Silence

OK, now that everyone has stopped checking for blog updates, I finally have time for a short posting. I have not done the scanning required for the 2009 Schroeder XC Yearbook, and if I don't find the time soon, I'll just post a PDF version of what I have so far (results, etc.).

My understanding is that the Schroeder Indoor Track season gets underway Friday at the U of R. We'll follow along with the team's exploits thru the season. In addition, we'll keep an eye on the WDR representatives on the Nordic Ski team. Yesterday's scrimmage was canceled due to a lack of snow, so maybe next Tuesday. And we can't forget that we also sprinkle a little WDR on the wrestling team, so we'll watch for some wrestling results as well.

2009 Section V Championships Predictions - Class AA

The numbers have been crunched, and the predictions for Saturday's Class AA races are now available. On the boys side, it is no surprise that R-H is expected to win easily, with Hilton having a slight edge over Schroeder for second:

Rush Henrietta 28
Hilton 76
Schroeder 80
Penfield 109
Thomas 110
Fairport 162
Gates Chili 172
Churchville Chili 221
Spencerport 238
Wilson inc
Franklin n/a

Jared is the clear favorite for the individual crown. R-H should have 5 in the top 10, meaning the others in the top 10 should secure State Meet slots. Here are the top 30:
1 Rousell, Jared Thomas 16:20
2 Kozyra, Nate Rush Henrietta 16:40
3 Eustance, Tyler Hilton 16:46
4 Hotchkiss, Brian Rush Henrietta 16:52
5 Newton, Trevor Rush Henrietta 16:57
6 Piacentini, Anthony Schroeder 16:59
7 Burke, Colby Rush Henrietta 17:00
8 Gumina, Tyler Penfield 17:01
9 Mateer, Tim Thomas 17:02
10 Raymond, Alex Rush Henrietta 17:03
11 Nasello, AJ Schroeder 17:04
12 DeClerck, Cole Thomas 17:05
13 Lyons, Nate Schroeder 17:06
14 Hospers, Jamie Penfield 17:12
15 Sauln, Brad Rush Henrietta 17:12
16 Pirnie, Andrew Hilton 17:15
17 Cuddeback, Brad Hilton 17:16
18 DiMartino, Nate Hilton 17:19
19 Haynes, Mitchell Rush Henrietta 17:19
20 Tobey, Kevin Gates Chili 17:21
21 Jablonski, Kevin Fairport 17:22
22 Campbell, Paul Hilton 17:36
23 Schwalm, Steve Gates Chili 17:47
24 Hamouda, Adrian Schroeder 17:48
25 Stoutz, Matthew Fairport 17:48
26 Whittemore, Steve Schroeder 17:49
27 Sprague, Brady Penfield 17:49
28 Harney, Bryan Penfield 17:50
29 Green, Justin Fairport 17:50
30 Roth, Tyler Hilton 17:51

Looking at the Girls race, there are 3 teams with a decent chance to win. Hilton took 2nd (behind Mendon) easily at Counties and has the most depth. Fairport has only had 4 top girls all year, so one poor run (like the #3 runner at Counties) hurts them substantially, while R-H has 5 good runners (but #4 ran very poorly at Counties). Meanwhile, Penfield and Thomas, despite both having pretty good teams, will be relegated to battling for 4th place.

Hilton 62
Fairport 67
Rush Henrietta 74
Penfield 97
Thomas 99
Spencerport 162
Churchville Chili 200
Schroeder 213
Gates Chili 213

Brianna should have no problem making it a Thomas sweep of the individual titles. The top 7 girls are clearly established, so if Fairport or Hilton wins (each with two in the top 7), the State team is pretty set; however, if R-H wins, the battle for the final State Meet spot could be pretty wild. Here are the top 30:

1 Deming, Brianna Thomas 18:30
2 Hughes, Ashton Fairport 19:01
3 Lembo, Katie Penfield 19:06
4 Cocchiara, Amanda Hilton 19:08
5 Malone, Rachel Fairport 19:10
6 Robinson, Jodi Rush Henrietta 19:16
7 List, Rebecca Hilton 19:25
8 Maffett, Megan Spencerport 19:43
9 Greiner, Lizzie Rush Henrietta 19:45
10 Colon, Christina Thomas 19:47
11 Rosenthal, Jane Fairport 19:49
12 O'Neill, Karli Churchville Chili 19:55
13 Lenhardt, Carly Fairport 19:57
14 Greiner, Becky Rush Henrietta 19:59
15 Palmeri, Emily Hilton 20:07
16 Holt, Sally Hilton 20:12
17 Palermo, Val Schroeder 20:15
18 Mantilla, Leila Penfield 20:18
19 Cannon, Rachel Gates Chili 20:21
20 Engle, Kara Hilton 20:23
21 Cronmiller, Kristen Rush Henrietta 20:25
22 Bourcy, Alex Penfield 20:28
23 Hinton, Shavonna Thomas 20:30
24 MacDonald, Alana Rush Henrietta 20:39
25 Holleran, Claire Penfield 20:44
26 Farmer, Katy Gates Chili 20:45
27 Saxton, Katie Spencerport 20:45
28 Kimble, Briana Hilton 20:53
29 Redfield, Melanie Penfield 20:55
30 Ratcliffe, Kaycee Penfield 20:59

Of course, the wild card this year is the sickness that has come through various schools in recent days. There is no way of knowing who is affected. Were some of the particularly poor County races flu-related?

Monroe County Championships - 2009 Results

You can find complete results at yen timing - here.

The conditions (sloppy course and wind) made for some mighty slow times, but our teams, with the exception of the boys varsity, finished right in line with the predictions. We had some very nice performances from a place perspective, and we'll review those later this week.

Monroe County XC Preview - Boys Individuals

Here are the top 68 boys (leading contenders for first and second team All-County), as ranked by the computer:

1 Mangan, Steve Honeoye Falls Lima
2 Deir, Alex Honeoye Falls Lima
3 Vanvleck, Adam Mendon
4 Rousell, Jared Thomas
5 Looby, Ricky Irondequoit
6 Kozyra, Nate Rush Henrietta
7 Smolensky, Scotty Brighton
8 Hotchkiss, Brian Rush Henrietta
9 Erb, M.J. Victor
10 Eustance, Tyler Hilton
11 Piacentini, Anthony Schroeder
12 Lipani, Lou Arcadia
13 Hoose, Kevin Honeoye Falls Lima
14 Jones, Jesse Brockport
15 Mateer, Tim Thomas
16 Gumina, Tyler Penfield
17 Kandt, Joel Brockport
18 Reid, Kyle Victor
19 Burke, Colby Rush Henrietta
20 Fischer, Sean Sutherland
21 Newton, Trevor Rush Henrietta
22 Nasello, AJ Schroeder
23 Raymond, Alex Rush Henrietta
24 Heckman, Aaron Odyssey
25 Talpey, Greg Brighton
26 DeClerck, Cole Thomas
27 Lyons, Nate Schroeder
28 Hospers, Jamie Penfield
29 Pirnie, Andrew Hilton
30 Sauln, Brad Rush Henrietta
31 Cuddeback, Brad Hilton
32 Dworkin, Jordan Sutherland
33 Hallock, Billy Mendon
34 Coons, Joe Brighton
35 Zimmerman, Tyler Odyssey
36 VanVleck, Matt Mendon
37 Sweeney, Andrew Rush Henrietta
38 Jablonski, Kevin Fairport
39 Zeccola, Andrew Mendon
40 Holbrook, Austin Olympia
41 Miller, Evan Mendon
42 DiMartino, Nate Hilton
43 Mullen, Jake Brighton
44 Tobey, Kevin Gates Chili
45 Cleeton, Ben Sutherland
46 Ramsdell, Tommy Honeoye Falls Lima
47 Schwalm, Steve Gates Chili
48 McCullough, Ryan Brighton
49 Knapp, JonMichael Arcadia
50 Campbell, Paul Hilton
51 Tyler, Terrence Sutherland
52 Bigenwald, Eric Irondequoit
53 Anvelt, Mike Sutherland
54 Silverstein, Brian Brighton
55 Koss, Nick Irondequoit
56 Stahl, Eric Brighton
57 Enright, Connor Irondequoit
58 Hayward, Connor Victor
59 King, Dan Batavia
60 Hayden, Rob Sutherland
61 Sweazy, Shaun Brockport
63 Mclaughlin, Ian Irondequoit
63 Tillery, Kevin Batavia
64 Hamouda, Adrian Schroeder
65 Phelan, Will Sutherland
66 Whittemore, Steve Schroeder
67 Roach, Cooper Honeoye Falls Lima
68 Carroll, Frank Odyssey

Monroe County XC Preview - Girls Individuals

Before I get to the individuals, we need to take another look at the girls team scores. The computer was crying about inconsistent and sexist analysis, so I went back and provided the same methodology for the girls that was used for the boys. This resulted in a small number of changes to the order - most notably, it shows HF-L has a slight edge over Canandaigua. And for Schroeder, it shows we are right in the mix with Gates and Churchville (actually, ahead of Churchville on the tie-breaking sixth runner). Here are the updated predictions:

Honeoye Falls Lima 50
Canandaigua 56
Mendon 124
Fairport 140
Hilton 157
Rush Henrietta 171
Thomas 210
Penfield 218
Sutherland 255
Brighton 278
Irondequoit 351
Victor 360
Spencerport 375
Athena 403
Brockport 436
Gates Chili 464
Schroeder 472
Churchville Chili 472
Olympia 511
Odyssey 595
East Irondequoit 648
East Rochester 666
Arcadia 698
Batavia inc

Now for the individuals. Since this is a brand new course, the computer tells me it is unable to generate time predictions. And with an uncertain amount of rain coming Friday and early Saturday, historical times may not be particularly useful anyway. The top is pretty clear, as there have been three girls showing complete domination. Shaylyn should win, followed by Amanda and Brianna. Then things get interesting as there are about 20 girls who went under 19 at McQuaid, or could have. It looks like the top 34 (where did that number come from???) will make All-County, and the computer is predicting this list:

1 Tuite, Shaylyn Mendon
2 Moreland, Amanda Honeoye Falls Lima
3 Deming, Brianna Thomas
4 Hughes, Ashton Fairport
5 McCormick, Kate Canandaigua
6 Brunett, Jessie Honeoye Falls Lima
7 Malone, Rachel Fairport
8 Mack, Kellie Canandaigua
9 Steinke, Ruth Honeoye Falls Lima
10 Cocchiara, Amanda Hilton
11 McCormick, Meghan Canandaigua
12 D'Amore, Kendall Canandaigua
13 Jarvela, Angela Batavia
14 Hallock, Allison Mendon
15 Lembo, Katie Penfield
16 Robinson, Jodi Rush Henrietta
17 Cole, Hannah Honeoye Falls Lima
18 Hoh, Allison Honeoye Falls Lima
19 List, Rebecca Hilton
20 Maffett, Megan Spencerport
21 D'Amore, Lauren Canandaigua
22 Rosenthal, Jane Fairport
23 Greiner, Lizzie Rush Henrietta
24 Engle, Katie Honeoye Falls Lima
25 Beiter, Kaylin Honeoye Falls Lima
26 Atkins, Morgan Mendon
27 Tuttle, Georgia Irondequoit
28 Colon, Christina Thomas
29 Greiner, Becky Rush Henrietta
30 Lawler, Maggie Victor
31 Cymerman, Amy Sutherland
32 Lenhardt, Carly Fairport
33 Palmeri, Emily Hilton
34 Mantilla, Leila Penfield

Val just misses this list, based solely on McQuaid performances as her overall ranking is 32nd. Here is where the Schroeder Varsity girls are expected to finish:

38. Palermo, Val
95. Bay, Anneliese
112. Bailey, Alaina (if she were running the varsity race)
114. Edwards, Katie
117. Mills, Sarah
120. Kuitems, Karen
123. Hight, Ann

Monroe County Preview - Boys Teams

I had to increase the robustness of the computer algorithm to calculate the predictions on the boys side. There has been a great deal of "loafing" in league meets by many runners, so the overall rating is not the best indicator of the most likely results. I sprinkled a little extra into the broth, and the results make much more sense.

Given the inputs that I provided, the computer says the boys team scores will look like this:
Rush Henrietta 75
Honeoye Falls Lima 132
Brighton 156
Mendon 159
Hilton 161
Schroeder 194
Sutherland 201
Irondequoit 232
Thomas 246
Penfield 255
Victor 261
Odyssey 320
Brockport 363
Fairport 382
Gates Chili 404
Batavia 438
Arcadia 471
Churchville Chili 490
Spencerport 537
Olympia 564
Canandaigua 596
Athena 611
East Rochester 674
East Irondequoit 800

As with the girls, some teams may be looking past the County Meet, so we may see some variation due to that. I do expect R-H to win comfortably over HF-L, as HF-L's 5th man should post a much higher score than R-H's. The three-way battle for 3rd seems to be among Brighton, Mendon and Hilton. The computer says Brighton, but I think Mendon will sneak in, setting up the rematch to see who will place second to McQuaid at Sectionals. Schroeder seems to have a slight edge on Sutherland for 6th, followed by a pack of teams to close out the top 10 plus one.

At the other end of the race, East Irondequoit has a very good shot at setting a record for the highest score in Monroe County history, enabled by the growth to 24 teams. When there were just 21 teams, the highest possible score was 715 and last year, with 22 teams, the highest possible was 750.

Monroe County Preview - Girls Teams

OK, the computer has been fed all sorts of results from 2009, and is poised to make some predictions for the Monroe County Championship meet on Saturday. First up are the girls team scores.

It looks to be a two team battle between Canandaigua and HF-L for the win. The Section V coaches have HF-L ranked #1, but the computer says Canandaigua. Mendon usually outperforms at Counties (as does R-H), so it may not be quite as large a margin as the computer predicts. It will be interesting to see how much effort the top teams put forth, with Canandaigua and Mendon looking ahead to their Class A matchup at Sectionals; the same with Fairport, RH and Hilton in Class AA (with Thomas and Penfield needing to show they belong in the top group. And there is no doubt HF-L is already looking ahead to the state meet

In the Schroeder part of the standings, Churchville, Gates and even Brockport are well within reach, dependent upon a strong showing by our 2-5 runners.

Canandaigua 56
Honeoye Falls Lima 66
Mendon 128
Fairport 146
Rush Henrietta 151
Hilton 172
Thomas 211
Penfield 225
Sutherland 258
Brighton 277
Victor 340
Irondequoit 352
Athena 380
Spencerport 400
Brockport 440
Gates Chili 468
Churchville Chili 471
Schroeder 483
Olympia 527
Odyssey 584
East Rochester 665
Arcadia 701
East Irondequoit inc
Batavia inc

Taper Week Begins

Attendance at practice will be important this week, as we complete our taper for the County Meet, which is the final race of the season for most of the team. Finding the balance between working too hard and taking it too easy is best done as a group.

On one extreme, someone could take the whole week completely off, thinking that would make them fully rested for Saturday's race. Scientific research shows that this does not lead to good performances, and my experience is consistent with that: the legs can feel flat after so much time off, and some fitness does disappear after as few as 3 days off.

On the other extreme, running hard every day would clearly set one up for a tough time on Saturday. As we've seen in some of our weekend performances, even a particularly hard workout on Thursday can negatively affect a Saturday race.

Our dual meet success has been clear this fall. Dual meets usually follow a Saturday race, a Sunday easy day (or day off for most of the team) and a Monday easy day. For the runners that have not earned a guaranteed Sectional roster spot, we will simulate that a bit, with our last workout on Wednesday (think Cruise Intervals), an easy tour of the County course on Thursday and an easy jog on Friday. This means we will also do a workout on Monday, but don't be alarmed!

Last Thursday's workout was great, and yesterday's run demonstrated that we are well-positioned as we enter this final week. Get plenty of sleep, stay healthy and I am confident that we will see some excellent performances on Saturday!

Regular Season is Over!

A very successful regular season has come to a close, so it is time to get ready for the Championship meets. First, let's take a look at the regular season results.

Teams
The Boys finished 19-4 - not sure when Schroeder last won 19 meets (if we have, it would have been in an undefeated season, prior to the split). This put us in a tie for 5th with Mendon. The teams with fewer losses were HF-L (1), RH (2), Brighton (3), and Hilton (3, 1 to us).

The Girls finished 9-14, well above expectations. That marks the 4th time in the last 5 years that the girls managed 9 wins - let's see if we can get double digits next year!

On the invitational front, the boys had huge wins at McQuaid and Alden (beating St. Joe's, again, who is ranked #2 in Section VI).

Individuals
Val made the 2009 top 10 list for Harris Whalen Park (6th, 20:52). This was also the 14th best time in the 5 years they've kept records. Val is now the only Schroeder girl to appear on one of the Top 25 all time lists.

Nico and AJ made the list at Center Park (4th and 5th in 17:23 and 17:25), and are currently 16th and 19th all time (joining John Hohl, who had been the only Schroeder runner on any top 25 list). Nico, Nate and AJ all made the list at Harris Whalen (2nd, 4th and 5th in 17:13, 17:25 and 17:26) - also good for 8th, 19th and 20th overall. Nico also made the Mendon East 6th in 17:26) and Parma (9th in 17:30) lists, but missed the top 25 lists by 8 seconds and 3 seconds.

Nico and Nate just missed at Black Creek with their 17:19s, as 17:18 was 10th (and 17:16 is 25th overall). And Nico just missed at Webster (16:43, 10th was 16:40 just this week).

Toughest League in the State?

It's not just your imagination, we really do face a very difficult league schedule. On the girls side, the latest state rankings show a total of NINE Monroe County teams listed.

Hilton (11), R-H (19), Thomas (21) and Fairport (22) are all ranked in Class AA (so Penfield must be close). Canandaigua (3), Mendon (7), Brighton (8) and Sutherland (10) are in the top 10 in Class A, and HF-L is ranked #2 in Class B, just behind East Aurora, and 9th overall (just ahead of Canandaigua in 10th).

So, our girls are actually 8-5 against teams that are not ranked in the state, and we can make that 9-5 today.

The boys have also faced some stiff league competition, as 8 teams are mentioned in last week's state rankings. R-H is 10th in Class AA, while Hilton is called out as one of the "teams to watch". In Class A, Mendon (6), Brighton (8), Irondequoit (11) and Sutherland (16) are all ranked. It's interesting that Mendon is ranked ahead of Brighton (on the strength of their performance at McQuaid), as I have Brighton as the slight favorite in their meet today. The HF-L boys are matching the girls with a #2 ranking in Class B. And how about this: despite a league record of just 8-11, Odyssey has a well-deserved 12th ranking in Class C.

Scouting Report - October 20th League Meet

Our top boys opponents are as follows (max 10 per team):

Name School Time Range
Vanvleck, Adam Mendon 16:14 16:25
Smolensky, Scotty Brighton 16:54 17:11
Talpey, Greg Brighton 17:19 17:33
Mullen, Jake Brighton 17:37 17:34
Holbrook, Austin Olympia 17:39 17:39
VanVleck, Matt Mendon 17:33 17:39
Coons, Joe Brighton 17:29 17:40
Jablonski, Kevin Fairport 17:45 17:41
Miller, Evan Mendon 17:33 17:41
Zeccola, Andrew Mendon 17:36 17:43
Hallock, Billy Mendon 17:27 17:44
Silverstein, Brian Brighton 18:01 17:53
Mullen, Andrew Brighton 18:11 17:54
Stahl, Eric Brighton 18:04 17:56
McCullough, Ryan Brighton 17:54 18:05
Young, Robert Mendon 18:01 18:08
Lundquist, Sam Brighton 18:30 18:13
Stoutz, Matthew Fairport 18:07 18:14
Pavia, Corey Mendon 18:13 18:15
Tarduno, Matthew Brighton 18:19 18:19
Green, Justin Fairport 18:11 18:23
Clark, Maurice Mendon 18:28 18:35
Swayze, Adam Mendon 18:24 18:37
Brown, Roric Mendon 18:46 18:46
Spitzer, Matt Fairport 19:20 18:48
Staveski, Adam Fairport 18:58 18:51
Colby, Jeff Olympia 18:55 18:52
Korts, Tyler Fairport 18:50 18:56
Liess, Chris Olympia 18:57 18:57
Karpie, Will Fairport 19:26 19:16
Keyes, Sean Fairport 18:58 19:17

And the top girls:

Tuite, Shaylyn Mendon 18:42 18:29
Hughes, Ashton Fairport 19:34 19:41
Malone, Rachel Fairport 19:35 19:47
Hallock, Allison Mendon 19:47 20:06
Rosenthal, Jane Fairport 20:20 20:29
Lenhardt, Carly Fairport 20:32 20:34
Bessette, Danielle Mendon 20:38 20:35
Atkins, Morgan Mendon 20:01 20:37
Timothy, Talibah Brighton 20:44 21:01
Swertfeger, Sarah Olympia 20:29 21:02
Young, Lauren Mendon 21:02 21:09
Pieper, Lilly Mendon 21:35 21:14
Ryan, Kylie Mendon 21:16 21:17
Wagner, Robin Brighton 21:27 21:27
Roncone, Krista Mendon 21:39 21:28
Aldridge, Mary Brighton 21:08 21:34
Vodacek, Kayla Brighton 21:38 21:44
Iuli, Sarah Brighton 22:00 21:46
Swetman, Brenna Mendon 21:55 21:49
Smolensky, Lauren Brighton 21:46 21:55
McElligott, Meghan Fairport 21:48 22:03
McCarthy, Casey Mendon 21:57 22:13
Mehta, Prachi Brighton 22:17 22:22
Kulzer, Kayla Olympia 22:39 22:37
Sirotenko, Andrea Brighton 22:24 22:38
Erbelding, Kathryn Olympia 22:53 22:44
Schmitt, Elizabeth Fairport 23:02 23:02
King, Alyssa Brighton 23:12 23:13
Dowling, Shannon Fairport 23:09 23:14
Goodrich, Veronica Fairport 22:57 23:14
Yeh, Diana Brighton 23:34 23:18
Williams, Greta Fairport 24:34 24:07
Vane, Eleanor Fairport 24:19 24:18

Bulldog Results Link

I neglected to post the link to the results from the weekend.

The results are here; however, the second half of the JV results are quite suspect. I will be getting the times from Coach Brust to sort things out.

The scouting report for tomorrow will be posted later today.

We Stampeded!

Great job by the boys in Alden yesterday! The JV Boys started things off with many solid runs to top the field of 26 schools. Although Elliot, Joe and Erik got a little too excited in the first mile (running 1-2-3 for a stretch), Joe was able to hang on for third, and Elliot 7th. Meanwhile, Trevor, Alex and Will moved from well back in the field (people were out way too quickly), to finish 9-14-16 and secure the victory with 45 points, to 53 for St. Joe's and 89 for East Aurora. The median improvement by the team was 1:19, despite the soft conditions of the course, which prevented most runners from matching their McQuaid times.

The Varsity Boys got off to a slow start, and had me nervous at the half mile mark. Our top 3 were back around 20th place, behind a couple of St. Joe's runners plus four from Lockport (could they be good again?), and the rest of the team seemed a little lost in the pack. The first mile did turn out to be slow for the top 3, but just a bit. A nice surge before the woods put them into position to go after some of the fading leaders. Steve also made a big move in the woods, and Adrian kept moving up afterward. We were then in a position where we could avoid sprints to the finish, leaving something in the tank for Tuesday, and still post a 63-82 win over St. Joe's, who has been ranked #2 in Section VI.

Since most of the girls (16 of 21) were unable to compete, there is not as much to say about their performance, but it was good overall, with Val having a breakthrough race, going out in under 6:10 and holding on to run 19:41 and finish 9th. Rachel also had a big PR, and I believe Lauren was under 30 for the first time, running 28:34.

Yesterday's Results

While the boys did not achieve the ultimate goal yesterday, securing 3 more wins and bringing our record to 17-2 is a very nice accomplishment. Looking at the results against the computer predictions, we see that 21 of the 30 boys beat their predicted time and the median performance was 11 seconds better than predicted. 7 of the boys outperformed the prediction by 29 seconds or more! Congrats to Elliot and Steven, who led with times that were 47 and 46 seconds faster, respectively. Our 1-7 gap was back under 90 seconds for the first time since Parma, but our 1-5 gap remains over 60 seconds.

The girls picked up an 8th win, but were not able to sneak ahead of Brockport. Only 2 of 11 girls were able to beat the predicted times. Congratulations to Ann for doing so (by 23 seconds), and finishing 2nd on the team for the second race in a row. We will have another shot at Brockport at Counties (and again at Sectionals).

Scouting Report - Girls

The computer rates the following girls in the top 30 for tomorrow's race:

Moreland, Amanda Honeoye Falls Lima 19:23
Steinke, Ruth Honeoye Falls Lima 20:02
Jarvela, Angela Batavia 20:03
Brunette, Jessie Honeoye Falls Lima 20:06
Cole, Hannah Honeoye Falls Lima 20:29
Hoh, Allison Honeoye Falls Lima 20:39
Beiter, Kaylin Honeoye Falls Lima 20:40
Brunett, Jessie Honeoye Falls Lima 20:41
Engle, Katie Honeoye Falls Lima 20:50
Palermo, Val Schroeder 21:05
Kahen, Rachel Athena 21:18
Held, Emmy Honeoye Falls Lima 21:24
Steinke, Bekah Honeoye Falls Lima 21:27
Steinke, Rebekah Honeoye Falls Lima 21:46
Lashbrook, Caitlin Athena 21:54
Banzer, Emily Brockport 21:55
Roose, Serena Brockport 21:59
Lafferty, Courtney Athena 22:14
Dean, Willa Brockport 22:28
Hall, Katie Honeoye Falls Lima 22:47
Bay, Anneliese Schroeder 22:60
Brindle, Madison Brockport 23:16
Butler, Sarah Athena 23:17
Ward, Brittany Athena 23:21
Edwards, Katie Schroeder 23:32
Mills, Sarah Schroeder 23:39
Bailey, Alaina Schroeder 23:41
Meyers, Leah Brockport 23:41
Mills, Rachel Schroeder 23:45
Kuitems, Karen Schroeder 23:48

Scouting Report - Boys

Here are our top opponents for tomorrow. The times are the computer predictions - the relative differences are much more telling than the actual times. Our goal is to have 11 runners joining the following in the top 30:

Mangan, Steve Honeoye Falls Lima 16:41
Deir, Alex Honeoye Falls Lima 16:42
Jones, Jesse Brockport 17:41
Hoose, Kevin Honeoye Falls Lima 17:50
Kandt, Joel Brockport 17:58
Ramsdell, Tommy Honeoye Falls Lima 18:18
Tillery, Kevin Batavia 18:28
Sweazy, Shaun Brockport 18:38
King, Dan Batavia 18:43
Roach, Cooper Honeoye Falls Lima 18:54
McIntyre, Case Honeoye Falls Lima 18:54
Cole, Christian Honeoye Falls Lima 18:58
Laird, Jon Batavia 19:03
Brunett, Joe Honeoye Falls Lima 19:06
Mulcahy, Collin Batavia 19:10
Walsh, Chris Athena 19:20
Denton, Brad Honeoye Falls Lima 19:22
Wind, Nate Athena 19:28
Cotter, Justin Batavia 19:44

Scouting Report

The Scouting Report for tomorrow's meet will be up later today. A Microsoft Excel crash has set me back. The boys should chalk up wins against Athena, Batavia and Brockport (who is now up to three good runners), but HF-L is a tall order (led by Dier and Mangan, ranked 3rd and 7th in the state, respectively). The girls should win over Batavia, but both Athena and Brockport would take a top effort to beat and HF-L is one of the top teams in the state (9th, ahead of Canandaigua in 10th).

Long Weekend

I'm sure all of our student-athletes are looking forward to the long weekend - no school on Friday or Monday; however, it cannot include a vacation from running. We are at a critical position in the training cycle, where we must keep appropriate stress on our physiological systems, before easing back at the end of the season. So, it is important, if you are going out of town, to be sure to get workouts done. With the race on Friday, this is also a weekend where Sunday should not be a day of rest.

Here is the ideal outline:
Today - Easy Run (PICTURE DAY!)
Friday - Pen/Iron Invitational at Harris Whalen (details below)
Saturday - Long Run
Sunday - Moderate Run
Monday - Easy Run
Tuesday - Meet at Black Creek Park (HF-L, Brockport, Athena, Batavia)

Friday's meet details:
3:15 PM - Bus leaves
4:10 PM Modified Girls
4:25 PM Modified Boys
4:45 PM Varsity Girls
5:15 PM Varsity Boys
5:44 PM Boys Varsity ‘B’
5:45 PM Girls Varsity ‘B’ (note the girls start 1 minute after the Boys)
6:20 PM Team Awards (I hope there is no Varsity C race this year!)

14-1

Congratulations to the Boys team for improving their record to 14-1 yesterday, with a big win over Sutherland, and a close one over Victor as well. The 1-2-3 finish against Sutherland clinched the meet*, but the effort across the board was evident. I can't count how many of our team members had a shot at a yellow jersey late in the race, and went after them hard. Some of the team-wide statistics include the following:

19 boys beat the computer-generated prediction by over 15 seconds. This is especially impressive, since the predicted time was based on each runner's best race of the season, so far.

15 boys ran the same course last year. The median improvement was 1:57! Some of the most stunning improvements came from Kenny, 6:22 faster; Alex, 4:39; Arjun, 3:22; AJ, 2:54; Elliot, 2:19; Justin, 2:18; Arik, 2:17; Tom, 1:57; Tristan, 1:56; John, 1:50.

The freshmen continued their very fine running with the top 5 finishing in 20:13 - 21:05. Last year the top freshman ran 22:24; this year we had 7 freshmen under that time.

The girls also turned in a great performance, not only to defeat Gates, but to prevail over Spencerport as well! That bring the girls record to 7-8 on the season, which is well ahead of the pre-season prediction (3 to 5 wins for the entire season). Some of the notable statistics are as follows:

7 of the girls beat the computer-generated prediction by over 15 seconds.

From last year, Kristen improved by 2:58, Sarah by 1:36 and Karen by 1:21.

Val ran quite well, to beat two girls ranked ahead of her and finish 2nd (just two seconds out of first, by the time her kick ended).


* for those readers unfamiliar with how you can "clinch" a XC meet, here is a quick note about dual meet scoring: the top 7 runners from each team receive a place from 1-14, in the order of their finish (1 for the first finisher, 2 for the second, etc.) - each runner's place is their "score". You add the lowest 5 scores from each team to calculate the team score, and the low score wins. If a team finishes 1-2-3, then the worst the other 4 finishers can score is 11-12-13-14. So, the team score is 29 (1+2+3+11+12, are the lowest 5 scores), and the opposing team scores 30 (4+5+6+7+8).

Scouting Report - October 6th League Meet

Here is how the girls race shapes up for tomorrow:

Name; School; McQuaid Time; GCC Time; Predicted Time
Maffett, Megan Spencerport 19:10 20:07 20:36
Lawler, Maggie Victor 19:33 20:17 21:08
Jones, Lauren Victor 19:40 22:02 21:12
Cannon, Rachel Gates Chili 19:27 20:27 21:26
Palermo, Val Schroeder 19:40 20:23 21:26
Cymerman, Amy Sutherland 19:27 20:30 21:27
Mizes, Alicia Sutherland 19:29 20:49 21:28
Wilcox, Kelsi Sutherland 19:53 21:34 21:37
Saxton, Katie Spencerport 20:02 21:18 21:48
Farmer, Katy Gates Chili DNR 21:27 21:50
van der Sloot, Kate Sutherland 20:23 DNR 22:03
Holmes, Alexandra Sutherland 20:27 21:27 22:34
Mulroy, Jessica Sutherland 20:33 21:29 22:38
Cupo, Marie Sutherland 21:00 21:47 22:44
Jacobson, Audrey Sutherland DNR DNR 22:47
Rayburn, Jaqueline Victor 21:27 DNR 22:59
Larson, Alexandra Sutherland DNR DNR 23:00
Truby, Lauren Spencerport 20:55 DNR 23:03
Hess, Rachel Victor 21:57 22:22 23:08
Bolt, Emily Victor DNR DNR 23:13
Bay, Anneliese Schroeder DNR DNR 23:14
Nothnagle, Maureen Victor 21:48 22:44 23:26
Toomey, Liz Victor 22:06 23:04 23:38
Topian, Shauna Victor 21:57 22:34 23:42
Koniski, Sarah Spencerport 21:41 23:42 23:46
Hope, Mabel Spencerport 21:45 DNR 23:48
St. James, Erin Gates Chili 22:27 DNR 23:49
Bailey, Alaina Schroeder 21:40 DNR 23:53
Mills, Sarah Schroeder 21:56 23:00 23:55
O'Keefe, Kayli Sutherland DNR DNR 23:59
Kuitems, Karen Schroeder 21:47 22:56 24:01
Edwards, Katie Schroeder 21:57 23:12 24:06
Clar, Allison Gates Chili 22:03 23:11 24:08
Tamoshunas, Dalia Sutherland 23:14 DNR 24:08
Lowe, Katie Spencerport 22:12 DNR 24:09
Venezky, Sarah Spencerport 22:06 DNR 24:12
Cardillo, Holly Victor 22:56 DNR 24:23
Haslinger, Rachel Victor DNR DNR 24:24
Borshoff, Caroline Sutherland DNR DNR 24:25
Hight, Ann Schroeder 22:37 24:03 24:25
Maloney, Heather Spencerport 22:30 23:30 24:28
Jewell, Janelle Schroeder 23:44 23:34 24:53
Dilai, Khristyna Schroeder DNR DNR 24:58
Hatch, Robin Sutherland DNR DNR 25:01
Buckley, Kathleen Sutherland 23:26 DNR 25:21
Fries, Kayla Victor 25:26 DNR 25:22
Mitchel, Lindsay Spencerport 23:08 DNR 25:31
Arnold, Emily Gates Chili DNR 24:19 25:39
Osterling, Emmalyn Victor DNR DNR 25:42
Doherty, Alaina Schroeder 23:26 DNR 25:47
Blaakman, Kelly Schroeder 24:44 DNR 25:54
Taschman, Jane Sutherland 24:04 DNR 26:00
Cowles, Jennifer Sutherland 24:36 DNR 26:19
Phillips, Michelle Spencerport 24:00 DNR 26:27
Barry, Rachel Schroeder 24:36 DNR 26:33
Pettrone, Alea Spencerport 24:19 DNR 26:49
Bloom, Sarah Sutherland DNR DNR 26:52
Templeton, Melissa Spencerport 25:33 DNR 26:53
Facchine, Hillary Spencerport 24:40 DNR 27:11
Kelly, Monet Gates Chili 24:44 DNR 27:16
Conrow, Megan Schroeder 25:03 DNR 27:19
Betlem, Jessica Gates Chili 25:21 DNR 27:20
Pelz, Maddie Sutherland 25:12 DNR 27:21
Wilson, Tori Victor 24:53 DNR 27:25
Schwartz, Lindsey Gates Chili 25:23 DNR 28:00
Seils, Andrea Spencerport 25:29 DNR 28:05
Desiato, Brittany Spencerport 25:38 DNR 28:16
Grant, Laura Spencerport DNR DNR 28:19
Reynolds, Emily Schroeder DNR DNR 28:22
Glover, Christine Spencerport 26:19 DNR 28:43
Frelier, Kristen Schroeder 26:14 DNR 28:55
Cragie, Caitlin Sutherland 26:21 DNR 29:03
Forward, Erin Schroeder DNR DNR 29:42
Naassana, Danielle Sutherland 27:10 DNR 29:57
Bui, Sophia Schroeder 28:18 DNR 30:02
Hilsdorf, Becca Gates Chili DNR DNR 30:54
Naassana, Christine Sutherland DNR DNR 31:16
Damera, Shivani Sutherland DNR DNR 31:44
Axelrod, Jordyn Sutherland DNR DNR 32:19
Finn, Shannon Sutherland DNR DNR 32:32
Kashtan, Rachel Sutherland DNR DNR 32:35
Kashtan, Sara Sutherland DNR DNR 32:49
Park, Lauren Schroeder DNR DNR 33:24
Wehrle, Jennifer Schroeder DNR DNR 34:16
Oechsle, Sara Gates Chili DNR DNR 35:48
Brown, Morgan Gates Chili DNR DNR 37:46

And the Boys race:

Name; School; McQuaid Time; GCC Time; Predicted Time
Erb, M.J. Victor 16:03 16:34 17:22
Piacentini, Anthony Schroeder 16:02 17:30 17:30
Nasello, AJ Schroeder 16:23 17:13 17:43
Reid, Kyle Victor 16:18 17:12 17:43
Lyons, Nate Schroeder 16:33 17:15 17:46
Fischer, Sean Sutherland 16:08 17:07 17:52
Dworkin, Jordan Sutherland 16:30 DNR 17:53
Cleeton, Ben Sutherland 16:48 17:44 17:55
Schwalm, Steve Gates Chili DNR DNR 18:00
Tobey, Kevin Gates Chili 16:53 17:19 18:02
Tyler, Terrence Sutherland 16:53 18:06 18:11
Hayward, Connor Victor 17:00 18:00 18:16
Anvelt, Mike Sutherland 16:53 DNR 18:19
Whittemore, Steve Schroeder 17:14 18:19 18:20
Hayden, Rob Sutherland 16:53 18:04 18:23
Hamouda, Adrian Schroeder 17:02 18:00 18:25
Iovoli, Austin Victor 17:30 18:34 18:40
Phelan, Will Sutherland 16:57 18:00 18:45
Erickson, Jack Victor 17:49 18:23 18:46
Kelly, Geoffery Schroeder 17:51 DNR 18:48
Strang, Alex Sutherland 17:44 DNR 18:54
Makowski, Joe Schroeder 17:53 DNR 18:55
Hayward, Cal Victor 17:45 18:23 18:55
Moore, Weston Gates Chili 17:57 18:32 18:56
Galetto, Billy Spencerport 17:49 19:26 19:02
Sulimowicz, Ricky Gates Chili 17:23 18:30 19:03
Wehrle, Joe Schroeder 17:34 18:42 19:06
Hunt, Gage Sutherland 17:51 DNR 19:06
Coleman, John Spencerport DNR 18:15 19:07
Bowers, Stephen Gates Chili 18:25 DNR 19:13
Baldino, Tyler Sutherland 17:26 DNR 19:14
Smathers, Mike Victor 17:49 19:00 19:21
Girouard, Joel Sutherland 17:32 DNR 19:24
Silberg, Mark Sutherland 17:47 DNR 19:25
LaRocca, Anthony Gates Chili 20:40 DNR 19:25
McKeown, Trevor Schroeder 18:14 DNR 19:27
Spinosa, Phil Spencerport 17:57 19:27 19:28
Peartree, Colin Sutherland 17:38 DNR 19:28
Plummer, Chris Spencerport 18:19 18:34 19:28
Alexander, Elliot Schroeder 17:47 DNR 19:30
Farrell, Tom Schroeder 20:08 DNR 19:34
Barlow, Torrey Spencerport 18:53 DNR 19:35
Tucker, Dan Sutherland 18:19 DNR 19:36
Merrit, Alex Schroeder 18:22 DNR 19:44
To, Justin Spencerport 17:49 DNR 19:44
Jermyn, Alex Spencerport 18:42 19:48 19:44
Cordts, Alex Spencerport 20:34 22:48 19:44
Ding, Alex Sutherland 18:25 DNR 19:49
Spitzer, Matt Victor 19:30 DNR 19:49
Mertens, Ben Victor 18:45 DNR 19:50
Randall, Brian Sutherland 18:23 DNR 19:54
Manners, Zack Gates Chili DNR DNR 19:55
Wiseman, John Schroeder 18:48 DNR 19:57
Buss, Hayden Gates Chili 18:34 19:36 19:59
Steiger, Aidan Victor 18:12 DNR 20:03
Krawiec, Eric Schroeder 18:27 DNR 20:04
Mathew, Justin Schroeder 18:11 DNR 20:07
McCutchon, Andrew Sutherland 18:37 DNR 20:07
Burgin, Will Schroeder 18:22 DNR 20:08
Reese, Christian Victor 18:30 DNR 20:08
Powley, Devon Spencerport 19:00 DNR 20:10
Cove, Zach Sutherland DNR DNR 20:16
Mistark, Brian Sutherland 18:23 DNR 20:17
Mizes, Kevin Sutherland 18:21 DNR 20:18
Black, Ryan Sutherland 18:23 DNR 20:20
Meagher, Graham Spencerport 18:56 DNR 20:21
Worden, Colin Sutherland 18:26 DNR 20:23
Hall, Jared Gates Chili 18:53 DNR 20:35
Feeley, Evan Sutherland 18:38 DNR 20:37
Lyons, Zach Schroeder 19:10 DNR 20:39
Gill, Andrew Spencerport DNR DNR 20:40
Craig, Michael Gates Chili 19:19 DNR 20:51
Cannon, Tristan Schroeder 19:23 DNR 20:55
Jacobson, Alec Sutherland DNR DNR 20:55
Wells, Henry Sutherland 19:45 DNR 20:56
Reed, Justin Schroeder 18:57 DNR 20:56
Goebel, Ben Victor 19:34 DNR 20:57
Balta, Eric Sutherland 19:42 DNR 21:00
Erdogan, Malcolm Spencerport 19:25 DNR 21:02
Cymerman, Troy Sutherland DNR DNR 21:08
Werner, Gregory Gates Chili DNR DNR 21:12
Hall, Curt Gates Chili 19:34 DNR 21:14
Killigrew, John Schroeder 19:12 DNR 21:14
Messina, Isaac Sutherland 19:34 DNR 21:19
Menon, Akash Sutherland 20:15 DNR 21:19
Fricke, Jonathan Sutherland 20:03 DNR 21:20
Meyerhofer, Peter Spencerport 19:45 DNR 21:24
Black, Mike Victor 19:25 DNR 21:29
Nitche, Anthony Victor 19:45 DNR 21:30
Lee, Eric Sutherland 20:12 DNR 21:37
Gilman, Scott Sutherland 19:49 DNR 21:38
Hartman, Nicolas Sutherland 19:34 DNR 21:40
LeVant, Tristan Sutherland 19:53 DNR 21:51
Grant, Stephen Spencerport DNR DNR 21:52
Ludwig, Brian Gates Chili DNR DNR 21:55
Dana, Steven Schroeder 19:55 DNR 21:55
Graves, Matt Gates Chili 20:12 DNR 22:03
Goebel, Mike Victor 20:47 DNR 22:07
Hartsough, Harrison Victor 20:45 DNR 22:16
Brett, Tom Gates Chili 20:49 DNR 22:18
Circelli, Kenneth Schroeder 20:12 DNR 22:21
Taccardi, Ethan Sutherland 21:49 DNR 22:29
Wolf, Corey Sutherland 21:02 DNR 22:31
Weinberg, Sam Sutherland 21:00 DNR 22:42
Rekers, Arik Schroeder 20:34 DNR 22:46
Ward, Zachary Gates Chili DNR DNR 22:54
Samoriski, Nate Victor 21:18 DNR 22:59
Devries, Jacob Schroeder 21:04 DNR 23:00
Campaniello, Steven Gates Chili DNR DNR 23:00
Martin, Craig Victor 21:10 DNR 23:01
Peckham, Jon Sutherland 20:49 DNR 23:02
James, Jalen Gates Chili 21:32 DNR 23:02
Hamlin, Teddy Sutherland 20:57 DNR 23:05
Ebreth, Jacob Schroeder 20:59 DNR 23:13
Casella, Matthew Gates Chili DNR DNR 23:18
jokinen, justin Victor 21:18 DNR 23:34
Patel, Arjun Schroeder 21:32 DNR 23:36
Doherty, Patrick Schroeder 21:27 DNR 23:45
Prahler, Cody Schroeder 21:30 DNR 23:47
Gertner, Mike Sutherland 21:57 DNR 23:47
Underberg, Daniel Sutherland 22:15 DNR 23:53
DeNoto, Zach Sutherland 22:25 DNR 24:03
Yeo, William Gates Chili 22:55 DNR 24:09
Dietl, Noah Schroeder 21:57 DNR 24:18
Lewis, Richard Gates Chili 23:22 DNR 24:24
Beeley, William Sutherland 22:04 DNR 24:26
Wells, Charlie Sutherland 23:44 DNR 25:00
Johnson, Brian Sutherland DNR DNR 25:02
Hohl, Michael Schroeder DNR DNR 25:07
Borraccia, Mike Spencerport 23:08 DNR 25:37
Switalski, Eric Spencerport DNR DNR 25:42
Palluconi, Joe Spencerport 23:32 DNR 26:02
Goodberry, Benjamin Gates Chili 23:48 DNR 26:02
Knoedl, Jordan Gates Chili DNR DNR 26:08
Semmler, Robert Schroeder 25:37 DNR 27:47
Snover, James Schroeder DNR DNR 27:56
Ash, David Schroeder DNR DNR 28:15
Benson, Anthony Schroeder DNR DNR 32:37
Szalapski, Jacob Sutherland DNR DNR 34:39

McQuaid Invitational

Tomorrow is the 45th annual McQuaid Invitational at Genesee Valley Park. It has been 30 years since my first trip to McQuaid, and I still find the atmosphere as exciting as I did back then. With nearly 250 schools attending, there will be up to 7500 runners competing in 25 high school races. The part of the schedule that includes our entries is as follows:

2:26 Race #18 Girls Varsity "B" (a J.V. race) for Medium and Large schools
2:50 Race #19 Boys Jr. High #3 (Large schools)
3:02 Race #20 Girls Unseeded Varsity AA-2 (Medium/Large schools)
3:26 Race #21 Girls Jr. High #3 (Large schools)
3:38 Race #22 Boys Unseeded Varsity AAA-2 (large schools)
4:45 Race #25 Boys Varsity "B" (A J.V. race) for Large schools

You also won't want to miss the big races of the day:
3:58 Race #23 Girls Seeded Varsity AAA (Large schools)
4:22 Race #24 Boys Seeded Varsity AAA (Large schools)

There was a nice article covering the race in today's D&C. The D&C also had a big article on HF-L's two studs: Deir and Mangan.

For more information about the McQuaid invitational, visit these links:
Main Meet Site
Complete Schedule
Course Map
2008 Results

PRACTICE AT SCHROEDER

Today's practice is at Schroeder. It's not at Webster Park or on the County Course.

Spread the word!

Sectional Preview Results

Just a quick note to point out that the GCC Cougar Invite results have been posted at TullyRunners: here. They were sourced from another site that, in addition to providing awful formatting, does not seem to have JV results, sadly.

In breaking news, the first XC poll is out and apparently beating Hilton in our league meet (which we allowed to be switched to their home course) is not enough to be ranked ahead of them. All 4 coaches participating in the poll voted us 10th. Here is the link.

If I were allowed a ballot, it would currently look like this:
1. R-H
2. McQuaid
3. Brighton
4. Mendon
5. HF-L
6. Wayne
7. Sutherland
8. Schroeder
9. Hilton
10. Victor

I think the voting coaches must consider invitational results to be more important than league results, which makes sense, given that Counties and Sectionals are not dual meets. So, they rationalized placing two teams that we beat when it mattered, ahead of us.

Scouting Report - Girls

Here are our opponents for tomorrow, in the girls race:

Mack, Kellie Canandaigua 62.6
McCormick, Kate Canandaigua 62.6
D'Amore, Lauren Canandaigua 61.5
McCormick, Meghan Canandaigua 61.1
D'Amore, Kendall Canandaigua 61.1
Miller, Hayley Canandaigua 58.8
Wallace, Natalie Canandaigua 57.3
Malone, Carolyn East Irondequoit 55.7
Congdon, Marissa Canandaigua 54.4
Bradstreet, Amanda East Rochester 53.7
Gardner, Lauren Canandaigua 53.6
Jensen, Kennedy Canandaigua 53.6
Shumway, Linnea Canandaigua 52.6
Naioti, Maura Canandaigua 50.6
Marulli, Megan East Irondequoit 50.3
Smith, Kasey Canandaigua 50.2
Toot, Shannon Arcadia 50.0
Miller, Crystal Arcadia 49.4
Trudeau, Shannon Arcadia 49.2
Eagle, Carlie Canandaigua 48.8
Naioti, Claire Canandaigua 48.6
Carlson, Kaylee Canandaigua 47.7
Morabito, Suzette East Rochester 47.3
Marafioti, Kelsey Canandaigua 46.6
Palmer, Lindsey East Irondequoit 46.3
Rice, Abby Canandaigua 46.0
Reidman, Becky Canandaigua 45.6
Boy, Virginia East Rochester 45.4
D'Angelo, Natalie East Rochester 44.5
Shaw, Kaitlin East Rochester 43.5
Roesch, Emily East Rochester 43.2
Wollschleger, Shannon East Irondequoit 40.7
Visconte, Alaina East Irondequoit 39.7

Scouting Report - Boys

Here are our opponents for tomorrow's meet, ranked by their best performances so far this year, followed by their overall rating for the last 12 months:

Lipani, Lou Arcadia 97.3
Knapp, JonMichael Arcadia 90.9
Demay, Tyler East Rochester 84.5
Vollenweider, Joel Canandaigua 85.3
Ward, Eric Canandaigua 84.2
Trombley, Nick Canandaigua 82.6
Greene, Nick Arcadia 81.5
McManus, Jacob Arcadia 82.2
Rider, Nic East Rochester 78.4
Pawlicki, Peter Arcadia 79.8
Beaujon, Allen Canandaigua 80.3
McCormick, Matt Canandaigua 79.8
Chavez, Jorge Canandaigua 81.2
Hamilton, Danny East Irondequoit 75.2
Mazer, Matt East Irondequoit 78.6
Valenti, Peter Canandaigua 78.3
Graham, George East Irondequoit 78.1
Freudenvoll, Dominic Arcadia 76.2
Knopp, Kyle East Rochester 74.6
McRae , Tristan Arcadia 74.5
Ritter, Aaron Arcadia 77.6
Densmore, Mike Canandaigua 79.8
O'Shea, Ryan Canandaigua 76.4
Carlisle, Craig East Rochester 80.9
Boot, Andrew Canandaigua 77.0
Hauser, Sam East Rochester 75.7
Ostrander, Mike Arcadia 74.5
McCormick, Pat Canandaigua 75.1
Finn, Zach East Rochester 74.6
Harding, Sam Canandaigua 74.9
Gerstner, John East Rochester 73.1
Namestnik, Erik Canandaigua 74.4
Uttaro, Andrew Canandaigua 70.9
Murch, Mike Canandaigua 71.7
Palmissano, James Canandaigua 70.4
Halldow, Dustin East Irondequoit 68.0
Wandersee, Nick East Rochester 69.0
Lombardo, Mike Arcadia 71.3
Leppert, Dan Canandaigua 67.2
Barnhard, Justin Canandaigua 66.1
McCall, Mike East Irondequoit 63.9
McCall, Robbie East Irondequoit 57.7

Section V Map is Weak

A bonus posting for today!

The course for tomorrow's race (and the Section V championship meet) has finally been posted, but the quality is very poor. So, I've reproduced the map on gmap-pedometer. I did not get it exact, but it gives a generally good idea of the course. I've saved it in "topo" mode, but you can switch to satellite to get a feel for the lay of the land. While in topo mode, do note the steep downhill (I think, Nate can read the map better, but he is asleep) just after 1.5 miles, followed by a climb back to start the final loop.

Here is the map.

Sectional Preview Meet

Tomorrow we have the opportunity to race on the course that will be used for Sectionals. We'll be at Genesee Community College for the "GCC Cougar Invitational". The course is described as follows:

A challenging 5000 meter 2 loop course designed entirely on grass. Great for spectator viewing, start and finish are in the same area. Wooded trails and rolling hedgerows should provide variety for the runners. Spikes are recommended.

A map is supposed to be posted here after 3pm today.

The schedule is as follows:
10:30AM - Bus departs
1:30PM - Girls JV
2:00PM - Boys JV
2:30PM - Girls Varsity (7 only)
3:00PM - Boys Varsity (7 only)

Since there has not been a meet here before, they are allowing only 30 minutes between starts, and the start and finish are in the same area, I would not be surprised if they run behind schedule. Be prepared to start on time, but be ready to adjust as the races unfold. We should also be able to view the following races:
12:00 - Modified Girls
12:15 - Modified Boys
12:30 - Girls Varsity (Class B/C)
1:00 - Boys Varsity (Class B/C)

Bring adequate food/water/clothing to get you through the day.

What Happened To The Girls?

The girls team certainly showed a competitive side in yesterday's meet. With Hilton and Penfield safely out of reach (for now), the girls could limit their focus to Churchville-Chili. Despite a relatively quick first mile, when our pack found themselves amidst the CC pack of runners 3 thru 6, they decided to take the race into their own hands and run away from CC, never looking back. Although the scouting report from week 1, when CC also ran Parma, indicated a 26-33 loss was likely, the girls more than reversed that outcome and came away with a 22-35 victory. Props to Karen for leading the initial charge, and to Sarah for carrying on. But it was a real team effort, with Janelle, Katie and Ann all playing key roles in the outcome, and Alaina B showing that she is about ready to join the pack.

The boys got the job done is business-like fashion. The pedestrian first mile was just enough to entice Hilton's entire top 7 to come thru together, as Nico, AJ and Nate were content to tag along behind Tyler Eustance. By the midway point, Hilton's pack had started to break up, and Steve and Adrian were there to pick up the pieces.

Parma, Not Seneca

I hope no one tries to find us at Seneca Park today, like the D&C said! I guess as long as the bus driver knows about the change, we are in good shape.

Here are the predictions for our opponents' top 7 boys, based strictly on week 1 performances:
Eustance, Tyler Hilton 17:36
Hospers, Jamie Penfield 17:44
Gumina, Tyler Penfield 17:51
Cuddeback, Brad Hilton 17:52
DiMartino, Nate Hilton 18:09
Pirnie, Andrew Hilton 18:14
Campbell, Paul Hilton 18:39
Plucknette, TJ Churchville Chili 18:40
Roth, Tyler Hilton 18:45
Sprague, Brady Penfield 18:49
Roth, Corey Hilton 18:51
Howe, Jackson Penfield 18:55
Harney, Bryan Penfield 18:57
Grip, Evan Penfield 19:06
Twombly, Kyle Penfield 19:10
Mikols, Eric Churchville Chili 19:34
Viggiani, Dan Churchville Chili 19:37
Flynn, Patrick Churchville Chili 19:49
Fox, Bryan Churchville Chili 19:54
Coloney, Jake Churchville Chili 19:56
Creighton, Joseph Churchville Chili 20:15

And here is the same for the girls:
Cocchiara, Amanda Hilton 20:20
List, Rebecca Hilton 20:24
Holt, Sally Hilton 21:32
Lembo, Katie Penfield 21:43
Bourcy, Alex Penfield 21:46
Engle, Kara Hilton 22:08
Griffiths, Monica Hilton 22:18
Redfield, Melanie Penfield 22:27
Holleran, Claire Penfield 22:30
Kimble, Briana Hilton 22:30
Wilkins, Laura Penfield 22:52
Ratcliffe, Kaycee Penfield 22:59
Burchill, Victoria Churchville Chili 23:03
Keene, Haley Hilton 23:05
Makovsky, Maggie Penfield 23:19
Bentley, Rebecca Churchville Chili 23:29
Charnley, Kathleen Churchville Chili 24:04
Flynn, Mary Churchville Chili 24:27
Pasley, Heather Churchville Chili 24:42
Braun, Amanda Churchville Chili 24:45
Schuman, Chelsea Churchville Chili 24:48

Warriors Win!

I've been a slacker, in terms of the blog, this week, but I have a good excuse. This weekend, the Rochester Orienteering Club is hosting the US Sprint and Ultra Long Championships. As the current club president and registrar for the event, my time has been very tight this week. We have almost 300 participants coming in, from 23 different states (plus Ontario), and 4 countries. Back to this in a moment, but first:

Our first league meet of the year was a huge success! The girls got things done against Odyssey, and despite the lopsided losses to Rush-Henrietta and Irondequoit, 7 and 10 girls earned scalps against those teams, respectively.

The boys had a very nice night, picking up three wins. Since the Monroe Country web site only goes back to 2003, we are not yet able to determine the last time we beat Irondequoit, but beat them we did, thanks to Adrian's huge kick! And our win against Thomas was the first since Thomas became a complete high school again, in 2003.

I do need to point out that there are six other teams that we "have not beaten in recorded history". How many can we get this year? The other six are: Athena, Brighton, Fairport, Penfield, Sutherland, and Victor.

Back to Orienteering. Tomorrow's Sprint Championship will be held at Mendon Ponds Park, just across the street and north of the XC course we ran on Tuesday. Most of the top competitors in the country will be in attendance. Unfortunately, Nate has been ruled ineligible to compete for the championship, due to his familiarity with the terrain; however, he will be competing unofficially, going out shortly after the last official starter.

Sunday's competition at Rattlesnake Hill, outside of Dansville, is at the opposite end of the orienteering spectrum. While Saturday's Sprint will be won in under 15 minutes and require great speed, Sunday's Ultra Long will require great endurance, as the winner will take over two hours to complete the course. Nate is eligible to compete on Sunday, since it is a new map, and he's entered in the 18 & under age group (allowing him to run a shorter course prior to our next meet on Tuesday). Zach is also competing both days and is a favorite in the 14 & under age group.

League Opener

Tomorrow we open our league schedule, so I'll provide a bit of a scouting report. First, we look back to the rankings after last season, and we see the top returning boys, in ranked order, along with their times at the County Meet last year:

1 Rousell, Jared Thomas 17:07
2 Looby, Ricky Irondequoit 17:31
3 Hotchkiss, Brian Rush Henrietta 17:25
4 DeClerck, Cole Thomas 17:40
5 Burke, Colby Rush Henrietta 17:53
6 Newton, Trevor Rush Henrietta 18:11
7 Sauln, Brad Rush Henrietta 17:56
8 Lyons, Nate Schroeder 18:29
9 Piacentini, Anthony Schroeder 18:21
10 Kozyra, Nate Rush Henrietta 18:02
11 Zimmerman, Tyler Odyssey 18:27
12 Heckman, Aaron Odyssey 18:22
13 Lumb, Ryan Rush Henrietta 19:03
14 Mclaughlin, Ian Irondequoit 18:16
15 Mateer, Tim Thomas 18:07
16 Jones, Jared Rush Henrietta 18:13
17 Haynes, Mitchell Rush Henrietta
18 Duguay, Ben Irondequoit 18:35
19 GONE
20 Sweeney, Andrew Rush Henrietta 18:58
21 Carroll, Frank Odyssey 19:19
22 Hair, Josh Rush Henrietta 20:12
23 Bigenwald, Eric Irondequoit 18:49
24 Brady, Sam Rush Henrietta 18:48
25 Nasello, AJ Schroeder
26 Koss, Nick Irondequoit 18:49
27 Rizzo, Rick Odyssey 19:59
28 Wilcox, Adam Rush Henrietta 19:17
29 Bubie, Adrian Odyssey 20:04
30 GONE
31 Whittemore, Steve Schroeder 20:35
32 Pellittieri, Joe Thomas 20:15
33 Densieski, Ben Irondequoit 20:25
34 Schum, Peter Irondequoit 19:42
35 Krawiec, Eric Schroeder 20:26
36 Bilsback, Evan Thomas 20:15

As you can see, we face a very large task the first week, against quality opponents. Based on the returning individuals, above, we obtain the following predicted scores:
R-H 17, Schroeder 44
Irondequoit 24, Schroeder 33
Thomas 26, Schroeder 29
Odyssey 27, Schroeder 28

The girls also face quality opposition. Here are the top ranked returning runners:

1 Deming, Brianna Thomas 19.93
2 Robinson, Jodi Rush Henrietta 20.12
3 Greiner, Lizzie Rush Henrietta 20.30
4 Colon, Christina Thomas 21.15
5 Cronmiller, Kristen Rush Henrietta 22.10
6 Putnam, Jessi Thomas
7 Farris, Jamie Thomas
8 Westrich, Taylor Odyssey 23.07
9 Nadeau, Sarah Irondequoit 23.33
10 Hinton, Shavonna Thomas
11 O'Hara, Shannon Thomas 22.82
12 Mazzo, Melissa Thomas 23.08
13 Halpin, Molly Thomas 23.87
14 Doherty, Alaina Schroeder 23.07
15 Milici, Stephanie Odyssey 24.52
16 Wegman, Emily Rush Henrietta 23.72
17 Muzdakis, Madeleine Irondequoit 24.02
18 Tomkinson, Lauren Rush Henrietta 23.87
19 Crocetti, Noelle Thomas 24.38
20 Rocco, Sarah Irondequoit 24.92
21 Rogers, Rebecca Rush Henrietta
22 Wheeler, Bridget Thomas 23.87
23 DeFranco, Carley Rush Henrietta 26.73
24 Bay, Anneliese Schroeder 23.80
25 Bubie, Nicole Odyssey 25.22
26 Dilai, Khristyna Schroeder 24.78
27 Buttram, Emily Rush Henrietta
28 Sagcan, Seyhan Rush Henrietta 25.05
29 Mills, Sarah Schroeder 25.28
30 Pruitt, Tess Rush Henrietta 24.63
31 Sammler, Aleni Irondequoit 25.53
32 Kuitems, Karen Schroeder
33 Paris, Marisa Rush Henrietta 25.32
34 Maldonado, Abby Thomas 25.90
35 Recchia, Alexandra Thomas 26.33
36 Valente, Liz Irondequoit 26.33
37 Ritter, Angelica Thomas 27.87
38 Sicker, Lauren Thomas 27.27
39 Jewell, Janelle Schroeder 27.37

Thomas 15, Schroeder 50
R-H 17, Schroeder 46
Irondequoit 26, Schroeder 29
Schroeder 27, Odyssey 29

Finally, Rush-Henrietta competed downstate at the Suffern invitational at Bear Mountain State Park. Results from that meet area available here. This is complete with Tully Runners' "Speed Ratings". The R-H Boys that ran were:
6 Brian Hotchkiss 12 Rush-Henrietta 16:42.02 164.0 164
12 Mitchell Haynes 12 Rush-Henrietta 17:08.26 155.2 155
17 Trevor Newton 12 Rush-Henrietta 17:22.20 150.6 151
25 Sam Brady 11 Rush-Henrietta 17:43.44 143.5 144
26 Ryan Lumb 12 Rush-Henrietta 17:45.37 142.9 143

And in the Sophomore race:
1 Colby Burke 10 Rush-Henrietta 16:53.96 160.0 160
2 Alex Raymond 10 Rush-Henrietta 16:59.01 158.3 158
3 Nate Kozyra 10 Rush-Henrietta 16:59.96 158.0 158
4 Andrew Sweeney 10 Rush-Henrietta 17:02.25 157.3 157

So, they could easily put their top 5 runners within 20 seconds of Hotchkiss, making them a tough team. For comparison to Mendon East, two years ago (when the course was not in awful shape), those speed ratings translated to:
164 = 17:18
155 = 17:44
151 = 17:58

Their top 4 girls are tough, here are the Suffern results for the girls:
6 Lizzie Greiner 10 Rush-Henrietta 19:42.37 105.9 106
8 Jodi Robinson 12 Rush-Henrietta 19:56.89 101.0 101
12 Kristen Cronmiller 12 Rush-Henrietta 20:24.73 91.8 92
13 Becky Greiner 10 Rush-Henrietta 20:35.83 88.1 88
33 Alana MacDonald 9 Rush-Henrietta 22:16.03 54.7 55
37 Becca Rogers 10 Rush-Henrietta 22:34.24 48.6 49

Those Speed Rating line up with the following at Mendon East:
106 = 20:27
100 = 20:42
92 = 21:10
88 = 21:21

Early Season Scramble

The Early Season Scramble was a very nice, low-key meet to kick off the season. Congratulations to our three T-Shirt winners!

The results are online now. The link for the Girls results should be here and Boys results should be here.

We do need some work on our pre-race and (especially) post-race routines, but we got the "race" part mostly right. The highlights were many, and we'll cover several of them at today's practice.

First Meet Tomorrow!

So, tomorrow we are off to the "Early Season Scramble", which is being held at Marion HS. Two years ago, we ran at Clyde-Savannah on a VERY hot day. I'll have a listing of our times from that day available on the bus tomorrow. BTW, the bus leaves at 3pm - don't miss it!

I've rounded up some information about this meet. First, here is the link to the entry form, which lists race times and available awards. The race order is:
4:50 girls frosh/soph race (both divisions, 5k)
5:20 boys frosh/soph race (both divisions, 5k)
5:50 girls junior/senior race (both divisions, 5k)
6:20 boys junior/senior race (both divisions, 5k)

Next, here are the links to the results from last year, for the Girls and the Boys.

Have fun tomorrow!

Gold Wins!

Today's tie-breaker went to Gold, with the Capture the Flag victory. Gold took advantage of no rules regarding flag placement, to come up with the creative under-the-bridge hiding spot.

I've started to compile the Top 25 times for Webster Schroeder runners at each course. After yesterday's Blue & Gold, here is the Top 25 at Webster Park:

Girls

Cocuzzi, Ashley	20:31	9/26/2006
Reiger, Megan	21:10	9/18/2007
Sherelis, Brianna	21:23	9/26/2006
Lyons, Chelsea	21:57	9/18/2007
Cocuzzi, Ashley	22:01	9/18/2007
Paffendorf, Lauren	22:04	9/28/2004
Reiger, Megan	22:10	8/31/2007
Sherelis, Brianna	22:23	9/18/2007
Cocuzzi, Ashley	22:29	9/28/2004
Duke, Emily	22:40	9/26/2006
McMahon, Clare	22:43	9/26/2006
Albert, Erin	22:44	9/26/2006
Lyons, Chelsea	22:48	8/31/2007
Doherty, Alaina	22:58	9/18/2007
Sherelis, Brianna	23:03	8/31/2007
Lyons, Chelsea	23:18	9/26/2006
McMahon, Clare	23:33	8/31/2007
Miller, Sarah	23:43	9/26/2006
McMahon, Paige	23:45	9/26/2006
Jewell, Janelle	23:56	9/18/2007
McMahon, Paige	24:05	9/18/2007
Cheung, May Gin	24:15	9/26/2006
Duke, Emily	24:25	9/28/2004
Miller, Sarah	24:31	9/28/2004
Jewell, Janelle	24:35	9/5/2009

Boys

Hohl, John	16:56	9/26/2006
Piacentini, Anthony	17:11	9/5/2009
Lyons, Nate	17:19	9/5/2009
Lyons, Nate	17:47	9/18/2007
Priddy, Marc	18:01	9/26/2006
Mauro, Chris	18:13	9/18/2007
Miller, Kenny	18:14	9/18/2007
Hohl, John	18:15	9/28/2004
Brett, Alex	18:15	9/18/2007
Miller, Kenny	18:18	8/29/2008
Saunders, Tyler	18:23	9/26/2006
Ciaccio, Dan	18:24	9/28/2004
Milton, Nick	18:24	9/26/2006
Piacentini, Anthony	18:24	9/18/2007
Mauro, Chris	18:30	9/26/2006
Brett, Alex	18:31	9/26/2006
Lyons, Nate	18:31	8/31/2007
Hamouda, Adrian	18:34	9/5/2009
Lyons, Nate	18:37	9/26/2006
Grzebien, Patryk	18:50	9/26/2006
Lyons, Nate	18:51	8/29/2008
Burke, Ryan	18:55	9/28/2004
Owczarczyk, Marcin	18:57	9/18/2007
Brett, Alex	18:58	8/31/2007
Owczarczyk, Marcin	18:58	9/26/2006

Blue & Gold Results

REMINDER: Monday's practice is at 8am (until 10) at Webster Park!

The Blue team dominated the Varsity Boys race, winning 23-34, behind the 2-3-4 finish of Nate, Adrian and Geoff. The highlight of the race was 11 runners under 20 minutes - the Blue & Gold record had been 4!

Piacentini, Anthony (G) 17:11 (meet record, was John Hohl 17:44, 2006)
Lyons, Nate (B) 17:19
Hamouda, Adrian (B) 18:34
Kelly, Geoffrey (B) 19:10
Alexander, Elliot (G) 19:25
Wehrle, Joe (B) 19:31
Krawiec, Eric (G) 19:43
McKeown, Trevor (B) 19:44
Matthew, Justin (B) 19:46
Wiseman, John (G) 19:55
Meritt, Alex (G) 20:24
Whittemore, Steve (G) 20:40
Farrell, Tom (B) 20:57

Blue also won the Varsity Girls race, but in a much closer battle, 26-30. The highlight of the race was the participation - 15 runners, the previous Blue & Gold record was 14 in 2006 (there were only 2 in 2008).

Jewell, Janelle (B) 24:35
Bay, Anneleise (G) 25:02
Kuitems, Karen (B) 25:21
Hight, Ann (G) 25:43
Dilai, Khristyna (B) 26:25
Bailey, Alaina (B) 28:12
Blaakman, Kelly (G) 28:12
Barry, Rachel (G) 28:26
Doherty, Alaina (G) 29:39
Conrow, Megan (G) 29:47
Reynolds, Emilie (B) 30:01
Bui, Sophia (G) 31:21
Forward, Erin (G) 31:39
Wehrle, Jenn (B) 47:07
Sharrow, Lindsay (B) (wrong turn)

Blue couldn't quite pull off the sweep, though, as Gold pulled out a 26-30 victory in the JV Boys race.

Cannan, Tristan (B) 19:39
Piacentini, Victor (G) 20:18
Burgin, Will (G) 20:21
Lyons, Zach (B) 21:11
Rekers, Arik (B) 23:30
Reed, Justin (G) 23:35
Devries, Jacob (G) 24:18
Killigrew, John (G) 24:53
Dana, Steven (B) 24:57
Patel, Arjun (G) 25:27
Eberth, Jake (B) 25:39
Prahler, Cody (G) 26:00
Dietl, Noah (G) 29:14
Semmler, Robert (B) 31:21
Snover, James (B) 33:13
Benson, Tony (B) 44:24
Grove, Brandon (B) (wrong turn)

This leaves the series tied, 2-2 and the tiebreaker will be a Capture the Flag competition at Webster Park, most likely on Monday.

Blue vs. Gold

The teams have been created, and will be announced at practice tonight. We will have the opening competition tonight. Tomorrow will include one race, but three separate competitions: Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls and JV Boys. If a tiebreaker is required, it will be held on Monday.

Don't forget, tomorrow's practice time is 9am, with a 10am race start. See you at the park!

Nice Workout Tonight

Climbing the steep part of the hill for the 3rd (or 4th or 5th) time must have felt painful, but I hope everyone took great pride in their accomplishment, once the workout was over.

I'm not immune to negative thoughts. I was saying to myself, "perhaps I should just time, since so many people forgot to bring watches, AGAIN!". It would have been a convenient excuse. But I knew that I would feel better after the workout, and, more importantly, I realized that this session is another key step in my training. Now, I can look back and feel good about knocking off another workout.

We don't have too many truly tough workouts left. Soon we will be starting the season, and be racing every Tuesday and most Saturdays, leaving just Thursdays to do real workouts. Next Thursday is actually our first meet, then there are only 6 workout Thursdays before Counties. Check those workouts off, one at a time, and see how much better you feel (and faster you run) at the end of the year!

2009 Monroe County Boys Individual Preview

Based on last year, plus what I saw during track season, expect a big gap between the Top 3 and The Best of the Rest this fall.

Seeing Alex Deir knock off Alex Brimstein in the Steeplechase at State Qualifiers last spring, left me with no doubt that he is the man to beat this fall. His HF-L teammate, Steve Mangan, and Adam VanVleck of Mendon appear to be the only runners in Monroe County capable of coming close to Deir.

Things are wide open after those 3. The following runners are listed in order of their 2008 XC rating. Some notes have been added next to those whose track performances (or lack thereof) may indicate a change in rating could be deserved.

1	Deir, Alex	Honeoye Falls-Lima	9:24 Steeple
2	Mangan, Steve	Honeoye Falls-Lima	4:15 1600m
3	Vanvleck, Adam	Mendon	9:30 3200m
4	Lipani, Lou	Arcadia	4:27 / 10:09
5	Rousell, Jared	Thomas	9:48 3200 and 9:59 Steeple
6	Looby, Ricky	Irondequoit	No track? Sub-par Sectional run
7	Hotchkiss, Brian	Rush Henrietta	9:54 3200
8	Smolensky, Scotty	Brighton	4:35, but only 10:13
9	Gumina, Tyler	Penfield	4:44/10:12
10	Hoose, Kevin	Honeoye Falls-Lima	Big improvement 9:46 3200
11	Eustance, Tyler	Hilton	10:04 3200
12	DeClerck, Cole	Thomas	Nice improvement 9:56
13	Burke, Colby	Rush Henrietta
14	Talpey, Greg	Brighton	Biggest improvement of top 25: 9:44 (and 4:31)
15	Coons, Joe	Brighton
16	Newton, Trevor	Rush Henrietta	Nice improvement 10:01 (3200) and 10:04
17	Sauln, Brad	Rush Henrietta	No track?
18	Wendel, Daniel	Mendon	No track?
19	Jones, Jesse	Brockport	Only 10:28
20	McCullough, Ryan	Brighton	4:37
21	Zeccola, Andrew	Mendon	10:26 3200
22	Lyons, Nate	Schroeder	10:07 3200
23	Piacentini, Anthony	Schroeder	10:10 Steeple
24	Kozyra, Nate	Rush Henrietta	10:18 3200 and 10:16 Steeple
25	Reid, Kyle	Victor	10:24 3200
26	Mullen, Jake	Brighton	10:04 3200

Nick Watson of R-H ran a 4:28 mile, in addition to his 1:59 800m, but did not appear in any XC results last season, so he could add to the team's already impressive depth. Andrew Pirnie of Hilton was also a non-XCer who ran 4:31.

Odyssey may be better than expected, as they had a couple of runners just outside the top 25, including Aaron Heckman, who ran 4:29.

2009 Monroe County Boys Team Preview

As with the girls a few days ago, I have taken last year's XC data, eliminated the seniors and regenerated the ratings for all Monroe County runners. Note that this also includes Canandaigua and HF-L. Since they did not compete in the league last year, the sample of their results is significantly smaller than for the other teams; however, it does include McQuaid and Sectionals which can give a decent indicator of where they stood last year.

1	Rush Henrietta	77
2	Brighton	83
3	Mendon	107
4	Honeoye Falls-Lima	118
5	Hilton	240
6	Sutherland	244
7	Penfield	251
8	Irondequoit	257
9	Arcadia	263
10	Thomas	264
11	Fairport	266
12	Schroeder	281
13	Victor	296
14	Odyssey	308
15	Brockport	327
16	Spencerport	337
17	Gates Chili	397
18	Athena	574
19	Churchville Chili	600
20	Olympia	607
21	Canandaigua	628
22	East Rochester	702
23	Batavia	inc
24	East Irondequoit	inc

Rush-Henrietta is certainly the early favorite, with Brighton, whose top 5 should run just as tight as R-H's, a very close challenger. Mendon faced some losses to graduation, but a runner like VanVleck can bring others around. The same situation exists in HF-L; they drop off substantially after the big two (Deir and Mangan), but when you chase guys like that in practice every day, you tend to improve rapidly. Those are clearly the top 4 teams in the County, so only the A race at Sectionals appears up for grabs (unless Wayne can improve enough to give HF-L a race).

After the top 4 teams, there is a big gap, then everything is up for grabs. Places 5 thru perhaps as high as 16 may not be clear until the County race is over. It should be an exciting year for all of those teams, Schroeder included, as most dual meets will involve at least two teams from that group.

2009 Monroe County Girls Individual Preview

As with the team preview, we definitely see the impact of the two new teams in the Monroe County league this season. Six of the top 15 girls in my preseason ratings (based solely on the 2008 XC season) are from those two teams. Here are the top individuals, along with some comments based on track season.

Moreland, Amanda Honeoye Falls-Lima - Fastest returner at Sectionals by over a minute
Deming, Brianna Thomas - Defending AA Champ only ran 10:33 during track
McCormick, Meghan Canandaigua - 10:17 in the 3000
Tuite, Shaylyn Mendon - Should be tough; 4:41 and 10:13
Jarvela, Angela Batavia - 7:06 Steeple
Hallock, Allison Mendon - Only 10:57
Mack, Kellie Canandaigua - No track results?
Atkins, Morgan Mendon
Robinson, Jodi Rush Henrietta
Brunett, Jessica Honeoye Falls-Lima
Cymerman, Amy Sutherland - Almost 22 minutes at Sectionals last year; only 11:31 in track
Cocchiara, Amanda Hilton
Greiner, Lizzie Rush Henrietta
Kahen, Rachel Athena
Hoh, Allison Honeoye Falls-Lima
McCormick, Kate Canandaigua
Colon, Christina Thomas
List, Rebecca Hilton
Swertfeger, Sarah Olympia
Aldridge, Mary Brighton - 4:54 in the 1500
Farmer, Katy Gates Chili - Expect a big jump here; 7:07 Steeple
Hughes, Ashton Fairport
Saxton, Katie Spencerport
Hawes, Katherine Mendon
D'Amore, Lauren Canandaigua

Also, be on the lookout for Penfield's Leila Mantilla. Unranked in XC last year, she ran 10:15 as a freshman this past spring.

2009 Monroe County Girls Team Preview

OK, I took my year-end individual ratings from last year, pulled out all of the seniors, added league newcomers, Canandaigua and HF-L and generated ratings for the new set of girls. The teams now stack up like this:

1	Mendon	71
2	Canandaigua	72
3	Honeoye Falls-Lima	140
4	Brighton	167
5	Thomas	167
6	Hilton	188
7	Rush Henrietta	245
8	Spencerport	247
9	Sutherland	273
10	Penfield	279
11	Victor	318
12	Fairport	335
13	Athena	354
14	Gates Chili	377
15	Olympia	405
16	Brockport	458
17	Churchville Chili	496
18	Irondequoit	505
19	East Irondequoit	517
20	Odyssey	546
21	Schroeder	552
22	Batavia	598
23	Arcadia	711
24	East Rochester	718

This methodology misses some of the information we learned during track. For example, HF-L added Amanda Moreland beginning with last year's Nordic Ski season. She should drop almost 50 points off HF-L's score, which still wouldn't be enough to get into the Mendon - Canandaigua battle, which should lead to an exciting Sectional race, similar to Mendon's 36-37 win last year (not final until Mendon's 6th girl crossed the line ahead of Canandaigua's 5th). But it will be plenty to ensure HF-L returns to the State Meet once again.

The Class AA Sectional race is currently looking wide open. Thomas has the early edge, but not by much over Hilton. And Rush-Henrietta just needs to find one younger girl to replace their two seniors and be formidable once again.

Other track results that may affect the standings include Sutherland's relatively weak performances, and three teams with several notables missing from the outdoor track leaderboards: Canandaigua, Brighton and Penfield. This could be due to other sports, injuries, or just times not being posted, so we'll have to see what happens starting on September 15th.

Practice Schedule

It's probably a good time to review our upcoming practice schedule. Note that this is subject to change, but we'll let you know here and at practice.

Thu 8/27 - 5:30-7:30 Schroeder
Fri 8/28 - 5:30-7:30 Webster Park
Sat 8/29 - 8:00-10:00 Webster Park

Mon 8/31 - 3:45-5:45 Schroeder; WABO at 6pm
Tue 9/1 - 5:30-7:30 Webster Park
Wed 9/2 - 5:30-7:30 Ellison Park
Thu 9/3 - 5:30-7:30 Schroeder
Fri 9/4 - 5:30-7:30 Webster Park
Sat 9/5 - 9:00-11:15 Webster Park (Blue / Gold at 10:00)

Mon 9/7 - TBD Webster Park
Tue 9/8 - 5:30-7:30 Schroeder
Wed 9/9 - SCHOOL STARTS - usual practice (3:45-6, most days) via shuttle to Webster Park
Thu 9/10 - First Meet (at Marion), bus at 3pm

Stay tuned for any updates.

Could Be Wet

Since the weather forecast looks a bit iffy for this afternoon, it's probably a good time to talk about being prepared for practice. Here are a few things to bring, to be ready for practice:

1) Water! We have repeatedly pointed out that everyone should have a water bottle at practice. We have found that we can't count on water supplies being available at Webster Park, or even at the high school!

2) Watch! I still don't know how some of you know how to do a 10-minute warm-up without a watch. Based on the +/-50% arrival times after a warm-up, it could be that people run around counting 1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi or something. Many of our runs could be done free of a watch. For example, yesterday's workout involved a fixed route, and there was a great deal of leeway regarding pace, so no watch could work (although, personally, I like to know my pace, since, coupled with how I feel, I can learn a lot about how my body is recovering from workouts).

3) Wearables! Extra stuff is often needed. Today, that could mean something dry to wear after getting rained upon (perhaps the storm will miss us). In the not-too-distant future, we will have our first chilly day and several runners will be unprepared and freeze during stretching. So, extra stuff should soon include sweats, perhaps including a wind/rain-resistant top.

4) Willingness! Make sure your mind is ready for the workout each day. A positive attitude can make the workout go much easier. We are off to an excellent start, so even the newcomers should find things much easier over the next couple of weeks, as we continue our build-up to racing season efforts.

5) Wit! Have fun out there. OK, perhaps the coaches occasionally scold disruptive behavior at inappropriate times, but Cross Country should be fun. Most of our running is of a social nature - in groups, at a comfortable enough pace that you can chat. Sure, we do toss in some work that makes it difficult to breathe, let alone talk, but most of the miles are much easier than that.

One Week Down

So, we've completed one week of practice. For most of the team, there are only 11 weeks in the whole season. Yes, that's right, there are less than 10 weeks left until the County Meet on October 31st. Hard to believe, isn't it?

While the first dual meet still seems a ways off, we need to be completely ready for it. So, we'll get in another solid week this week, and end another good week with our Blue and Gold competition next week, then start thinking about our first invitational and first dual meet.

Easy / Long Pace

Another training pace we will use, based on our VDOT reading, is the Easy / Long pace. This is the recommended pace to use when doing a long run, or an easy run. It varies much more widely than the other paces. Our faster runners may only be a little more than a minute and a half slower than 5K race pace, while some should be over 2 minutes per mile slower than 5K pace.

Remember, this is not walking pace. We do not want to do the easy days too slow, or we would be better off taking the day off, or cross-training. We also want to be careful of running too fast on the easy days. It can prevent our bodies from adequately recovering from one quality session and being prepared for the next quality session.

Speaking of long runs, we should have been building up our long runs over the summer, and we should have probably gone as far as we need to by now. For those that have done that, the long runs will not get any longer, and will become just a bit faster as our fitness improves. For those that have not reached their ideal long run distance yet, we will still increase the length of the run, but by no more than a mile per week, and never for three weeks in a row.

Tempo Runs

Yesterday, I introduced the concept of VDOT and how we can use tables to determine our optimal training paces. One of those training paces is Tempo pace. Tempo runs are also called Threshold runs, because the ideal pace is that pace that puts your body at its lactate threshold, which is the point at which you start to get beyond your body's ability to continue aerobically (literally, "with oxygen"), and must function anaerobically ("without oxygen"). Once you start exercising anaerobically, your muscles undergo a different chemical reaction in order to operate, and acidic byproducts are released into your system.

Research is mixed on whether there is cause and effect relationship between lactic acid formation and the specific response of the muscles, but it is clear that where there is lactic acid, there is more difficulty in running. If your body can get better at performing at a certain level, your threshold level will improve. If your threshold level improves, your race performance will also improve, since everyone is capable of racing 5K at 20-30 seconds or more per mile faster than threshold pace.

So, it is very important to run the right pace for tempo runs. Ideally, these would be steady runs of about 20 minutes. It is very difficult to maintain the proper concentration to keep that pace for that long, so early on, some of our tempo runs will be in the form of "Cruise Intervals". These are run by breaking the tempo run into shorter segments, but taking very short breaks in between each segment. If the break is too long, the body will have too much of a chance to recover and the lactate threshold will not be reached for a significant period of time.

We will be doing tempo workouts early in the year, as many experts believe that it is the most effective way to improve conditioning. We will also use tempo workouts near the end of the season. They are a great tool for maintaining fitness without overdoing the training during a taper period.

VDOT

We spoke briefly about VDOT at practice yesterday, and covered some of the types of training we will do at different paces, as determined by your current VDOT.

VDOT is a value that Jack Daniels utilizes, which is similar to VO₂ max, which is the measure of the maximum amount of oxygen that your body can transport and use. These values are best determined in a laboratory environment, but Jack Daniels has done research that correlates VDOT to particular performances over a wide range of racing distances. We can take advantage of that fact to take a recent race performance, or a estimated current racing capability, to generate our VDOT.

Attackpoint has a VDOT calculator here.

Once you have your VDOT in hand, you can use it to determine the proper pace for most of your training. I'll cover the different training paces over the next several days.

Opening Day!

Today is the first day of our 2009 Cross Country season. I hope you are all looking forward to it as much as I am. We can make a nice improvement over last year, especially on the girls side.

It is going to be a hot one. You should have already started hydrating - in fact, go get a drink now and I'll see you at Webster Park at 5:25pm. Bring a water bottle and a watch!

Last Day of Camp

Although the weather is finally going to heat up around here over the next few days, a sign that summer is winding down is that today marks the last day of our XC camp. I've been impressed with the work ethic of our camp participants this year. It is a clear sign that our team continues to improve, and should be cause for excitement about the upcoming season.

While the end of summer is a little sad (and I don't even have to go back to school), especially when the summer has been so cool and wet, XC season gives a reason to look forward with joy. I hope you are all looking forward to a longer(?) and more fun and successful season!

See you on Monday, for the first day of practice!

Get Those Forms In!

Don't miss any practice because of late paperwork. You can turn in your "Sports Sign-up form" at Willink from 6-8:45pm tonight (August 12th) or tomorrow night (August 13th). No form, no practice (and of course, no current physical, no nurse's signature, no practice).

Here are the practice times / locations for next week (note that Friday's location is different from Coach Klehr's original note):
Monday, 8/17: 5:30-7:30pm @ Webster Park
Tuesday, 8/18: 5:30-7:30pm @ Webster Park
Wednesday, 8/19: 5:30-7:30pm @ Webster Park
Thursday, 8/20: 5:30-7:30pm @ Webster Park
Friday, 8/21: 5:30-7:30pm @ Ellison Park (Landing Rd parking area)
Saturday, 8/22: 8-10am @ North Ponds Park (Main Parking Lot by 104)

This Week's Training

OK, this week is the last chance to get ready for the start of the season next week, so make sure you get out and run!

Rookie
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 long run (6 miles)
2 easy days of running (25-40 minutes).

Beginner
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (6-9 miles)
2 easy days of running (4-6 miles) plus strides
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

Intermediate
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (8-11 miles)
2 easy days of running (5-7 miles)
1 easy days of running (3-5 miles)
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

Advanced
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (10-13 miles)
2 easy days of running (6-8 miles)
1 easy day of running (3-6 miles)
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

Recertification

Get those Recertification forms (or whatever they call them now) in by next week! DO NOT miss even one day of practice because of not doing the paperwork!

Speaking of practice, it looks like we will practice 5:30-7:30pm, at least for the first week. There is a good chance we will keep the practices in the evening until school starts. Pay attention to the practice schedule - there will be varying locations for practices throughout the season, but especially in the time before school starts!

Look for the final "summer schedule" week of workouts tomorrow.

Orienteering Tomorrow

Those of you not attending camp are encouraged to compete in Nate's orienteering meet at Basil Marella Park (also known as English Road Park). Nate has set a Sprint course (actually two Sprint courses) and a 60-minute Score-O course.

Some of you campers are welcome to attend, too, since that is where I will be tomorrow.

The Score-O starts at 7pm. If you arrive around 6pm, you could do the Sprint first. The entry fee is just $3, for both races. The park is not huge and has plenty of open areas, so this is a nice venue for relative newcomers.

Directions from Webster:
104 West to 390 North for just one exit (Vintage Lane). Turn left onto Vintage and then take the first right onto Fetzner. The park will be on the right. "O" signs should be visible from the 390 exit to the parking lot.

This Week's Training

This week we are backing off just a little bit, to get ready for the final push to the start of the season on 8/17.

Rookie
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 long run (35-45 minutes)
2 easy days of running (20-30 minutes).

Beginner
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (6 miles)
2 easy days of running (3-5 miles) plus strides
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

Intermediate
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (6-8 miles)
2 easy days of running (4-6 miles)
1 easy days of running (3-5 miles)
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

Advanced
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (8-10 miles)
2 easy days of running (5-7 miles)
1 easy day of running (3-6 miles)
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

XC Preview!

So, I noticed that tullyrunners.com posted a pre-season assessment of XC teams around the state. Overall, they ranked 37 teams and Fayetteville-Manlius is by far the class of the state (they should be a contender for the national title). Here is what it takes to make it to that level:
- A top kid that ran 4:06 and 9:09 as a junior this track season
- Third and fourth kids that ran 4:30/9:45 and 9:53
- A couple of others close behind

Section V made the following appearances:
13. Rush-Henrietta
14. HF-L
25. Brighton
27. McQuaid
31. Mendon

HF-L has the incredible one-two punch of Deir and Mangan, but they drop back substantially after their 3rd runner (Hoose ran 4:36/9:46 this spring), so R-H should be favored for their depth - based on last year, they should have a boatload of kids battling for the last few spots in the top 7. Brighton gets things done with their pack, but with Mendon being led by Van Vleck, clearly the top gun in Monroe County (which excludes Deir and Mangan and with apologies to Jared, Hotchkiss and Lipani), I would still give them the edge over Brighton. I was a little surprised to see McQuaid ranked in between Brighton and Mendon, but Mike Tripp is back, along with a couple of other guys who beat our whole team at Sectionals, so perhaps they can make a run at the Class A title.

Arcadia and Sutherland also get ranked in Class A, so the preseason coaches' poll should look something like this:
1. R-H
2. HF-L
3. Mendon
4. Brighton
5. Thomas
6. McQuaid
7. Arcadia
8. Sutherland
9. Wayne
10. Irondequoit

How many of those teams can we knock off?

On the girls side, Fayetteville-Manlius should be on top again, following 3 straight National titles. We see the following teams from Section V ranked in the top 28 preview:
12. HF-L
19. Mendon
20. Canandaigua

HF-L was able to entice Amanda Moreland to come over for the Nordic ski team last winter, so she will immediately change their XC team from a big Sectional winner but State meet also-ran into a top 3 contender at States.

Other top Section V girls teams look to be R-H, Hilton and Thomas, perhaps in that order, although Thomas lost much less thru graduation.

Here are the tullyrunners links to the:
Boys Preview
Girls Preview

Safety

I can't even begin to scratch the surface on this topic. If one were to google "Running Safety", many good articles and recommendations will make the top of the returned list. I'll just post a few random thoughts that apply to us:

- Make sure someone knows your route. If you get injured halfway thru the run, someone can trace your route and find you crumpled in pain on the side of the road.

- Think about how dumb the average person is, then remember that half the population is less intelligent than that (and they all seem to be driving cars while I'm running). Drivers will do dumb things around runners. Runners show up in places where drivers don't look, some drivers think runners don't belong on roads, etc. So, pay attention. Headphones are usually a bad idea on roads.

- A key ratio for runners (or bikers) is the speed limit to shoulder width ratio. For example, the speed limit on Five Mile Line is 35mph, the shoulder width is perhaps 8 feet, so the ratio is about 4.4; that is good. Atlantic has a speed limit of 45 and a shoulder width of 2, so the ratio is about 22.5; that is bad. Try to have more of your running on lower ratio roads. 25mph and no shoulder may seem bad, since the ratio is undefined, but is actually a nice place to run, so use common sense about traffic volumes as well.

- Hydrate! Yes, as a safety feature I can add this as well. If you get to the point where you are dehydrated, you can lose focus on what's around you, and you can even lose control of where your next foot strike occurs.

- Run facing traffic. No, you won't necessarily be nimble enough to jump out of the way of the Bad Driver, but you can see signs of danger that can help you (a swerving car coming down the road, a driver not looking out the front window, etc.

- Run with someone. Not only is this safer, it's more fun.

- On warm days, plan your route to include water stops of some sort, every 20-30 minutes.

- Don't antagonize drivers. If they do something stupid, don't compound the problem with shouting, obscene gestures, etc. The car outweighs you by a large margin - you'll lose that battle.

This Week's Training

OK, so I am having an overload at work these days, and the training plan has not made it out for this week. Luckily, I see that most of those on Attackpoint are into the flow of things and are doing the right things.

In any case, here is the training plan for this week:

Once again, each group will be getting in two good workout days at XC camp on Tuesday and Thursday. If you can't make it to camp, you should do some sort of quality training on each of those days. A steady tempo run (20 min for advanced, as little as 10-12 minutes for beginners) would be a good choice one day. The other day should feature some sort of hill work, with a total of 10 minutes uphill for advanced and perhaps as little as 4-6 for beginners.

Rookie
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 long run (40-50 minutes)
2 easy days of running (20-30 minutes).

Beginner
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (6-8 miles)
2 easy days of running (3-5 miles) plus strides
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

Intermediate
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (7-10 miles)
2 easy days of running (5-7 miles)
1 easy days of running (3-5 miles)
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!

Advanced
2 days of XC Camp! See you Tuesday and Thursday
1 "long" run (10-13 miles)
2 easy days of running (6-8 miles)
1 easy day of running (3-6 miles)
2-3 days of X-training
2 days of weights (Tuesday and Thursday 9am) and 3 days of core!