How well did the boys run on Saturday? Well, we finished 28 points ahead of Lancaster, and just 18 points behind Williamsville North. According to the latest Section VI XC poll, published in the Buffalo News (here), Willy North is tied for 3rd among large schools in Section VI and Lancaster is 5th.
We lost to Athena 23-34 in the first meet of the season. We scored 144 points at McQuaid, to their 225 (despite having the overall winner), and beat them 25-32 in dual meet scoring.
We also had a chance to run against two of our next dual meet opponents: Gates and Spencerport, and outscored them handily.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wow!
The team turned in an excellent performance at McQuaid yesterday. The varsity boys exceeded all expectations to bring home some hardware, finishing 3rd in our race. They were led by an awesome 9th place finish by Kenny. Nico and Nate both placed in the 20s, and Chris just missed, in 31st. Alex in 55th place just about equaled our top runner's place last year. I am not concerned about the times, that may have seemed a little slower than expected, because the humidity and stealthy heat that showed up for our race certainly had an effect. In fact, I saw a couple of girls that were down on the last 1/2 mile of the course in the following race.
The girls showed some incredible improvement, and managed to beat Vestal. Alaina appears to be rounding into form, and went under 21 minutes. Khristyna was 1:47 faster than last year, but even that wasn't quite enough to keep up with Karen in the homestretch. Anneleise realized, during the race, that she can run, and turned in a 7:43 last mile. Hannah improved over last year, despite the tougher conditions, and Sarah was 40 seconds faster in the first mile, which is all we have to compare.
The JV Boys then stepped up for a great run. Placing 11th in that field is terrific. And beating Thomas's JV is an accomplishment (even if they did have a couple 18:30-something runners in the Sophomore race. Other notable teams behind us include Corning, Penfield and St. Joe's.
As individuals, there is a lot worth mentioning: Wade under 18 and ahead of 2 Varsity runners, and Goeff snuck in ahead of one. Ethan's 18:43 is an excellent freshman time (not far behind AJ from last year and Nate from 2006), and Eric was sub-19. JP put in a solid 3rd mile to go under 19:30. Elliot, Trevor, Joe, Tom and John were all between 19:44 and 20:12. The next batch of freshmen: Alex, Tristan (with a big third mile), Patrick and Kenny, were all 21:05 and better, and Justin was right behind them.
With no dual meet this week, it's time to go back to work. There are only 27 days until Counties. These next two weeks of training are a great opportunity to get ready for that meet.
The girls showed some incredible improvement, and managed to beat Vestal. Alaina appears to be rounding into form, and went under 21 minutes. Khristyna was 1:47 faster than last year, but even that wasn't quite enough to keep up with Karen in the homestretch. Anneleise realized, during the race, that she can run, and turned in a 7:43 last mile. Hannah improved over last year, despite the tougher conditions, and Sarah was 40 seconds faster in the first mile, which is all we have to compare.
The JV Boys then stepped up for a great run. Placing 11th in that field is terrific. And beating Thomas's JV is an accomplishment (even if they did have a couple 18:30-something runners in the Sophomore race. Other notable teams behind us include Corning, Penfield and St. Joe's.
As individuals, there is a lot worth mentioning: Wade under 18 and ahead of 2 Varsity runners, and Goeff snuck in ahead of one. Ethan's 18:43 is an excellent freshman time (not far behind AJ from last year and Nate from 2006), and Eric was sub-19. JP put in a solid 3rd mile to go under 19:30. Elliot, Trevor, Joe, Tom and John were all between 19:44 and 20:12. The next batch of freshmen: Alex, Tristan (with a big third mile), Patrick and Kenny, were all 21:05 and better, and Justin was right behind them.
With no dual meet this week, it's time to go back to work. There are only 27 days until Counties. These next two weeks of training are a great opportunity to get ready for that meet.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
McQuaid Invitational
On Saturday we travel to Genesee Valley Park for the McQuaid Invitational. There are over 7000 runners entered, from 235 schools, for the 24 races that will be run. The course is flat and usually very fast; however, there are some showers in the forecast for Friday and Saturday and, since we run races 21, 22 and 24, the course could be sloppy by the time we run. Be sure to have your spikes ready to go! And make sure you have proper clothing to stay warm and dry.
How fast is the course? Since it is only 3 miles, last year 20 of the 24 boys and 9 of the 13 girls that ran, had their fastest time of the year. 8 runners had their fastest pace of the year. For example, AJ ran 18:16, Geoff ran 19:08, and John Pilato ran 20:18. JP was 16th on the team and ran 20:01. For the girls, Alaina ran 21:33, Megan Rieger ran 19:41 and Sarah M ran 23:05.
The meet web site is located here. It has past results and information about this year's meet.
Last year, our boys were 15th out of 27 schools. Of the 22 teams that I have seen entered in that race, it seems that the best teams are McQuaid, Williamsville North, Lancaster, Union-Endicott, Athena, Spencerport, Hilton. We should be able to knock off some of those teams. Our JV team was 18th out of 27 in 2007; we are capable of placing in the top half of that race, even though it includes "seeded" teams.
How fast is the course? Since it is only 3 miles, last year 20 of the 24 boys and 9 of the 13 girls that ran, had their fastest time of the year. 8 runners had their fastest pace of the year. For example, AJ ran 18:16, Geoff ran 19:08, and John Pilato ran 20:18. JP was 16th on the team and ran 20:01. For the girls, Alaina ran 21:33, Megan Rieger ran 19:41 and Sarah M ran 23:05.
The meet web site is located here. It has past results and information about this year's meet.
Last year, our boys were 15th out of 27 schools. Of the 22 teams that I have seen entered in that race, it seems that the best teams are McQuaid, Williamsville North, Lancaster, Union-Endicott, Athena, Spencerport, Hilton. We should be able to knock off some of those teams. Our JV team was 18th out of 27 in 2007; we are capable of placing in the top half of that race, even though it includes "seeded" teams.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
4 and Oh, Baby!
Well, we picked up a big win last night. The team effort was outstanding!
First, the girls. We lost to Churchville, 24-33 and Eastridge, 24-31, but gave them nice battles. If we keep improving at our current rate, we should be able to run with those teams at the end of the year. Alaina ran faster than at Mendon West, on a course that is 0.1 mile longer. Khristyna, Sarah M, and Hannah all ran over 30 seconds faster than expected. Janelle seems to be getting fit, and Anneleise and Amanda made nice dual meet debuts, giving Kristen someone to accompany.
The boys bounced back from the Wildcat Invitational very well, with most running their races as planned. It was great to see the solid teamwork throughout our line-up, from Kenny and Nico working together to go after Hilton's top guy, to the loud cheering section bringing Bobby home in under 30.
Schroeder had not been 4-0 in a dual meet since 10/5/2004 against much weaker opponents (we were 3-0 on 10/10/2006, also against a weak schedule). That day was the last time we had 3 runners in the D&C for a single race - and they were 18:26-18:35 at English Road, which is about 30 seconds faster than Parma.
We finally had our top 5 runners in attendance and performing well, for the first time this season, so we had 5 under 19 minutes. Our 1-5 gap, which had been in the 1:50s all year, dropped to 1:15, and it was our 1-7 that was 1:53.
Beyond the top 7, we had some great performances, such as Ethan's sub-20 to be 8th, John pulling Tommy to a course-adjusted PR and Alex running 22:00, about 1.5 minutes faster than expected.
I would write more, but I think my boss is coming, so don't feel slighted if you weren't mentioned!
First, the girls. We lost to Churchville, 24-33 and Eastridge, 24-31, but gave them nice battles. If we keep improving at our current rate, we should be able to run with those teams at the end of the year. Alaina ran faster than at Mendon West, on a course that is 0.1 mile longer. Khristyna, Sarah M, and Hannah all ran over 30 seconds faster than expected. Janelle seems to be getting fit, and Anneleise and Amanda made nice dual meet debuts, giving Kristen someone to accompany.
The boys bounced back from the Wildcat Invitational very well, with most running their races as planned. It was great to see the solid teamwork throughout our line-up, from Kenny and Nico working together to go after Hilton's top guy, to the loud cheering section bringing Bobby home in under 30.
Schroeder had not been 4-0 in a dual meet since 10/5/2004 against much weaker opponents (we were 3-0 on 10/10/2006, also against a weak schedule). That day was the last time we had 3 runners in the D&C for a single race - and they were 18:26-18:35 at English Road, which is about 30 seconds faster than Parma.
We finally had our top 5 runners in attendance and performing well, for the first time this season, so we had 5 under 19 minutes. Our 1-5 gap, which had been in the 1:50s all year, dropped to 1:15, and it was our 1-7 that was 1:53.
Beyond the top 7, we had some great performances, such as Ethan's sub-20 to be 8th, John pulling Tommy to a course-adjusted PR and Alex running 22:00, about 1.5 minutes faster than expected.
I would write more, but I think my boss is coming, so don't feel slighted if you weren't mentioned!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Girls Preview
OK, so there is not much chance that our girls will knock off Hilton today; however, East Rochester has not fielded a full team this year, and last week at the same Parma course their two girls ran 24:30 and 28:01, so we should be able to get a win there.
The other meets could be interesting. Eastridge has one fast girl (ran in the 22s at Mendon East the last two weeks), but the next two should be in the 24s, then one in the 25s and one around 27. That amounts to a very nice challenge for our girls. Churchville's top girls isn't as fast, but they have two girls that should be in the 23s - nice targets for Alaina. They come in a little quicker than Eastridge after that: 2 could be in the 24s and 1 in the 25s.
The other meets could be interesting. Eastridge has one fast girl (ran in the 22s at Mendon East the last two weeks), but the next two should be in the 24s, then one in the 25s and one around 27. That amounts to a very nice challenge for our girls. Churchville's top girls isn't as fast, but they have two girls that should be in the 23s - nice targets for Alaina. They come in a little quicker than Eastridge after that: 2 could be in the 24s and 1 in the 25s.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Warning Shot to Hilton
So, we had a chance to avenge some losses last weekend, and to send a message to Hilton. We sort of did the latter - we beat Hilton by 22 points in the invitational, but they beat us 28-28 in dual meet scoring, so we have some work to do on Tuesday. We did not manage to get Irondequoit, losing by 24 points (and 27-28 in dual meet scoring).
Sutherland and Victor were in the Division II race. Plugging our times in that race shows that we would have beaten both teams, and finished 2nd to Wayne. So, our improvement was certainly demonstrated; however, to be successful as the season continues, we need to close our 1-5 (and 1-7) gap. It was still at 1:52 (and 2:24) on Saturday. Since our top guy was 21 seconds behind the "average" top guy, we need to get it done with a tighter pack, a closer team.
Tuesday's meet is likely to be decided by the performance of the 4-5-6 runners on each team. I have confidence that our 4-5-6 (and 7-8-9, et al) runners are ready to tough it out in a mano-a-mano meet like this. This meet will be very different than most dual meets we run, and we should get excited by this during the race. I expect 17 of the top 20 places in the race on Tuesday will be Hilton or Schroeder runners; the majority of those should be ours!
Sutherland and Victor were in the Division II race. Plugging our times in that race shows that we would have beaten both teams, and finished 2nd to Wayne. So, our improvement was certainly demonstrated; however, to be successful as the season continues, we need to close our 1-5 (and 1-7) gap. It was still at 1:52 (and 2:24) on Saturday. Since our top guy was 21 seconds behind the "average" top guy, we need to get it done with a tighter pack, a closer team.
Tuesday's meet is likely to be decided by the performance of the 4-5-6 runners on each team. I have confidence that our 4-5-6 (and 7-8-9, et al) runners are ready to tough it out in a mano-a-mano meet like this. This meet will be very different than most dual meets we run, and we should get excited by this during the race. I expect 17 of the top 20 places in the race on Tuesday will be Hilton or Schroeder runners; the majority of those should be ours!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wildcat and Workout
Tomorrow's Wildcat Invite includes Irondequoit, Spencerport, Hilton, Sutherland, Athena and Victor. It should give us a decent idea of where we stand against the middle tier of Monroe County teams, in invitational scoring (some top teams will also be there: Brighton, Mendon, Thomas, Rush-Henrietta). It also gives us a chance to avenge a couple of our dual meet losses.
Yesterday's workout went pretty well. I've compared the times to the similar workout last year, and the results are encouraging. With a few exceptions, the improvements were notable. Leading the way was Adrian, who improved his average time by 50 seconds per interval. Other big improvements came from Afro Thunder (30 seconds), Arik (17), Wade (11) and Trevor (10). 10 seconds per interval is better than a minute in a 5K, so we should continue to see great race improvements from these guys. Khristyna showed the big improvement on the girls side - 12 seconds per interval.
A few more workouts like that, with even better participation, and we will be ready to shine at Counties!
Yesterday's workout went pretty well. I've compared the times to the similar workout last year, and the results are encouraging. With a few exceptions, the improvements were notable. Leading the way was Adrian, who improved his average time by 50 seconds per interval. Other big improvements came from Afro Thunder (30 seconds), Arik (17), Wade (11) and Trevor (10). 10 seconds per interval is better than a minute in a 5K, so we should continue to see great race improvements from these guys. Khristyna showed the big improvement on the girls side - 12 seconds per interval.
A few more workouts like that, with even better participation, and we will be ready to shine at Counties!
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