I wanted to add that Rose Caldwell, with her 5th place finish was named freshman of the year.
Well done Rose Marie!
Friday, October 26, 2007
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...
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