tie their PR's on courses from last year. With the addition of our new runners who are also running well, both these team are looking like they will be able to make a great run at defending their CMC championships. The girls team took a big hit this week, losing Katy Lee to a stress fracture. We are not sure if she will be back in time for the season, as this injury can take up to 6-10 weeks. I believe! No, I know this group of girls will commit to each other, believe in their talents, step up to the challenge, find their fiesty each and every week to make the season a successfull one. The boys team is running with lots of confidence, each race you can see this senior led team step up. The two meets that we ran in this week were aganist the large schools of the NBL and SCL, and the boys ran toe to toe with the best teams in DI, D2, D3 divisions.
This is a great team, make no mistake, boys, we are becoming one of the best teams in the NCS and possibly the state. Im so excited for you guys, because I have seen you guys grow over the last 4 years. Good Stuff!!
This week we start our league meets! We are ready to run, and lets continue to work hard and be there for each other. I believe in each and everyone of you, and am excited to be part of this program. I could not be more pround of what you guys/gals are doing. Any coach with a pulse would be thrilled to be around this group of runners. Looking forward to the start of league and of our defense of The CMC Championship. Lets go Coyotes!!! you are the one!
Supersepto meet - 13 of 13 runner PR's - awesome!!!!! enough said.
Girls team time : 1:31 PR over last year..... Boys team time 3:49 PR over last year.
Viking Opener meet 22 of 22 runner PR's - awesome!!!! enough said
Boys Senior race - team 4th of 19.... runners in top 20 Austin Orr 6th, Jacob Gaynor 9th, Jax Reiff 14th
Boys Junior race - no team .... runners in top 20 Patrick Loftus 15th
Boys F/S race - team 11th of 23 ..... runners in top 20 Caleb Richard 16th
Boys open race - team 10th of 18 ...... no runners in top 20
Girls Junior/Senior race - team 19th of 20 .... no runners in top 20
Girls Frosh/Soph race - team 12th of 20 ..... no runners in top 20
Coach Danny
September 7th Update
Here is a recap of the September 7th meet at Rancho Cotate High.
Wow! What a way to start the season. We had a nice day to run, and we took advantage of the cool weather. We had 15 of 16 runners set PR's over last years performances. Wow! We had 3 varsity boys break into the top 10, which has never happen before. Wow! We had four boys break 17:00 on the course, which is a first. Wow! We had a 9th grade boy break 18:00, never been done until now. Wow! If the meet was scored we would have placed 3rd as a team. Highest place ever for this meet. Wow. We had 5 girls go under 24:00, would have been 6 with Katy. Another first! Wow. We had two 9th grade girls lead the team to some impressive times. Wow! We had some first time runners step up big and showed me that they could find their fiesty. Wow! Im not going to post all the times, if you want to look up your times just go to northbay running to see results from the meet. Here is my take on each runners performance
Varsity Boys: Jacob - ran strong and with confidence, Austin O. - you are a racer, like it!, Jax - solid start to the season, consistent as always. Patrick - as always raced tough. These were the 4 boys to crack the 17:00 mark. Caleb ( super frosh) - Sensational first race. A bright running future for you. Graham - always works hard to hit PR's. Morgan - making the varsity team solid.
Varsity Girls: Alyssa - untapped talent! nice opening race. Lilly - one tough cookie, continues to amaze me with her toughness. Amy - showed us that she is ready to have a great racing season. Kiana - total team runner, I always can trust that she will step up big when we need her to. Yzzy - continues to grow as a runner, working hard to improve. Sinclaire - When out fast but hung tough to get her PR.
JV Boys: Eli ( Johnny ) Had a big break though race, chasing a varsity spot. Kendal - strong finish and great race. Austin G. Steady performance and will battle for a varsity spot. Hayden - much improvement over last year. Chauncey - ran a big PR. Nice finish! Ian - great spirit, like what I see, keep it going. Billy - always trying, always working hard. Devin - nice opening race for a Frosh.
Tillock & Chris - Nice PR's and nice running.
Up coming races - Wednesday at Spring Lake...... JVG 4:00, JVB 4:30, VG 5:00, VB 5:30
Up coming races - Saturday at Spring Lake ( Viking Invite )
November 27th Update
I hope everyone had as much fun as I did watching our athletes compete at the state cross country championships. I was really proud of how the kids represented the school and themselves. It was great to see all the parents, family members and spectators come out for the meet. Dinner the night before was awesome. A special thanks to Karen and her parents for making it possible.
What's Been Happening:
On Saturday the kids had to get up early to head over to the state meet as we were the second and fourth meet of the day. Katy was our lone representative in the Division V girls race. Katy placed 21st in a time of 19:39, which is a 6:20 per mile average. I thought Katy ran a very spirited race, full of heart. Katy came through the first mile in 45th place, which was a very smart way for her to start the race given her lack of fitness due to her injuries. It was only through her pure determination that she was able to work her way up through the field to finish in the 21st spot. Under the circumstances – great race Katy!
The varsity boys team finished 12th in their race. Their 12th place finish tied the previous best finish by a Division V boys team from the redwood empire. Congratulations boys on being one of the best Redwood Empire Division V boys team ever. Leading the way was Jax in 34th place. Jax's time was 16:58, a 40 second PR over last year's time. And it was 24 places better. Just another very strong race for this talented young man. Our second runner, in 61st place, in a time of 17:33 was Jacob. It's good to see Jacob get back to running with confidence and with a good closing last mile. I think this was Jacob's best performance of the year. Our third runner of the day was Patrick in 75th place with a time of 17:42. Patrick showed that his break out race last week was no fluke with another strong performance. In 76th place was Austin, in 17:46. Austin's performance was big as the team needed him to run really well to help us secure that 12th place finish. Our 5th runner in 82nd place was Aaron in 17:52. It was nice to be able to see Aaron run a state championship and perform so well after losing last season to knee surgery. It was a great send off for our only senior. In 126th was Graham in 18:40. Graham was fighting some stomach issues, but had a great season and was a big part of why we had the success we had. In 163rd was Morgan, in 19:54. Although this wasn't one of Morgan's best races, I very proud of how he fought back from his mid-season injuries to be part of our first team at state.
What’s coming up:
The cross country season is pretty much over. There is no more practice and the meets are done. Varsity athletes, please turn your uniforms in to Kevin or Chris.
We hope to see you all at the awards dinner on Sunday December 4th at 2 PM. Then, after a short rest, we can all start practicing for track and field.
November 20th Update
Congratulations to the boys and Katy for qualifying for the state championship. I thought all the kids ran well this week at the NCS championship and we are looking forward to going down to Fresno for the state championship next weekend. A big thanks to all you parents for coming down to the meet on Saturday and supporting all the kids. I know they all appreciated it as much as I. And the after race pizza party was a lot of fun. Thanks to Chris for coming out and cheering us on!
What's Been Happening:
On Saturday we went to Hayward High School for the NCS Championship meet. It was a beautiful day for running. The girls were the first race of the day for us. The team placed tenth. Our first runner was Katy Lee (19:01) placing 8th. Katy PR'd on the course and qualified for the state championship. I thought Katy's performance was inspiring and a very brave effort, considering she was fighting through the last month of the season with a leg injury. Our second runner was Kiana (20:30) in 31st place. I know Kiana was a little disappointed with the results, but she had a great season and should be proud of all she has accomplished. I'm looking forward to seeing her play some basketball next because she is also a great basketball player. Our third runner was Emily in 23:36, for 68th place. Emily finished off a fine season with another solid run. One of my goals for the new girls was to have them average under 8 minutes per mile and Emily crushed that on Saturday. I think by next year she could be looking at getting close to 7 min per mile. Our fourth runner was Amy in 23:49, in 71st place. Amy continues to grow as a distance runner and getting further away from that sprinters mentality. She has proved to herself and to us that she can run strong over 3 miles. Next year she, too, will take huge amounts of time off her performances. Our fifth girl was Clare in 23:57, for 73rd place. Clare returned to the scoring top five, helping the team with a strong run and ending her season on a very positive note. The sixth runner was Yzzy in 26:25, 95th place. Friday Yzzy was fighting a stomach virus. Yzzy has such a strong love for running and team spirit that she dragged herself to the meet even though she wasn't feeling her best, just to help the team. Even though she was under the weather, she improved her time over last year by 2 ½ minutes. Our next runner was Sinclaire in 26:34 for 96th place. Sinclaire was our only freshman to make the trip to NCS and considering this was her first really big meet, I thought she held up quite well. I'm looking forward to even more success from her next year.
Our second race of the day was the Boys' Varsity. By placing fourth the boys earned us a trip to the state championship. They are the first SA team to do that, and I don't think it will be the last. The boys team time was over 5 minutes faster than last year. Leading the boys was Jax in 16:27 for 11th place. As he has been doing all year long, Jax closed over the last mile with great success. I don't know how he does it, but he just seems to find another gear. Our second runner was Patrick in 16:53 for 27th place. This was a great surprise and a very spirited run. Until this race, Patrick had never been any higher than our fifth guy. So much talent and so much promise! I'm excited to watch him run over the next two years. Third for us was Aaron in 16:57, in 28th place. As always, Aaron ran a very steady and controlled race. He's our Mr. Consistent and has been a great team leader for the underclassmen all season long. Fourth runner was Jacob in 17:08, 39th place. Jacob had a little bit of a rough race, but because of his strong will and big heart he was able to fight through it and still finish strong to help guarantee that the team made it to the state championship. In my eyes he is a true warrior. The fifth runner for us today was Austin O. in 17:21, in 41st place. I could see that Austin was hurting in the middle stages of the race, but there is no quit in this kid. As he knew on this day that he was our fifth scorer and his points we going to play a big role in us making it to the state championships. He mustered up a strong finish and believe me, we all appreciate it. Sixth today was Graham in 18:17, 64th place. As always, Graham put out a 100% effort and fought hard to the finish, even though he was a little bit off. I'm looking forward to a big rebound performance from him at the state meet. Seventh runner was Morgan in 18:39, 82nd place. Morgan PR'd by over 40 seconds from last year and continues to get stronger each week. And I think he's going to have a big race next week in Fresno.
What’s coming up:
Those who qualified will be headed for the state championship in Fresno next weekend. We will be leaving Friday at 9 AM from the school. If you will be traveling down with us, please let me know. Kids going in the van should pack a lunch to eat on the way (turkey sandwiches!) and have some running clothes available. If you are traveling separately, we plan to meet at the course at Woodward Park in Clovis at 2:30. This will be a good time for the kids to buy T shirts, get pictures and have a practice run on the course.
The athletes will be staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites, 885 Gettysburg Ave in Clovis. (559.348.0000) While they were fully booked last week, they may have rooms opening up this week as other teams cancel.
We also have rooms at the Holiday Inn Express at 650 W. Shaw Avenue in Clovis that are available for the families. Please let Cate know by Tuesday if you will need a room there (cate1802@hotmail.com.)
We have reservations for dinner at 5:30 at DiCicco's Italian Restaurant (it's a pasta feed!) at 408 Clovis Avenue in Clovis. Please let Cate know how many from your family will be joining us for dinner so that we can update the reservation.
On Saturday the Division V girls run at 9:05 and the boys will run at 10:10. For those of you who cannot join us in Fresno, the results will be posted on line.
Michael has posted maps and details on the team blog site under the “Race Info” tab as well.
November 13th Update
Congratulations to all three teams: Varsity Boys, Varsity girls, and JV Boys for bringing Conference Championships plaques home for the second year in a row. I'm so proud of the way the teams responded to the challenge of repeating and defending their conference titles. Of the 31 athletes that ran at CMC, 29 of them PR'd. That's some great running! All year long the kids have worked hard to become a team and support one another and at the CMC meet all that working together and all that team spirit was on display through their performances. These kids make me look good as a coach.
Thank you so much to the parents, Michael and Julia for making this such a successful season.
What's Been Happening:
Last Wednesday we went to Ft. Bragg for the CMC championship. We took a nice bus ride up highlighted by song and laughter. The first race of the day was the JV Boys race. The JV Boys scored 38 points, beating 2nd place Cloverdale by a scant 6 points. The JV team was lead by Eli (Johnny) in 5th place at 20:47. This boy is going to make a strong bid for Varsity next year. In 7th was Hayden (21:12) with a very fine performance. 8th place was Eli (21:14) in a nice bounce back race from last week. In 12th was Billy (21:59) who continues to run very strong races. Justin (23:00) came in 16th and as the 5th scorer secured the team win. In 20th was Oscar (23:40), one of the most improved runners from last year's team. In 23rd place was Chauncey (24:00.) His performance is showing good things to come. In 25th place was Chris (24:18) who continues to be one of the most improved runners from the beginning of the season until now. In 29th place was Sean in (24:58) a nice season ending run.
The second race of the day was the Varsity Girls. The girls won with a score of 54 to second place St. Helena's 66. The girls were lead by 2nd place Katy (21:27) - a purely gutsy race by a very gutsy girl. 4th in 22:58 was Kiana. I knew she was saving her best races for the end and she did just that. 14th was Yzzy in 25:46, the most improved runner on the team. A year ago Yzzy was in the bottom 20 and now she is in the top 20. 18th was Emily (26:26), she ran a well pace race with a lot of confidence. 22nd was Amy (26:54) with another solid race. She was our 5th scorer, locking in the title for the girls. 23rd was Claire (27:20). it was nice to see her aggressive running style. In 29th was Sinclaire (27:45), the top freshman on the team and the only one on the team to go to NCS. 47th in 29:17 was Lilly, with a very fine end of season run. In 48th in 29:31 was Zoe who is continuing to have a very fine season. In 55th in 30:31 was Maddy who keeps working her way right up the team ladder. In 59th in 30:43 was Nora with a much better run than last week. In 64th in 31:31 was Katherine finishing her senior year on a strong note. Shani came in 67th in 31:57 looking strong.
The third race of the day was the Boys Varsity. The boys won in 20, followed by Cloverdale at 94. The 20 points that the boys scored was the lowest total put up by a team since 1968. Leading the way in second was Jax in 18:13. That performance earned Jax the Heart & Sole Athlete of the Week. It was an amazing run. Third in 18:33 was Aaron with a big break through run. I look for big things from him at NCS. Fourth in 18:41 was Jacob, as always, solid as a rock. Fifth in 18:51 was Austin O. with another amazing effort. 6th place in 18:57 was Patrick with another big time performance. In 16th in 19:48, Graham ran a solid race in borrowed shoes. In 24th in 20:12 was Morgan with another solid effort post injury. 28th in 20:25 was Austin G. It was a great season by Austin.
What’s coming up:
From here on out it will be Varsity only.
Friday we will be having a Varsity pasta feed at the Johnson's. Time and directions will be given out later in the week.
The NCS Championship meet will be in Hayward at Hayward High School on Saturday 11/19. For anyone who needs a ride, we will be leaving from the school at 6:15 AM sharp. If you are driving on your own we would like to have the girls there no later than 8 AM and the boys no later than 8:30. The girls will be running at 9 followed by the boys at 10. The top five teams in each race will get to go to the State Championship in Fresno along with the top 5 individuals. Last year Katy Lee and Jax Reiff made the cut as individuals.
After the meet, Christine Lee has made us reservations at Mary's Pizza at 121 San Marin Drive in Novato. Folks who are not able to make it to the meet, are welcome to join us for the after party. We should be there about 2 PM.
Chris has already made reservations for the athletes in case they make it to Fresno. After NCS, any parents who are interested in going to Fresno with us should contact Cate (cate1802@hotmail.com) for hotel info.
November 7th Update
For those of you that missed the breakfast run yesterday, I'm sorry because we had a great run and an awesome breakfast prepared by Cate and some of the parents.
I want to say congratulations to the two soccer teams for their wins on Saturday night. Good luck to both teams in their semifinal games of the NCS championships. Congratulations as well to the volleyball team for making the NCS playoffs.
As far as our team goes, this is the last week of practice for the JV's. We will have practice on Monday and Tuesday and then the league championship on Wednesday.
What's Been Happening:
Last Wednesday we had our final league dual meet in Fort Bragg, at the same site where the League Championship will be held. The course name is Bald Hill and it is 2.9 miles and very hilly. All three teams won their races and are now 6-0 for the season.
Leading the way for the JV Boys was Eli/Johnny (21:39.) Johnny was not only the first SA runner but was the first runner over all. Word is that Johnny loved the course. Second SA runner was Hayden (22:06) with another nice performance. Following Hayden was Billy (22:09.) Billy was also third overall, nice bounce back race from last week. Our fourth runner was Justin (23:27.) Justin told me he “loved the hill.” The fifth SA runner was Tristan (24:39) in another solid performance. Our sixth SA runner was Chris (25:04). The way he held up his hands crossing the finish I could tell he was proud of his effort. Next across the line was Chauncey (25:34.) I am looking forward to him stepping up big at the conference finals. Two places later was Sean (25:59) who continues to show strong late season efforts.
Leading the Varsity Girls was Kiana in 25:47. She continues to be one of the top runners in the league. The second SA runner and fifth overall was Yzzy (27:02) who continues to look stronger every week. The third girl Coyote was Amy (27:24) with a very impressive finish over the last 400 meters. Fourth SA girl, and also cracking the top ten overall was Emily (27:53.) This was the first time Emily was in the top five for SA. Good job! Two places behind Emily was Sinclair in 28:34. There is never any quit in this girl. Sixth SA runner was Claire (29:54) who fought hard to beat the hill. Right behind Claire was Zoe (30:15) showing a strong effort coming off a sprained ankle. Next in was Nora (32:36.) Although Nora had a spill on the course, she got up and showed her moxie with her finish.
The Varsity Boys swept the first five places, making their 6th perfect score, led by Jacob (19:04.) Jacob looked extremely strong coming down the hill. Nice victory. Second was Jax (19:13) in a very solid effort. Third across the line was Aaron (19:15) making our top three very solid. Fourth was Graham (19:38) for the first time in that position. Fifth was Patrick (19:49.) His consistently strong effort makes us dangerous to any other team. Our sixth runner was Morgan (20:14), in eight overall. Morgan is back running strong. Our seventh runner for the day, Austin G. (20:54) who continues to step up big time for the team. Next across the line was Eli (23:54) who toughed it out to the finish although he had severe stomach cramps.
What’s coming up:
On Wednesday we have the CMC conference championships in Fort Bragg at the Bald Mountain course. JV Boys will run at 2 PM, Girls at 2:45 and Varsity Boys at 3:30. Metals will go to the top 15 varsity runners and the top ten JV runners. Team plaques will be awarded for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd varsity teams as well as the 1st place JV team. This should be an exciting day for us and we are hoping to bring home quite a few medals and all 3 plaques. We are the defending champions in all three races and all three teams have a good chance to repeat this year.
We would love to have parents join us to watch the meet. You may want to bring binoculars, it's that kind of a course.
There will be no JV practice after Wednesday, you guys are off the hook for the year. Varsity athletes will continue to practice.
For those that make the Varsity team, we are planning a trip to see the Hayward course where the NCS meet will be held. We will be taking off from Sonoma Academy at 1:30 on Saturday. We will be returning between 10-11 PM. A little bit about the outing – we will go to Hayward and run on the course, then we will drive into San Francisco for some dinner and a little fun. The varsity athletes always enjoy this time together. The only cost for the athletes will be money for dinner.
October 30th Update
The Coyote Express is off and running as all three teams came away with victories at last Wednesday's meet in Cloverdale. The day was highlighted by Katy Lee's new course record in 19:28 and Jax Reiff's course PR in 17:39. After such a quality performance from the kids on Wed I was thinking that on Friday the kids might let down a little in the their work out. But no, they crushed it and worked hard during one of the most difficult work outs I gave them all year. I might have to give them a few more really hard workouts. I think they really enjoy them. Ha, ha gang.
What's Been Happening:
On Wednesday we ran our fifth league meet up in Cloverdale at the Asti Winery course. The JV boys and the Varsity girls started the meet off with both teams running their records to 5-0. The JV boys raced first across the line placing second overall was Johnny in 20:25. How does Johnny do it? Get all those great pictures and run all those great races? Our second runner was Eli in 20:53. Our next was Hayden in 20:58. This was the first time for Hayden to average under 7 minute miles. Fourth for us was Tristan in 22:05, with another strong performance. Following Tristan was Chauncey (22:06) who is starting to show more consistency in his running. Chris was next in 22:26, continuing to show great improvement. Sean (22:43) is showing signs of late season flash. Right behind Sean was Justin in 22:55, very sound effort. Closely following Justin was Oscar in 22:56, which was a 2.5 minute PR over last year. I couldn't be prouder of what Oscar has achieved with hard work. Next was Billy in 24:16. He had a little bit of a rough go, but still worked hard.
The Varsity Girls were lead by Katy in 19:28, a new course record. Strong performance, great run. Next was Kiana in 22:57. When the time is right, this Coyote is going to bust out a big one. Yzzy was our third girl in 25:51, a 3:20 PR. What can I say, but “Awesome!” Fourth was Claire in 26:04, fighting hard to the finish. Next was Sinclare in 26:41, rebounding with a very solid performance. Next across the line was Emily in 27:40. She continues to make a late season charge at a Varsity spot. Nora was our next runner at 29:13, a very sound effort. Next was Katherine at 30:32 and Amy at 30:33. Following these two was Shani in 30:39. She is fighting leg problems but continues to run through it. Next was Maddie at 31:02, this girl never gives up.
Varsity boys race Sonoma Academy 15 – Roseland Prep 47 The boys continue to be perfect in league. Not only have they gone 5- 0 for the season, but have won each meet with a perfect 15. Pure perfection. Leading the boys was Jax (17:39) who continues to show why he is one of the best runners in the CMC. Right behind Jax was Aaron in 18:00. One of his best races of the year. Third Coyote today was Austin O. in 18:19, showing a lot of heart with a big kick down the stretch. The fourth Coyote was Patrick in 18:38 which was 1:25 PR. He has had huge improvements all year long. Running a very strong race was Graham in 18:39, just so solid. Our sixth runner today was Jacob in 18:48. Jacob is fighting a bit of a cold, but fought through it to run strong. Next was Austin G. in 18:56, a 34 second PR. What can I say except he just keeps getting better and better. Next was Morgan in 19:34, a 2 second PR. He seems to be getting stronger from his mid season injury.
What’s coming up:
We're getting close to the end of the season. JV's only have 10 more days and their season will be over after our league championships.
On Tuesday of this week we will have no practice. There is no school that day and it is the day before a long trip and our last league meet in Ft. Bragg. Kids should run on their own that day. On Wednesday our meet is in Fort Brag and we will be running against Calistoga. It will be a good chance for us to go up and see the course we will be running next week at the league championship. We will be riding the bus. Athletes need to be on the bus, ready to go at 11:30.
Sunday we are going to have a pancake run. We will start at Howarth Park at 9 AM, go for run then we will enjoy a pancake breakfast. Parents, if you show up and run, we will feed you also. Yes, you must run to eat, no exceptions. This includes Athletic Directors and their assistants.
October 23rd Update
As we wind down to the end of the season I couldn't be prouder of the way the teams have developed and the progress they keep making week after week. This was very apparent in the way they competed at last Wednesday's meet, our final home meet. I was so proud of the way that all three teams really came together with yet another win in each division: JV Boys, Varsity Boys, and Varsity Girls. All three teams remain undefeated in league competition.
Along with the three victories, the day was even more special because it was Senior Day and we got to honor our three seniors: Aaron Rotman, Eli Booker and Katherine Parsells.
Once again, a big thanks to all the parents who came out and helped us with the meet. Many thanks as well to Chris and Kevin for their continuing support.
What's Been Happening:
Last Wednesday we went up against Upper Lake. Going into the meet both teams were undefeated in all three divisions. The first race of the day was JV Boys and Varsity Girls. The JV Boys won 25-36 and the Varsity Girls won 25-31. As has been the case all season long, the JV Boys were lead to victory by Johnny Whoop in 17:38, another impressive outing. Following Johnny was Hayden. Hayden has emerged as the consistent 2 or 3 runner for the JV team. Following right behind Hayden at number three was Tristan in 18:45, which was a 23 second PR for Tristan. Our fourth runner was Justin in 18:47, showing nice improvement as he PR-ed by 19 seconds. The fifth Coyote runner was Billy in 18:54, a solid effort. Sixth SA runner was Chauncey (18:56) with a nice 24 second PR. Seventh across the line was Chris (19:13), who is becoming quite the competitor. Next across the line was Sean in 19:45. I feel like this was his best race of the year. The next SA runner was Oscar in 19:48, a 45 second PR. Oscar keeps showing that hard work pays off.
The lead runner for the girls was Katy in 18:37. Props to Katy for coming out when she's not at her best to help the team. Second was Kiana in 18:49 which was 28 seconds faster than she ran on this course earlier this year. Third for SA was Amy in 20:54, which was a 1:08 PR. Her race was just awesome. Fourth SA runner was Claire in 21:44. She showed a lot of guts and determination climbing that last hill to claim a key Upper Lake runner. Fifth was Yzzy in 22:13. Another big improvement as she just keeps dropping her times. Sixth runner was Emily at 23:19 making a big season ending push to be one of the Varsity seven. Seventh runner of the day was Zoe in 23:30, a 35 second PR. Great running Zoe! Right behind Zoe was Sinclare in 8th place at 23:37. Sinclare showed a lot of guts attacking the first part of the race. 9th SA runner was Katherine in 24:00 a 19 second PR – a good senior effort. Next across the line was Nora in 24:14. This was a solid effort for her first time on this course. Next was Shani at 24:38, also a solid effort for her first time on the course. Lilly was our next runner across the line in 25:04, feeling the effects of some dehydration. The girls did a fine job with the battle throughout, but over the last mile they passed several key Upper Lake girls to secure the victory. Great team win girls!
The Boys Varsity race was the second race of the day. Like the other two teams they were going up against the undefeated Upper Lake squad. The boys ended up not only winning but posting a perfect score of 15 to Upper Lake's 47. Leading the way was Jax in 14:50 which was an SA school record for the course. Great performance Jax! Second was Jacob in 15:01, which was also under the old SA course record. I like your spirit. Third was Aaron in 15:19, which was his season best. He continues to show great senior leadership. Fourth was Austin O. in 15:20 which was a 24 second PR, making me a real believer. Fifth in 15:43 was Patrick with a 22 second PR, another solid effort by our only sophmore in the top 7. The sixth runner of the day was Austin G. in 16:16. The first time for Austin finishing in the top 6. An awesome run. Seventh runner was Graham in 16:28. 18 second PR for this year. Next across the line was Morgan in 17:00 Morgan keeps showing good signs of returning from his back injury. Next was Eli in 17:08 getting closer and closer to cracking the top seven - keep working hard. I'm proud of the way the boys kept their calm and poise going into this, their most important league meet of the year so far.
What’s coming up:
This Wednesday we have our second to last league meet before the Championships. The meet will be in Cloverdale. We will be running out at Asti Vineyards where the league meet was held last year. In addition to SA, the teams that will be there will be Ft. Bragg, Roseland Prep and Cloverdale. We will be competing against Roseland Prep and Ft. Bragg will be racing Cloverdale. The meet starts at 3:30. The athletes will be released from class at 1:30 and need to be on the bus by 1:45. Their estimated time of return is 6:15 PM.
I want to give special props to Chris and Kevin and the SA administration for making it possible the team to travel down to the Cowboy Canyon Invitational. Also. Special thanks to Erika for volunteering her time to help drive the kids down to the meet. And as always, thank you Michael for being there for all the kids. You're a brave soul!
What's been Happening:
This past week was a very busy week for the team. On Wednesday we traveled to Lake County for our league meet. Our opponent was Point Arena and all three SA teams came home victorious. The Varsity Boys scored a perfect score (15) taking the first six places. The Varsity Girls had five girls in the top 9 and JV Boys put 6 runners in the top 10.
On Friday we traveled down to Castaic for the Cowboy Canyon Invite. The meet was on Saturday and I thought the kids did very well, considering the long trip down. The boys took fourth place as a team in the small school varsity race, missing third by 3 points and second by 11 points. The JV Girls Team got 4th place and the Frosh-Soph Boys Team placed 6th. The trip was very successful as the kids had an enjoyable time running on a new course and enjoying the festivities at Magic Mountain. The trip was miles of smiles :-) I don't know which was scarier, the kids being at Magic Mountain for Fright Night or traveling down to Los Angeles with 28 rambunctious teenagers. I must be insane!
There will be pictures of the trip posted on the blog site soon.
What’s coming up:
On Wednesday will be our final home meet against Upper Lake. FYI, both our team and Upper Lake are undefeated for both boys and girls, so this meet could well decide the league championship. In addition, there will be added excitement of Joe Carrillo, the phenom from Cloverdale, running in our meet.
The meet starts at 3:30 PM. As always, we are looking for parent volunteers to help. If you can lend a hand, please be at the school by 3:15. This will be the final home meet for our three seniors – Aaron Rotman, Eli Booker and Katherine Parsells.
After this week, there are only two weeks of the regular season left. After that point, only varsity will have a chance to continue on.
I just thought I would check in with all of you and let you know how the team is progressing since we haven't had a race in a couple of weeks. We got to run our first workout in the rain out at the park. Everybody seemed to enjoy running in the wetness and splashing in the puddles. That first rain work out always seems to be a lot of fun for the runners. The kids are working hard and I look forward to the next four weeks as we keep preparing to peak at the CMC championship in November.
What’s coming up:
Tuesday is picture day. All athletes need to remember to bring their uniform.
On Wednesday we will be headed up to Lower Lake for our 3rd league meet. We will be competing against Pt. Arena. Lower Lake and Ft. Bragg will also be there competing against each other. The meet starts at 3:30 and will be held at Adams Spring Golf Course. The athletes will be going by bus and need to be on board with all your gear ready for a 12:30 departure. Don't forget your water bottles.
On Saturday we will be competing at the Cowboy Canyon Invite in Castaic. This meet has confirmed entries from 101 teams, with 1955 athletes participating. You will be able to find results at EPIsports.com.There will be two divisions, large school and small school. Small schools are schools with 2000 students or less. Pretty big by our standards!
We will be leaving for Castaic from the school at about 12 noon on Friday. Athletes should pack a brown bag meal for the trip. While we are down there, we will be staying at the La Quinta in Santa Clarita. After the meet on Saturday the kids will be going to Magic Mountain. We will return to Sonoma County on Sunday. Cell phone numbers in case you need to contact us while we are gone: Danny 707-479-2521, Cate 707-974-8527 & Michael 707-291-9381.
On Wednesday the 19th, after we get back from Castaic, we will have our second and last home meet. It will also be 'Sr. Day' so be sure and mark your calendars.
I want to thank all the parents, along with Chris and Kevin, for putting on a wonderful meet for our first home meet this last Thursday. It went off with no hitches and it's great to have so much help. I continue to feel so lucky to have so much support. We will have one more home meet this season, so I hope you all have October 19th marked on your calendar.
What's been Happening:
Last Thursday was our first of two home league meets. The kids came out with good enthusiasm and it showed in their performances, with both the girls' and boys' varsity teams posting perfect scores of 15.
The girls started the meet off with Katy Lee taking first place in 17:08, winning by over a minute. Katy continues to run well. Our next runner was Kiana taking third over all in 19:17. Kiana, I'm sure you'll get catch the Ft Bragg girl at league. Our third runner was Claire in 22:01. It's great to see Claire back so fast from her knee injury. Next was Amy (22:02), in a big breakthrough race. Next over the line was Yzzy (22:43) in 10th over, getting a two minute PR over last year. Placing 12th over all was Lily (23:29) running a great second half, pushing her way up through the pack. In 13th place was Sinclare in her best race since the opener at Rancho Cotate (23:55). 15th place was Zoe (24:05) who continues to run hard races. In 16th place Katherine (24:19) who ran tough. Team scores: SA 15 – St. Vincent 48. The girls' win put them 2-0 for league. It's also nice to know that they would have beaten the other two teams at this meet as well.
The boys were led by Jax (15:31), just a few seconds off his own personal best. It's good to see his first win of the season. Second was Austin O. (15:44). Austin had an amazing last 800 meters. Third was Aaron (15:54). Aaron just keeps getting closer and closer to our top runners. Fifth was Patrick (16:21) he continues to run well. 6th was Graham (16:41) with a very nice effort. 7th was Austin G. (16:46). Another great race by Austin, as he is giving the boys team a lot of depth. 10th place was Johnny (17:22). This was the first time all year Johnny was in our top seven, claiming a varsity spot for the day.15th was Hayden (18:39) and 16th was Bill ( 18:40). Both of these boys worked well together and pushed each other to a fine finish. In 19th was Justin (19:05) running a very fine second half. 21st was Tristan (19:08) who continues to grow as a runner. 22nd was Chris (19:14) in his finest race to date. 24th was Chauncey (19:19) who ran very aggressively early in the race. I like it. 30th was Oscar (20:27) with a big 45 second PR over last year. 34th was Sean (24:14). Sean fell early in the race, got back up with gritty determination, and still caught four runners. Very gutsy. Team score: SA 15; St. Vincent 49. The boys are also now 2-0 for league.
What’s coming up:
We have no meets this coming week. On Tuesday we will be hosting a junior high meet at the SA campus. All the athletes will be responsible for putting on the meet.
Our next meet will be October 12th in Lower Lake where we will be competing against Point Arena.
And then on Saturday the 15th we will be heading to the Cowboy Canyon meet in Castaic. Please make sure you have followed up with Chris as to whether or not you're going.
I want to thank all the parents for the support at the Stanford Invite. We appreciate you driving the kids there and getting them to the race on time. It was great to have that many people cheering on the sidelines.
Thank you, Erika and all the helper parents that put together a fun pasta feed for the kids. It was a great team bonding event!
What's been Happening:
This past week, in the midst of a heat wave, we had our first league competition against Rincon Valley Christian, with all three teams earning league wins. That would be Varsity Girls, Varsity Boys and JV Boys, as there are no JV girls teams in our league. Because of the high temperatures, we didn't really have any earth shattering times, but we did have some highlights. Most of those coming from Saturday's competition at Stanford.
League Meet #1:
Our first league meet was at Spring Lake where we competed against Rincon Valley Christian. Kelseyville and Lower Lake were also competing that day. The first race of the day was comprised of the JV Boys and Varsity Girls. As is custom in our league meets, the JV Boys and the Varsity girls run together. Top ten JV Boys were: Eli Rosen-Duran (SA, 20:31); Justin Nichols (SA, 21:53); Hayden Kinney (SA, 22:20); Tristan Stillman (SA, 22:23); Chauncey Johnson (SA, 23:59); Noah Peterson (RVC, 24:47); Chris Reed (SA, 24:50); Sean Kneeland (SA, 25:10); Zach Tracy (RVC, 26:17).
The highlights for this race was SA sweeping the first 5 places. Johnny lead the way with a very fine PR of 20:31. Another fine performance came from Chris Reed who had a PR time of 24:50. Score: SA 15 – RVC Inc.
In the varsity girls race Katy and Kiana placed first and second. Both girls ran very controlled races, saving their big efforts for their race in Stanford on Saturday. Placing 6th over all was Claire in a PR of 24:33. Seventh place was Katherine in 26:27 seasonal best. Score: SA 15 -RVC Inc.
The second race of the day was the Varsity Boys. Because of the heat, we had all six boys run together through the first 2 miles and at the end they went 1 through 6 in the race. Lead by Jacob (18:37), then Jax (18:38), Aaron (18:39), Austin O. (18:40), Patrick (18:46), Austin G. (19:22). And they still saved plenty of energy for their race on Saturday. Score: SA 15 – RVC Inc.
Stanford Invite:
At the Stanford Invitational we sent two teams consisting of our top seven girls and top seven boys. Before their race, the boys seemed relaxed, yet confidant, ready to take on the best teams in the state and even a few teams from out of state. When it was all said and done the boys placed third overall, beating the Urban team which was ranked one place ahead of them in the last NCS rankings. This should move them up one or two spots and I wouldn't be surprised if they were ranked second or third when the next rankings come out. The boys were lead by Jacob (17:11) in 14th overall with a 32 second PR. Next came Jax (17:12) with a 14 second PR. Our third runner for the day was Aaron (17:50) in 34th place after running a very intelligent race. Following Aaron was Austin O. (17:53), who continues to compete well, coming in 36th place. Our 5th runner was Patrick (17:56) in another amazing effort for 38th place. Number 6 runner of the day was Morgan (19:14) in 96th. Even though Morgan was running with a sore back he had a 1:20 PR. Our seventh runner was Austen G. (19:18) who continues to show nice improvement, coming in 100th place. This puppy wants to get off the porch and run with the big dogs. There were 150 boys in the race and 18 teams. All seven boys had great last miles and they each managed to pass several other athletes in the final stretch. Nice team running boys! The best kick of the day goes to Patrick.
In the girls' race, Katy Lee (18:45) came in third overall with a 34 second PR over last year. Katy's goal is to run 6 min mile pace for a 5k and this race averaged 6:03. No doubt she will reach her goal soon. Our second girl was Kiana (21:06) in 33rd place, a 43 second improvement over last year. Nice running Kiana! The team was rounded out by Amy (25:21) in 111, which was a 5k PR. Next was Yzzy (26:05) in 118th place, also a 5k PR. Next was Katherine (28:25) in 126. Our 6th runner was Emily (31:31) for 131st. The 7th runner, Clare, on our team only made it about 50 yards before she took a spill, hurting her knee. She was unable to finish the race. We hope she will be back out running soon.
What’s coming up:
This coming week we will be hosting a league meet on our home course at SA on Thursday against St. Vincents. The other two teams that will be there are Fort Bragg and Kelseyville. We are looking for parent volunteers to help us with the meet. There are positions available for course monitors and finish line crew. The work is so easy that we will take people with masters, or even doctors. Volunteers should be at the school by 3:45 PM. The meet will start at 4 PM.
For those of you who saw the meet at Del Oro High School for next Saturday on the schedule – it is no longer on our schedule, so you parents can all take a break next weekend. (Athletes can still go out and run.)
Some Background:
Now that we have started the league meets, it seems like a good time to discuss how this cross country competition stuff works.
Our school belongs to the Central Mountain Conference. The CMC is comprised of 12 small schools. All these schools are Division 4 (500-1150 students) or Division 5 (less than 500 students.) The CMC is broken up into 2 leagues, CMC-North and CMC-South. We will compete against each of the other teams in our league (CMC-So) once during the season.
Our meets are double, dual meets. Four teams come to compete: 2 from the north and 2 from the south. Although all 4 teams run together, we only score against the other team in our league. For instance, on Wednesday the meet was attended by SA, RVC, Lower Lake and Kelseyville. It was SA vs RVC and Lower Lake vs Kelseyville. SA beat RVC in both the Boys and Girls Varsity races, so they have one win credited in both the boys and girls league competition. (Although it is nice to know that if all 4 teams had been scored as one competition, SA would have still won ;-)
The league championship and the conference championship will be decided at the same race, at the end of the season. The league championship will be the team who has the most wins in both the dual meets and the championship meet combined. So a perfect season would be 10-0. 5 wins during the dual meets and beating all 5 other team in the same league at the championship.
The conference championship will the the overall winner of the 12 teams at the championship meet.
After conference, the varsity teams get to go to North Coast Sectionals. At NCS we no longer compete against the teams in our league or conference but all the Division 5 schools in our Section. The top teams and individuals from NCS get to go to the State meet.
Scoring: In cross country smaller is better when it comes to scores. A team can have up to 7 runners. The top 5 runners count in the score. The score is simply a sum of all the runners' places. So a perfect score would be 15 (1+2+3+4+5.) The 6th and 7th runners on a team do not score, but can help a lot by pushing members of the other team further back in the pack. A team with less than 5 runners cannot score and are indicated as Inc. (incomplete.)
September 19th Update
What an exciting week of running for the howling Coyotes! As all of
you know, we had two meets this past week, both at Spring Lake – the
Interlock (3 mile course) on Wednesday and the Viking Invite on
Saturday (2 mile course) Both days I thought the kids ran with a
positive spirit and high intensity as shown by the results which
included many personal course PR's (personal records.) At both meets
the boys have made huge statements that they are an NCS podium team.
The girls continue to show steady improvement and will be contenders
for a league title.
It was nice to see a good turn out of parents at both Wednesday and
Saturday's meets. Although I'm not around the tarp area much during
competitions, I did notice the great enthusiasm the parents bring when
supporting the team.
A special shout out to all our sick kids. Hope all of you are feeling
better soon. We miss you.
We would like to welcome our newest member to the team. Maddy just
joined us last Tuesday and was brave enough to take on the challenge
of a race on Saturday.
What's been Happening:
Super Septo Interlock: I hope all of you got to see the article about
Katy Lee, in the PD after Wednesday's meet, which was well deserved
due to her first place win and school record time.
On the girls' side we started the meet with a win by Kiana in the JV
Girls' race. She continues to work her way back from her IT band
injury, each week getting stronger and stronger. Coming in second for
us was Amy, who ran a nice 25:33. My crystal ball says she will
continue to improve by leaps and bounds. Our number three runner was
Yzzy in a time of 25:43, which was a better than 3:30 PR. Yzzy, you
are DY-NO-MITE! Our fourth girl was Claire. A nice solid performance
after a week traveling back East. Next across the line was Zoe, in
26:32, a very strong effort for this young Coyote. The 6th runner in
was Katherine, in 26:44. Katherine was fighting a touch of the flu and
ran very a gutsy race. Our 7th runner was Nora, in what I considered a
break though race of 27:28. For 8th and 9th , in almost a dead tie
were, Lilly and Shani in 27:29. Both girls continue to show steady
improvement. Our 10th runner was Sinclare, in 27:33, always working
hard through the entire race.
The Varsity Girls race was won by Katy Lee in an outstanding time of
18:30. Katy's time was a 39 second PR, was the 20th fastest time ever
run by a JR girl on that course, and broke her own school record. And
this was all done with very little competition, as she was ahead of
the field by about a minute.
Our first JV Boy was Austin Garcia in a very impressive 19:05. This
was a 1:30 PR for Austin. The second runner was Eli / Johnny Whoop in
a fantastic time of 20:40. Johnny keeps amazing me every time he runs.
Our third and fourth runners were Justin and Chauncey in 21:10 and
21:11. Justin keeps running solid race after race. And Chauncey is a
star just waiting to be born. Our 5th runner was Hayden in 21:26.
Hayden's comment was, “Coach, I felt good.” The sixth Coyote was
Tristan in 22:08. Tristan just keeps turning out quality runs. Next
Coyote across the line was Sean in 22:15, who showed nice closing
speed again. Our 8th runner, Oscar (24:14), had a 1:20 PR. This was a
well deserved PR as Oscar has been working extremely hard over the
last couple of weeks. SA's 9th runner was Billy in 25:00. I would say
he is starting to look like he enjoys this running stuff. Next was
Chris in 25:10, using his own relaxed approach. 11th was Tilloch in
25:14 which was a 0:15 PR, always a proud Coyote.
This was another rocking performance for the Varsity Boys Team. They
ran over 3 minutes faster as a team than last year at this meet. Our
first man today was Jacob, in a new school record for the course of
16:58, becoming the first Coyote to break 17 minutes on this course.
Monster performance! Second was Jax in 17:04, who also finished under
the old school record, Jax continues to run great performance followed
by great performance. The third runner was Austin O. in 17:20. Oh my
gosh can this boy compete! The fourth Coyote was Patrick in 18:08.
Patrick is starting to believe that he belongs right there, running
with the big boys. Patrick had a 2:30 PR 5th for SA was Morgan at
18:22. Morgan continued to show great improvement as he PR'd by 1:40.
Our 6th runner was Graham in 19:14. A little bit off his best time as
he is fighting through some serious knee pain that would have
sidelined a lesser runner.
Viking Opener:
Saturday we came into the Viking Opener off great performances on
Wednesday. I thought we might have a little let down in performance,
but not this bunch, they just raised the bar one more notch.
The first race of the day was Frosh-Soph Boys with 117 runners. Our
first runner in 17th place was Patrick (11:27), a 1:20 PR over last
year. In 64th was Johnny (12:39) – “Fantastic Mr. Whoop!” 92nd was
Justin (13:37) – “Solid.” 93rd Chauncey (13:38) – “Booyah.” 95th
Tristin (13:38) – “Like it.” As a team they placed 16th out 24 teams.
The Frosh–Soph Girls' race had 95 runners. 60th was Amy (15:22) –
“Here we go.” 72nd , Yzzy (16:25), a 2:05 PR – “On the fast trail.”
75Th, Nora (16:34) – “Just believe.” 80th Zoe (16:56) – “Feel no
pain.” 81St , Sinclare (17:04) – “Pain is my friend.” SA was 17th out
of 20 teams.
The Junior Boys race had 98 runners. 10Th, Jacob (10:52) - “Studly.”
12th, Jax (11:03) - “Coyote Pride.” 14th, , Austin O. (11:08) -
“Hero.” 28th, Graham (11:47) - “Bringing it.” 33rd, Morgan (11:52) -
“Smooth as silk.” The boys were on the podium - 2nd out of 23 teams.
The Junior-Senior Girls race had 95 runners. 2Nd, Katy (11:52 / 18th
all time) - “All world.” 20th, Kiana (13:15) - “Gifted.” 84th,
Katherine (17:07) - “True Grit.” 85th, Shani (17:26) - “Miles of
smiles.” The girls team was 6th place out 22.
Open Girls – 119 runners. 69Th, Lilly (16:52) - “Persistent.” 93rd,
Maddie (18:36) - “Welcome to running.” There were not enough SA girls
for a team score.
Senior Boys – 77 runners. 32Nd, Aaron (11:40) - “Bionic man.”
Open Boys – 189 runners. 19Th, Austin G. (12:38) - “The little Engine
that could.” 61st, Hayden (13:33) - “Bustin' moves.” 95th Sean (13:58)
- “Tenacity.” 174th, Tilloch (16:16) - “Superfly.” 176th Chris (16:28)
- “Silent Thunder.” Team placed 11th out of 18.
Alumni Race - nice to see our two assistant coaches, Michael and
Julia, participating in the alumni race – both of them turned in very
nice performances.
What’s coming up:
On Wednesday we have our first league competition. It will be against
Rincon Valley Christian at the Spring Lake Course (3 mile.) There will
be four teams there, Lower Lake, Kelseyville, Rincon Valley Christian
and Sonoma Academy. Even though there are four teams participating, we
will only be scoring against RVC. Races will start at 3:30. Typically
the league meets will run JV boys and all girls together and then
Varsity Boys. Parents are invited to attend. Reminder to athletes –
please bring your own water bottle!
On Friday we have our second pasta feed at Kiana's house. All team
members and their parents are invited to make their way to 1660
Schaeffer Road, in Sebastopol directly after practice. If you would
like to bring something, drinks and desserts would be welcome.
On Saturday we have the Stanford Invite, which will be varsity only.
The athletes will find out on Monday who that includes.
September 11th Update
With the no meet this week, we were still able to get in some quality training, even with a short week. Even though we worked hard, we still found time to run up to Lake Alsanjo for a swim. I'm excited about this week's two meets, because it gives the kids a chance to test themselves against some really good competition. Neither one of these meets are league meets and they both include some very good large schools from this area. Let's go Coyotes and show our stuff!
What's been Happening:
Rumor has it that Katy, Jax, Jacob and Austin O. went on a 12 mile run Saturday, from Howarth Park to Katy's house; went for a swim and baked brownies for their favorite coach (Michael.) We're glad to hear that they had a nice weekend run.
My spies saw Kiana and Yzzy on the trails at Howarth Park on Saturday also. Good job girls!
What’s coming up:
Wednesday we are going to an Interlock Meet at Spring Lake Park. For those of you who are new to our running family, the interlock meets were set up so that 4 teams from the North Bay League and Sonoma County League could have some practice meets against each other. Because of my connections with several of the coaches on these teams we are granted permission to join them. Again, we will be competing against schools that have 5 or 6 times our enrollment.
The meet schedule will be the same as at the Rancho Invite: 4 PM JV boys; 4:30 JV girls; 5 PM Varsity boys; 5:30 Varsity Girls. The course length is 3 miles. If you would like to join us, the race starts and ends in the boat ramp area of Spring Lake. If you come in the Newanga Ave entrance you can park in the Oak Knolls parking area. If you enter on the swimming lagoon side, you will have to walk around. There is a link to a map of Spring Lake Park on the blog site.
On Saturday is the Viking Opener put on by Montgomery High School. It is a 2 mile course, using the same trails as Wednesday's 3 mile course. Parents are encouraged to come out and cheer us on. Parking will be the same as for the Interlock.
This meet is organized a little differently as the athletes can run by grades or in an open race. The meet schedule is 9 AM Frosh–Soph boys (Patrick, Johnny, Tristan, Justin, Chauncey); 9:20 Frosh-Soph Girls (Yzzy, Amy, Sinclare, Zoe); 9:45 Alumni Race (Michael, Julia?); 10:15 Jr. Boys (Jax, Jacob, Graham, Morgan, Austin O.) 10:35 Jr.-Sr. Girls (Katy, Kiana, Kathryn, Shani, Clare); 11:00 Open Girls (Emily, Lily, Nora); 11:25 Sr. Boys (Aaron, Eli ); 11:45 Open Boys (Austin G., Hayden, Billy, Oscar, Sean, Tilloch, Chris, Taylor.) Athletes running in either Frosh-Soph race should be there by 8 AM. All others should be there by 8:45.
Athletes have been invited to Katy's house for BBQ and swim party after the meet. Further information will be sent out. This was originally going to be Michael's going away party, now it can be his – 'We're glad he's staying' party!
September 6th Update
Last Friday we traveled down to Rohnert Park to kick off our season at the Rancho Invite. This year's team has blossomed to 34 runners, 21 boys and 13 girls. As a coach it is very exciting for me to have these kinds of numbers as the team grows year after year. It was also great to look up in the stands and see so many parent out at the meet. I know your kids appreciate you coming out to support them and the team. This season promises to be very promising as we have a great group of hardworking athletes.
Rancho being the first meet it was very important that the teams got warmed up properly and Michael did a great job of taking each group of kids out and getting them warmed up and ready to go. Thanks Michael!
What’s been going:
Pasta Feed:
Thanks to Julia for hosting our first pasta feed. The kids (and some parents) enjoyed getting together for some great food the night before the race. Thanks to all the kids and their parents for the drinks, bread, salad and desserts.
Rancho Invite:
The first running event at the Rancho meet was the JV Boys race. Our first two boys across the line were Austin Orr and Patrick Loftus, placing 2nd and 3rd overall. Their very impressive times of 17:42 and 17:43 would have made them the 4th and 5th runners on our Varsity team. Both of them looked strong throughout the race and had strong finishing kicks. Our third boy across the line was Austin Garcia at 19:39. His time was a good start to the season and an improvement over last year's performance. Austin, I like your work ethic, keep it up. Our next finisher across the line was Justin in 20:59, a fine run for Justin since he just came off a half marathon a week ago. Following Justin across was Eli, aka Johnny Woop, in 21:18. Johnny looked strong throughout the race and still had plenty of energy afterward to run around the course and snap pictures. Three places behind Johnny was Tristan in 21:27, a very satisfying run and a nice surprise. Our sixth JV across the line was Sean (22:01) who has been looking very strong in workouts and I know he has even better races to come. Following Sean across was Hayden. Hayden's time was 22:15 and I think that as he gets better at pacing his times will continue to drop. A very gutsy effort. Next across the line was Chris at 24:45 developing a little more confidence will help his improvement. Two places behind was Oscar in 25:36 always giving the team his best effort. Tilloch was next at 26:26, fighting a little bit of a hydration problem. Way to hang in there Tilloch.
The next race was the JV Girls. Being the first race of the season we thought it would be best to run all the girls, except for Katy in the JV race. A special thanks to Kiana for pacing and helping some of our new athletes through their first race while she is fighting an injury. The first girl across the line was Clare in 24:58. Clare was a little off her last year's time, but working hard to regain last year's fitness. Nine places behind Clare was Katherine with a course PR of 26:05. Nice effort Katherine! Our first freshman across the line was Sinclaire, surprising the coaches with a 26:50. She showed a really nice effort. One place behind Sinclaire was Yzzy, in 26:54, over 2 ½ minutes faster than last year. It was so nice to see how far she has come from the timid freshman of last year. Amy was one place behind Yzzy in 26:57, closing very well over the last 300 meters, showing that great track speed. Three places behind Amy was Emily at 27:05. Emily and Amy helped each other throughout the race, running side by side and both of them running very satisfying first cross country races. Two places back from Emily was Zoe in 27:25. I truly believe that as she gets some more miles under her belt, we will be seeing some really nice times from her. Three places further back was Lilly in 27:36, Lilly ran a very nice, steady race. Next across the line was Shani in 28:15. Shani was flying over her last 100 meters. Following right behind Shani was Nora in 28:19. With a little bit more fitness, her times will start to drop. Julia, our other JV girl, was sidelined with an injury, but came along to support the team and helped fill out the name tags. Much appreciated by the coaches!
The third race of the day was the Varsity Boys race. The boys started the season off in a very impressive manner. The boys overall team time, runners1-5, was 3 minutes and 5 seconds faster than last year and 5 minutes 29 seconds counting all 7 runners. This is a boys team that is already ranked fourth in the NCS, with an eye on the state meet (top 5 go to state.) Our first boy across the line was Jax in 17th place overall in an incredible 16:53. He is the first SA runner ever to crack 17 minutes on this course. Very nice start to the season. Next across the line was Jacob in 17:11. Jacob's summer training is already paying dividends. The third SA runner was Aaron at 17:36. Aaron ran a very controlled race as he continues to improve and recover from his surgically enhanced knee. I don't believe it will be long before he is challenging for the top spot on the team. Our fourth runner was Graham, in 18:06. As always, Graham is a steady force and solid as a rock. Right behind Graham was Morgan in 18:12 which was a 1:27 improvement over last year. Our sixth runner today was Eli in 19.39. Eli will show great improvement as his fitness improves. Our next boy across the line was Chauncey. Chauncey, arriving late to the race, impressed the coaches by jumping in to run the varsity race for the experience. A brave decision on his first ever cross country race.
The last race of the day was the Varsity Girls, where our only entry was Katy Lee. Katy's race was an incredible performance as she placed 2nd overall in 18:03, a PR by over 1 minute. Her time was the fourth fastest time ever run on that course. For some of you who are new to the team, Katy was seventh at the state championship last year and with this incredible opening performance I would say she is positioning herself to place well at this year's state championship.
What’s coming up:
We have decided that we will not be racing on Wednesday, 9/7, which would have been our first interlock at Spring Lake. I believe it will serve the kids better to use the time for training and would rather not over race them.
So our next race will be on Wednesday 9/14 starting at 4 PM at Spring Lake. The race order will be the same as at Rancho: JV Boys, JV Girls, Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls. The races typically start about ½ hour apart. The races start and end near the boat ramp. There is a map of Spring Lake on the blog site under the 'Map' tab.