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)
