Do You Have The Guts

The Importance of Core Strength

Alberto Salazar:

"When Mo [Farah] Came To Me He Was The Weakest Athlete I'd Ever Trained" "He was a skinny distance runner with a great engine but no upper body ... in terms of core strength and being able to do push-ups, sit-ups and single-leg squats. He was a 90lb weakling. The No 1 thing that has helped Mo is not the 110 miles a week he puts in on the road, but the seven hours a fortnight in the gym."

Unless you've been living under a rock these past couple weeks, you would know who Mo Farah is. He is the highly celebrated British athlete who was a double gold medalist in both 5k and 10k distances during the London Olympics.

Keep It Simple!

This is what it's all about...

"No formal interval training. No mile repeats. No tempo runs either." "Hills and strides, that's all we do. It's cross-country year-around. Training does not change from summer to fall to winter. The weather changes, that's all." "Hills for strength, strides for speed. We keep it simple." - HS girls super-coach Neal Levy, the coach of HS girls mile leader Samantha Nadel, as well as 12 sub-11:30 3k girls and 4 sub-10:05 3k girls, offering some simple coaching advice.

...and perhaps the key ingredient to his athletes' success!!

Base is very, very important. Workouts way less so.

Running Smart

Great article on how to prevent injuries if you are just beginning your running routine...LINK.

What Does Former Mile Great Think of Cross Country?

Sebastian Coe is a double Olympic Gold Medalist in the 80s and former multiple world record holder in the 800, 1500, mile and 1000meters. Here's what he thinks about the European sport of Cross Country:

2011 Staub Barnes Invite

Active-Isolated Stretching

A better, safer approach to getting your needed flexibility for racing...Watch the video by Phil Wharton. He has worked with some of the top runners over the past 15 years.

As explained in the video, this approach shows why it is better than both static and ballistic stretching.

Getting To The Core

Increase your strength and mobility of your midsection.

See how Shannon Rowbury (US middle distance star) does it...

Read Here!

Building A Base

Read the article about "The Long Run". HERE

Born To Run?

I pay tribute to "Big Man" Clarence Clemons who died on June 18th of a stroke. He was 69 years old and the heart and soul of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street band. Below is a video of the "Born to Run" song that is considered the breakout song for Clemons--the big man on the sax!




Another "Born to Run" video for you runners.

1966 California State Championships--Boys Mile Run

Tim Danielson was the winner (also won it the year before)...

He became the 2nd prep to break four minutes (2 others have done it since) in the mile (not at STATE). He then ran at BYU, but did not break four minutes again.

Note: In a bizarre twist of fate, and 5 days after I posted this video, Mr. Danielson has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife. (See story here.) And this comes just a day after another high school boy, Lukas Verzbicas, becomes the 5th prep to eclipse the four-minute barrier for a full mile! (See story and video here.)

Don't Forget to Run Today!

It's National Running Day...

So, no excuses--READ!

Why Run??

So, what gets you to lace up those running shoes? ...to hit the road? to get out in the cold, the rain, the sweltering heat?...to run alone in the early hours while most of humanity is tucked safely away in bed...what motivates you to get up and go out for a run?

Why do they run? Watch the short video to find out...


Reason #1--
IF THEY CAN DO IT...


Run to the East Trailer from Run to the East on Vimeo.

Reason #2--

AND THE SHEER PHYSICAL TALENT of this great runner motivates me to run...

...and as I am forced to take time off (3 weeks injured), I watch this video of a champion churn out one 600 after another, and wait patiently so I can, again, feel the pain of another good workout.


Watch more videos on Flotrack

A Look Back

2010 Staub Barnes

Last Post of the Season!

To the Lady Spartan Runners...

I just wanted to express my gratitude (I'm not sure I did this too well on Friday night) for all of your hard work these past 5 months. I had a chance to read my gift-poster (Holly's art is awesome!) and wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your heart-felt words. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with each and every one of you. Each of you has brought class and grace to our sport. Thank you!

And in return, I decided I would publish my "speeches" from the awards banquet as a tribute to you. I'm not much of a public speaker, so I had to write down everything. Also, I didn't really read directly from the "season summary" on Friday, since we were really running late--sorry 'bout that. Anyway, I've included my notes below that I was going to read to you that night--all 4-pages worth. And it's probably a good thing I didn't read it after all as it's way too long. So, the "season summary", as well as the short blurbs from the Letters Presentation and the Outstanding Runners comments are included below.

As I said on Friday night, please drop by my room from time-to-time to say "hi"; I would love to hear how things are going with you--you know, the general-life stuff. :)

Good Luck!


DiConti


banquetnotes--2010seasonsummary


Girls Letters and Comments

Outstanding Runners 2010

A Story of Courage and Determination

Please read this article of a state championship team that barely became one if it were not for a young lady's incredible desire to win! READ.

Awards Banquet Details

Update: Here is a list of those who are planning to come to the awards banquet. This is a small list; but hopefully, there are others who have emailed either Mrs. Greene or Coach Thatcher.

If you want to be included you need to do this NOW!! Last minute food orders are difficult to arrange, so I can't promise you anything.



Date: Friday, December 3rd
Time: 7:30-9:30pm
Where: LCHS Cafeteria
Catered: Star Cafe
Cost: $15 per person
Organizer: Joy Greene

Reservations:

• Preliminary: Please email me ASAP with your confirmations!! I need to know by Monday, November 22. Let me know how many will be coming in your party.
• my email: adiconti@gmail.com
• Final: Download the form below, fill out the order form and bring it to school along with your payment by Monday, November 29th.
• Give payment and order form to me (room 722 during your lunch).

Lcxc Banquet Res Form

CIF PRELIMS DETAILS

League Finals Story Covered by Valley Sun Here. (Anna Frederich is featured.)

When: Saturday, November 13th

Where: MT. SAC


Bus Departure: 11:30 am (Bus will be in the lot @ 11:15am)
Bus Return: 5 or so (It depends on the cool-down time of the boys after their race...)

Girls' Race: 1:50pm
Boys' Race: 3:27pm


QUALIFYING TO FINALS: There will be sixteen (16) teams in each final race.

In divisions with three (3) qualifying heats, the top five (5) teams in each heat will qualify plus the
6th place team with the fastest team time. Individuals who finish in the first eight (8) places and are
not members of qualifying teams will also advance.

CIF Prelims and the numbers:

•  33 races
•  14 teams in each race
•  3100 runners

A couple articles worth reading:

• A cross country runner is not your average athlete.
• Do you want to run at the next level? What are college coaches looking for?

Girls' Week #21 Preview

League Finals Photo Album (Girls and Boys) is here! (Thank you, Mr. Fuelling!)

CIF Prelims WEEK #21 At-A-Glance

CIF Heat Sheets

League Results are here.

CIF Heat/Race Schedule (Girls and Boys)

Link to the rest of the day's heats is here.

1:50-Race 23
Girls Division 3-Ht 2
Agoura
Apple Valley
Bassett
Bolsa Grande
Burroughs/Ridgecrest
Cerritos
Ganesha
La Canada
La Mirada
Oak Park
Rim of the World
Rosemead
Sierra Vista
South Hills
Tustin
West Torrance
Woodbridge

Individuals
Nayeli Santamaria (Mountain View)
Alana Jones (Laguna Hills)


3:27-Race 30
Boys Division 3-Ht 2
Bolsa Grande
Buena Park
Cabrillo/Lompoc
Cerritos
Fullerton
Golden Valley
La Canada
La Puente
Northview
Paso Robles
Rancho Alamitos
San Jacinto
San Luis Obispo
St. Francis
St. John Bosco
Tustin

Individuals
Ryan Purcell (Northwood)
Javier Mares (Pioneer)

2010 Rio Hondo League Finals Results

Race Results are here.

Boy's League Highlights are here.

GIRLS

It's never easy to lose, but when you do your best, it's much easier to handle.

I believe we ran as well as we could given the circumstances. Though we weren't 100 percent healthy as a team, I'm still extremely proud of how our varsity brought that 1-5 core closer together in terms of the overall spread. I also appreciate the team huddle before the race. That's the kind of bonding that makes us run better and will get us to that next level. And you've never run better as a team this year than what you did at Finals.

So, congratulations on a great showing!
We're not done yet.
We're going to CIF!

Highlights and Honors

• Freshman Anna Frederich is Rio Hondo League Champion!...the only race NOT won by an SP Tiger.
• First Team All-League Honors--Anna and Holly Shreckengast
• Second Team All-League Honors--Courtney Schulte and Meghan Fuelling
• Team Spread: 1:28 seconds (seasonal best--30-second improvement!)
• JV takes 3rd in race and 2nd in the league standings!
• Diana Tran and Miranda Dimase-Nordling place in the top-5 (JV race) and earn alternate status for CIF prelims!
• Course PRs: Anna Frederich, Hannah Yoho, Rachel Thorp, Caroline Fontes, Anna Kim, Angela Fuhrman
• Largest improvement: Caroline Fontes (2:01)

2010 Rio Hondo League Finals Information

 APU Photos of Boys and Girls--Thank you, Mr. Fuelling!

Class Dismissal--12:15pm
Bus Departure--12:30pm
Return to LCHS--5-5:30pm

Meet Schedule


Coaches Meeting--1:30pm

Races
Boys JV--2pm
Girls JV--2:30pm
Boys Varsity--3pm
Girls Varsity--3:30pm
Boys FS--4pm

Girls' Week 20 in review

Happy Halloween!!

Coach Thatcher's APU commentary is here.


Our biggest week lies ahead as we look to defend our league title on Thursday. It will be a tough battle, but if we run to our potential, we should win.

Tomorrow we are on the track--please bring your flats!!

Also, remember to continue drinking water throughout the day and the days to follow. The weather is getting warmer again for this week and the day of our race will be hot!

League race details will be posted tomorrow afternoon.

Girls' Week #20 At-A-Glance

Spartan Success at APU...results are in!!

Dyestatcal already has the results from last night's race.  

Adam Skaggs gets recognition as well as the mentioning of our LC boys having three under 9:55! (The last time LC had 3 guys under 10 minutes on one team was, well, dare I say...30 years ago?) Well done, gentlemen! (Coach Thatcher will be sending in comments soon.)

On the girls' side, we saw two dip under 12 minutes with Anna Frederich and Meghan Fuelling. Both ladies' times would have earned them 1-2 finishes during last Spring's track league finals. And not a bad effort for Anna, as this was her very first 8-lapper--at 11:34!! Also, Hannah Yoho had a fine kick in the final 300 meters of her race as she along with Rachel Thorp and Eloise Dimase-Nordling all broke into the 12-minute range. Also, Michelle Berjikian nearly broke 13 with a nice 13:05 effort.

Well done, Spartans!!

MT SAC Team and Individual Ranks

 APU Schedule is here.


Boys Individual Stats:

• 20 boys broke 15 minutes.
• 313 boys broke 16 minutes.
• 1228 boys broke 17 minutes.

Girls Individual Stats:

• 1 girl broke 17 minutes!
• 38 girls broke 18 minutes.
• 244 girls broke 19 minutes.
• 681 girls broke 20 minutes.

We are ranked #126 and #127 for boys and girls out of 200 teams from the Mt. SAC results. See the links below. I think it's interesting how close our boys and girls teams are in their performances. By the way, there were many more schools/teams that competed at SAC (over 350), but only the top-200 are listed.We also know that we are better than our ranking. I know we will move up during CIF prelims.

Boy's Rank (you will not see LC boys in the list because when this was generated, Mt. SAC made an error with our result. With their1:23:05, they should fall between Whittier and Cathedral.

Girl's Rank

Azusa Pacific 2-Miler Information (and recovered Mt. SAC results)

 Mt. SAC results: Sophomore Girls, Freshman Girls

When: Friday night, October 29th
Where: Azusa Pacific University

Bus Departure: 4:30pm
Bus Return: 9-9:30pm

Schedule of Races:

6:30pm FS Boys
6:45pm FS Boys
7:00pm FS Boys
7:15pm Girls  (Hannah R., Frances, Caroline, Angela K., Angela F., Katherine)
7:30pm Girls (Michelle, Diana, Miranda, Sonja)
7:45pm Seeded FS
8:00pm Seeded Girls (Anna, Meghan, Holly, Courtney, Eloise, Rachel, Hannah Y.)
8:15pm Seeded Boys
8:30pm Boys
8:45pm Boys
9:00pm Boys

MT SAC RESULTS (Girls and Boys) and Girls' Week #19 Ahead--and Race Videos!

Link to all (most) of Mt. SAC results are here--scroll down to bottom half of page. (Unfortunately, Races #9, 12, 13, 14 show no times; and incredibly, our school had runners in three of those races. And I'm not convinced we'll ever see any either. :(  ...)

GIRLS


Highlights/Comments:

• Freshman, Anna Frederich, keeps improving and digs a little bit deeper within herself every week. No telling how far she'll go. So, Mt. SAC officials give her an 18:59--that's official! I can't say for sure, but I would bet that this time goes down as the fastest ever for an LCXC girl's MT. SAC debut.
• Meghan Fuelling ran her fastest time by one second with a 19:07! This time is faster than both of South Pas's top two runners!
• Team time: 1:41:17...35 seconds better than our CIF prelims time. It's also over 4:30 faster than last year's Invitational time. We placed 7th in our race out of 22 schools!
• Hannah Yoho wins a medal (12th place) in her Sophomore race. Unfortunately, there is no time for her (not yet), but I would guess she was under 21:25 based on my watch! That time puts her at the #7 spot for the team. Courtney Schulte and Eloise Dimase-Nordling run decent first-time races on MT. SAC's course with  20:59 and 21:06 efforts respectively! And Rachel Thorp's first-time effort was not too far behind at 21:10!
• Michelle Berjikian ran a tough race by taking 16th place in her JV race with a 22:06 (57-second course PR). Angela Fuhrman also had a nice course PR and improved by 21 seconds for 25:29! Our team place 9th out of 16 schools!

Based on our time on Friday, we are sitting at #19 for the Invitational when compared to other CIF D3 teams; however, Oak Park, Orange Lutheran and Palos Verdes did not run full teams, so we're probably more like #22. That means we still have a lot of room for improvement. And our rival, South Pasadena, is sitting at #13 with their 1:38:54 performance. If we run at full strength, we could be at least that fast, and probably somewhere in the low 1:37 range. But when it comes right down to it, times don't matter! We have to race people, not clocks! When you run well against your opponents, the fast times usually follow.

Our outlook is looking good in terms of our depth. We still have a couple more races to determine who represents us at CIF prelims, but based on Friday's race results, our top-seven varsity team for League Finals looks like this: Anna, Meghan, Courtney, Eloise, Holly, Rachel, and Hannah Y.

While a 2-mile performance on the track is not the best determiner for x-country success, I may still factor in the results from the APU meet and re-evaluate that top-7 for the league race, but there would have to be a huge displacement in those 6 and 7 spots that would make me alter that team.


BOYS 

Comments from Coach Thatcher:

Good showing yesterday at the Mt Sac Invitational.

Here's the breakdown:

Freshman race we had a solid top 3 (Michel-35th, Shreckengast-36th and Heileson-39th) with #4 (Glidewell-60th) following close behind to round out our team. Top three went under 19 for their first sojourn across the tough course.

There were 125 runners in the race.

Sophomores ran well and stayed in groups of two.

Bromley-37th, Chris Skaggs-38th

Del Valle-53rd, Horswell-58th

Steinberg-62nd, Bartholomew-64th and Marki-99th

There were 137 runners in the race. The boys took 8th out of 15 teams.

Juniors and Seniors raced well in the National JV Championship Race.

Still waiting on those updated results, but we had solid grouping one through four.

Thomas Han led the way in 17:26 -28th- followed closely by

Matthews-17:33-32nd

Patao-17:34-34th

Jonathan Skaggs-17:38-37th.

Nakasone was our 5th man in 20:20-82nd.

check back later for official times and places

They took 7th overall.

In the Varsity Sweeps race we had a strong top 3 led by Andrew Fisher. They averaged 16:08!

Fisher went sub 16 for the first time and four runners broke 17.

Fisher-24th-15:55

Skaggs-40th-16:07

Greene-61st-16:23

Lankey-85th-16:52

Cwik-130th-17:49

Here is a link to the sweeps race. link

Our team time was 83:07 a 14 second improvement from last years outing.

Good things to come!


GIRLS' 19TH WEEK AT-A-GLANCE

Race #39



Race #35




Race #21

Race #14



Race #12



Race #9



Race #8



Race #5

Mt. SAC Invitational Information

Thought you might like to see an old video of the Rio Hondo League Finals meet from 1977. This one was held at the Mt. SAC course. It's interesting to see how barren the land is, especially along the switchbacks where you will not see a single tree. See if you can find me. Here it is...about this FRIDAY's monster invitational!! ...but first, read an article on dealing with PAIN. (a must-read...you can learn something about top runners, relate it to your own race and "push past the pain" to become one of those top runners too.) Also, go to last year's post on "how to run mt. sac"...for you new folks who have never RACED the course, you really should view all the mini-videos that give advice on the different sections of the course. It really helped me when I ran last Sunday. Schedule for MT. SAC We will be taking 2 buses at different times due to the huge gap in our race schedule. First Wave (#5, 8, 10, 12, 14, 21) Class Release: 9:30am Bus Departure: 9:45am Bus Return: 3:30pm Second Wave (#35 and #39) Class Release: 1:15pm Bus Departure: 1:30pm Bus Return: 6pm Our Races

• Race #5 - 11:53 AM--Girls JV (Diana, Michelle, Angela K., Angela F., Katherine)
• Race #8 - 12:27 PM--Boys Frosh
• Race #10 - 12:41 PM--Girls Frosh (Frances, Miranda, Hannah R.)
• Race #12 - 12:57 PM--Boys Soph
• Race #14 - 1:11 PM--Girls Soph (Caroline, Hannah Y., Rachel R.??)
• Race #21 - 2:04 PM--Girls Varsity (Anna, Holly, Meghan, Courtney, Eloise, Rachel, Sonja)
• Race #35 - 3:54 PM--Boys JV National Champ
• Race #39 - 4:44 PM--Boys Sweepstakes

Girls' Week #18 At-A-Glance (MT. SAC WEEK!!)

More Clovis Photos from Mr. Fuelling (Thank you!)


Frosh/Soph Album

Varsity Album

Week-at-a-glance...

Rio Hondo #2 Results

Results are here...


Girls Run Tough!!

Our JV girls represented La Cañada extremely well on Thursday as they were our only victorious team of the five races. The other four were won by South Pasadena.

There are many highlights to share:

• JV team wins the team battle with Eloise winning the race.
• We put 4 more girls in the top-10 (It's hard to lose a race when that happens!): Hannah, Michelle, Diana and Miranda.
• Varsity Girls Team runs its fastest time on the CV course in the last 9 years! See top times below. It's probably far from a record, but I have a hunch it's got to be in the top-10 of all time in our school's history. I only wish I had those times.
• Freshman Anna F. nearly beats a champion! Triple league champion in track, Anika Renken, was pushed the entire distance and barely beats Anna by a scant .2 seconds.
• Holly and Meghan place in the top-5 and break 20 minutes and Courtney places in the top-10! !
• Every single girl who races improved their times from Staub/Barnes of 2 weeks earlier! Wow!!

Top Team Times at CV Park (2002-2010):

• 1:41:20 (2010--League Cluster Meet #2)
• 1:41:25 (2002--Staub)--go on to finish 8th at State
• 1:41:43 (2008--League Finals)
• 1:42:53 (2009--League Finals)
• 1:43:11 (2006--League Finals)
• 1:44:19 (2005--League Finals)
• 1:44:46 (2003--Staub)
• 1:47:24 (2007--Staub Invite)
• 1:48:19 (2004--Staub)

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!!

CAN YOU HELP?

La Cañada COACHING STAFF WOULD APPRECIATE ANY PARENTS WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO ASSIST US AT THE FINISH LINE DURING TODAY'S CROSS COUNTRY MEET.

WE WILL REQUIRE:

• 2 STICKER PULLERS (AS RUNNERS COME TO THE END OF THE CHUTE)
• 2 FINISH LINE CHUTE MANAGERS (KEEPING RUNNERS IN ORDER AS THEY FINISH)
• 1-2 POSTER MANAGERS (PLACING STICKERS ONTO RACE POSTERS)
• 1-2 STATISTICIANS (ON THE POSTERS, WRITING TIMES NEXT TO RUNNERS' NAMES)

PLEASE ARRIVE AT 3PM @ CV PARK 

AND SEE COACH DI CONTI

FOR DETAILS...THANK YOU!

Rio Hondo League #2 Details (and Boys' New Blog)

The boys' team has a blog for workouts. Please refer to it on a regular basis.

http://lcxcboys.blogspot.com

The boys should, however, be coming back to this blog for photos, results, etc.

Here is the information for Thursday's Meet:

Class Dismissal: 1:50pm
Bus Departure: 2:10pm

Schedule

• JV Boys @ 3:30pm
• JV Girls @ 3:55pm
• Varsity Boys @ 4:25pm
• Varsity Girls @ 4:50pm
• FS Boys @ 5:15pm

Bus Return: 6-6:30pm

TEAMS for RHL #2
Girls Varsity: Anna, Meghan, Courtney, Holly, Rachel, Sonja, and Caroline
JV Girls: Eloise, Hannah Y., Diana, Michelle., Miranda, Katherine, Angela K., Angela F., Frances
Sick: Hannah R.
Injured: Alice, Mackenzie, Rachel R.

Clovis Results/#17 Week Preview

The CLOVIS WEEKEND



Results are here.

We took 10 Lady Spartans to the Clovis Invitational on Friday. As soon as we arrived, we drove over to the park and jogged the course. After strides and stretching, the team headed over to the local junior high school and enjoyed a restaurant-catered pasta feast. I'm pretty sure all the ladies ate well as most of them cleaned their plates and enjoyed a second helping of pasta (and cookies!!). We got back to our hotel rooms and met up to discuss our race plans and strategies.

We fielded two teams of five--a frosh/soph and a varsity. Without our top runners on the trip, we decided it was better to focus on an individual effort.

On race day, we found a nice shady area between miles 1 and 2 and set up camp. We hung out for an hour before our FS team began their race warm-up rituals. After the FS race (#7 of the day), our varsity had no choice but wait a long, long while before they could prepare for their own race. Much of that waiting was spent snacking, doing homework, reading or listening to I Pods..

As I've noted previously, Woodward times are closely matched with CV's course. The varsity race was the penultimate contest, so the weather was a little warmer than earlier races. I'm certain the results would've been a little faster in cooler weather.

Results: Our varsity placed 13th out of 22 teams with both Anna (18th) and Meghan (19th) receiving medals for placing in the top-30. And they both broke the 20-minute barrier receiving identical times of 19:51. (Note: Only 4 schools had better #1-2 runners than Anna and Meghan; so, if you factor in our two missing seniors, we would have been in the thick of things!)  Also, Rachel broke the 22-minute barrier while Eloise, Sonja, Hannah Y. and Diana all came under the 23-minutes. And our FS team placed 19th out of 27 teams.

We had some decent results and fun experiences both on and off the course. I'm certain the girls found the trip to be a rewarding one as they gained personal insight about their racing abilities as well as developed a stronger team bond from their shared experiences.

I would like to thank Mrs. Yoho, Mr. and Mrs. Fuelling, Mrs. Cwik and Mrs. Frederich for coming on the trip to show their support of our young ladies.

GIRLS' WEEK-AT-A-GLANCE 

BRING YOUR FLATS!!...AND WATCHES!

More Staub Photos--Thank You, Mr. Fuelling!

Clovis Invitational Itinerary is HERE.

Mr. Fuelling was on the scene at Staub/Barnes and took some fantastic shots of boys and girls.

Enjoy the albums:

Clovis Itinerary

Friday, October 8

12 noon-- Depart from LCHS parking lot in 12-passenger van
3:30pm-- Arrive and unpack at La Quinta Inn
4pm-- Head to Woodward park to jog the course/pre-race ritual
5pm-5:30pm-- Go back to La Quinta Inn to prepare for dinner
6pm-- Go to "Pasta Feed"...KASTNER INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL...7676 N. FIRST ST., FRESNO 93720
7-7:30pm-- Go back to La Quinta Inn
8pm-- Team Meeting with coach to discuss races/strategy
8:30-9pm-- Go back to rooms to unwind/homework/relax
10pm-- LIGHTS OUT!

Saturday, October 9

7am-- Wake-up
7:30am-- Light Breakfast
8-8:30am-- Prepare to go to Woodward Park
9-9:15am-- Arrive at race site/attach race bibs
9:30am-- F/S warm-up (20-30 minute jog)
9:50-10am-- Put on Race Flats--F/S dynamic stretching/drills
10:05am-- Head to START line/4 x strides/more drills/keep moving legs
(drills include: walking high knees/school yard skip/carioca/butt kicks)
10:15am-- F/S RACE
10:45am-- F/S cool-down (20 minutes)
11:05am-- Drive to a market/sandwich shop for light lunch for F/S...and snack (or not) for Varsity
12N-- Back to Woodward Park
12:30pm-- Varsity warm-up (20-30 minute jog)
12:50-1pm-- Put on Race Flats--dynamic streching/drills
1-1:15pm--Head to Start line/4 x strides/more drills/keep moving legs
(drills include: walking high knees/school yard skip/carioca/butt kicks)
1:25pm-- Varsity RACE
1:55pm-- Varsity cool-down (20 minutes)
2:30pm-- Find something to eat
3-3:30pm-- Head for home
6:30-7pm-- Return to LCHS parking lot

Clovis Invitational Information

First, let me say how proud I was to see all of you make it to the top of Glenoaks. I don't think an entire LC girls team has ever done that before. There were 16 of you! Well done!

And did you know that tomorrow is the official HUG A CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER DAY? It's true. So, begin my hugging yourself right now. You deserve a big HUG for how well you ran today.

CLOVIS

Ten girls from the team will be competing at the Clovis Invitational this Saturday, October 9th. The boys' team will not be going.

Competitors include: Meghan, Anna, Rachel, Michelle, Diana, Hannah Y. Eloise, Sonja,, Miranda, Caroline
Highlighted names will run varsity. Others are entered in the Frosh/Soph race...see schedule below.

Details

Meet Information Link

Where: Fresno at Woodward Park

Race Date: Saturday, October 9th, 2010

Leaving LCHS:
Friday, October 8th @ 12 Noon (after 4th period)

Lodging Information: 
La Quinta Inn & Suites Fresno Northwest
5077 N Cornelia Ave
Fresno, CA 93722
1-559-275-3700
Our Races

• Race #7 Frosh/Soph Girls - 10:15

• Race # 14 @ 1:25pm--Lane Assignment for Varsity Girls

Return to LCHS: Saturday, early evening @ 7pm (hopefully earlier)

Staub/Barnes-- Highlights, Results...Week #16 At-A-Glance

Link to the results is HERE.

GIRLS at STAUB/BARNES

We had a difficult week leading up to this race...

Nasty illnesses sapped the strength of half our team. Schizophrenic weather disrupted our workout rhythm as we felt its record high temperatures, high humidity and thunder storms...

Though we've run better as a whole, there are certainly individual/team efforts that deserve recognition.

Highlights 

• Top-4 on varsity (Meghan, Anna, Courtney and Holly) place in the top-ten as only 10 seconds separate them. 3rd place plaque and only a few points back of CIF 8th-ranked Golden Valley.
•  JV squad take 2nd place honors (plaque)
• Michelle Berjikian nearly wins her JV race with an outstanding 2nd place effort!
• Other Top-10 finishers: Diana Tran (6th--JV race); Frosh Race--Eloise (5th) and Miranda Dimase-Nordling (10th). 
• Top-25 medalists: Angela Kim (18th), Frances Pauken (19th) and Hannah Ragusa (23rd)
• Special Recognition: Caroline Fontes, who had been battling Strep Throat for 3 weeks, takes home a 12th place medal in her first race back! 

Hard Week Ahead...Girls' 16# At-A-Glance

The weather will be a lot more cooperative this coming week. Except for the Clovis Crew, we don't race this week. So, we prepare for Rio Hondo #2 by hitting some tough days beginning with tomorrow's hill run.

Get some sleep tonight, ladies...and hydrate today and tomorrow!!

Staub/Barnes Pictures

Staub/Barnes Information

Picture Day is tomorrow, Friday, October 1st. 

If you need order forms, see Mr. Frandsen.

First, I want to thank the Lady Spartans for the wonderful birthday song that they presented to me as I entered onto the track this afternoon. Some pretty powerful lungs there...gotta be the 400 workouts! Anyway, I appreciate it very much!!







Now for this Saturday's details:

When: Saturday, October 2nd
Where: CV Park
Bus Departure: 7:15am
Bus Return: 2pm

Our Race Schedule

8:40am--#3 Boys Sophomore D1
8:55am--#4 Girls Varsity D2 (Meghan, Anna, Holly, Courtney, Sonja, Rachel, Hannah Y.)
9:50am--#7 Boys Varsity D1
10:55am--#11 Boys JV D1
11:25am--#13 Girls JV D2 (Diana, Michelle, Katherine, Angela K., Angela F.)
11:55am--#14 Girls Soph D2-3 (Caroline)
12:25pm--#17 Girls Frosh D2-3 (Eloise, Miranda, Frances, Hannah R.)
12:45pm--#18 Boys Frosh D1

Girls' Workout Tomorrow and #15 Week-At-A-Glance (Girls and Boys)

Team Picture Day is on Friday, October 1st

GIRLS

BRING YOUR FLATS TOMORROW!

It will be hot on Monday, so drink a lot of water throughout the day. We will be going back to the horse trail located on the other side of St. Bede's--the shady area will be 15 degrees cooler than the track. Map of Warm-up (1.5 miles) Varsity--(6-8 miles) 12-16 x 400m (400m Jog interval)...we do another progressive style approach. Begin slowly, with every mile (4 reps) getting a little faster than the last. JV--(4-6 miles) 8-12  x 400m (400m Jog interval) Map of Cool-down (1.2 miles)

BOYS

M hard (hills)

T easy drills/strides

W hard  (long interval)

TH drills/ mileage 

F easy

S race

Rio Hondo #1 Results & Photos

A lot of great running on both individual and team levels.

Our varsity boys won their first league race convincingly, 32-42, in a hotly contested battle against South Pasadena. Brendan Green runs his first race at the #1 spot for the team to take the runner-up position in the race. Closely following Brendan was Adam Skaggs who placed 3rd. And not too far behind Adam was Andrew Fisher to take the 4th position in the race. Erick Lankey and Anton Cwik round out the top-5 for LC, placing 10th and 13th respectively.

On the girls' side, our varsity ladies gave a valiant effort against a much improved South Pas team, but came up short with a score of 31-37.  Meghan Fuelling closed extremely well to take 2nd place (only 7 seconds off of the leader) by running her last mile faster than her first. Freshman, Anna Frederich, runs her debut at Lacy Park in 19:33 showing that an even-paced effort pays off in the end. Holly Shreckengast and Courtney Schulte both run sub-20 efforts to take 5th and 8th spots respectively.

At the JV level, the boys were barely beaten by the Tigers with a score of 26-34, with Jonathan Skaggs leading the way for the Spartans to take 3rd in the race. Alex Lee and Thomas Han were not far behind as they placed 4th and 5th. And fast improving John Clive also dips into the top-10 in the race.

Our JV ladies ran their best Rio Hondo race in many years. Leading the way for the Spartans was Flintridge Prep transfer Hannah Yoho who takes second place. Also in the top-five spots for the race are Diana Tran (3rd) and Miranda Dimase-Nordling (4th). Michelle Berjikian and Katherine Landesman take the next two spots as scoring members of the team. We win the team race by one point: LC with 41 points against San Marino's 42 and South Pas's 44. We have a legitimate shot at winning our first JV Girls league title in many years if we have a healthy squad in the next couple weeks.

Unfortunately, I don't have results for the Frosh-Soph race. I hope to get these in the next day or two.

Rio Hondo League #1 Details

@ Lacy Park

Class Release--1:45pm (5th period Block)
Bus Departure--2pm
Back to School--5:30 or so


Race Schedule and Entrants--all races will begin as soon as the previous race is completed starting with:

• JV Boy (3:30pm)--waiting for lists

• JV Girls--diana, alice, hannah y., michelle, miranda, katherine, angela k., angela f., frances, hannah r.
  

• Varsity Boy--waiting for lists
  

• Varsity Girls--holly, meghan, courtney, anna, rachel t., eloise, sonja

• Soph/Frosh Boys--waiting for lists

Not racing (Injured/Sick/Recovering) : mackenzie, caroline, rachel r.

Woodbridge Highlights and Week #14 At-A-Glance

Boys

Coach Thatcher writes:

Varsity Boys ran a :32 second 1-5 team spread! 

Improved last years team time by almost a minute (on a slower course!) 

Averaged 16:05 for top 5.

Placed 15th out of 26 teams. (46th overall)

Multiple personal best times across the board. 

Senior Kuan Yew Clive started us off running 18:12 for a huge PR and the last medal spot in that race. 

On the freshman side we had strong performances by Erick Shreckengast in 18:46 Justin Michel in 18:47.

Sophomores were led by Dillon Bromley in 18:10. Junior Jonathan Skaggs clocked a new personal best of 17:32.

Under the lights in the Varsity Boys Rated Race, the Spartans were led again by Adam Skaggs who finished in 15:48, followed closely by Brendan Greene in 15:57 (his first sub 16 race), 

Andrew Fisher in 16:04, Erick Lankey in 16:14 and Anton Cwik in 16:20. All were PR's for the course and received medals (top 100). 

Overall an impressive day, with a little room for improvement over the next few weeks.

Girls

Highlights

• 69th team out of 179...(13th in our division 3 CIF)
• 5th place plaque in our Varisty division (out of 29 schools)
• Four Varsity girls make the top-30 with sub-19:30 performances!
• Holly Shreckengast goes under 19 minute barrier!
• Special acknowledgment: Meghan Fuelling and Courtney Schulte who run really tough after falling to the ground!!
• 10 ladies medal out of our 16 runners!

GIRLS: BRING YOUR FLATS TOMORROW (MONDAY TRACK WORKOUT) 

Also, on Wednesday, I'd like to have the girls meet me over at Lacy Park to take a look at the course as well as cheer on the your junior high counterparts. I will already be there due to the 7-8 cross country meet that is taking place. Mrs. Fuelling has already agreed to help drive over 7 girls. Please ask your mom or dad if they might be able to assist and drive the rest of the team over. You would leave right after school at 2:45pm. You can change at the park. Let me know either with an email or during practice tomorrow . If we don't have the transportation to take everyone, then we don't go. I figure two additional large vehicles would be needed.

 

Below are the team times for LC girls over the past 13 years at Woodbridge. (Only three years faster than yesterday's time.) I don't know for sure, but I will say that yesterday's course is surely slower than Woodbridge's. Remember that last mile at Woodbridge is nearly all pavement! Also, yesterday's course had a lot of thick grass. I think 5 seconds per mile would be a conservative conversion.

1998--1:34:43 (5 out of 63)

1999--1:36:04 (5 out of 49)

2000--1:39:41 (18 out of 122)

2001--1:39:40 (19 out of 107)

2002--1:40:03 (27 out of 139)

2003--1:38:30 (35 out of 139)

2004--1:41:08 (60 out of 144)

2005--1:42:16 (73 out of 159)

2006--1:38:47 (65 out of 164)

2007--1:41:21 (91 out of 166)

2008--1:37:45 (52 out of 176)

2009--1:39:20 (90 out of 172)

2010--1:38:19 (69 out of 171)

Woodbridge (Girls) Photo Album

Results




Coming Later in the Afternoon

Coaches' Comments (DiConti/Thatcher)--Team/Individual Highlights (Boys/Girls)--Team Results Analysis (Over-The-Years--Girls)

2010 Woodbridge XC Classic is this Saturday!!

Bus Departure: 8:30am
Bus Return: 4-4:30pm

2nd Bus Departure: 6:15pm (Varsity Boys Only)--other levels (i.e. fs/jv/girls) are not required to come, but I'm sure the boys would love to have you there to cheer them on. So, you're invited if you want to witness a really fast and exciting race that will be contested "under the lights"!!
Bus Return Time: 11pm-Midnight?? (email Coach Thatcher for more details)


STAYING WITH YOUR TEAM
It is really important that you stay with the team during the entire meet. We discourage anyone from leaving early with their parents as your presence for the entirety of the meet shows your commitment to the  sport, loyalty to your team mates and further solidifies our team unity. Your coaches will be pretty firm in their efforts to enforce this rule; but at the same time, we also realize that sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that would cause us to make an exception. So, if you feel you have a valid reason for leaving early, you will then need to discuss this with your coach in private with a 48 hours notice--that means tomorrow!! (Coaches DiConti/Thatcher)

Location: Estancia High School
2323 Placentia Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92627-3305

(949) 515-6506

Race Schedule

La Cañada is entered in the White Division.

Boys' Assignments should be discussed with Coach Thatcher tomorrow.

11AM--Girls' Varsity: Courtney, Holly, Meghan, Sonja, Anna, Rachel and Diana

1:30PM--Girls' JV: Alice, Angela F., Angela K., Katherine, Mackenzie, Michelle

2PM--Girls' Frosh: Frances, Miranda, Eloise

2:30PM--Girls' Soph: Hannah Y., Caroline

Week #13 At-A-Glance--Girls and Boys...Don Bosco Results

Don Bosco Photo Album

Results, Photos and Video coming later this afternoon/early evening!!

Don Bosco Invitational Preview

Race Information

 Meghan (1st), Holly (6th) and Sonja (9th) were top-10 finishers in their races last year.

Departure: In front of pool--Bus leaves @ 6am! (Plan to arrive by 5:45am.)

Return: 1pm
Map for Parents

Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area

15501 Arrow Hwy
Baldwin Park, CA 91706Parking Fee: $10 or free on Arrow Hwy

Those team members who need to ride home with parents after the meet need to have a note stating that need. This note MUST BE SIGNED by Mr. Frandsen and brought to practice no later than Friday and given to your coaches! You may not get a ride with a friend or a friend's parent. Only your own parents can drive you back home. NO EXCEPTIONS!!! This is a school policy.

Meet Schedule--Our races are highlighted

8:00 AM	BOYS	Small Schools	Seniors/Juniors
8:20 AM	GIRLS	Large & Medium Schools	Seniors
8:40 AM	BOYS	Large & Medium Schools	Seniors
9:00 AM	GIRLS	Small Schools	Seniors/Juniors
9:20 AM	BOYS	Large & Medium Schools	Freshmen
9:40 AM	GIRLS	Large & Medium Schools	Freshmen
10:00 AM	BOYS	Small Schools	Sophomores/Freshmen
10:20 AM	GIRLS	Large & Medium Schools	Juniors
10:40 AM	BOYS	Large & Medium Schools	Juniors
11:00 AM	GIRLS	Small Schools	Sophomores/Freshmen
11:20 AM	BOYS	Large & Medium Schools	Sophomores
11:40 AM	GIRLS	Large & Medium Schools	Sophomores

Girls' Workout on Tuesday

Bring your race flats and a watch!!

Tuesday's Workout Information
JV TOTAL=7.3 MILES
VARSITY TOTAL=8.6 MILES

Warm-up:  (1.8 miles) We jog over to the site of our repetitions. (You will jog with your race flats in-hand.)

1/2-mile Work-out Loop
Varsity: 8 x 1/2 mile...1/4-mile jog interval

JV: 6 x 1/2 mile...1/4-mile jog interval


Cool-Down--jog back to school. (1-mile)

Weather forecast shows a mild day of 80 degrees for Tuesday. The course is shaded, so it should be very accommodating.

Be sure to drink water all-day long. Your legs will thank you.

Week #12 At-A-Glance

Girls' Week
Happy Labor Day! Enjoy this day with family, but don't forget to run!
So, I will see you all on Tuesday.

Week #12 At-A-Glance: (33-46 miles)
Saturday Meet Information will be posted on Wednesday
Uniforms will be issued on Wednesday afternoon after our run.

BOYS' WEEK

( ) = optional run

M= mileage (hilly)

T= team fartlek (workout)

W= drills/ strides

TH=hills

F=easy miles

S= race

               m     t        w      th        f      s      s       T

PM        *8     9-11 7-8 8-10  6     (3)  (5)     46-51

AM      *(4)            (5)        8            17

totals      12    11     8       13      6      11   5      54-68

*There will be no team practice on Monday. Run on your own. 

SF run 8 total. something hilly.

JV/V run 12 miles total in two runs. Your choice of how to break it up. 

(i.e. 8 and 4,  7 and 5, 6 and 6 etc)