Cross Country Newsletter (08 – 28- 2011)

Cross Country Newsletter (08 – 28- 2011)

REVIEW:  The Time Trials on Saturday   (results are included) reflected our expectations for the coming season. We witnessed excellent running from many of our varsity athletes, improved running from our younger returning runners and impressive debuts by many of our scrubs (first-time athletes). All summer long, we felt that this will be a fun and successful season but it is always nice to have some validation/evidence for this optimism. Our preparation, focus, warm up, race efforts, enthusiasm and support for each other were outstanding!  With this kind of commitment and follow through, our results should be impressive for the the entire season. Congratulations to all on your first race of the year! We took a most important first step on our way to Fresno.

The girls ran a team time (top five times added together) of 94:46 compared to 97:25 in ’10, 100:12 in ’09 and 101:24 in ’08, 101:00 in ’07, 102:10 in ’06, 97:04 in ‘05, 102:12 in ‘04, 99:20 in ’03, 98:36 in ’02 and 99:13 in ’01).  These results speak well for the coming season! 


The boys ran a team time (top five times added together) of 81:11 compared to 80:01 (our fastest time trial team time ever for WHS) compared to 81:21 in ’09 , the 80:56 in ’08, the 84:54 in ’07, 84:14 in ’06, 86:04 in ‘05, 90:00 in ‘04, 88:20 in ‘03, 85:01 in ’02 and 87:15 in ’01). 


We have worked hard over the summer to build a strong base and the times achieved at the time trials validate this hard work. Remember that last year’s team had a very good season. We should be able to build on this start as well as take advantage of our hard work and continue to improve through out the season. This will result in even a better season for us than last year and one of the special ones for our school.  As you check the results, you will be impressed with how many of our athletes improved on their marks from last year. Not all of us have that natural talent to run fast right from the start. Most of us have to work at it. We are so proud of so many of you for doing just that. Hard work pays off as you can see.

The strength of our team is that we have outstanding runners to lead the team and depth to support the lead runners. However, we have a lot of work still ahead of us if we are to achieve our goals  Our gaps between our top 5-7 runners will need to be narrowed drastically. It will be critical on the boys side to develop that fifth runner that will run within 70 seconds of our top finisher compared to the 2:11 in our time trials. For our girls to repeat as league champs and podium team in the CIF-SS and State championships, the 1:42 gap (although better than the 2:06 at last year’s time trials), will need to drop to the 60 seconds mark.

All in all, a very encouraging start.  The breakfast was great (thank you parents) also.
  
On Saturday, the first mile gaping was fine but the second and third mile gaping was off.  We allowed the runners in front of us to pull away from us. The critical portion of an excellent race is the second mile. Everyone wants to give in to the fatigue that builds into our bodies at that point of the race. This puts the athletes in a slow-down mode that continues as the race develops and even if the athlete wants to pick up the pace, it’s hard to do so.  If enough courage and “stubbornness” is mustered to push the second mile, the results will be much different. By being closer to anyone ahead of you, you feel more positive about your race and this excitement will help you dig even deeper in yourselves and come up with an outstanding third mile and race.  The second mile is the key part of any cross country race.  Expect it to be very difficult and painful but with focused attention span and courage you can learn how to push through that pain and set yourselves up for magical performances.
  
ATHLETES OF THE MEET:  Brandon Ferguson (15:19 compared to 16:06 last year) and Coco Evans (18:10 compared to 19:03 last year).  Both of them demonstrated the abilities to be one of the top runners on our team and in our league. Ralphie Lara (17:30) and Emilie Bercher (23:53) were the “rookies” of the meet. Jordan Opre, Jared Klopfer, Darius Chriss, Hoon Namgung, Carlos Diaz, Bianca Moreno, Hannah O’Connor Tess Mor and Erin Mellor were the vastly improved runners around 4:00 minutes each) from last year’s time trials).

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

  
1)      Pearl City Cross Country Invitational (9-3-2011):  Race Times: Girls 9:00 am and Boys 9:30 am (map attached) . I have attached the map. Directions: WHS to LAX and left to PCH and left to the beach. Swim to Oahu.

2)      Laguna Hills Invitational (9-10-2011): http://www.lagunahillsxc.com/race%20schedule.htm) Our competition the following week will be on Saturday at the Laguna Hills Invitational (we are in Division II) which takes place on the campus of Laguna Hills High School (WHS to 405 South to 5 South to Alicia exit.  Go right on Alicia for about 1 mile and then make a RIGHT turn on Paseo de Valencia.  The first LEFT turn will get you into the high school and you should try to park in the left parking lot if possible).  No Bus for this meet. We will leave as a team at 6:00 am from the front of the school by the flag pole.

3) Practices for the Week: Monday – Friday at 7:00 am with Coach Ochsner, Coach Scott and Coach Schiller. Saturday will be called by the team captains and will be announced at the practices.
4) Registration: The registration for the athletes will be after practice. Seniors on Monday, Juniors on Tuesday, Sophomores on Wednesday and Freshmen on Thursday. Since the frosh registration is more involved, the frosh runners will work out on their own in the afternoon/evening (cooler weather). The other athletes will have the chance to register between 10:00 – 11:30.
5)      Hydration and proper eating habits will be of great assistance to your training and to your racing.  Make the healthy choices.

6)      P. E. Lockers: Lockers will be issued on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 after practice. Please purchase/secure a school issued lock during the registration process. Bring your school-issued lock or your receipt for a new lock to my room (E-202) at that time. There might not be any other time to issue locks until after school starts.

7)      Uniforms will be issued again on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 after our practice..


Good luck with school this year!

Nov 8, 2010 -- Pacific Coast League Finals

11/8/2010 Cross Country

REVIEW:  The girls’ league championship is back at Woodbridge High School after a four-year absence.  League Finals 2010 was a great meet to end the season with.  Our athletes competed very well and many achieved excellent times on a course with two pretty good size hills in it.  

  

Our boys ran 78:00 compared to 78:05 in 2009 and 79:39 in 2008 to finish 2nd and advance to the CIF Championships.  Our girls ran 89:56 compared to 92:28 in 2009 and 99:54 in 2008 to finish as the League Champions and advance to the CIF Championships.  Dillon Scott was the individual boys’ varsity champion and Molly Babcock was the individual girls’ varsity champion.  Our girls frosh/soph finished a close second in league with Lauren Kim leading the team; our boys frosh/soph finished second with Jeremy Carter leading the way; Ben Crellin led the boys JV to a 3rd place finish; and, Marissa Lara led the girls JV into a 3rd place finish.

  

All in all, it was a great way to finish a successful season.  We worked hard during the season, we improved tremendously throughout the season and we laid the foundation to become even a better team next year than we are this year.  This group of frosh athletes (boys and girls) ran so much faster than our previous frosh athletes have run.  There is lots of talent in this young group.  If this group continues to work hard, many will end up running on the varsity level as early as next year.  Congrats to all!

  

ATHLETES OF THE MEET:  Madeline Bradford (finished in the #3 scoring position) and Josh Kingsland (improved his PR).  

  

THIS WEEK:

  

1)  CIF-SS Prelims on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC).  WHS to Culver to I-5 North to CA-57 North to Grand Avenue and turn left.  Follow Grand to Temple Avenue and turn right.  Park in the parking lot either to the right or the left of the second signal.  The boys run at 3:54pm and the girls run at 1:50pm. 

  

2)  Both of our teams should advance to the CIF Finals on Saturday, November 20th and then hopefully advance to the State Championships on Saturday, November 27th.

  

3)  Uniforms are due immediately for the athletes not involved in the CIF meet.  Only varsity athletes and 1-3 alternates will continue to compete from this point on.

  

4)  Period 6 routine stays the same for the second quarter.  We will continue to train and lift weights during 6th period.

  

Again, I want to personally thank all of the athletes and parents for a wonderful season.  Your help and hard work made this a most enjoyable season for the coaches.  I hope that each of you enjoyed a positive experience in cross country and will continue to participate on our running teams (track and cross country) and work on developing your talents in this area.

Nov 1, 2010 -- League Meet #2

11/1/2010 Cross Country

REVIEW:  Pacific Coast League Cluster Meet #2 was a most exciting and successful meet for the Warrior Harrier Squad.  65 of our athletes (out of the 79 that competed) ran season best times and our teams ran our fastest times of the year.  Dillon Scott turned in the #4 all-time WHS performance as he dipped under 15:00 minutes to lead the boys to the Varsity victory that moved Woodbridge to a tie for first place in the league standings.  Although the girls varsity, led by Coco Evans (she ran her fastest time of the year and just 3 seconds off her all-time best performance) lost by the score of 41-40, our team is still tied for the league lead. 

  

Our boys ran a school record 77:07 (previous best was 77:56 set last year at the Arcadia meet).  This time was about a minute faster that the 78:05 we ran in the first League Cluster meet (same course).  Our girls ran the second fastest time in school history 89:07 as they improved from the 90:37 we ran in the first cluster meet.  Our lower level teams performed well also.  Our JV boys moved from 4th to 2nd in the league standings, our JV girls moved from 5th to 3rd and our frosh/soph teams for the boys and the girls remained in second place.  Individually, we had two boys (Jackson Marshall and Jeremy Carter) and two girls (Hannah O’Connor and Hanna Levine) run Varsity letter times while competing in the frosh/soph teams.

  

ATHLETES OF THE MEET:  Dillon Scott broke 15:00 minutes to move to #4 on the all-time list for WHS and Jason (Dragan) Simic (probably the most amazing performance in school history) for the boys.  Olivia Rodriguez (18:32) and Annie Chan (17:46) both broke significant time barriers for the first time for the girls.  Most improved honors go to Maryam Akbarian and Carlos Diaz (both had significant improvements on their times).  Rookie of the Meet honors go to Jackson Marshall (earned his varsity letter) and Hannah O’Connor (earned her varsity letter) as 9th graders. 
  
WEEK’S SCHEDULE:  

  

LEAGUE FINALS MEET at Irvine Regional Park on Friday.  WHS to Jamboree and turn right.  This road dead-ends at the Irvine Park entrance.  Just be careful what lane you are in as you cross Chapman (stay on the right lane after Chapman). 

  

1)  RACE SCHEDULE: 

• 1:00pm - JV Boys
• 1:30pm - JV Girls
• 2:00pm - Frosh/Soph Boys
• 2:30pm - Frosh/Soph Girls
• 3:00pm - Varsity Boys
• 3:30pm - Varsity Girls

2)  The buses will leave at 11:30am and you will be dismissed at the end of 3rd.  This means that you need to be dressed for the meet at home as you will miss 4th and 5th period classes.  Be sure that you have all assignments in these classes prepared and that you turn in any assignments that will be collected from the other students in your class.  Eat lunch at snack or the bus.  

  

3)  Our teams have a lot at stake at this meet.  Our Varsity teams are poised to become double league champions and our lower level teams have a chance to pull off the upsets and also finish as league champions. 

  

4)  This course is as fast as the WHS Invitational and the Mason Park course.  With focused and determined efforts, we should run our fastest times of the year.  Good luck to all!  

  

5)  Uniforms (except for the CIF athletes) must be brought to school on Monday and turned in at that time in room E-208 at snack, lunch, or the start of 6th period.  Remember to place them in a bag with your name on the outside.  Lost uniforms must be paid for in order to receive credits earned in the class.

   

I cannot believe that our season is over this week for the majority of our athletes.  I have enjoyed watching each of you mature in cross country.  The sport is very tough and you have demonstrated the toughness and character needed to conquer this tough sport.  I hope that each of you enjoyed and valued your participation on our team and that you want to help our teams do well in the future years, maintain good fitness and improve as runners.  Many of you will compete on the varsity teams in future years.  Remember that it takes time to develop the endurance and strength to run at your potential.  One year is too short to realize your total potential. 

  

I will expect all of you to join us for track in the spring and if you do not have a winter sport, you will remain in 6th period off-season track.  Track will offer another great opportunity for improving your speed, competing in meets, improving as distance runners, adding some new events (hurdles, pole vault, sprints, jumps, etc.) and enjoy new teammates in high school sports.  

  

Now is the time to also do some recruiting for new distance and track & field athletes.  We will have about 3 months to have these athletes ready for competition.  Some athletes wanted to join our distance team when cross country started but that was not enough time to get them ready for racing.  However, these next few months will give us enough time to introduce new athletes to distance running and slowly build up their miles (as we did with all of you in the summer months).  Please help your distance team grow and progress to higher and higher levels by encouraging your friends that are not in sports or do not have a sport in the spring to join our distance team and participate in track in the spring.

   

It has been a fun year for Woodbridge Cross Country.  We have accomplished a lot.  Both the boys and the girls have competed well and have improved over the season.  All of our teams have the chance to be league champions.  We have excellent varsity athletes on the varsity teams and are stockpiling many more athletes that can be on the varsity teams in the near future (like next year).  Our returning athletes have shown tremendous improvement from last year, our new athletes have progressed well, and they have registered some impressive marks.  We enjoyed a wonderful Mammoth trip and many other team functions.  I am looking forward to a more competitive team next year as well as another special Mammoth Camp and maybe even a road trip.  It should be a very special and fun 2011 season for you. 

  

As our varsity teams progress through the post season competitions (CIF Southern Section and California State Championships), check our website for news and results and plan to attend these meets to cheer the teams on.  

  

We will be training as usual during 6th period in our preparation for the January 8th 5K race that our school puts on.  For this race, we will ask that each family recruits 3 neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc. to participate in the event.  They can walk, jog, or run the 5K race.  This is a great Woodbridge event that puts the school on the map and raises lots of money for our athletic programs.  Each family can help in this venture by recruiting people to walk, jog or run the 5K or the half marathon or by securing food sponsors, mile marker sponsors, or cash sponsors.  Let us know if a family has contacts in any of the areas mentioned.  Our race committee will do the rest.

   

Thanks again for a most enjoyable season and best wishes for a great League Finals meet.

Oct 25, 2010 -- Jaguar Invitational

10/24/2010 Cross Country

REVIEW:  How much can we pack into one day/weekend?  Our athletes enjoyed a fun and hectic day last Friday (pep rally, long bus ride, great weather for a meet, very nice results, hectic dash to Irvine Stadium, fun homecoming game, and festivities).  We competed in the Jaguar Invitational in San Diego County against some of the best programs in the San Diego Section (Mt. Carmel, University City, Clairemont, etc.) and we came away with some pretty good results.  This is another indication of the strength of our program when you compare us against the whole State.  We must keep in mind, though, that we do not just want to be better than the majority of the other programs, we want to be the very best.  We attend this meet to prepare for the hills that is traditional at the league finals and especially at the CIF championship meets.  We were not disappointed.  The hills were challenging.  The boys’ course was longer than the standard cross country course (3.1 miles) and the girls’ course was shorter than a regular cross country course (2.6 miles).  

  

The Varsity Boys, lead by Dragan Simic, finished 2nd in their race (Mt. Carmel beat us this year but we defeated Mater Dei for the first time at this meet).  The JV Boys team (led by Jorge Herrera) took first in the race, the Frosh/Soph Boys team (led by Adar Karny) took fifth in the race, the Varsity Girls team (led by Molly Babcock) finished 1st in their race (our first victory ever at this meet), and the girls’ frosh/soph JV combo (led by Marissa Lara) finished 2nd in the race. 

  

The boys ran 84:09 (cool weather though) compared to 87:21 in 2009, 86:16 in 2008, 87:51 in 2007, and 89:24 in 2006.  Dragan Simic placed first in the race and had the 2nd fastest time of all the boys in the meet.  

  

The girls ran 81:23 (again cool weather) compared to 87:21 in 2009, 85:44 in 2008, 85:27 in 2007, and 83:19 in 2006.  Molly Babcock placed first in the race and posted the fastest time of any girl in the meet.

  

Our lower level athletes performed well also.  It is very exciting to project what these athletes will be running in future years.  We have so many talented frosh and soph runners that deciding the varsity team will be extremely difficult down the line.  It is tough now but it will get tougher in future years.  Keep up the great improvement.  

  

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK:  Jorge Herrera continues to regain his old form and worked his way back onto the varsity team and we are extremely happy for him.  He established himself as one of the top high school distance runners last track season and we need his talent on the varsity team.  Marissa Lara is getting closer and closer to getting back on our varsity team as she is also working herself back from her injury.  She played such a huge role on our State team last year and it is good to see her regaining some of her previous form.  Adar Karny and Veronica Moralieva turned in the most improved performances and Kyle Oefelein and Paco Gilbert turned in excellent “rookies of the meet” performances.

  

WEEK’S SCHEDULE:

  

1)  SECOND LEAGUE MEET on THURSDAY AT MASON PARK.  WHS to Culver and left turn to University Drive and right turn.  Make the first left turn into the park.

• The bus leaves at 1:30pm and you will be dismissed from your 5th period class.  Please dress at lunch time so that you can get to the bus on time.  Tell your 5th period teacher that you will be leaving for the meet before then.  Get your assignment for the day ahead of time. 
    
• The schedule of races:
       - 3:00pm - JV Boys
       - 3:30pm - JV Girls
       - 4:00pm - Varsity Boys
       - 4:30pm - Varsity Girls
       - 5:00pm - Frosh/Soph Boys
       - 5:30pm - Frosh/Soph Girls
    
• For the boys:  CDM, Beckman, and Uni will push us hard again.  We lost to CDM and barely finished ahead of Beckman even though Beckman’s #2 runner got injured at the 2 mile mark.  Our boys are capable of reducing the time spread to the 15-20 second range and put ourselves in position to do well.  We are a very good team and with focus and confidence, we are capable of performing at our highest level for the season.  Josh, Brandon, Zach and Daniel have all run real good races on separate meets.  They have not all run outstanding in the same meet.  We simply need to do that.  All of these boys have unbelievable talent.  We just need to run mentally tough and not bail out in the middle of the race. 
    
• For the girls:  Northwood and CDM will be very strong again.  We handed CDM their first league loss in many, many years.  We all saw how they responded at the OC meet.  However, we improve each time we get on the course.  We are a better team now than we were at the last league meet.  If they improved more than we did, then it will be even closer this time around.  We simply need to keep our top four competing at the level we have done previously and with Olivia getting closer and closer to the WHS Invite form and Alexis and Alyssa getting stronger and stronger, we will close that 5th place gap.  This will assure us of highest finish in the meet.
    
• Practice on Saturday will be at 9:00am.  An unexcused miss of this practice will result in not participating in the League Finals.

2)  Bring sweats to all of our practices at this time of the season (the sun goes down earlier and the temperature drops quickly at the end of our practices), keep following the nutrition suggestions we have made, do not share your water/drink bottles (sick-season is upon us), keep hydrating, do homework at lunch and tutorial so that you do not go to bed late, keep up with your 50 push-ups a day and 150 sit-ups a day. 

  

3)  League Finals are on Friday, November 5, 2010 starting at 1:00pm.

  

Enjoy these last weeks of the regular season! 

  

“The race does not go to the swift but to those that persevere"