Cross Country Smoke Signals (9-12-2011)

Cross Country Smoke Signals (9-12-2011)

REVIEW:  Cross country enjoyed a wonderful day at the Laguna Hills Invitational this past Saturday.  I am always amused by the cross country scene.  There is just no other sport like it!  You have everyone cheering the runners in the back of the pack as if they were leading the pack.  You have athletes seeking their opponents out after the race just to tell them how tough they were.   The respect and comradeship is so genuine, it is inspiring!  It is really enjoyable to be part of that scene.  No one is trying to stop their opponents from doing their best.  They simply assist them to reach their best.  Within a race,  you have a swarm of runners  moving on the course and then you have a swarm of spectators moving from point to point.

Our team performed well at the meet.  Even though the course had two major hills in it, the weather was the coolest in years and we enjoyed many outstanding performances.  As a team, we had a lot of enthusiasm, showed great respect and support for each other, competed with spirit and did a better job of finishing with a kick at the end or our races.    I saw so many smiles; I heard lots of cheers for our teammates and I saw expressions like “I want to do so much better next week”, etc.

Our boys varsity team ran a combine time of 80:21 compared to 82:20 in ’10,  83:24 in ’09 and 83:03 in ’07 (we ran 78:03 in ‘08 but the course was really short that year).   This is the fastest time ever for Woodbridge at this meet.   Our girls ran 94:212 (without one of our elite runners) compared to 96:27 in ’10, 101:37 in ’09 and 95:44 in ’07,  99:29 in ’08 which is about 102:40 adjusted).

Our team warm up was effective (thank you coaches) and our follow through made coaching productive for us coaches.  Our warm down needs to improve.  The idea that the warm down is just the jogging to see the races but does not include stretching can lead to soreness and injuries,  Often, the jpople tha have th most to lose are the ones doing the least warm down.  Please complete the warm down expected.  Many thanks to Coach Evans, Coach Pacheco, Coach Windham-Flaiz, Tan and Coach Schiller  for getting the athletes ready for their races

ATHLETES OF THE MEET: Annie Chan ran an outstanding race and demonstrated great toughness throughout the course (18:32 vs 19:13 last year), especially the last hill. It was very impressive to see her sprint that fast up hill.  Jackson Marshall also ran a wonderful race (16:04 compared to 18:20 last year). Katie Peterson  and Jonah Bonner were the rookies of the meet.  While Hannah O’Connor, Erin Mellor, Kyle Oefelein and Grace Kim were the most improved girls from last year’s meet.  Jordan Opre, Jared Klopfer and Marcos Tabb were much faster this year than last year.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE/ANNOUNCEMENTS

This will be a very hectic and exciting week for us.  We (coaches) will need your and your family’s help in order for us to keep up with our progress as a team and at the same time put on our great Invitational.  We raise money with this meet that we use to meet our financial needs for the team and also gives us the opportunity to add some fun things during the cc season and during track.  It takes many hours to be able to have this success.  We will ask each of you, as well as your parents, to put in lots of time on Saturday (morning and evening) in helping us with the meet.  Please follow though on our expectations without our supervision.  We know that you are mature enough to do this.

I.               Woodbridge Invitational on Saturday:  Novice Girls at 4:00 (for the girls 24:30 or slower),  Novice boys at 4:15 pm (any boy that runs slower than 23:30), JV girls (4:30), frosh girls (5:00 p.m.), Soph Girls (5:30 pm), frosh boys (6:05 p.m), soph boys (6:35), Junior boys at 7:40 p.m.; Senior boys at 8:10 p.m, Varsity girls at 9:20 (sweeps race) and varsity boys 8:55 (rated race).  The meet is at Estancia H. S. and transportation will have to be provided by your family.

II.             Directions:  WHS è 405 N è 55 S èVictoria off ramp and go right.  Follow Victoria to Placentia and turn right.  Pull in to the small parking lot in the front of the school to be dropped off.  Parking will be $5.00 if the parents stay.

III.           Woodbridge Invitational assignments for Friday:
a.     2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
1.      Boys will set up the course with signs and tape.
2.     Girls will decorate with signs, balloons, etc. etc.  (be creative like use cups to make an American flag on the stadium fence, etc.)
b.     5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
1.     Finish chute for the girls (report to Coach Wu)
2.     Course monitors for the boys (report to Mrs. Babcock)
IV.           Woodbridge Invitational assignments for Saturday
a.      Finish chute  - 4:15 – 6:00 :  varsity girls and varsity boys (report to coach Wu)
b.      Finish Chute -  6:00 – 8:00:  Novice boys and girls (report to coach Wu)
c.     Finish Chute  - 8:00 p.m.  – 10:00 pm :  Frosh, and soph boys (report to coach Wu)
d.     Medals and finish water – Junior and senior girls (4:00 – 6:00)  (report to Mrs. Klopfer)
e.     Medals and finish water – Frosh and soph girls (6:00 – 10:00) (report to Mrs. Klopfer)
f.      Course set up and supervision – 4:00 – 6:30 on Friday – Junior boys and senior boys (report to Mrs. Babcock)
g.     Clean up:  All athletes (10:00 PM – 11:00 PM )

V.             Thursday
a.     All athletes on Thursday will spend 25 minutes putting name tags on the bib numbers in room E – 202 and E – 103 (Pacheco)

VI.           Parent Volunteer Assignments – Please check the web page for a reminder of the assignment we need your help on.
   
THANKS FOR A FUN AND EXCITING WEEK AND GOOD LUCK AT OUR INVITATIONAL!!!!!!

     Team Motto:   PAIN IS TEMPORARY, PRIDE IS FOREVER
Remember that “hard work will beat talent when talent does not work hard”