I hope all is well with everyone reading this blog! I want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas (nearly over) and Happy New Year...
Be back soon...
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
2008 UIW TRACK SCHEDULE NOW POSTED
I have finished the uiw track schedule and it is posted on the uiw website.
Here it is:
Date Meet Location
February
1, 2 Houston Indoor Invite Houston
9 Houston Bayou Classic Houston
16 UH All-Comers Meet Houston
23 Trinity Invitational San Antonio
March
1 Border Olympics Laredo
7 Texas State Invitational San Marcos
14, 15 Indoor Nationals Mankato, MN
22 UT Invitational Austin
28, 29 Victor Lopez – Rice Univ. Houston
April
3, 4, 5 Texas Relays Austin
19 UT Twilight Austin
25 Rice Twilight Houston
May
9 ACU Last Chance Meet Abilene
22, 23, 24 Outdoor Nationals California
Here it is:
Date Meet Location
February
1, 2 Houston Indoor Invite Houston
9 Houston Bayou Classic Houston
16 UH All-Comers Meet Houston
23 Trinity Invitational San Antonio
March
1 Border Olympics Laredo
7 Texas State Invitational San Marcos
14, 15 Indoor Nationals Mankato, MN
22 UT Invitational Austin
28, 29 Victor Lopez – Rice Univ. Houston
April
3, 4, 5 Texas Relays Austin
19 UT Twilight Austin
25 Rice Twilight Houston
May
9 ACU Last Chance Meet Abilene
22, 23, 24 Outdoor Nationals California
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Track Team Christmas Party 2007!!!
Well, we decided to do something different for our XMAS party this year so Coach Bree and Coach Candace went to work earlier this week to put together a great party for the team. We are heading into finals this week so we wanted to send everyone off for finals and the break with a fun fellowship as a team.
Everyone had a good time (although about 20 people couldn't come for various reasons)...it seems as though we will have to make this type of inside party a tradition. The outside bar-b-ques haven't always worked because of weather and lack of things to do.
I am going to attempt to post some of the memorable pictures on this post. The others will be posted on facebook and our photobucket account. Once I have them posted to photobucket I will post the link to a post.
Team, good luck with finals. Let's go after that top GPA in the nation!
Everyone else (incoming freshmen, recruits, parents, family, friends, and anyone else reading this blog), have safe and happy holiday season and remember the reason for the season! :)
Until next time...
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thanksgiving in Abilene
This Thanksgiving Mary and I went to her parents house in Abilene. We were surprised to have a white Thanksgiving with over four inches of snow. Here's me with the snowman I made. This is the first snowman I have EVER made! Yes, it hasn't snowed in San Antonio since 1984 and I did make a snowman that year, but had help and I don't remember it much. I went to school in Abilene and every time it snowed my friends and I spent our time sliding down the hills around school. It never dawned on us to build a snowman! So, here it is...
Monday, November 19, 2007
A Poet Among Us...
I want to share this with people who read the blog. This poem was written by Yvonne Rodriguez. I had no idea that she wrote poems...pretty good from my perspective!
A SEASON TO BE THANKFUL
We share our laughs, we share our smiles.
We gather our thoughts, when we run those long miles.
We are all runners, and different in each and every way.
So hear my words and thoughts, for why I now pray.
This season is now over, the one and only that I will never forget.
At least now I can leave and not have any regrets.
I’m so thankful to have met each and every one of you.
Why this season turned out this way, no one knew.
Even though we tried to do the damn thing.
I hope you all know that I will always carry you all, under my wings.
We pushed each other and cheered others on.
It’s sad to say that it’s all gone.
I now pray to hold the good memories, and pray we will still be strong.
But wait I have one more thing to add, this won’t be long.
You all don’t know how thankful I am to be here.
Just thinking about it brings a teer.
There are so many things to say.
But maybe this could wait another day.
Please remember that everything happens for a reason.
And I hope to be seeing you all next season.
So share your thoughts to family and friends, and always remember to thank the Lord.
After all, this is the season to be thankful, so Happy Thanksgiving Incarnate Word.
-Yvonne
UIW is closed this week from Wednesday-Friday for Thanksgiving holiday. The distance runners are off this week as we transition to the track base building phase. We just finished two weeks of good base building as an active recovery transition from the cross country season.
Track practice is going well. We only have one day of practice this week - today as we give everyong time to travel home and spend time with family.
Here is our preliminary 2008 track schedule:
Date Meet Location
February
1, 2 Houston Indoor Invite Houston
16 UH All-Comers Meet Houston
23 Trinity Invitational San Antonio
March
1 Border Olympics Laredo
7 Texas State Invitational San Marcos
14, 15 Indoor Nationals Mankato, MN
22 UT Invitational Austin
28, 29 Victor Lopez – Rice Univ. Houston
April
3, 4, 5 Texas Relays Austin
19 UT Twilight Austin
25 Rice Twilight Houston
May
9 ACU Last Chance Meet Abilene
22, 23, 24 Outdoor Nationals California
Some things might change in the next few weeks as I wait approval from certain meets. This should be the schedule for the spring.
Until next time...
A SEASON TO BE THANKFUL
We share our laughs, we share our smiles.
We gather our thoughts, when we run those long miles.
We are all runners, and different in each and every way.
So hear my words and thoughts, for why I now pray.
This season is now over, the one and only that I will never forget.
At least now I can leave and not have any regrets.
I’m so thankful to have met each and every one of you.
Why this season turned out this way, no one knew.
Even though we tried to do the damn thing.
I hope you all know that I will always carry you all, under my wings.
We pushed each other and cheered others on.
It’s sad to say that it’s all gone.
I now pray to hold the good memories, and pray we will still be strong.
But wait I have one more thing to add, this won’t be long.
You all don’t know how thankful I am to be here.
Just thinking about it brings a teer.
There are so many things to say.
But maybe this could wait another day.
Please remember that everything happens for a reason.
And I hope to be seeing you all next season.
So share your thoughts to family and friends, and always remember to thank the Lord.
After all, this is the season to be thankful, so Happy Thanksgiving Incarnate Word.
-Yvonne
UIW is closed this week from Wednesday-Friday for Thanksgiving holiday. The distance runners are off this week as we transition to the track base building phase. We just finished two weeks of good base building as an active recovery transition from the cross country season.
Track practice is going well. We only have one day of practice this week - today as we give everyong time to travel home and spend time with family.
Here is our preliminary 2008 track schedule:
Date Meet Location
February
1, 2 Houston Indoor Invite Houston
16 UH All-Comers Meet Houston
23 Trinity Invitational San Antonio
March
1 Border Olympics Laredo
7 Texas State Invitational San Marcos
14, 15 Indoor Nationals Mankato, MN
22 UT Invitational Austin
28, 29 Victor Lopez – Rice Univ. Houston
April
3, 4, 5 Texas Relays Austin
19 UT Twilight Austin
25 Rice Twilight Houston
May
9 ACU Last Chance Meet Abilene
22, 23, 24 Outdoor Nationals California
Some things might change in the next few weeks as I wait approval from certain meets. This should be the schedule for the spring.
Until next time...
Monday, November 12, 2007
Shayn Weidner Blog on Track Shark
For those of you that may be interested, Shayn now has a blog entry on Track Shark.com. Go to www.trackshark.com and then blogs in the upper links. Once in the blogs scroll down until you see Shayn's picture (beard with a red jacket).
Track Shark Blog link: http://www.trackshark.com/blogs/home.php
He talks about his training, his thoughts on running, and life as a college distance runner.
In one of his latest entries, read his mathematical equation for converting cross training to running mileage to make sure you keep your mileage effort up while cross training.
I plan to publish the men's and women's track schedules by December 3 along with Spring track rosters for both squads. We will give the indoor thing a shot on an interim basis with the women's team as we work to see if it is feasible for our program. Most of the athletes don't ask about indoors and prefer to concentrate on the outdoor season. Most of the women will travel to the minimum required meets as will a few select men as we see if we can qualify anyone for the national championships in Minnesota.
In track, we are concentrating on strength and endurance right now with the sprinters and jumpers. They are working hard and struggling through some difficult workouts while we expand the aerobic base for the sprinters - something many of them have not done before. The extensive weight program and running seem to be paying off as they continue to get into shape for the spring season.
He talks about his training, his thoughts on running, and life as a college distance runner.
In one of his latest entries, read his mathematical equation for converting cross training to running mileage to make sure you keep your mileage effort up while cross training.
I plan to publish the men's and women's track schedules by December 3 along with Spring track rosters for both squads. We will give the indoor thing a shot on an interim basis with the women's team as we work to see if it is feasible for our program. Most of the athletes don't ask about indoors and prefer to concentrate on the outdoor season. Most of the women will travel to the minimum required meets as will a few select men as we see if we can qualify anyone for the national championships in Minnesota.
In track, we are concentrating on strength and endurance right now with the sprinters and jumpers. They are working hard and struggling through some difficult workouts while we expand the aerobic base for the sprinters - something many of them have not done before. The extensive weight program and running seem to be paying off as they continue to get into shape for the spring season.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Correction
The two men transfers would give us 12 under 50 seconds in the open 400m:
George Alicea
Christian Alicea
Taylor Echevarria
Marcus Edwards
Chacho Madera
Lalo Flores
David Martinez
Everrett Rusher
John Zavala
Michael Moszee and
2 Spring transfers
George Alicea
Christian Alicea
Taylor Echevarria
Marcus Edwards
Chacho Madera
Lalo Flores
David Martinez
Everrett Rusher
John Zavala
Michael Moszee and
2 Spring transfers
2007 Season in the books
The UIW XC team finished the 2007 season last weekend at the Regional championships in Joplin, MO. The weather was very nice and the course was well put together. After running there we might consider going back there for the 2008 Missouri Southern Stampeed in mid-September. The only conflict is that it is the same weekend as the National Catholic Championships at Notre Dame, which was a fun trip for us last year.
The regional meet proved to be a tough lesson for many of our athletes. I will recap some of the performances:
Sophomore Shayn Weidner experienced a significant improvement on last year's regional finish with a 40th overall finish. His 33:06 time was also a PR for him (33:15 in his only track 10K last season). The course was difficult for Shayn as he is what I like to call a rhythm runner - someone who excels on the track and on flat cross country courses - courses that don't have too many rolling hills and/or turns and cut backs. Shayn relies on his strength to beat people and wear them down. That is why he was the best runner in the conference last year during the track season. He strives on being a human metronome, capable of setting a pace and holding it for laps at a time. I expect his XC improvement to bode well in track as we work to hit his goals of 15:10 (5K), 4:04 (1500), 8:40 (3K) and 32:15 (10K). If his freshman track season is any indication, these times are well within reach.
Freshman Adrian Carrillo continued his consistent freshman campaign. I was pleased with his season given the fact that I thought I was going to have to redshirt him this season. Adrian came into pre-season camp not able to run (or complete a short 30 minute run) because of a nagging IT band injury. The injury robbed him of 75% of his summer training and possibly a chance to run with Shayn during this XC season. A strong XMAS break will help Adrian be a consistant sub-16 5K runner on the track. Adrian has made it his goal to be Shayn's shadow from now until the track season so that he can fully complete his transition from HS runner to college athlete.
Roman Jacobo finally came back to us. After debuting with a sub-28 minute 5 miler Roman struggled to maintain consistency throughout the remainder of the season. Thus I advised Roman to run the 10K regional race as though it were an 8K. This strategy seemed to work as Roman was only 8 seconds off his 8K PR through the 8K Saturday. This helped him finish in 34:45.
Now, the recruiting begins to finish out the men's team. Jay Wilson (3rd in the State 5A 1600m in 2006) will join us in the spring. Jeremy Juarez (3rd in the State 3A 800 and 5th in the 3A XC in 2006 and 2007) will join us next fall after redshirting his freshman year to build an aerobic base. Plans are also in the works to add a sub-15 5K horse in time for the spring track season.
The women went into the regional meet after falling just short of a conference championship bid. Yvonne Rodriguez ran away with the conference championship in convincing fashion only to suffer from her poorest race of the season. Her 17th place finish signifies the highest-ever finish for a Lady Cardinal at the regional championships. However, based on another runner from the conference finishing 13th overall in the region, it is safe to say that a good day should have Yvonne finishing in the top 3 finish. It just wasn't meant to be. Nonetheless, Yvonne has to be proud of how well her senior season went. She looks forward to a strong track season. Her previous PRs in the 800, 1500, 3000, and 5000 are all provisional NCAA championship qualifying marks. We will figure out what races we are going to focus on during the XMAS break. The preliminary report seems to say that she will focus on the 3000 during indoor and the 1500 and 3000 during outdoor. There is a possibility that she may be able to pop off a sub 2:12 800 to sneak into the outdoor championships.
Rose Caldwell broke the sub 23 barrier (6K) to set a PR once again - basically 19 flat for the 5K. Her continued improvement is encouraging for track, where she will be able to concentrate on a race more suitable to her abilities - the 3000m. I look for her to break the 10:45 barrier this season.
Finally, Melissa Martinez proved that she will do anything for her teammates. We discovered Thursday morning that she may be suffering from a stress reaction in her lower leg. While she has been running through some shin pain for 3 weeks we didn't think it had gotten that bad. After her Thursday morning easy run the pain became too much to bare and we feared the worst after talking with the head athletic trainer. He assured us that she would not do any further damage to the leg by running the race. Needless to say, she was in pretty good pain throughout the race (especially on the down hills) and her time showed it. However, her 23:30 6K was not all that bad considering the circumstances. We hope to get this problem taken care of as this was the second occurance since mid-summer.
On another note, we officially received the nomination to host the 2008 South Central Regional meet here in San Antonio. The race will be held at the Live Oak City Park. This is exciting news for the young program and great news for the city of San Antonio running community. We hope to be more competitive in 2008 so that we can show our home crowd that we belong with the best in the region.
The track team is doing well - working hard and getting better by the day. Our men's sprint depth is impressive as we are about to add two more sub 48.5 400m runners. That will give us 10 men that have run sub-50 in the last 6 months. Our women sprinters/jumpers are also working hard. Morgan Moszee is far ahead of last year's conditioning (when she finished 7th in the nation in the long jump). Our new jumps coach, Rosemary Dupree, is sure to get Morgan where she needs to be in time for the indoor championships in Minnesota in March. Unfortunately, Morgan does not have any outdoor eligibility left after losing a season while at UTSA due to a hamstring injury. We continue to work hard toward our goal of sending a men's 4x400 relay and 4 x 100 relay to California for the outdoor national championships in May, 2008. Keep on the lookout for our results in the spring as we work to make the UIW community proud.
Until next time...
The regional meet proved to be a tough lesson for many of our athletes. I will recap some of the performances:
Sophomore Shayn Weidner experienced a significant improvement on last year's regional finish with a 40th overall finish. His 33:06 time was also a PR for him (33:15 in his only track 10K last season). The course was difficult for Shayn as he is what I like to call a rhythm runner - someone who excels on the track and on flat cross country courses - courses that don't have too many rolling hills and/or turns and cut backs. Shayn relies on his strength to beat people and wear them down. That is why he was the best runner in the conference last year during the track season. He strives on being a human metronome, capable of setting a pace and holding it for laps at a time. I expect his XC improvement to bode well in track as we work to hit his goals of 15:10 (5K), 4:04 (1500), 8:40 (3K) and 32:15 (10K). If his freshman track season is any indication, these times are well within reach.
Freshman Adrian Carrillo continued his consistent freshman campaign. I was pleased with his season given the fact that I thought I was going to have to redshirt him this season. Adrian came into pre-season camp not able to run (or complete a short 30 minute run) because of a nagging IT band injury. The injury robbed him of 75% of his summer training and possibly a chance to run with Shayn during this XC season. A strong XMAS break will help Adrian be a consistant sub-16 5K runner on the track. Adrian has made it his goal to be Shayn's shadow from now until the track season so that he can fully complete his transition from HS runner to college athlete.
Roman Jacobo finally came back to us. After debuting with a sub-28 minute 5 miler Roman struggled to maintain consistency throughout the remainder of the season. Thus I advised Roman to run the 10K regional race as though it were an 8K. This strategy seemed to work as Roman was only 8 seconds off his 8K PR through the 8K Saturday. This helped him finish in 34:45.
Now, the recruiting begins to finish out the men's team. Jay Wilson (3rd in the State 5A 1600m in 2006) will join us in the spring. Jeremy Juarez (3rd in the State 3A 800 and 5th in the 3A XC in 2006 and 2007) will join us next fall after redshirting his freshman year to build an aerobic base. Plans are also in the works to add a sub-15 5K horse in time for the spring track season.
The women went into the regional meet after falling just short of a conference championship bid. Yvonne Rodriguez ran away with the conference championship in convincing fashion only to suffer from her poorest race of the season. Her 17th place finish signifies the highest-ever finish for a Lady Cardinal at the regional championships. However, based on another runner from the conference finishing 13th overall in the region, it is safe to say that a good day should have Yvonne finishing in the top 3 finish. It just wasn't meant to be. Nonetheless, Yvonne has to be proud of how well her senior season went. She looks forward to a strong track season. Her previous PRs in the 800, 1500, 3000, and 5000 are all provisional NCAA championship qualifying marks. We will figure out what races we are going to focus on during the XMAS break. The preliminary report seems to say that she will focus on the 3000 during indoor and the 1500 and 3000 during outdoor. There is a possibility that she may be able to pop off a sub 2:12 800 to sneak into the outdoor championships.
Rose Caldwell broke the sub 23 barrier (6K) to set a PR once again - basically 19 flat for the 5K. Her continued improvement is encouraging for track, where she will be able to concentrate on a race more suitable to her abilities - the 3000m. I look for her to break the 10:45 barrier this season.
Finally, Melissa Martinez proved that she will do anything for her teammates. We discovered Thursday morning that she may be suffering from a stress reaction in her lower leg. While she has been running through some shin pain for 3 weeks we didn't think it had gotten that bad. After her Thursday morning easy run the pain became too much to bare and we feared the worst after talking with the head athletic trainer. He assured us that she would not do any further damage to the leg by running the race. Needless to say, she was in pretty good pain throughout the race (especially on the down hills) and her time showed it. However, her 23:30 6K was not all that bad considering the circumstances. We hope to get this problem taken care of as this was the second occurance since mid-summer.
On another note, we officially received the nomination to host the 2008 South Central Regional meet here in San Antonio. The race will be held at the Live Oak City Park. This is exciting news for the young program and great news for the city of San Antonio running community. We hope to be more competitive in 2008 so that we can show our home crowd that we belong with the best in the region.
The track team is doing well - working hard and getting better by the day. Our men's sprint depth is impressive as we are about to add two more sub 48.5 400m runners. That will give us 10 men that have run sub-50 in the last 6 months. Our women sprinters/jumpers are also working hard. Morgan Moszee is far ahead of last year's conditioning (when she finished 7th in the nation in the long jump). Our new jumps coach, Rosemary Dupree, is sure to get Morgan where she needs to be in time for the indoor championships in Minnesota in March. Unfortunately, Morgan does not have any outdoor eligibility left after losing a season while at UTSA due to a hamstring injury. We continue to work hard toward our goal of sending a men's 4x400 relay and 4 x 100 relay to California for the outdoor national championships in May, 2008. Keep on the lookout for our results in the spring as we work to make the UIW community proud.
Until next time...
Friday, October 26, 2007
Rose Caldwell Freshman of the Year!
I wanted to add that Rose Caldwell, with her 5th place finish was named freshman of the year.
Well done Rose Marie!
Well done Rose Marie!
Regionals Quickly Approaching
We recently completed the conference championships, which we hosted last weekend, and we now work toward the regional meet next weekend in Joplin, MO (Hosted by Missouri Southern State University).
Again, I apologize for the gap between my postings. I am probably losing fans because I have been bad about posting on a regular basis. I always feel guilty when I take time to post because there is always something to work on in the office. However...
Before I give a quick recap of the conference championships I would like to talk about how the team is doing and some big news items for the program.
First, as I have told just about everyone that will listen it looks as though UIW will play host to the 2008 South Central regional championships next fall! I have been lobying for this for quite some time and it has been a dream of mine for a good while. Hosting the regional championships will be big for our program on a number of levels. First, it will be the first time any university in this city (San Antonio) has hosted a meet of this calibur. Second, it will be the first time anyone in the Heartland conference has hosted a meet at this level. Regardless, we are excited about hosting this meet. We officially vote at this year's regional meet next weekend. I feel good about being awarded the meet because of confirmation we have received from the other two conferences (The Lone Star and MIAA) that we will receive the majority of the votes. Nevertheless, it will be a done deal next Saturday.
The second good news takes place with the women's program as they were ranked in the top 10 of the region for the first time in school history this past week! We are excited about this ranking because it shows that people have noticed what we have done this season. We strive to continue to get better day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. ..we are slowly moving up the ladder.
Now...to the conference meet!
Well, needless to say, conference did not finish quite the way we would have liked. With all teams, we had the goal of winning the conference championship, which would have been the first in school history for us. Our women came about as close as you can come without actually winning. We came in second to DBU by 6 points (39-45). Hot shot Yvonne Rodriguez won the individual conference championship by over 35 seconds! It was an easy victory for her. With the win, Yvonne was named the conference runner of the year. Rose Caldwell was our second finisher, crossing the tape in a new PR of 18:51, good for 5th place. Rose made up a lot of ground in the closing 800 meters to catch one girl and nearly pass DBU's first runner. In fact, Rose finished an agonizingly close .3 tenths of a second behind her!
Melissa Martinez rounded out our top 10 (all-conference) finishers with her 9th place finish. Melissa was dissapointed with her 9th place finish because she ran about 20 seconds slower than she had two weeks before on the same course. But as she knows, you can't have a fantastic race every week. She has done about as well as you can ask a freshman to do. She has been a solid contributor to the team from day 1. Maggie Callahan was our 4th finisher, covering the 5K course in 20:04, good for 13th place, and honorable mention all-conference. Again, Maggie was dissapointed that she was not able to set a PR but she gave everything she had and finished right behind another DBU girl (their 4th runner...see a pattern...we are matched up with them runner for runner).
Alma Santos finished in 17th place in 20:37 to round out our women's scoring. Lindsay Davidson was the 6th UIW finisher, setting another PR for the second consecutive week in 20:49. It was a 40 something second PR for Lindsay!
The women ran as hard as they could and gave everything they had. We were embarrased at OK State by a margain of over 100 points. We were able to significantly close the gap and give everyone a run for their money. We, along with DBU, really gave all spectators a good showing.
Check out women's team results at: http://www.iaapweb.com/results/2007/women_team.htm
Our men struggled. As a young team, it is often difficult to get 18 year old freshmen to adjust to the 5 mile distance. This was no different for our men. Adrian Carrillo has adjusted very well to the distance and seemlessly intertwined himself into the college scene. He is, however, a novelty many times when it comes to being relevant as a freshman - as evidence by his 2nd overall freshman finish.
Shayn Weidner improved on his 8th place 2006 showing to finish 4th overall. He, as so many others was dissapointed with his finish mostly because he didn't improve from the previous race. His 26:35 was actually his slowest 8K time of the season. The 3rd place finisher from Newman was over 30 seconds behind him at OK State. He was also closer to Felix Rodriguez from DBU at the OK State meet. Shayn will bounce back quickly and continue to work hard. It says a lot about his season when he runs his "slowest" time of the season in 26:35! Good job Shayn on a successful sophomore campaign thus far.
Estevan Flores and Michael Cortez both run seasonal bests at the right time with 28:50 and 29:15 respectively. Good job young men.
Check out men's results at: http://www.iaapweb.com/results/2007/men_team.htm
Overall, our 3rd place finish was not what we were looking for but we feel like we are better than we were a year ago. In comparison, the conference is better than it was a year ago. We finished 3rd last year, only 8 points behind the winning team and OUR team was not very good last year. So, we get better and the conference gets a LOT better. I enjoy that because I want our conference to shine more at the regional and national level.
This blog has turned long once again and I have been working on it on and off since 10 AM this morning. It is hard to get it done with distractions in the office.
Until next time...(some more information about workouts we do and the recap of the regional meet in Missouri)
Again, I apologize for the gap between my postings. I am probably losing fans because I have been bad about posting on a regular basis. I always feel guilty when I take time to post because there is always something to work on in the office. However...
Before I give a quick recap of the conference championships I would like to talk about how the team is doing and some big news items for the program.
First, as I have told just about everyone that will listen it looks as though UIW will play host to the 2008 South Central regional championships next fall! I have been lobying for this for quite some time and it has been a dream of mine for a good while. Hosting the regional championships will be big for our program on a number of levels. First, it will be the first time any university in this city (San Antonio) has hosted a meet of this calibur. Second, it will be the first time anyone in the Heartland conference has hosted a meet at this level. Regardless, we are excited about hosting this meet. We officially vote at this year's regional meet next weekend. I feel good about being awarded the meet because of confirmation we have received from the other two conferences (The Lone Star and MIAA) that we will receive the majority of the votes. Nevertheless, it will be a done deal next Saturday.
The second good news takes place with the women's program as they were ranked in the top 10 of the region for the first time in school history this past week! We are excited about this ranking because it shows that people have noticed what we have done this season. We strive to continue to get better day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year. ..we are slowly moving up the ladder.
Now...to the conference meet!
Well, needless to say, conference did not finish quite the way we would have liked. With all teams, we had the goal of winning the conference championship, which would have been the first in school history for us. Our women came about as close as you can come without actually winning. We came in second to DBU by 6 points (39-45). Hot shot Yvonne Rodriguez won the individual conference championship by over 35 seconds! It was an easy victory for her. With the win, Yvonne was named the conference runner of the year. Rose Caldwell was our second finisher, crossing the tape in a new PR of 18:51, good for 5th place. Rose made up a lot of ground in the closing 800 meters to catch one girl and nearly pass DBU's first runner. In fact, Rose finished an agonizingly close .3 tenths of a second behind her!
Melissa Martinez rounded out our top 10 (all-conference) finishers with her 9th place finish. Melissa was dissapointed with her 9th place finish because she ran about 20 seconds slower than she had two weeks before on the same course. But as she knows, you can't have a fantastic race every week. She has done about as well as you can ask a freshman to do. She has been a solid contributor to the team from day 1. Maggie Callahan was our 4th finisher, covering the 5K course in 20:04, good for 13th place, and honorable mention all-conference. Again, Maggie was dissapointed that she was not able to set a PR but she gave everything she had and finished right behind another DBU girl (their 4th runner...see a pattern...we are matched up with them runner for runner).
Alma Santos finished in 17th place in 20:37 to round out our women's scoring. Lindsay Davidson was the 6th UIW finisher, setting another PR for the second consecutive week in 20:49. It was a 40 something second PR for Lindsay!
The women ran as hard as they could and gave everything they had. We were embarrased at OK State by a margain of over 100 points. We were able to significantly close the gap and give everyone a run for their money. We, along with DBU, really gave all spectators a good showing.
Check out women's team results at: http://www.iaapweb.com/results/2007/women_team.htm
Our men struggled. As a young team, it is often difficult to get 18 year old freshmen to adjust to the 5 mile distance. This was no different for our men. Adrian Carrillo has adjusted very well to the distance and seemlessly intertwined himself into the college scene. He is, however, a novelty many times when it comes to being relevant as a freshman - as evidence by his 2nd overall freshman finish.
Shayn Weidner improved on his 8th place 2006 showing to finish 4th overall. He, as so many others was dissapointed with his finish mostly because he didn't improve from the previous race. His 26:35 was actually his slowest 8K time of the season. The 3rd place finisher from Newman was over 30 seconds behind him at OK State. He was also closer to Felix Rodriguez from DBU at the OK State meet. Shayn will bounce back quickly and continue to work hard. It says a lot about his season when he runs his "slowest" time of the season in 26:35! Good job Shayn on a successful sophomore campaign thus far.
Estevan Flores and Michael Cortez both run seasonal bests at the right time with 28:50 and 29:15 respectively. Good job young men.
Check out men's results at: http://www.iaapweb.com/results/2007/men_team.htm
Overall, our 3rd place finish was not what we were looking for but we feel like we are better than we were a year ago. In comparison, the conference is better than it was a year ago. We finished 3rd last year, only 8 points behind the winning team and OUR team was not very good last year. So, we get better and the conference gets a LOT better. I enjoy that because I want our conference to shine more at the regional and national level.
This blog has turned long once again and I have been working on it on and off since 10 AM this morning. It is hard to get it done with distractions in the office.
Until next time...(some more information about workouts we do and the recap of the regional meet in Missouri)
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tuesday's Workout
Against my normal custom I will briefly mention today's XC workout. I usually don't like to publicize what we do but I want to continue to show what a day as a Cardinal/Lady Cardinal is like (at least as an athlete). So...here it is...
It was another encouraging workout for the men's and women's cross country teams this morning. We decided to up the ante and decrease the rest of our intervals (the rest) while keeping the workbouts the same. So, the men successfully completed 5 x 1200m (cut the reps back because of decreased rest between workbouts) w/ 2 minutes jog recovery while the women successfully completed 5 x 1000m w/ 2 minutes jog recovery followed by 2 x Ledyiard (spelling) surges and 2 x 200m finishing kicks. It was tough but we did it and it felt good to finish that workout. The team is continuing to come around and peak when we need them to. It is always enjoyable for me to watch the team have fun, laugh, and encourage each other all while telling us that they are dizzy (from the oxygen debt) and feeling woozy. However, they continue to yell for each other, push each other and stay on one another to stay on pace and finish the workout strong. As I have mentioned earlier and as I preach to them often, keep it lunch pail and take care of business each and every day and you can't ask anymore of yourself.
Saturday's strong finish at the SA State School has provided new pep for the team as they look forward to competing at the conference championships next weekend.
Keep encouraging your Cardinals and Lady Cardinals in the weeks leading up to conferene and regionals! Give them a call and tell them how proud you are of their hard work and tell them that you love them! They are giving everything they have to represent their friends and family and the UIW community with pride.
Until next time...
It was another encouraging workout for the men's and women's cross country teams this morning. We decided to up the ante and decrease the rest of our intervals (the rest) while keeping the workbouts the same. So, the men successfully completed 5 x 1200m (cut the reps back because of decreased rest between workbouts) w/ 2 minutes jog recovery while the women successfully completed 5 x 1000m w/ 2 minutes jog recovery followed by 2 x Ledyiard (spelling) surges and 2 x 200m finishing kicks. It was tough but we did it and it felt good to finish that workout. The team is continuing to come around and peak when we need them to. It is always enjoyable for me to watch the team have fun, laugh, and encourage each other all while telling us that they are dizzy (from the oxygen debt) and feeling woozy. However, they continue to yell for each other, push each other and stay on one another to stay on pace and finish the workout strong. As I have mentioned earlier and as I preach to them often, keep it lunch pail and take care of business each and every day and you can't ask anymore of yourself.
Saturday's strong finish at the SA State School has provided new pep for the team as they look forward to competing at the conference championships next weekend.
Keep encouraging your Cardinals and Lady Cardinals in the weeks leading up to conferene and regionals! Give them a call and tell them how proud you are of their hard work and tell them that you love them! They are giving everything they have to represent their friends and family and the UIW community with pride.
Until next time...
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Enough Already, the last one...
Okay, here it is and then I will call this even for being updated on the blog...
Track athletes - great job helping me and Bree with the meet. We could not have done it without you. The fundraiser was a big success and all the HS coaches loved the meet. Your willingness to get yelled at and bossed around for 4 hours is greatly appreciated. You will be rewarded for your efforts. All earned proceeds, as you already knew, are going back to you. Please do us a favor and keep working hard on the track as you work your way back into shape.
P.S. I enjoyed that compelling power clean off on Friday! I love seeing all of you get after it in power clean on our new lifting platform. Be patient with me as I get some more bumper plates.
FYI - check out the following links for exciting news articles and pics from this morning:
http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/news.html#newsitemEEAEZpZVkpTRNjeyNe
http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/news.html#newsitemEEAEZpykyuMbhXnjUn
www.iaapweb.com
http://www.iaapweb.com/gallery/2007/uiw_07/index.htm
Enjoy!!!
Track athletes - great job helping me and Bree with the meet. We could not have done it without you. The fundraiser was a big success and all the HS coaches loved the meet. Your willingness to get yelled at and bossed around for 4 hours is greatly appreciated. You will be rewarded for your efforts. All earned proceeds, as you already knew, are going back to you. Please do us a favor and keep working hard on the track as you work your way back into shape.
P.S. I enjoyed that compelling power clean off on Friday! I love seeing all of you get after it in power clean on our new lifting platform. Be patient with me as I get some more bumper plates.
FYI - check out the following links for exciting news articles and pics from this morning:
http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/news.html#newsitemEEAEZpZVkpTRNjeyNe
http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/news.html#newsitemEEAEZpykyuMbhXnjUn
www.iaapweb.com
http://www.iaapweb.com/gallery/2007/uiw_07/index.htm
Enjoy!!!
MVR's for the week...err...the last month!
Alright, I know, I know, I have fallen behind. I know how much you crave the UIW MVR each week. It just doesn't feel the same when you don't have those UIW runner of the weeks. Well, I feel your pain, so here it is...
Men: Since it has been a while, I want to briefly talk about 3 guys. Shayn Weidner, Adrian Carrillo and Jeremy Juarez - my three work horses. Simply said, the work horses are the ones that stand out when the work is being done. If you aren't a lunch pail guy/girl you won't get the work done. Cross Country isn't a sport for pretty boys or girls. Shayn keeps willing himself to get better - what else can you say. Adrian very seldomly sleeps well but still finds a way to focus long enough to knock out a great workout. Jeremy, Jeremy. I have never seen someone fall down so much while running! Two weeks ago, Jeremy goes out for his warm-up prior to a Quality day (speed workout) only to slip on a wet curb at Trinity and scrape the whole side of his leg! He comes over to the track with blood all over his shorts. When I ask him why he is limping and why there is blood on his shorts and skin missing from his knee he responds "Oh, I fell again during the warm up." My respone "Gosh darnet Jeremy, you need to get some shoes with better grip on them...go to the training room and get fixed up." Then, Jeremy says "Nah coach, I will walk it off."
Only a extremely driven individual would then be able to knock off 7 x 1000m @ and average of 3:01-3:03 w/ 3 minutes rest and then limp off to the cool down. Wow...enough said. And you wonder why he is improving.
Women: Yvonne is the heart and emotional leader of the women's team. It is no surprise that her strong speed work would start to pay off - as evidence in her 17:45. Yvonne's consistancy drives the rest of the women each and every day. All it takes is a stern talking to from Yvonne to get the girls back on the right track. Thanks for stepping out on a limb Rodriguez.
Honorable mention: Sometimes, the quiet often get overlooked. Well, this time, you aren't overlooked Melissa. Keep working hard and you are going to see results - much like today.
Men: Since it has been a while, I want to briefly talk about 3 guys. Shayn Weidner, Adrian Carrillo and Jeremy Juarez - my three work horses. Simply said, the work horses are the ones that stand out when the work is being done. If you aren't a lunch pail guy/girl you won't get the work done. Cross Country isn't a sport for pretty boys or girls. Shayn keeps willing himself to get better - what else can you say. Adrian very seldomly sleeps well but still finds a way to focus long enough to knock out a great workout. Jeremy, Jeremy. I have never seen someone fall down so much while running! Two weeks ago, Jeremy goes out for his warm-up prior to a Quality day (speed workout) only to slip on a wet curb at Trinity and scrape the whole side of his leg! He comes over to the track with blood all over his shorts. When I ask him why he is limping and why there is blood on his shorts and skin missing from his knee he responds "Oh, I fell again during the warm up." My respone "Gosh darnet Jeremy, you need to get some shoes with better grip on them...go to the training room and get fixed up." Then, Jeremy says "Nah coach, I will walk it off."
Only a extremely driven individual would then be able to knock off 7 x 1000m @ and average of 3:01-3:03 w/ 3 minutes rest and then limp off to the cool down. Wow...enough said. And you wonder why he is improving.
Women: Yvonne is the heart and emotional leader of the women's team. It is no surprise that her strong speed work would start to pay off - as evidence in her 17:45. Yvonne's consistancy drives the rest of the women each and every day. All it takes is a stern talking to from Yvonne to get the girls back on the right track. Thanks for stepping out on a limb Rodriguez.
Honorable mention: Sometimes, the quiet often get overlooked. Well, this time, you aren't overlooked Melissa. Keep working hard and you are going to see results - much like today.
A Successful 2nd Annual UIW Invitational
The UIW Invitational hit the books as a success the second time around. Good conditions (High 70s and Low 80s during race time and good competition provided a nice landscape for solid PRs and rockin' racing at the SA State School.
We kicked off the morning at 7:45 AM with the women's 5K course. The course was measured several times, first using a Google earth program that uses GPS cameras to map out geographical terrain. Next, we walked the course with a GPS monitor and wheel to double and triple check the accuracy of the course. With great confidence I announced to the competitors that it was an accurate course.
From the very get-go the girls were rocking! The two loop course provided a great spectator course for the ladies and they must have wanted to give the spectators something to cheer about. With some good "open" competition from Andrea Jarzombek (the local hoss) Yvonne Rodgriguez's competitive juices started flowing as she won't back down from anyone. Andrea took out the pack and set the tone for a fun finish. Yvonne set a seasonal best with a 17:45 (believe it or not, it wasn't a lifetime best), over one minute behind Andrea's 16:40 (are you sure you don't have any eligbility left??? :) ).
Next for the Lady Cardinals was freshman Melissa Martinez, finishing the 5K in a nice lifetime PR of 19:09. Melissa, just wait until the track season when we start working on that finishing kick so we can get that PR in the 18:30 range to match that marathon base you have! Sophomore Rosey Caldwell was the next UIW herrier through the line in a PR of 19:16. Rose continues her comeback from last year's calf surgery. Great job Caldwell.
Sophomore Maggie Callahan finished fourth for the Lady Birds in a significant PR of 19:45. Maggie ran aggressively from the very get go, kept herself in the hunt and garnered a nice top-20 finish among several D-I participants. Great rebound Mags! You showed everyone what you are capable of on a weekly basis...
Freshman Alma Santos continued the PR train with a 19:58 to give the Cardinal Red 5 under the 20 barrier. As we all know, for a woman, the 20 minute 5K barrier is one of the toughest barriers, similar to the 16 minute barrier for the young HS or college male. Alma got back on the right track after struggling at OK State. Way to go Santos!
Lindsay Davidson, in her first action of the season finished in a nice time of 21:24, nicely debuting for UIW. With a couple more weeks of prep Lindsay should dip under 21, setting a solid PR. Finally, Sonya Solorio showed some more improvement with her 22:47, another PR.
In case you haven't noticed...the Ladies were in to the PR thing today. Great job women of the XC course. Much like last year, we seem to be following the same pattern of starting to peak when we need to for the conference and regional meet. This effort shows that we are on the right track and that the training is moving us along in the right direction. The girls came together, backed each other up and closed our 2nd-5th gap from 2:08 at OK State to only :47 seconds!
On the men's side, Shayn Weidner continued his solid work with a PR of 26:05 on the accurate 8K course. Shayn went after David Fuentes of St. Edwards and his buddy Chass Armstrong of Trinity. At the 2 1/2 mile mark David and Chass surged to a 15 second lead on Shayn before David turned on the jets to leave Chass for a solo 25:30 effort. Shayn, don't worry, with some good strategy and risk taking we can get David!
Super Frosh Adrian Carrillo again showed how disciplined he is by setting a new PR of 26:47. I don't want to speak to fast but I think Adrian may have found a new favorite race. Adrian's time is also a UIW freshman record. Congratulations AC. I can't wait to see what you can do when you actually feel good...
Blake the Snake (Bartosh) rebounded from a dissapointing OK State race with a 29:03. B. ran the first 3 miles great, only to fall off a little bit the last 2. However, he is more the capable of hanging the last 2, bringing him through in 27:50-28:00. Good work Blake.
Estevan Flores took fourth on the squad with a 29:36.
Roman Jacobo, our normal 3 man had a tough day - going into the race feeling terrible, only to feel even more terrible afterword, finishing in 30:34. Don't expect to see any more of that from Roman. Everyone has those races where you don't feel well and you can't get into it. Better now than later Roman. Let's rebound with another solid week of practice - you have been having many of them lately.
Michael Cortez finished in 30:20 (close enough). Still nursing a sprained ankle Michael is working his way through some pacing issues. He did make progress today, staying competitive throughout much of the race. Solid work Michael.
P.S. Jeremy Juarez, running unattached, ran right behind Adrian in 26:58. Great PR buddy. All that hard work this summer is paying off. You have a bright future in running ahead of you. I look forward to working with you several more years.
Overall, we should be proud of the improvement. The women ran as a team and ran agressively, the way we have been trying to get them to run all season. For the men, we are still working on finding our identity. The men need to make this team their own. This is their team, and they need to do this for each other. When they start racing for each other they will find the deeper meaning that I have wanted them to find all season - being a part of something bigger than any one individual. They are a part of something very few people have the priviledge of experiencing. That, in my opinion, is what makes athletics such a life changing event.
Until next time...
We kicked off the morning at 7:45 AM with the women's 5K course. The course was measured several times, first using a Google earth program that uses GPS cameras to map out geographical terrain. Next, we walked the course with a GPS monitor and wheel to double and triple check the accuracy of the course. With great confidence I announced to the competitors that it was an accurate course.
From the very get-go the girls were rocking! The two loop course provided a great spectator course for the ladies and they must have wanted to give the spectators something to cheer about. With some good "open" competition from Andrea Jarzombek (the local hoss) Yvonne Rodgriguez's competitive juices started flowing as she won't back down from anyone. Andrea took out the pack and set the tone for a fun finish. Yvonne set a seasonal best with a 17:45 (believe it or not, it wasn't a lifetime best), over one minute behind Andrea's 16:40 (are you sure you don't have any eligbility left??? :) ).
Next for the Lady Cardinals was freshman Melissa Martinez, finishing the 5K in a nice lifetime PR of 19:09. Melissa, just wait until the track season when we start working on that finishing kick so we can get that PR in the 18:30 range to match that marathon base you have! Sophomore Rosey Caldwell was the next UIW herrier through the line in a PR of 19:16. Rose continues her comeback from last year's calf surgery. Great job Caldwell.
Sophomore Maggie Callahan finished fourth for the Lady Birds in a significant PR of 19:45. Maggie ran aggressively from the very get go, kept herself in the hunt and garnered a nice top-20 finish among several D-I participants. Great rebound Mags! You showed everyone what you are capable of on a weekly basis...
Freshman Alma Santos continued the PR train with a 19:58 to give the Cardinal Red 5 under the 20 barrier. As we all know, for a woman, the 20 minute 5K barrier is one of the toughest barriers, similar to the 16 minute barrier for the young HS or college male. Alma got back on the right track after struggling at OK State. Way to go Santos!
Lindsay Davidson, in her first action of the season finished in a nice time of 21:24, nicely debuting for UIW. With a couple more weeks of prep Lindsay should dip under 21, setting a solid PR. Finally, Sonya Solorio showed some more improvement with her 22:47, another PR.
In case you haven't noticed...the Ladies were in to the PR thing today. Great job women of the XC course. Much like last year, we seem to be following the same pattern of starting to peak when we need to for the conference and regional meet. This effort shows that we are on the right track and that the training is moving us along in the right direction. The girls came together, backed each other up and closed our 2nd-5th gap from 2:08 at OK State to only :47 seconds!
On the men's side, Shayn Weidner continued his solid work with a PR of 26:05 on the accurate 8K course. Shayn went after David Fuentes of St. Edwards and his buddy Chass Armstrong of Trinity. At the 2 1/2 mile mark David and Chass surged to a 15 second lead on Shayn before David turned on the jets to leave Chass for a solo 25:30 effort. Shayn, don't worry, with some good strategy and risk taking we can get David!
Super Frosh Adrian Carrillo again showed how disciplined he is by setting a new PR of 26:47. I don't want to speak to fast but I think Adrian may have found a new favorite race. Adrian's time is also a UIW freshman record. Congratulations AC. I can't wait to see what you can do when you actually feel good...
Blake the Snake (Bartosh) rebounded from a dissapointing OK State race with a 29:03. B. ran the first 3 miles great, only to fall off a little bit the last 2. However, he is more the capable of hanging the last 2, bringing him through in 27:50-28:00. Good work Blake.
Estevan Flores took fourth on the squad with a 29:36.
Roman Jacobo, our normal 3 man had a tough day - going into the race feeling terrible, only to feel even more terrible afterword, finishing in 30:34. Don't expect to see any more of that from Roman. Everyone has those races where you don't feel well and you can't get into it. Better now than later Roman. Let's rebound with another solid week of practice - you have been having many of them lately.
Michael Cortez finished in 30:20 (close enough). Still nursing a sprained ankle Michael is working his way through some pacing issues. He did make progress today, staying competitive throughout much of the race. Solid work Michael.
P.S. Jeremy Juarez, running unattached, ran right behind Adrian in 26:58. Great PR buddy. All that hard work this summer is paying off. You have a bright future in running ahead of you. I look forward to working with you several more years.
Overall, we should be proud of the improvement. The women ran as a team and ran agressively, the way we have been trying to get them to run all season. For the men, we are still working on finding our identity. The men need to make this team their own. This is their team, and they need to do this for each other. When they start racing for each other they will find the deeper meaning that I have wanted them to find all season - being a part of something bigger than any one individual. They are a part of something very few people have the priviledge of experiencing. That, in my opinion, is what makes athletics such a life changing event.
Until next time...
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Long Time No Post
Well, as most of you can tell, it has been quite some time since I have posted on this blog. I never realized that I would be so busy that I would not be able to post on our team blog! With all the responsibilties I have not set aside time to let you know what is going on. I apologize for that!
A lot has happened in the last 3 + weeks since I last posted. First, we traveled to Notre Dame for the National Catholic Championships. We did this to promote excitement on the cross country team. We also did it to compete against great cross country teams. It is often hard to find quality XC meets in Texas. That is why we travel more. We had two big trips this season - Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. These type of meets prepare us for what we will face at the Regional chamionships and hopefully nationals. In comparison, we don't have to travel (nor can we because of size) far to find good competition. Any school with a decent track is going to host meets. For instance, we are planning to go to UT several times this spring because it is close, it is a world class track facility, and the competition is always excellent.
Before briefing the Notre Dame and OK State meets I want to quickly mention the track team.
Another reason for the absence of posting is because we have been staying busy kicking off the track pre-season training. We started track practice this Monday with a record number of athletes coming out! We would like to start a few weeks earlier but I always like to give everyone a good 5-6 weeks to get acclimated to the fall semester and give us (the coaches) time to mesh our ideas and visions for what we hope to be a great year. Coach Candace and I have been fervantly working on our Mesocycle (annual plan - periodization scale) for the sprinters and jumpers. The extra few weeks allows us to set everything up and get all athlete's schedule meshed and ready to go.
Track practice has been good thus far. Everyone seems excited to be working out again and be togther once again. We always have a great comraderie among the men and women sprinters. I work hard not to bring in primodonas, egos, and attitude problems. I want the team to be a family that supports each other and encourages each other to reach for the stars. With the additional coaching staff this year I believe we are going to be more competitive and see more Cardinals and Lady Cardinals at the national meet in California this year.
The men have made it a point to qualify either a 4 x 100 or 4 x 400m relay team this year. With the newcomers I believe that we have a stronger 4 x 400m team at this point. The freshmen and transfers have all had more success at their previous schools in the 4 x 400m.
For instance, twins George and Christian Alicea were the first and second legs on Judson's 4th place Texas class 5A 4 x 400m team. Freshman Marcus Edwards was the anchor leg on Reagan's (San Antonio) 3:18 team that finished 4th (I believe) in Region IV-5A this past spring. In a lot of regions, they may have picked up one of the state qualifying spots.
Taylor Echevarria, freshman from Warren HS (San Antonio) was also on a solid 4 x 400m team and was a regional finalist in the open 400. E J Rusher (transfer from Oklahoma Baptist) was on OBU's 3:12 4 x 400m team last year before succumbing to a hamstring injury. Chacho Madera (Graduate student from Corpus A & M) was the 4th leg on a 3:13 team last spring. His compadre Lalo Flores was the 4th leg in 2006 (the year before he transfered to UIW) at Corpus A & M and is hungrier than ever after redshirting last spring.
John Zavala (freshman from Auscuncion, Paraguay) is in his first semester at UIW after anchoring the Under-20 4 x 400m National team for Paraguay that set a national record in 3:17. David Martinez (Sophomore from SA) is back and stronger than ever. His strength gains over the summer are noticable as he is already maxing out at more than he finished out last spring at. I expect David to lead a resurgant men's sprint core into the future. Finally, there are a few newcomers that are going to redshirt this year for development and a few spring transfers that will make our sprint group that much stronger.
David and Mark Olivares are lifting heavy right now as they concentrate on adding more muscle for the Javelin and Discus. David's goal is to qualify for nationals in the Javelin with a toss of 200+. In his first season (actually half season) of throwing the Jav he set a PR of 160'. Adding 10 lbs (from what I can tell) of muscle will only make him throw further!
On the women's side our newfound depth offers excitement. Hayley Watts, Morgan Moszee, Dana Littleton, Miel Harris, and Laura Castro return from the '07 team. Brittany Black, Jenada Morrison and Jenovia Morrison bring state experience to the women's sprint group. We will be thin once again among the women sprinters but the girls are focused on putting together some solid relays and showing what they can do. In addition, Bianca Aguillon (freshman from Antonian) gives us our first shot/discus/javelin thrower in school history. I look forward to her throwing well this year.
Now...back to the in-season sport...
The Notre Dame trip was a success on several fronts. The course was beautiful and the weather was great. When we got there Thursday morning we drove to South Bend to see the course and the campus. The weather was gourgeous and a nice reprieve from the blazing Texas heat! However, Friday was a different story. The temperature was pleasant but the Chicago area (South Bend included) lived up to its reputation as 'the windy city.' Needless to say, they were running into some heavy wind. That didn't slow us down much.
The women ran first. Yvonne Rodriguez, in her first big meet action since 2004 shot out to the lead from the gun. My first inclination was to tackle her...but Bree calmed me down and told me that taking the lead right away was her style. This didn't ease my nevervousness much. After leading the first mile in 5:38 the wind took its toll on her. However, she hung with the lead pack and finished 24th overall in a field of over 300 runners. Even more important, she was the second finisher in the non-division I race.
Rose Caldwell was our second runner. This was her first collegiate cross country race. Coming off of compartment syndrome surgery, Rose nearly bested 20 flat in her first real 5K action. Melissa Martinez (freshman from IWHS) followed closely behind in 20:25 (also her first-ever 5K). Alma Santos surprised us with her strong finish of 20:50, followed closely by sophomore Maggie Callahan (21:00). Overall, it was a good start for our women's team. They ran well, ran inspired, and worked together to finish 16th out of 37 overall teams and 8th out of 25 Division II, Division III, and NAIA schools.
The men also exceeded expectations. As usual, Shayn Weidner led the men's team. Shayn set a school record and a personal record with his 26:15 finish. He finished 38th out of a field of nearly 300 finishers. Adrian Carrillo, in his first 8K action rocked the house with a 27:22! What a debut. What makes his time even more impressive is that up until about 4 weeks before that we thought we would have redshirt 'ole Adrian because of a nagging IT band injury. Just when I thought we might lose him he turned the corner and started to show why he missed all-state in 4A XC by 1 second last fall.
Roman Jacobo also came out ready to prove something in his first-ever 8K with a solid time of 27:52. Roman's was just cleared earlier that week. We almost didn't have Roman because of a snaffu with his HS transcript. Through great haggling by his great mother and lots of prayer Roman was cleared and released his frustration in the mean time!
Finally, Estevan, Blake and Michael finished out our top 6 finishers...
Estevan started off in the back and worked his way through the pack on his way to catching Michael and Blake. Estevan finished in 29:22 to better his previous week's 8K by nearly one-minute! Blake also improved on last season's opening 8K by finishing in 29:24. Finally, Michael, in his first-ever 8K just missed the 30 minute mark with a 30:02.
Overall, the men finished 20th out of 34 teams and 10th out of 20 something teams in the non-division I field. A better finish from our fourth and fifth guys would have propelled us to a top 15 overall finish. However, the men know they have not reached their full potential to this point.
Well...I would love to finish this blog but it is late and I have exhausted my writing facilities this evening.
I will try to finish the OK State summary and the MVR (Most Valuable Runner) as well as the track team's MVR tomorrow.
Until next time...
P.S. I will also try to discuss some of our current training for any recruits who may be interested in what we do at The Word...
A lot has happened in the last 3 + weeks since I last posted. First, we traveled to Notre Dame for the National Catholic Championships. We did this to promote excitement on the cross country team. We also did it to compete against great cross country teams. It is often hard to find quality XC meets in Texas. That is why we travel more. We had two big trips this season - Notre Dame and Oklahoma State. These type of meets prepare us for what we will face at the Regional chamionships and hopefully nationals. In comparison, we don't have to travel (nor can we because of size) far to find good competition. Any school with a decent track is going to host meets. For instance, we are planning to go to UT several times this spring because it is close, it is a world class track facility, and the competition is always excellent.
Before briefing the Notre Dame and OK State meets I want to quickly mention the track team.
Another reason for the absence of posting is because we have been staying busy kicking off the track pre-season training. We started track practice this Monday with a record number of athletes coming out! We would like to start a few weeks earlier but I always like to give everyone a good 5-6 weeks to get acclimated to the fall semester and give us (the coaches) time to mesh our ideas and visions for what we hope to be a great year. Coach Candace and I have been fervantly working on our Mesocycle (annual plan - periodization scale) for the sprinters and jumpers. The extra few weeks allows us to set everything up and get all athlete's schedule meshed and ready to go.
Track practice has been good thus far. Everyone seems excited to be working out again and be togther once again. We always have a great comraderie among the men and women sprinters. I work hard not to bring in primodonas, egos, and attitude problems. I want the team to be a family that supports each other and encourages each other to reach for the stars. With the additional coaching staff this year I believe we are going to be more competitive and see more Cardinals and Lady Cardinals at the national meet in California this year.
The men have made it a point to qualify either a 4 x 100 or 4 x 400m relay team this year. With the newcomers I believe that we have a stronger 4 x 400m team at this point. The freshmen and transfers have all had more success at their previous schools in the 4 x 400m.
For instance, twins George and Christian Alicea were the first and second legs on Judson's 4th place Texas class 5A 4 x 400m team. Freshman Marcus Edwards was the anchor leg on Reagan's (San Antonio) 3:18 team that finished 4th (I believe) in Region IV-5A this past spring. In a lot of regions, they may have picked up one of the state qualifying spots.
Taylor Echevarria, freshman from Warren HS (San Antonio) was also on a solid 4 x 400m team and was a regional finalist in the open 400. E J Rusher (transfer from Oklahoma Baptist) was on OBU's 3:12 4 x 400m team last year before succumbing to a hamstring injury. Chacho Madera (Graduate student from Corpus A & M) was the 4th leg on a 3:13 team last spring. His compadre Lalo Flores was the 4th leg in 2006 (the year before he transfered to UIW) at Corpus A & M and is hungrier than ever after redshirting last spring.
John Zavala (freshman from Auscuncion, Paraguay) is in his first semester at UIW after anchoring the Under-20 4 x 400m National team for Paraguay that set a national record in 3:17. David Martinez (Sophomore from SA) is back and stronger than ever. His strength gains over the summer are noticable as he is already maxing out at more than he finished out last spring at. I expect David to lead a resurgant men's sprint core into the future. Finally, there are a few newcomers that are going to redshirt this year for development and a few spring transfers that will make our sprint group that much stronger.
David and Mark Olivares are lifting heavy right now as they concentrate on adding more muscle for the Javelin and Discus. David's goal is to qualify for nationals in the Javelin with a toss of 200+. In his first season (actually half season) of throwing the Jav he set a PR of 160'. Adding 10 lbs (from what I can tell) of muscle will only make him throw further!
On the women's side our newfound depth offers excitement. Hayley Watts, Morgan Moszee, Dana Littleton, Miel Harris, and Laura Castro return from the '07 team. Brittany Black, Jenada Morrison and Jenovia Morrison bring state experience to the women's sprint group. We will be thin once again among the women sprinters but the girls are focused on putting together some solid relays and showing what they can do. In addition, Bianca Aguillon (freshman from Antonian) gives us our first shot/discus/javelin thrower in school history. I look forward to her throwing well this year.
Now...back to the in-season sport...
The Notre Dame trip was a success on several fronts. The course was beautiful and the weather was great. When we got there Thursday morning we drove to South Bend to see the course and the campus. The weather was gourgeous and a nice reprieve from the blazing Texas heat! However, Friday was a different story. The temperature was pleasant but the Chicago area (South Bend included) lived up to its reputation as 'the windy city.' Needless to say, they were running into some heavy wind. That didn't slow us down much.
The women ran first. Yvonne Rodriguez, in her first big meet action since 2004 shot out to the lead from the gun. My first inclination was to tackle her...but Bree calmed me down and told me that taking the lead right away was her style. This didn't ease my nevervousness much. After leading the first mile in 5:38 the wind took its toll on her. However, she hung with the lead pack and finished 24th overall in a field of over 300 runners. Even more important, she was the second finisher in the non-division I race.
Rose Caldwell was our second runner. This was her first collegiate cross country race. Coming off of compartment syndrome surgery, Rose nearly bested 20 flat in her first real 5K action. Melissa Martinez (freshman from IWHS) followed closely behind in 20:25 (also her first-ever 5K). Alma Santos surprised us with her strong finish of 20:50, followed closely by sophomore Maggie Callahan (21:00). Overall, it was a good start for our women's team. They ran well, ran inspired, and worked together to finish 16th out of 37 overall teams and 8th out of 25 Division II, Division III, and NAIA schools.
The men also exceeded expectations. As usual, Shayn Weidner led the men's team. Shayn set a school record and a personal record with his 26:15 finish. He finished 38th out of a field of nearly 300 finishers. Adrian Carrillo, in his first 8K action rocked the house with a 27:22! What a debut. What makes his time even more impressive is that up until about 4 weeks before that we thought we would have redshirt 'ole Adrian because of a nagging IT band injury. Just when I thought we might lose him he turned the corner and started to show why he missed all-state in 4A XC by 1 second last fall.
Roman Jacobo also came out ready to prove something in his first-ever 8K with a solid time of 27:52. Roman's was just cleared earlier that week. We almost didn't have Roman because of a snaffu with his HS transcript. Through great haggling by his great mother and lots of prayer Roman was cleared and released his frustration in the mean time!
Finally, Estevan, Blake and Michael finished out our top 6 finishers...
Estevan started off in the back and worked his way through the pack on his way to catching Michael and Blake. Estevan finished in 29:22 to better his previous week's 8K by nearly one-minute! Blake also improved on last season's opening 8K by finishing in 29:24. Finally, Michael, in his first-ever 8K just missed the 30 minute mark with a 30:02.
Overall, the men finished 20th out of 34 teams and 10th out of 20 something teams in the non-division I field. A better finish from our fourth and fifth guys would have propelled us to a top 15 overall finish. However, the men know they have not reached their full potential to this point.
Well...I would love to finish this blog but it is late and I have exhausted my writing facilities this evening.
I will try to finish the OK State summary and the MVR (Most Valuable Runner) as well as the track team's MVR tomorrow.
Until next time...
P.S. I will also try to discuss some of our current training for any recruits who may be interested in what we do at The Word...
Sunday, September 9, 2007
3rd Most Valuable Runner (MVR) Award of 2007!
We have now officially finished the first four weeks of the XC season. The men's and women's teams have now progressed through four weeks of workouts. On the heels of our first meet - the September 1 UIW Relay - we continued our training assult with another heavy volume week.
I personally look forward to our big team trip. Yes, it is finally here! We leave for Notre Dame Thursday morning from the SA airport. We look forward to a fun, educational experience and some good racing conditions in South Bend, IN. Unfortunately, Notre Dame is playing the other major dissapointment of the 2007 Division I football season, Michigan, in Ann Arbor, MI.
Withouth further ado, this weeks MVRs...
Women's MVR for the week of September 3rd-8th: Sonya Solorio (Bush HS, Houston, TX). Sonya entered UIW with very little running experience. In fact, she has been running for less than two years. In addition to her lack of experience, she has experienced, as many freshman do, a difficult transition to college life. To make matters more difficult, Sonya is very close to her family and has missed them terribly the first month of the school year. However, Sonya, with the aid of some great individual workouts, is really starting to come around. The girls have really taken her under their wings and the continued encouragement has spear-headed Sonya to witness her best week of workouts yet. It is my hope that she will continue on this path as she continues to gain valuable running knowledge this cross country season! Congats Sonya on earning your first MVR of the week award!
Men's MVR for the week of September 3rd-8th: We have a tie for men's MVR this week: Jeremy Juarez (freshman from Lytle, TX) and Shayn Weidner (Marion, TX). Jeremy and Shayn have known one another for some time now. They were in the same district for two years in HS. Despite the fact that Shayn is one year older than Jeremy, they often found themselves competiting with each other in HS long before they became teammates. Well, the transition to teammates has been about as seemless as it possibly could be. Every morning, as we start our runs, Jeremy is right next to Shayn. Their love of running and determination to get better feeds their running relationship. Despite the fact that Shayn is an individual of few words, he has taken Jeremy under his wing as he teaches him the ropes of collegiate running. As Blake Bartosh (Burnet, TX) stated so succinctly last week on our way back from a workout "I think Shayn should be MVR this week because he sets the tone for the whole men's team. We see him working hard and we can't help but want to follow his lead every day." Well Blake, I am taking your advice - with an added twist; I believe Jeremy is quickly making himself a tone setter as well. Because of these two guys there is not a single guy on the team that doesn't come to practice ready to get after it. Adrian, Mike, Blake, Roman, Estevan and Jose all continue to keep their eyes on the goal, the goal that only the team knows.
This goal can only be obtained by living in the Here and Now. We can't focus too much on the past (other than to see how far we have come) and we can't look to far into the future (other than to maintain our focus on where we want to go). We are a part of something bigger than ourselves. The men and women have united to work together toward a common goal. Often times, there are people who advocate for how we should be different, individuals not tied to a group for fear of losing our unique identities. For instance, some radical thinkers believe that groups lose their sense of diversity and free thinking, which stifles ever-important critical thinking. Here is what I propose: What about a group of unique individuals, all capable of doing things the other person is not capable of doing, joining together in search of a common goal - striving for excellence together all the while learning from each other and in turn becoming more brodely defined unique individuals because of the experience??
I don't know...it is a novel idea. However, it seems to be the basic premis of team dynamics. It also seems to be what can make teams so special and unique.
XC and Track teams: Here is my challenge to you - Lets try to come together in a way that defies logical team dynamics. Lets create a family atmosphere that compells outsiders to wonder how they too can get a piece of "that unique UIW XC/TF experience."
Until next time...
I personally look forward to our big team trip. Yes, it is finally here! We leave for Notre Dame Thursday morning from the SA airport. We look forward to a fun, educational experience and some good racing conditions in South Bend, IN. Unfortunately, Notre Dame is playing the other major dissapointment of the 2007 Division I football season, Michigan, in Ann Arbor, MI.
Withouth further ado, this weeks MVRs...
Women's MVR for the week of September 3rd-8th: Sonya Solorio (Bush HS, Houston, TX). Sonya entered UIW with very little running experience. In fact, she has been running for less than two years. In addition to her lack of experience, she has experienced, as many freshman do, a difficult transition to college life. To make matters more difficult, Sonya is very close to her family and has missed them terribly the first month of the school year. However, Sonya, with the aid of some great individual workouts, is really starting to come around. The girls have really taken her under their wings and the continued encouragement has spear-headed Sonya to witness her best week of workouts yet. It is my hope that she will continue on this path as she continues to gain valuable running knowledge this cross country season! Congats Sonya on earning your first MVR of the week award!
Men's MVR for the week of September 3rd-8th: We have a tie for men's MVR this week: Jeremy Juarez (freshman from Lytle, TX) and Shayn Weidner (Marion, TX). Jeremy and Shayn have known one another for some time now. They were in the same district for two years in HS. Despite the fact that Shayn is one year older than Jeremy, they often found themselves competiting with each other in HS long before they became teammates. Well, the transition to teammates has been about as seemless as it possibly could be. Every morning, as we start our runs, Jeremy is right next to Shayn. Their love of running and determination to get better feeds their running relationship. Despite the fact that Shayn is an individual of few words, he has taken Jeremy under his wing as he teaches him the ropes of collegiate running. As Blake Bartosh (Burnet, TX) stated so succinctly last week on our way back from a workout "I think Shayn should be MVR this week because he sets the tone for the whole men's team. We see him working hard and we can't help but want to follow his lead every day." Well Blake, I am taking your advice - with an added twist; I believe Jeremy is quickly making himself a tone setter as well. Because of these two guys there is not a single guy on the team that doesn't come to practice ready to get after it. Adrian, Mike, Blake, Roman, Estevan and Jose all continue to keep their eyes on the goal, the goal that only the team knows.
This goal can only be obtained by living in the Here and Now. We can't focus too much on the past (other than to see how far we have come) and we can't look to far into the future (other than to maintain our focus on where we want to go). We are a part of something bigger than ourselves. The men and women have united to work together toward a common goal. Often times, there are people who advocate for how we should be different, individuals not tied to a group for fear of losing our unique identities. For instance, some radical thinkers believe that groups lose their sense of diversity and free thinking, which stifles ever-important critical thinking. Here is what I propose: What about a group of unique individuals, all capable of doing things the other person is not capable of doing, joining together in search of a common goal - striving for excellence together all the while learning from each other and in turn becoming more brodely defined unique individuals because of the experience??
I don't know...it is a novel idea. However, it seems to be the basic premis of team dynamics. It also seems to be what can make teams so special and unique.
XC and Track teams: Here is my challenge to you - Lets try to come together in a way that defies logical team dynamics. Lets create a family atmosphere that compells outsiders to wonder how they too can get a piece of "that unique UIW XC/TF experience."
Until next time...
Friday, September 7, 2007
Another Week in the Books!
Well, we are putting the finishing touches on our fourth week together as a team. We finish the week with a long run in the AM of Saturday. This will be the finish of a very good training week for us. I have been pleased with how everyone is progessing as we continue our quest for the perfectly timed peak.
The men showed their unity this morning when they showed up for practice with matching mo-hawk hair cuts. 5 of the guys cut their hair last night to have some fun. Jose was not able to because he wasn't feeling well and they guys were not able to convince Michael to cut his yet. They are still working on Mike as they try to convince him to let his guard down a little bit and join the mo-hawk crew! Come on Michael, we know you really want to do it!!!
For the women, Sonya Gibbs (Gibbster) celebrated a birthday last week with the rest of the girls at a restaurant. On another happy note, Christine has joined the team again after a few weeks of rehabilitation. She is doing some easy running as she eases her way back into form. We hope to unleash her within the next week.
Finally, we had our first track team meeting yesterday. We gathered all track athletes together for an informative meeting to set the fall training schedule and talk about team expectations for the upcoming season. We had around 60 men and women in attendance (with several more not able to attend)! That officially makes us the largest athletic team on campus. The increase in numbers gives us great hope for another fantastic year as we continue to make a name for ourselves. At this point (roughly 10 total athletes give or take just two years ago when I took over the program) there is no where but up for this program to go.
Until next time....Remember that God loves you and enjoy the life you have been blessed with!
The men showed their unity this morning when they showed up for practice with matching mo-hawk hair cuts. 5 of the guys cut their hair last night to have some fun. Jose was not able to because he wasn't feeling well and they guys were not able to convince Michael to cut his yet. They are still working on Mike as they try to convince him to let his guard down a little bit and join the mo-hawk crew! Come on Michael, we know you really want to do it!!!
For the women, Sonya Gibbs (Gibbster) celebrated a birthday last week with the rest of the girls at a restaurant. On another happy note, Christine has joined the team again after a few weeks of rehabilitation. She is doing some easy running as she eases her way back into form. We hope to unleash her within the next week.
Finally, we had our first track team meeting yesterday. We gathered all track athletes together for an informative meeting to set the fall training schedule and talk about team expectations for the upcoming season. We had around 60 men and women in attendance (with several more not able to attend)! That officially makes us the largest athletic team on campus. The increase in numbers gives us great hope for another fantastic year as we continue to make a name for ourselves. At this point (roughly 10 total athletes give or take just two years ago when I took over the program) there is no where but up for this program to go.
Until next time....Remember that God loves you and enjoy the life you have been blessed with!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
2nd MVR (Most Valuable Runner) Award of 2007 Season
Our MVR for the week of August 27th - September 1:
Women: Melissa Martinez (Freshman from San Antonio). Melissa had another great week of work. Her complimentary and gracious attitude are contagious for the women's team. Her consistent hard work is starting to pay off for a runner who has only a year and a half of competitive running under her belt. She ran courageously yesterday when handed a lead in her first-ever collegiate cross country race and held it for 2-miles with three experienced Trinity girls gunning for her. Great job Melissa. Honorable mention this week: Yvonne Rodriguez (Tuluso-Midway). After finally settling her living situtation and having a week to get back into the swing of things in the classroom Yvonne had an excellent week of workouts. She began the week with a fantastic 4-mile tempo run and finished the week with a strong 2-mile test Saturday.
Men: Shayn Weidner (Sophomore from Marion, TX). What can I say, Shayn just continues to bring it. It is often easy to overlook someone who always has a good attitude and who you always know is going to do whatever he can to be the best runner he can possibly be. I never worry about Shayn squandering his gifts or ability level. Shayn has taken on a leadership role (along with Blake Bartosh, Sophomore from Burnet, TX) this season. He knows the guys look up to him so he always sets a good example each and every day. I am pleased, at this point, with the gelling of the men's team. They all work hard to respect one another and hold each other accountable. Honorable mention: Michael Cortez (Freshman from San Antonio). The guy is a lunch pail worker. Michael comes to practice ready to work, goes home, studies and goes to bed. He continues to improve thanks to a great summer base. I look forward to Michael surprising some people not only this season, but throughout his collegiate career. He has taken ahold of the mold Shayn has set this season. In fact, I can't think of a man on the team who doesn't carry this attitude.
Women: Melissa Martinez (Freshman from San Antonio). Melissa had another great week of work. Her complimentary and gracious attitude are contagious for the women's team. Her consistent hard work is starting to pay off for a runner who has only a year and a half of competitive running under her belt. She ran courageously yesterday when handed a lead in her first-ever collegiate cross country race and held it for 2-miles with three experienced Trinity girls gunning for her. Great job Melissa. Honorable mention this week: Yvonne Rodriguez (Tuluso-Midway). After finally settling her living situtation and having a week to get back into the swing of things in the classroom Yvonne had an excellent week of workouts. She began the week with a fantastic 4-mile tempo run and finished the week with a strong 2-mile test Saturday.
Men: Shayn Weidner (Sophomore from Marion, TX). What can I say, Shayn just continues to bring it. It is often easy to overlook someone who always has a good attitude and who you always know is going to do whatever he can to be the best runner he can possibly be. I never worry about Shayn squandering his gifts or ability level. Shayn has taken on a leadership role (along with Blake Bartosh, Sophomore from Burnet, TX) this season. He knows the guys look up to him so he always sets a good example each and every day. I am pleased, at this point, with the gelling of the men's team. They all work hard to respect one another and hold each other accountable. Honorable mention: Michael Cortez (Freshman from San Antonio). The guy is a lunch pail worker. Michael comes to practice ready to work, goes home, studies and goes to bed. He continues to improve thanks to a great summer base. I look forward to Michael surprising some people not only this season, but throughout his collegiate career. He has taken ahold of the mold Shayn has set this season. In fact, I can't think of a man on the team who doesn't carry this attitude.
2nd Annual UIW Relays
The men's and women's cross country teams kicked off our season yesterday at Live Oak City Park in San Antonio, TX. Despite the Friday afternoon rains the meet was a success on a number of fronts. First, for all intensive purposes it seems that the 5K course can withstand a cross country meet of the magnitude of a regional championships. I was pleased with how the course ran and how it help up despite a heavy rain the day before. Secondly, our men and women had good season debuts despite their visible dissapointment in their times. The rain was one factor in the slower times - as the wet grass and a few muddy spots kept runners from really opening it up. The fact that this was our first racing simulation of the season also contributed to the sluggish times. Nonetheless, I was pleased with our first meet. There were some good efforts and some good showings from the Cardinal and Lady Cardinal side.
Yvonne Rodriguez and Melissa Martinez won in impressive fashion over a pretty talented field. Yvonne took the lead from the very beginning and handed off to Melissa with a 25 second lead. Melissa then proceeded to hold that lead.
Maggie Callahan and Rose Caldwell teamed to finish a close 7th overall (31 teams) by both running consistent legs. Both girls looked strong in their first meet competition of the season. In fact, Rosey nearly caught the 6th place Trinity team in a sprint at the finish!
Shayn Weidner and Adrian Carrillo teamed up to finish 2nd overall to a Trinity pairing. Despite suffering from a painful cramp 2 1/2 miles into the 5K Shayn maintained his placing to hand off to Adrian in 3rd overall positioning. Adrian quickly moved toward the leaders, overtaking first and second place 2 miles into the final leg. At that point I thought we had the men's title sown up. However, a Trinity sophomore turned on some unexpected jets to race past Adrian in the final 800 meters for the narrow 15 second victory. Despite this, Shayn and Adrian both put forth valiant efforts. I look for both of them to be major players in the race for the individual conference championship in late October.
Unattached runners Jay Wilson and Jeremy Juarez ran strong legs to finish a close 5th overall. Both runners are training hard and redshirting this XC season.
Finally, Michael Cortez and Blake Bartosh teamed up to finish 13th out of 27 teams to give the UIW men 3 pairs in the top half of the finishers.
Both teams are off next week as we continue our preparations for our big trip to Notre Dame for the National Catholic School championships in South Bend, IN. We leave Thursday, September 13th for the Friday event. We will visit the Notre Dame campus as well as Chicago. Before leaving , we are planning a team long run on the shoreline of the beautiful Lake Michigan.
Check out the following link at our UIW athletics web page: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/news.html#newsitemEEllyZuZklIeyClBaz
http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/news.html#newsitemEEllyZuVAZxwNGGTRC
Also, go to photobucket.com to see pictures from the meet!
Until next time...
Yvonne Rodriguez and Melissa Martinez won in impressive fashion over a pretty talented field. Yvonne took the lead from the very beginning and handed off to Melissa with a 25 second lead. Melissa then proceeded to hold that lead.
Maggie Callahan and Rose Caldwell teamed to finish a close 7th overall (31 teams) by both running consistent legs. Both girls looked strong in their first meet competition of the season. In fact, Rosey nearly caught the 6th place Trinity team in a sprint at the finish!
Shayn Weidner and Adrian Carrillo teamed up to finish 2nd overall to a Trinity pairing. Despite suffering from a painful cramp 2 1/2 miles into the 5K Shayn maintained his placing to hand off to Adrian in 3rd overall positioning. Adrian quickly moved toward the leaders, overtaking first and second place 2 miles into the final leg. At that point I thought we had the men's title sown up. However, a Trinity sophomore turned on some unexpected jets to race past Adrian in the final 800 meters for the narrow 15 second victory. Despite this, Shayn and Adrian both put forth valiant efforts. I look for both of them to be major players in the race for the individual conference championship in late October.
Unattached runners Jay Wilson and Jeremy Juarez ran strong legs to finish a close 5th overall. Both runners are training hard and redshirting this XC season.
Finally, Michael Cortez and Blake Bartosh teamed up to finish 13th out of 27 teams to give the UIW men 3 pairs in the top half of the finishers.
Both teams are off next week as we continue our preparations for our big trip to Notre Dame for the National Catholic School championships in South Bend, IN. We leave Thursday, September 13th for the Friday event. We will visit the Notre Dame campus as well as Chicago. Before leaving , we are planning a team long run on the shoreline of the beautiful Lake Michigan.
Check out the following link at our UIW athletics web page: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/news.html#newsitemEEllyZuZklIeyClBaz
http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/news.html#newsitemEEllyZuVAZxwNGGTRC
Also, go to photobucket.com to see pictures from the meet!
Until next time...
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Most Valuable Runner (MVR) of the week - a new award
For my latest entry I would like to talk about a new form of recognition I have decided to implement with the team. Since we have a unique team I think it is appropriate to develop a weekly MVR (Most Valuable Runner) award. No, there will be no formal recognition or actual award that goes along with this recognition. Sorry, but this is a pretty low key addition to the team atmosphere. In retrospect, I want to do this so that student-athletes that are going above and beyond the “call of duty” will be acknowledged for doing so. The MVRs are chosen solely by me, Coach Riedel, and are completely subjective and the result of my observations from the past week at practice. The votes will have no rhyme or reason other than to allow me to recognize someone who has been doing good things the past week. In a sport like cross country and track and field (a sport, that in my opinion, few people outside of those that directly participate care about it is important to promote our athletes and shine a light on them when necessary), awards for hard work and dedication come few and far between.
The MVR will be given to the athlete that has worked extraordinarily hard to improve over the course of the previous week. This person will not necessarily be the fastest runner on the team. In fact, a lot of times top athletes are overlooked because everyone is so used to them bringing a solid effort everyday that it becomes the expected norm (but the norm that got them to where they currently are).
Enough banter…Drum roll please……
Our first ever women’s MVR for the week of August 20-25 (and in a close contest nonetheless) – Sonya Gibbs, Georgetown, TX. Sonya is a freshman Lady Cardinal. Her hard work has been an inspiration to everyone on the XC team. She did not run her entire senior year in HS because of several illnesses. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if she would be able to run this year. That didn’t stop her desire to be the best runner that she can be. She has brought an enthusiastic attitude and a lunch-pail work ethic to the team as she continues to work herself back into shape. She had a fantastic 11 mile run on a hilly course Saturday morning – hitting her easy run pace the entire run. Finishing a close second for this week’s MVR was freshman Melissa Martinez, San Antonio, TX. Melissa, despite her surprisingly short training age, continues to serve as an inspiration to the girls on the team with her focus each and every day. Congrats ladies on your hard- earned award!
Next, we need to award our men’s MVR for the week of August 20-25. Again, this was a difficult vote for a number of reasons, some of which I will address in my closing remarks today. After tough deliberation, I have chosen Adrian Carrillo, freshman from El Paso HS. Adrian is only in his fourth year of cross country (having joined his sophomore year of HS). Adrian struggled with IT band issues all summer, which severely limited his base building goals. God’s gracious hands healed his knee just in time for the start of pre-season practice, allowing Adrian to begin some serious training. After overcoming some initial soreness Adrian has shown some great improvement the last week of practice. He had a great long run Saturday morning on a not-so-easy course. Finishing a close second was Shayn Weidner, sophomore from Marion, TX. I am reluctant to brag about Shayn because of his propensity for becoming easily embarrassed when praised. But, as any of the men or women on the team will attest to, not many people will outwork Shayn, a quality that nowadays seems hard to find – even in the intense world of distance running.
Closing remarks…Get it over with already!
I have enjoyed the first two weeks with the team. It can sometimes backfire when a coach heaps praise after only two weeks of practice. In fact, we have not yet raced and racing can bring out the best and worst in athletes. But, I say that while we may not be the most experienced, or the deepest, or even the most talented collegiate team, I believe that there may not be many that work harder than we do. I have been pleased with the work ethic of our cross country team up to this point. This may seem silly to say as you read and think “all distance runners work hard.” However, after last XC season, I have come to not take this characteristic for granted. I always took it for granted with my athletic pursuits because I grew up knowing no other way than to love what you do and pour everything you have into that pursuit. Good things are bound to reap from being responsible and consistent. I always look for student-athletes that want to come to UIW to be mature, responsible, consistent, and love cross country and track and field. Desire and hard work can overcome minimal talent in a way that not many other characteristics can. By this I mean, that an athlete with a strong desire and good work ethic can make themselves a good, competitive athlete capable of regularly out performing someone with more talent and less work ethic.
It is important to live in the “here and now.” As Socrates in Way of the Peaceful Warrior asks Dan Millman: “What time is it? Where are you at?” Dan answers “It is NOW and I am HERE.” Always remember that there are no ordinary moments. Never live in the past or look too often to the future. Live in the Here and Now and allow yourself to be a great WARRIOR every day of your life no matter what you are doing. Great individuals find deep meaning in the mundane tasks of an otherwise meaningless day. People that can find meaning in things they otherwise would not find meaning in can truly understand what it means to be a superb individual capable of achieving extraordinary things!
P.S. – Please remember the Mandatory Track and Field team meeting – set for Thursday, September 6th in the Natatorium classroom (114) at 5 PM. It will be an informational meeting for everyone on the track team. We will outline the workout schedule for the month of September and discuss the start of pre-season practice October 1. See all of you then!!
Until next time…
The MVR will be given to the athlete that has worked extraordinarily hard to improve over the course of the previous week. This person will not necessarily be the fastest runner on the team. In fact, a lot of times top athletes are overlooked because everyone is so used to them bringing a solid effort everyday that it becomes the expected norm (but the norm that got them to where they currently are).
Enough banter…Drum roll please……
Our first ever women’s MVR for the week of August 20-25 (and in a close contest nonetheless) – Sonya Gibbs, Georgetown, TX. Sonya is a freshman Lady Cardinal. Her hard work has been an inspiration to everyone on the XC team. She did not run her entire senior year in HS because of several illnesses. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if she would be able to run this year. That didn’t stop her desire to be the best runner that she can be. She has brought an enthusiastic attitude and a lunch-pail work ethic to the team as she continues to work herself back into shape. She had a fantastic 11 mile run on a hilly course Saturday morning – hitting her easy run pace the entire run. Finishing a close second for this week’s MVR was freshman Melissa Martinez, San Antonio, TX. Melissa, despite her surprisingly short training age, continues to serve as an inspiration to the girls on the team with her focus each and every day. Congrats ladies on your hard- earned award!
Next, we need to award our men’s MVR for the week of August 20-25. Again, this was a difficult vote for a number of reasons, some of which I will address in my closing remarks today. After tough deliberation, I have chosen Adrian Carrillo, freshman from El Paso HS. Adrian is only in his fourth year of cross country (having joined his sophomore year of HS). Adrian struggled with IT band issues all summer, which severely limited his base building goals. God’s gracious hands healed his knee just in time for the start of pre-season practice, allowing Adrian to begin some serious training. After overcoming some initial soreness Adrian has shown some great improvement the last week of practice. He had a great long run Saturday morning on a not-so-easy course. Finishing a close second was Shayn Weidner, sophomore from Marion, TX. I am reluctant to brag about Shayn because of his propensity for becoming easily embarrassed when praised. But, as any of the men or women on the team will attest to, not many people will outwork Shayn, a quality that nowadays seems hard to find – even in the intense world of distance running.
Closing remarks…Get it over with already!
I have enjoyed the first two weeks with the team. It can sometimes backfire when a coach heaps praise after only two weeks of practice. In fact, we have not yet raced and racing can bring out the best and worst in athletes. But, I say that while we may not be the most experienced, or the deepest, or even the most talented collegiate team, I believe that there may not be many that work harder than we do. I have been pleased with the work ethic of our cross country team up to this point. This may seem silly to say as you read and think “all distance runners work hard.” However, after last XC season, I have come to not take this characteristic for granted. I always took it for granted with my athletic pursuits because I grew up knowing no other way than to love what you do and pour everything you have into that pursuit. Good things are bound to reap from being responsible and consistent. I always look for student-athletes that want to come to UIW to be mature, responsible, consistent, and love cross country and track and field. Desire and hard work can overcome minimal talent in a way that not many other characteristics can. By this I mean, that an athlete with a strong desire and good work ethic can make themselves a good, competitive athlete capable of regularly out performing someone with more talent and less work ethic.
It is important to live in the “here and now.” As Socrates in Way of the Peaceful Warrior asks Dan Millman: “What time is it? Where are you at?” Dan answers “It is NOW and I am HERE.” Always remember that there are no ordinary moments. Never live in the past or look too often to the future. Live in the Here and Now and allow yourself to be a great WARRIOR every day of your life no matter what you are doing. Great individuals find deep meaning in the mundane tasks of an otherwise meaningless day. People that can find meaning in things they otherwise would not find meaning in can truly understand what it means to be a superb individual capable of achieving extraordinary things!
P.S. – Please remember the Mandatory Track and Field team meeting – set for Thursday, September 6th in the Natatorium classroom (114) at 5 PM. It will be an informational meeting for everyone on the track team. We will outline the workout schedule for the month of September and discuss the start of pre-season practice October 1. See all of you then!!
Until next time…
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Update on Cross Country season
Well, we are now officially one week into our new cross season! The team checked into their apartments and/or dorm rooms last Monday evening just in time for the initial physical examinations.
We had our first practice of the season Tuesday, August 14th at 7 AM. It was good to see all the new faces and the old faces for that matter. After an easy run we talked about the upcoming 2-mile time trial Wednesday morning. We do the 2-mile trial for two reasons. First, it allows us to see where everyone is and what kind of work was done during the summer base building phase. Secondly, it helps us set everyone's daily paces. We take the 2-mile as an indicator of a race-based VO 2 Max (based off of Dr. Jack Daniel's formulas). This assures me that we are training at our prescribed paces based on where each athlete is at the this moment.
2-mile time trial highlights: Shayn Weidner continued his accent with a solid, uncontested 9:42. He was able to run that time solely based on his summer aerobic building. With that time we are encouraged that he will have another successful school year. Yvonne Rodriguez led the women's team with a very undercontrol 11:36. Yvonne is attempting to get back into the competitive realm after sitting out of athletic competition for the past two years as she served in the military. She looks like she hasn't missed a beat. The girls looked strong as a team as Melissa Martinez, Maggie Callahan and Rose Caldwell all worked together to finish in 12:40, which is ahead of their pace at this point last year.
After the time trial we packed our vans and headed for the Hill Country and some team building! We spent the next two days at a camp in the hill country running on the beautiful trails and swimming in the spring fed Frio River. Each team cooked on dinner (spaghetti for the women and chicken fajitas for the men). We cleaned up and came back to the UIW campus Friday afternoon.
Monday morning (August 20th) called for us to do our second time trial – a 6 miler for both the men’s and women’s team. Needless to say, it did not go according to plan. It was quite rough for most people. It did help us work on our mental and physical toughness, however.
Our first meet is quickly approaching (September 1 relay hosted by us at Live Oak City Park). This will be a good opening test for us as we continue preparation for our big meet September 14 at the National Catholic Championships hosted by Notre Dame.
Keep checking out our progress on this Blog throughout the season as we continue to strive for our seasonal goals!
We had our first practice of the season Tuesday, August 14th at 7 AM. It was good to see all the new faces and the old faces for that matter. After an easy run we talked about the upcoming 2-mile time trial Wednesday morning. We do the 2-mile trial for two reasons. First, it allows us to see where everyone is and what kind of work was done during the summer base building phase. Secondly, it helps us set everyone's daily paces. We take the 2-mile as an indicator of a race-based VO 2 Max (based off of Dr. Jack Daniel's formulas). This assures me that we are training at our prescribed paces based on where each athlete is at the this moment.
2-mile time trial highlights: Shayn Weidner continued his accent with a solid, uncontested 9:42. He was able to run that time solely based on his summer aerobic building. With that time we are encouraged that he will have another successful school year. Yvonne Rodriguez led the women's team with a very undercontrol 11:36. Yvonne is attempting to get back into the competitive realm after sitting out of athletic competition for the past two years as she served in the military. She looks like she hasn't missed a beat. The girls looked strong as a team as Melissa Martinez, Maggie Callahan and Rose Caldwell all worked together to finish in 12:40, which is ahead of their pace at this point last year.
After the time trial we packed our vans and headed for the Hill Country and some team building! We spent the next two days at a camp in the hill country running on the beautiful trails and swimming in the spring fed Frio River. Each team cooked on dinner (spaghetti for the women and chicken fajitas for the men). We cleaned up and came back to the UIW campus Friday afternoon.
Monday morning (August 20th) called for us to do our second time trial – a 6 miler for both the men’s and women’s team. Needless to say, it did not go according to plan. It was quite rough for most people. It did help us work on our mental and physical toughness, however.
Our first meet is quickly approaching (September 1 relay hosted by us at Live Oak City Park). This will be a good opening test for us as we continue preparation for our big meet September 14 at the National Catholic Championships hosted by Notre Dame.
Keep checking out our progress on this Blog throughout the season as we continue to strive for our seasonal goals!
Former Cardinal Attempts 100 mile Ultra Marathon in Colorado!
Read below for a first-person account of Edgar Gonzalez's attempt at finishing a 100-mile run in the mountains of Colorado. It was definately a test of the human will and Edgar went after it with heart! Edgar, we are proud of you!
And remember - at UIW, we do it to the extreme!
Yes, it is over. My best friend Patrick and I got up @ 2a.m. Saturday morning, had one final meal of eggs, toast, and bacon, and slowly walked toward the starting line of the infamous Trail 100 in Leadville, CO. We had a game plan. We would stay close to the back, make the first check point in 2hrs,30min and hit the 50 mile mark in about 12 hours, 30 min. We felt great as we moved forward, that is, until we went off course within the first 13 miles. We got back on track but hit our first checkpoint 15 minutes slower than what we wanted. We were ok though. We met up with our crew, changed clothes to prepare for the rainy weather and moved forward.
There were 592 participants at the starting line. Patrick and I must have met about half of them along the course. We would find a person or group of people and run/climb/descend in single file for miles......and miles. The vibe was unmatched compared to any other race I have done. Determination was oozing out of every individuals cold breath. We get to mile 40 and Patrick and I are feeling like we could conquer the world. Our crew sees us and reassure us that we are looking great but we all new what was ahead of us. I 10 mile trail going over Hope Pass (just under 13,000 feet). It doesn't matter how good you feel when you start this trail. We were up for the biggest challenge of the day. We leave the 40 mile aid station at 9hrs,15min and finally reach the 50 mile turnaround 3 hrs,45min later. Thats a
22 min/mile pace for the 10 miles over Hope Pass. But we conquered it! We're at the 50 mile aid station, we eat, we change socks and clothes, and we head back. I was feeling like a rock star. Patrick on the other hand was having some knee pain but we stuck together.
Truthfully, the challenge is not getting over Hope Pass the first time. It's getting over it the second time on the way back. But we were up for it. We get over hope pass and hit the 60 mile aid station with 45 minutes to spare (cuttoff was 9:45 p.m. and we got there at 9a.m.). This is where I started getting worried. In my head 45 minutes is not enough. We need to get out of there quick. I start trekking up the second to last mountain before Patrick. He catches up and we're off together again. By this time, your mind starts getting loopy. I was glad it was night out. Patrick could not see the tears in my eyes. Everything hurt. My fear of not finishing was starting to get the best of me. We find a pack heading up the mountain and we stick with them. I slowly start fading. Patrick yells out every few minutes to make sure that I'm there and I reassure him that I will not stop. " Keep going. I'll recover and catch up." was my response to him everytime. His voice would eventually fade away and before I knew it I was on that wretched mountain alone, in pain and this is where the hallucinations struck me. From this point forward, it was hell. I was falling asleep on the trail, could not drink water because I had accidentally pee'd on the nozzles(i did not think to unscrew them and drink), and my back was stuck in a leaning forward position. Every few minutes or so I would hear someone behind me passing me up. I would move over to the side and let them through and would realize there was no one there. I was talking to myself, crying to myself, and cussing out the mountain. The mountain was alive and it's sole purpose was to break me. I finally made it out of the trail. I was on an open jeep road with 2.5 miles to go in 10 minutes to meet the checkpoint. Lindsay comes out of the darkness grabs my hand and begins to pull me toward the aid station. She was convinced we could make it. I began to believe.......again. We get to the aid station,
5 minutes too late. I was done. 70 miles in 20hrs and 50 minutes. I cried myself to sleep in the aid station tent shorly after they cut off my wrist band. A few hours later the rest of my crew would pick me up and take me to the next checkpoint where Patrick was in danger of not meeting the next cutoff. He runs in with 5 minutes to spare, eats, changes clothes, gives me a hug, and heads out toward the last mountain. I head to the cottage we were staying to get some rest before I would wake up to see Patrick cross the finish line. Well, that did not happen. Mile 85 was his breaking point. Search and rescue had to get him off the mountain. His knee was in bad shape and he showed symptoms of hyponatremia. We did not finish.
Of the 592 people that started the race, only 210 crossed the finish line. We added to the numbers that make this event one of the hardest in the world. Patrick will be back next year. I on the other hand will have to wait and see.
And remember - at UIW, we do it to the extreme!
Yes, it is over. My best friend Patrick and I got up @ 2a.m. Saturday morning, had one final meal of eggs, toast, and bacon, and slowly walked toward the starting line of the infamous Trail 100 in Leadville, CO. We had a game plan. We would stay close to the back, make the first check point in 2hrs,30min and hit the 50 mile mark in about 12 hours, 30 min. We felt great as we moved forward, that is, until we went off course within the first 13 miles. We got back on track but hit our first checkpoint 15 minutes slower than what we wanted. We were ok though. We met up with our crew, changed clothes to prepare for the rainy weather and moved forward.
There were 592 participants at the starting line. Patrick and I must have met about half of them along the course. We would find a person or group of people and run/climb/descend in single file for miles......and miles. The vibe was unmatched compared to any other race I have done. Determination was oozing out of every individuals cold breath. We get to mile 40 and Patrick and I are feeling like we could conquer the world. Our crew sees us and reassure us that we are looking great but we all new what was ahead of us. I 10 mile trail going over Hope Pass (just under 13,000 feet). It doesn't matter how good you feel when you start this trail. We were up for the biggest challenge of the day. We leave the 40 mile aid station at 9hrs,15min and finally reach the 50 mile turnaround 3 hrs,45min later. Thats a
22 min/mile pace for the 10 miles over Hope Pass. But we conquered it! We're at the 50 mile aid station, we eat, we change socks and clothes, and we head back. I was feeling like a rock star. Patrick on the other hand was having some knee pain but we stuck together.
Truthfully, the challenge is not getting over Hope Pass the first time. It's getting over it the second time on the way back. But we were up for it. We get over hope pass and hit the 60 mile aid station with 45 minutes to spare (cuttoff was 9:45 p.m. and we got there at 9a.m.). This is where I started getting worried. In my head 45 minutes is not enough. We need to get out of there quick. I start trekking up the second to last mountain before Patrick. He catches up and we're off together again. By this time, your mind starts getting loopy. I was glad it was night out. Patrick could not see the tears in my eyes. Everything hurt. My fear of not finishing was starting to get the best of me. We find a pack heading up the mountain and we stick with them. I slowly start fading. Patrick yells out every few minutes to make sure that I'm there and I reassure him that I will not stop. " Keep going. I'll recover and catch up." was my response to him everytime. His voice would eventually fade away and before I knew it I was on that wretched mountain alone, in pain and this is where the hallucinations struck me. From this point forward, it was hell. I was falling asleep on the trail, could not drink water because I had accidentally pee'd on the nozzles(i did not think to unscrew them and drink), and my back was stuck in a leaning forward position. Every few minutes or so I would hear someone behind me passing me up. I would move over to the side and let them through and would realize there was no one there. I was talking to myself, crying to myself, and cussing out the mountain. The mountain was alive and it's sole purpose was to break me. I finally made it out of the trail. I was on an open jeep road with 2.5 miles to go in 10 minutes to meet the checkpoint. Lindsay comes out of the darkness grabs my hand and begins to pull me toward the aid station. She was convinced we could make it. I began to believe.......again. We get to the aid station,
5 minutes too late. I was done. 70 miles in 20hrs and 50 minutes. I cried myself to sleep in the aid station tent shorly after they cut off my wrist band. A few hours later the rest of my crew would pick me up and take me to the next checkpoint where Patrick was in danger of not meeting the next cutoff. He runs in with 5 minutes to spare, eats, changes clothes, gives me a hug, and heads out toward the last mountain. I head to the cottage we were staying to get some rest before I would wake up to see Patrick cross the finish line. Well, that did not happen. Mile 85 was his breaking point. Search and rescue had to get him off the mountain. His knee was in bad shape and he showed symptoms of hyponatremia. We did not finish.
Of the 592 people that started the race, only 210 crossed the finish line. We added to the numbers that make this event one of the hardest in the world. Patrick will be back next year. I on the other hand will have to wait and see.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
UIW Cross Country/Track on www.txrunning.com!
For those interested check out my interview about the upcoming cross country and track and field season with Alex Aldaco on: http://www.myrunningnetwork.com/IWU%20Teampage.htm
It is some more great publicity for the program!
Have a great weekend!
Coach Riedel
It is some more great publicity for the program!
Have a great weekend!
Coach Riedel
Thursday, August 2, 2007
2008 Track Team Preview
I would be remiss to not include a short highlight of the upcoming track season. After returning home with our first-ever women's NCAA All-American (Morgan Moszee in the long jump) we look forward to continuing our building process for the immediate future.
The future looks bright as we come off a 2007 season that saw our men break 17 school records and the women break 10 records.
I am very excited about our newcomers to the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals squads. Without further adue here is the list of incoming men's and women's tracksters:
Men:
Christian Alicea (Juson HS - Converse, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
George Alicea (Judson HS - Converse, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
Cody Beaman (Humble HS) - Distance Runner
Keith Coleman (West Campus - SA, TX) - 100/200 sprinter
Taylor Echevarria (Warren HS - SA, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
Marcus Edwards (Reagan HS - SA, TX) - 100/200 sprinter
Leslie Hall (Sam Houston State via East Central - SA, TX) - 100-400 sprinter
Randy Lighteard (Sam Houston HS - SA, TX) - 100-400 sprinter
Chacho Madera (Corpus A&M via Eagle Pass - Grad Student) 200/400 sprinter
Chris Monroe (Sam Houston HS) - 100/200 sprinter
Everrett Rusher (Oklahoma Baptist transfer) - 100-400 sprinter
Chase Turner (Sachse HS) - 200/400 sprinter
John Zavala (Ausuncion, Paraguay) - 100-400 sprinter
Randy Mitchell (Randolph HS - SA, TX) - 100-400 sprinter
Women:
Brittany Black (Bandera HS) - 100-400 sprinter
Courtney Immel (Bandera HS) - 200/400 sprinter
Kristen Sims (Taft HS - SA, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
Jenada Morrison (Randolph HS) - Hep/400/800
Jenovia Morrison (Randolph HS) - Hep/400/800
Carolyn Hart (John Jay HS - SA, TX) - 100/200 sprinter
These are the incoming Cardinals and Lady Cardinals for the 2008 spring semester. We are adding women's indoor track in a test trial mode with the hope of adding the men's team to the indoor schedule in 2009. Follow UIW track through the fall semester as we tune up for another record setting season!
The future looks bright as we come off a 2007 season that saw our men break 17 school records and the women break 10 records.
I am very excited about our newcomers to the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals squads. Without further adue here is the list of incoming men's and women's tracksters:
Men:
Christian Alicea (Juson HS - Converse, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
George Alicea (Judson HS - Converse, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
Cody Beaman (Humble HS) - Distance Runner
Keith Coleman (West Campus - SA, TX) - 100/200 sprinter
Taylor Echevarria (Warren HS - SA, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
Marcus Edwards (Reagan HS - SA, TX) - 100/200 sprinter
Leslie Hall (Sam Houston State via East Central - SA, TX) - 100-400 sprinter
Randy Lighteard (Sam Houston HS - SA, TX) - 100-400 sprinter
Chacho Madera (Corpus A&M via Eagle Pass - Grad Student) 200/400 sprinter
Chris Monroe (Sam Houston HS) - 100/200 sprinter
Everrett Rusher (Oklahoma Baptist transfer) - 100-400 sprinter
Chase Turner (Sachse HS) - 200/400 sprinter
John Zavala (Ausuncion, Paraguay) - 100-400 sprinter
Randy Mitchell (Randolph HS - SA, TX) - 100-400 sprinter
Women:
Brittany Black (Bandera HS) - 100-400 sprinter
Courtney Immel (Bandera HS) - 200/400 sprinter
Kristen Sims (Taft HS - SA, TX) - 200/400 sprinter
Jenada Morrison (Randolph HS) - Hep/400/800
Jenovia Morrison (Randolph HS) - Hep/400/800
Carolyn Hart (John Jay HS - SA, TX) - 100/200 sprinter
These are the incoming Cardinals and Lady Cardinals for the 2008 spring semester. We are adding women's indoor track in a test trial mode with the hope of adding the men's team to the indoor schedule in 2009. Follow UIW track through the fall semester as we tune up for another record setting season!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Track Team Pictures now on Photobucket!
I have just finished uploading pictures from the 2006-2007 seasons into our new team account at Photobucket.
Check out the following website to view and share UIW track and cross country pictures!
http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb55/IncarnateWord/
Check out the following website to view and share UIW track and cross country pictures!
http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb55/IncarnateWord/
Thursday, July 26, 2007
UIW Men's and Women's Cross Country Fall 2007 Schedule and Rosters
Check out the following links for our men's and women's roster and our 2007 fall schedule!
I am really excited about the rosters for the upcoming school year. I am dually excited about the meets we are traveling to. We are traveling to South Bend, IN for the National Catholic School Championships on the University of Notre Dame campus Sept. 14. We are then traveling to Stillwater, OK for the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree, which will be in its 71st straight running, making it the second oldest consecutive running cross country meet in the United States.
We have a young team once again this year - we are slowly growing older and more experienced but once again I am happy with the talent level on both the men's and women's teams. I expect us to have another record-setting season and be conference championship contenders on our home course.
I would like to provide a brief preview of the men's and women's cross country teams and what to look forward to with UIW Cross Country!
The Lady Cardinals completed an historic season in 2006 by finishing 2nd at the conference championships! Maggie Callahan (Gregory-Portland), Jessie Fernandez (Jacksonville, NC), Jackie Cruz (Health Careers - San Antonio) and Rose Caldwell (Warren - San Antonio, medical redshirt last fall) are returning in 2007 and look to continue their upward accent in the collegiate running world. Joining these talented ladies will be: Yvonne Rodriguez (Tuluso-Midway and Corpus Christi A&M), Christine Dahlhausen (Boerne), Melissa Martinez (Incarnate Word HS - San Antonio), Alma Santos (Hondo), Sonya Solorio (George Bush HS - Houston), Jenovia and Jenada Morrison (Randolph HS - San Antonio, TX) and Sonya Gibbs (Georgetown HS - Georgetown, TX).
This marks the largest women's cross country team in school history. As we combine the returnees with the new faces we look forward to having more depth and talent than ever before. We are traveling to Kerrville, TX for a two-day team building camp August 15-17 as we try to come together in a common goal of moving up the Heartland Conference ladder and a potential conference championship in late October! We look forward to our first trip to South Bend, IN to participated in the National Catholic school championships at the University of Notre Dame. This will prove to be a great test for our young team as we continue to peak for the conference championships and regional championships. After taking the next weekend off we will travel up north once more to participate in the Cowboy Jamboree hosted by Oklahoma State University. This European-style cross country course draws some of the best teams in the south and south west year-in and year-out.
On the men's side, excitement also brews over a strong freshman recruiting class. This year's team will also mark the largest men's cross country team in school history!
Returning for the men are: Shayn Weidner (Marion HS), Eric Salinas (after redshirting last year), Blake Bartosh (Burnet, TX by way of West, TX)and Jose Ruiz (06-07 redshirt). Shayn started to make a name for himself last year by forcing his way on the scene with some fantastic track times in the 5000m and 3000m. Shayn looks to capitalize on a fantastic summer of training by vying for an individual and team conference championship. Eric, Blake and Jose have also matured nicely as they prepare themselves for a great sophomore gig.
Joining the men's team are: Jay Wilson (Churchill HS - San Antonio, TX), a transfer from South Plains Junior College and a 3rd place 5A finisher in the 800 meters at the 2006 state track meet. Cody Beaman (Humble HS - Humble, TX) will also join the team as a sophomore transfer in the spring. Freshman newbies include: Adrian Carrillo (El Paso HS), who finished 11th in 4A in XC last season, Jeremy Juarez (Lytle, TX), fresh off a 3rd place 3A 800m finish, Roman Jacobo (La Vernia, TX), Estevan Flores (Del Rio HS), Michael Cortez (Health Careers - San Antonio, TX).
The men look to improve on their 3rd place finish at the Heartland conference by an agonizing 8 points (8 points behind 1st place and 3 points behind 2nd place)! The conference continues to get better and we look forward to contributing to a renewed Heartland conference!
If you are interested in keeping track of our results keep track of us via this blog and our athletics website: www.uiw.edu/athletics
Men's Roster: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/roster.html
Women's Roster: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/roster.html
Men's Schedule: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/schedule.html
Women's Schedule: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/schedule.html
I would love to hear from you! God Bless and have a good rest of the summer!
Coach Riedel
I am really excited about the rosters for the upcoming school year. I am dually excited about the meets we are traveling to. We are traveling to South Bend, IN for the National Catholic School Championships on the University of Notre Dame campus Sept. 14. We are then traveling to Stillwater, OK for the Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree, which will be in its 71st straight running, making it the second oldest consecutive running cross country meet in the United States.
We have a young team once again this year - we are slowly growing older and more experienced but once again I am happy with the talent level on both the men's and women's teams. I expect us to have another record-setting season and be conference championship contenders on our home course.
I would like to provide a brief preview of the men's and women's cross country teams and what to look forward to with UIW Cross Country!
The Lady Cardinals completed an historic season in 2006 by finishing 2nd at the conference championships! Maggie Callahan (Gregory-Portland), Jessie Fernandez (Jacksonville, NC), Jackie Cruz (Health Careers - San Antonio) and Rose Caldwell (Warren - San Antonio, medical redshirt last fall) are returning in 2007 and look to continue their upward accent in the collegiate running world. Joining these talented ladies will be: Yvonne Rodriguez (Tuluso-Midway and Corpus Christi A&M), Christine Dahlhausen (Boerne), Melissa Martinez (Incarnate Word HS - San Antonio), Alma Santos (Hondo), Sonya Solorio (George Bush HS - Houston), Jenovia and Jenada Morrison (Randolph HS - San Antonio, TX) and Sonya Gibbs (Georgetown HS - Georgetown, TX).
This marks the largest women's cross country team in school history. As we combine the returnees with the new faces we look forward to having more depth and talent than ever before. We are traveling to Kerrville, TX for a two-day team building camp August 15-17 as we try to come together in a common goal of moving up the Heartland Conference ladder and a potential conference championship in late October! We look forward to our first trip to South Bend, IN to participated in the National Catholic school championships at the University of Notre Dame. This will prove to be a great test for our young team as we continue to peak for the conference championships and regional championships. After taking the next weekend off we will travel up north once more to participate in the Cowboy Jamboree hosted by Oklahoma State University. This European-style cross country course draws some of the best teams in the south and south west year-in and year-out.
On the men's side, excitement also brews over a strong freshman recruiting class. This year's team will also mark the largest men's cross country team in school history!
Returning for the men are: Shayn Weidner (Marion HS), Eric Salinas (after redshirting last year), Blake Bartosh (Burnet, TX by way of West, TX)and Jose Ruiz (06-07 redshirt). Shayn started to make a name for himself last year by forcing his way on the scene with some fantastic track times in the 5000m and 3000m. Shayn looks to capitalize on a fantastic summer of training by vying for an individual and team conference championship. Eric, Blake and Jose have also matured nicely as they prepare themselves for a great sophomore gig.
Joining the men's team are: Jay Wilson (Churchill HS - San Antonio, TX), a transfer from South Plains Junior College and a 3rd place 5A finisher in the 800 meters at the 2006 state track meet. Cody Beaman (Humble HS - Humble, TX) will also join the team as a sophomore transfer in the spring. Freshman newbies include: Adrian Carrillo (El Paso HS), who finished 11th in 4A in XC last season, Jeremy Juarez (Lytle, TX), fresh off a 3rd place 3A 800m finish, Roman Jacobo (La Vernia, TX), Estevan Flores (Del Rio HS), Michael Cortez (Health Careers - San Antonio, TX).
The men look to improve on their 3rd place finish at the Heartland conference by an agonizing 8 points (8 points behind 1st place and 3 points behind 2nd place)! The conference continues to get better and we look forward to contributing to a renewed Heartland conference!
If you are interested in keeping track of our results keep track of us via this blog and our athletics website: www.uiw.edu/athletics
Men's Roster: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/roster.html
Women's Roster: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/roster.html
Men's Schedule: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_men/schedule.html
Women's Schedule: http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/crosscountry_women/schedule.html
I would love to hear from you! God Bless and have a good rest of the summer!
Coach Riedel
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Derek Riedel's New Blog!
This is my first post. I have created this website as a way of staying in touch with athletes and friends.
I will periodically post comments on this blog from time to time when I feel the need to do so.
I will periodically post comments on this blog from time to time when I feel the need to do so.
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