A very nice team effort for the boys' win in Canandaigua on Wednesday! The Distance Team contributed quite substantially.
In the 400, AJ and Justin M went 1-3 in the tough wind conditions. We followed that up in the 1600 by taking the top 5 (or was it 6?) positions. Geoff tried his hand at the 400 hurdles and came very close to completing the sweep with Eric and Juan - I think if he knew how badly the Canandaigua competitor was going to fade in the wind, he would have caught him.
The 800 was perhaps the most exciting race of the day, as Canandaigua's runner jumped out to the lead, with a pair of Justins and Ben in pursuit. Coming off the last turn, they went by en masse, for another distance sweep. The perfect distance score was kept quite easily in the 3200, as the lone opposition runner dropped off the very slow pace set by Geoff, John W and Adrian during the first mile (attempting to pull along some of our youngsters).
We completed the day with a pair of relay victories, with Ben, Will, Justin M and AJ taking the 4 x 400 by a sizable margin, then the 4 x 800 crew of Justin R plus the 3200 runners came within meters of lapping Canandaigua's entry.
It reminded me of old East Aurora track meets, where the distance team would score all possible points and the sprinters, jumpers and throwers would net just enough points to pull out the win. I don't think this is the trick to beating R-H (or even Victor) next week, though!
The girls meet was quite exciting, but there were not quite enough points to be had. Val split the 1500/800 with Canandaigua's top runner, and Amanda made a valiant effort to beat the twin sister in the 3000.
Unfortunately, both the 3000/3200 and the 4 x 800 relays were run as combined events, giving the girls less recovery time before the 4 x 800 relay. I thought they had a shot at knocking off Canandaigua, but couldn't quite stay close enough to give Val a shot in the anchor leg. I am looking forward to a rematch at Counties, Sectionals and/or State Quals.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Spring Break
Nasty weather prevailed for both meets during Spring Break, with the apparent exception of the start of the Webster Invitational at Penfield on Wednesday. I was not able to catch the alleged nice weather that day, but the times in the Steeplechase and 3000/3200 seem to support that allegation.
On Monday, the runners were treated with snow at the Wayne County Spring Break meet at Marion High School. Results from that meet are here. Highlights included Val's double victory in the Steeplechase (7:53) and 800 ("only" 2:25), Amanda's victory by almost one full minute in the 3000 (10:51), Ben, Geoff and Adrian's 2-3-5 in the 800. Geoff's runner-up to Ryan Moynihan in the 1600, AJ's win in the 3200, under 10 in the snow, and the boys' overall win.
The Webster Invitational results are available here.
On Monday, the runners were treated with snow at the Wayne County Spring Break meet at Marion High School. Results from that meet are here. Highlights included Val's double victory in the Steeplechase (7:53) and 800 ("only" 2:25), Amanda's victory by almost one full minute in the 3000 (10:51), Ben, Geoff and Adrian's 2-3-5 in the 800. Geoff's runner-up to Ryan Moynihan in the 1600, AJ's win in the 3200, under 10 in the snow, and the boys' overall win.
The Webster Invitational results are available here.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
World "Best" not "Record"
Technically, you can't call it a World Record (although the BAA is appealing that decision), but a couple of Kenyans duked it out yesterday to see who would wind up running the fastest marathon in history. Because the Boston Marathon finish line is "too far" from the starting line, and the course is "too downhill", the course is ineligible for World Record certification. Those of us who have run Boston can attest that the downhill portions actually make Boston a tougher course than flat marathons. Not to mention the fact that you only run downhill for the privilege of running up the Newton hills, culminating in Heartbreak. It is true that yesterday's tailwind was helpful, but every course is unique, so why not require world records to only be allowed on a track?
In the end, Geoffrey Mutai had just a little bit more left at the end. From our vantage point just past Kenmore Square, with less than a mile to go, it was not clear who would prevail, but Moses Mosop could "only" manage 2:03:06 to Mutai's 2:03:02.
Ryan Hall showed what a stud he is, by leading for much of the race, then hanging on to finish fourth in a blistering 2:04:58.
Since the elite women start 28 minutes before the men, the leaders came through almost 10 minutes before the men. And the fans were going crazy, as there was actually an American in the hunt for the win as the top 3 came through in an ever-shifting bunch. We went back inside to catch the exciting finish on TV, and Desiree Davila wound up two seconds short, running 2:22:38, behind Kenya's Caroline Kilel.
Perhaps the finest Boston that I have witnessed - topping the Salazar-Beardsley dual in 1982.
In the end, Geoffrey Mutai had just a little bit more left at the end. From our vantage point just past Kenmore Square, with less than a mile to go, it was not clear who would prevail, but Moses Mosop could "only" manage 2:03:06 to Mutai's 2:03:02.
Ryan Hall showed what a stud he is, by leading for much of the race, then hanging on to finish fourth in a blistering 2:04:58.
Since the elite women start 28 minutes before the men, the leaders came through almost 10 minutes before the men. And the fans were going crazy, as there was actually an American in the hunt for the win as the top 3 came through in an ever-shifting bunch. We went back inside to catch the exciting finish on TV, and Desiree Davila wound up two seconds short, running 2:22:38, behind Kenya's Caroline Kilel.
Perhaps the finest Boston that I have witnessed - topping the Salazar-Beardsley dual in 1982.
Friday, April 15, 2011
AGR!
The All Greater Rochester teams for the winter sports were announced in a special section of the D&C this morning, and the Webster Distance Runners were well-represented, with AJ Nasello earning AGR honors on the boys side, and Valerie Palermo scoring an AGR spot on the girls side.
The full article is available here.
Congratulations to AJ and Val!
One thing does bother me about the article: there are two sports - "Large School Wrestling" and "Small School Wrestling". OK, I understand that wrestling has separate weight classifications, since it is not fair for a 200-pounder to wrestle a 98-pounder. But why should there be a difference if a 135-pounder from a small school is wrestling a 135-pounder from a large school - to that point where they call it a separate "Sport" in the D&C AGR issue?!?
In the meantime, there is no Nordic (or Alpine) Ski AGR Team. Why is that? Eric deserves to be recognized for his outstanding performance in his winter sport. And we had at least 10 WDR members competing in Nordic this winter.
The full article is available here.
Congratulations to AJ and Val!
One thing does bother me about the article: there are two sports - "Large School Wrestling" and "Small School Wrestling". OK, I understand that wrestling has separate weight classifications, since it is not fair for a 200-pounder to wrestle a 98-pounder. But why should there be a difference if a 135-pounder from a small school is wrestling a 135-pounder from a large school - to that point where they call it a separate "Sport" in the D&C AGR issue?!?
In the meantime, there is no Nordic (or Alpine) Ski AGR Team. Why is that? Eric deserves to be recognized for his outstanding performance in his winter sport. And we had at least 10 WDR members competing in Nordic this winter.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
JV Today, Varsity on Saturday
Today the JV team "travels" to Thomas for a JV meet that is scheduled to include Thomas, Arcadia, Olympia and Victor. I hope it is over in time to catch the start of the Sabres playoff game! The schedule lists a 4:30 start time, so the Varsity will be kicked off the track prior to that time. We may have to get creative in finishing the workout.
On Saturday, I should be in Boston to catch Chelsea's crew race (and dwelling on my missed opportunity to run Boston on Monday), so I will likely miss the Wayne County Spring Break meet at Marion. But I will be cheering for reasonable weather for y'all. And here's hoping that Marion has pins for their Steeplechase barriers!
On Saturday, I should be in Boston to catch Chelsea's crew race (and dwelling on my missed opportunity to run Boston on Monday), so I will likely miss the Wayne County Spring Break meet at Marion. But I will be cheering for reasonable weather for y'all. And here's hoping that Marion has pins for their Steeplechase barriers!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
WOW, er Double WOW!
And by WOW, I also mean Win Over Webster.
What an exciting pair of dual meets, with the boys pulling out a 71-70 win, and the girls meet also decided on the last event of the day, which happens to be the 4x800m relay.
The boys got off to a mixed start, with a 9-0 (track dual meets are scored: 5 points for 1st, 3 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd, in individual events, and just 5 points for the winning relay team) surprise in the High Hurdles, followed by a 1-8 surprise, only claiming 3rd in the 400.
The 1600 was up next and Thomas had both Jared and Tim running. Nobody wanted to push things early, so AJ, Jared and Tim came through the 800 in 2:25, with Adrian close behind, but the 3rd lap turned it into a 3-man race, and the final lap became a 400m race, with Tim quickly falling behind as AJ took off, with Jared chasing. AJ clocked a 61 for the last lap, to win by a safe margin.
The girls 1500 saw Val and Amanda running side-by-side, with Annelise tucked in behind and three Thomas girls following. After opening with an 80, they slowed to 87 on the second lap, but started pressing the pace a bit late the 3rd lap to come thru in 83. From there it became a kicker's race and Val took off with Amanda and Annelise chasing, and only one Thomas girl staying close. Unfortunately, that one Thomas girl passed Annelise on the final straight and then edged a surprised Amanda at the wire. The girls ran 54, 57 and 58 for the last 300m.
The boys swept the 100 and reports came in showing 3 points in the Long Jump and 6 in the Discus, for a 33-21 lead. In the 400 Hurdles, Eric got off to a great start and had a nice lead at the 250m, when Jared, who was 2nd in the Steeplechase at the State Championships last spring, went to work. Jared hit the second-to-last hurdle, giving Eric another lead, but Jared battled back and, in a judges decision, edged Eric at the wire. Juan grabbed 3rd for another point.
In the 800, Thomas had Tim and a part-time runner entered. The part-timer shot to the lead early, while AJ and Justin M tucked in. They came thru the 400 in about 63 or 64, and on the backstretch, Justin took off as planned, with AJ waiting. No challenge came from Thomas, so Justin held on for the win, with AJ being content with second.
The girls race featured Molly from Thomas, who was out quick and made it clear the race was for 2nd and 3rd places. Annelise stayed close for a while, making the second lap tough for herself, but still managed 2:36, while Alyssa came on strong in the second lap to run 2:37.
The 200 did not go well, with the Thomas 400, not 100, kids leading the way to a 1-8 result for us. The Pole Vault results showed 3 points, but we managed 4 in the Shot Put, and the score was now 53-46.
In the 3200, Jared and Tim were both back for their 3rd events, while Geoff and Afro Thunder were fresh for us. Jared led the first mile, trying to keep the pace slow (5:22), so Geoff knew he had to go to work at that point. He threw in laps of 73, 74 and 73 to try to take some kick out of Jared. John held on for a 5th lap, but then dropped off quicker than Tim. On the last lap, Jared made a strong move and just had too much speed for Geoff, who managed a 4:52 second mile.
The 3000 was the Val and Amanda show. They went out hard the first lap (81), and found that there were three Thomas girls giving it a shot. Despite slowing significantly to come thru the 1600 in 6:06, one Thomas girl fell off. The last 1400 started with a 92 and a 90, but then the girls pushed the pace and turned in an 85, while opening up a gap and won going away with 37 and 38 for Val and Amanda in the last 200.
The field event results came in (6 in the Triple Jump and 4 in the High Jump) and both Schroeder teams needed one relay win in order to win their meets. The boys 4 x 100 was close, but the 4 x 400 was not. The girls lost both relays by a large margin, setting up each 4 x 800 relay to decide the meet.
For the boys, Ben led off and made sure he had a lead for Justin R. Justin went out in a 73 as he tried to let the Thomas runner lead him, before getting much more intense on the second lap and giving Justin M a nice lead over Tim. Tim looked like he might make it very interesting, but couldn't match Justin's speed near the end, so AJ received the baton safely ahead of Jared, who was much more worn out that AJ. So, AJ was able to run 63-64 laps and secure the victory.
The girls race was excellent. Amanda led off with a 2:37 and a lead. Alyssa ran like a veteran and also went 2:37, to maintain a small lead. Molly was running third for Thomas and caught Annelise in the first 150m, but Annelise stayed close most of the way, and handed off to Val about 4-5 seconds down, running 2:36. Val went thru the 200 in about 32, but had not closed the gap by much. That was actually a good sign, indicating that the Thomas anchor was out way too quickly. Indeed, as Val went thru the 400 in 66, it was clear that she was gaining, and she took the lead with just about 300m to go. The Thomas girl was gassed and Val went on to a 2:22 split to win the event handily, and the meet.
What an exciting pair of dual meets, with the boys pulling out a 71-70 win, and the girls meet also decided on the last event of the day, which happens to be the 4x800m relay.
The boys got off to a mixed start, with a 9-0 (track dual meets are scored: 5 points for 1st, 3 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd, in individual events, and just 5 points for the winning relay team) surprise in the High Hurdles, followed by a 1-8 surprise, only claiming 3rd in the 400.
The 1600 was up next and Thomas had both Jared and Tim running. Nobody wanted to push things early, so AJ, Jared and Tim came through the 800 in 2:25, with Adrian close behind, but the 3rd lap turned it into a 3-man race, and the final lap became a 400m race, with Tim quickly falling behind as AJ took off, with Jared chasing. AJ clocked a 61 for the last lap, to win by a safe margin.
The girls 1500 saw Val and Amanda running side-by-side, with Annelise tucked in behind and three Thomas girls following. After opening with an 80, they slowed to 87 on the second lap, but started pressing the pace a bit late the 3rd lap to come thru in 83. From there it became a kicker's race and Val took off with Amanda and Annelise chasing, and only one Thomas girl staying close. Unfortunately, that one Thomas girl passed Annelise on the final straight and then edged a surprised Amanda at the wire. The girls ran 54, 57 and 58 for the last 300m.
The boys swept the 100 and reports came in showing 3 points in the Long Jump and 6 in the Discus, for a 33-21 lead. In the 400 Hurdles, Eric got off to a great start and had a nice lead at the 250m, when Jared, who was 2nd in the Steeplechase at the State Championships last spring, went to work. Jared hit the second-to-last hurdle, giving Eric another lead, but Jared battled back and, in a judges decision, edged Eric at the wire. Juan grabbed 3rd for another point.
In the 800, Thomas had Tim and a part-time runner entered. The part-timer shot to the lead early, while AJ and Justin M tucked in. They came thru the 400 in about 63 or 64, and on the backstretch, Justin took off as planned, with AJ waiting. No challenge came from Thomas, so Justin held on for the win, with AJ being content with second.
The girls race featured Molly from Thomas, who was out quick and made it clear the race was for 2nd and 3rd places. Annelise stayed close for a while, making the second lap tough for herself, but still managed 2:36, while Alyssa came on strong in the second lap to run 2:37.
The 200 did not go well, with the Thomas 400, not 100, kids leading the way to a 1-8 result for us. The Pole Vault results showed 3 points, but we managed 4 in the Shot Put, and the score was now 53-46.
In the 3200, Jared and Tim were both back for their 3rd events, while Geoff and Afro Thunder were fresh for us. Jared led the first mile, trying to keep the pace slow (5:22), so Geoff knew he had to go to work at that point. He threw in laps of 73, 74 and 73 to try to take some kick out of Jared. John held on for a 5th lap, but then dropped off quicker than Tim. On the last lap, Jared made a strong move and just had too much speed for Geoff, who managed a 4:52 second mile.
The 3000 was the Val and Amanda show. They went out hard the first lap (81), and found that there were three Thomas girls giving it a shot. Despite slowing significantly to come thru the 1600 in 6:06, one Thomas girl fell off. The last 1400 started with a 92 and a 90, but then the girls pushed the pace and turned in an 85, while opening up a gap and won going away with 37 and 38 for Val and Amanda in the last 200.
The field event results came in (6 in the Triple Jump and 4 in the High Jump) and both Schroeder teams needed one relay win in order to win their meets. The boys 4 x 100 was close, but the 4 x 400 was not. The girls lost both relays by a large margin, setting up each 4 x 800 relay to decide the meet.
For the boys, Ben led off and made sure he had a lead for Justin R. Justin went out in a 73 as he tried to let the Thomas runner lead him, before getting much more intense on the second lap and giving Justin M a nice lead over Tim. Tim looked like he might make it very interesting, but couldn't match Justin's speed near the end, so AJ received the baton safely ahead of Jared, who was much more worn out that AJ. So, AJ was able to run 63-64 laps and secure the victory.
The girls race was excellent. Amanda led off with a 2:37 and a lead. Alyssa ran like a veteran and also went 2:37, to maintain a small lead. Molly was running third for Thomas and caught Annelise in the first 150m, but Annelise stayed close most of the way, and handed off to Val about 4-5 seconds down, running 2:36. Val went thru the 200 in about 32, but had not closed the gap by much. That was actually a good sign, indicating that the Thomas anchor was out way too quickly. Indeed, as Val went thru the 400 in 66, it was clear that she was gaining, and she took the lead with just about 300m to go. The Thomas girl was gassed and Val went on to a 2:22 split to win the event handily, and the meet.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Thomas Today
After Friday's experience, we open the real season today against Thomas. Despite sharing the track with them during practice, I don't really know their strengths and weaknesses, but from all indications, it should be a close meet.
The Thomas distance team is really made up of their "big three". It will be interesting to see where Jared, Cole and Tim decide to run, and how our top guys can match up in a dual meet setting. And if the meet comes down to the 4x800 relay, Thomas has several young kids that would be candidates to round out the relay and create a very exciting race.
The Thomas girls, I think, have everyone back from the 4x800 relay that went to the state meet last year. Their girls don't seem to move up distances as well as ours do, but we should see some exciting distance races on the girls' side as well.
The Thomas distance team is really made up of their "big three". It will be interesting to see where Jared, Cole and Tim decide to run, and how our top guys can match up in a dual meet setting. And if the meet comes down to the 4x800 relay, Thomas has several young kids that would be candidates to round out the relay and create a very exciting race.
The Thomas girls, I think, have everyone back from the 4x800 relay that went to the state meet last year. Their girls don't seem to move up distances as well as ours do, but we should see some exciting distance races on the girls' side as well.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Friday's Workout
Those of you not going to the meet on Friday, can get together for a quick workout after school. Here is the plan:
12 min w/up
4 x 200m between 800m and 1600m race pace, start every 2 minutes
3 x 800m tempo pace (30 seconds between each, jog 400m after finishing the last one)
4 x 200m just as fast as the first set.
12 min w/dn
Have fun!
45-60 minutes on Saturday, then you can take Sunday off. Monday will be easy, of course, since we have Thomas on Tuesday.
12 min w/up
4 x 200m between 800m and 1600m race pace, start every 2 minutes
3 x 800m tempo pace (30 seconds between each, jog 400m after finishing the last one)
4 x 200m just as fast as the first set.
12 min w/dn
Have fun!
45-60 minutes on Saturday, then you can take Sunday off. Monday will be easy, of course, since we have Thomas on Tuesday.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Championship Qualifying Times
For those of you that are looking to make Sectionals, the qualifying standards are available here. To save you a click, here are the times of importance to the distance team (Automatic / Provisional):
Boys
800: 2:03.94 / 2:09.94
1600: 4:37.84 / 4:56.04
3200: 10:07.84 / 10:45.94
Steeple: 10:38.64 / 11:17.24
Girls
800: 2:26.94 / 2:36.04
1500: 5:03.74 / 5:23.24
3000: 11:07.94 / 11:52.14
Steeple: 7:59.94 / 8:50.14
I can't find the Monroe County standards anywhere. There is an alleged link to last year's standards, but that link is dead. It seems like last year, the County Standards were just a little faster than the Sectional Provisional times.
And since I failed to post yesterday, here is a bonus tidbit for today - hot off the press:
Brycen Spratling Earns MAC Track Athlete of the Week
Way to go, Brycen! In that same meet, Kevin Enck competed for UB, running 16.19 for 7th in the hurdles (he ran as quick as 15.31 at the end of last year) and tossing the Discus (?!?) 33.70m, which is just over 110 feet. I know he needs the event for the Decathlon, but perhaps he should stick to jumping in meets - or perhaps the 1500 ;-).
Boys
800: 2:03.94 / 2:09.94
1600: 4:37.84 / 4:56.04
3200: 10:07.84 / 10:45.94
Steeple: 10:38.64 / 11:17.24
Girls
800: 2:26.94 / 2:36.04
1500: 5:03.74 / 5:23.24
3000: 11:07.94 / 11:52.14
Steeple: 7:59.94 / 8:50.14
I can't find the Monroe County standards anywhere. There is an alleged link to last year's standards, but that link is dead. It seems like last year, the County Standards were just a little faster than the Sectional Provisional times.
And since I failed to post yesterday, here is a bonus tidbit for today - hot off the press:
Brycen Spratling Earns MAC Track Athlete of the Week
Way to go, Brycen! In that same meet, Kevin Enck competed for UB, running 16.19 for 7th in the hurdles (he ran as quick as 15.31 at the end of last year) and tossing the Discus (?!?) 33.70m, which is just over 110 feet. I know he needs the event for the Decathlon, but perhaps he should stick to jumping in meets - or perhaps the 1500 ;-).
Monday, April 4, 2011
What's Your Main Event
I had a chance to talk with some folks regarding their main event for this spring season. I want to make sure that we customize some of the upcoming workouts for the different events. For example, this Wednesday, I want to give the Steeplechasers a chance to go over some hurdles during our interval workout. It should be interesting to figure out the proper spot to start the 700m intervals, not knowing ahead of time which lane will have the hurdles, and adjusting the distance down a bit to make the effort equivalent to a flat 700.
We will also soon be to the point where the 800 folks will do some shorter, faster stuff, while the 3200 runners will continue to do longer fast stuff.
We will also soon be to the point where the 800 folks will do some shorter, faster stuff, while the 3200 runners will continue to do longer fast stuff.
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