Victory Over Gates

I don't know all of the field event scoring, but we had 83 points, with just 3 field events included, so it was a solid win. The times were decent, but not great. That's OK today, since the meet was not close, we were running for places, not times, and many folks ran more events and longer distances than usual.

Friday is the day to go after some times!

1600m
AJ     73  2:30  3:43  4:48  - 73, 77, 73, 65
Nico   73  2:30  3:43  4:49  - 73, 77, 73, 66
Ethan  81  2:41  4:04  5:25  - 81, 80, 83, 81
John   81  2:42  4:05  5:30  - 81, 81, 83, 85 (no blazing kick without Joe?)
Alex   84  2:53  4:20  5:38  - 84, 89, 87, 78 (waited too long to go)
Will   85  2:54  4:21  5:40  - 85, 89, 87, 79
Arjun  84  2:53  4:23  5:55  - 84, 89, 90, 92 (couldn't quite hang on)

1500m
Anneliese     5:29
Becka         5:59
Megan         6:38
Catherine     7:46

800m
AJ     65  2:08
Nico   65  2:09
Steve  65  2:11
Ethan  69  2:21
Justin 71  2:24
Joe W  70  2:25
Will   82  2:40
Ryan S 77  2:40
Alex   82  2:41
Devon  71  2:42
Arjun  85  3:09 (is it party time?  or potty time?)

800m
Val       77  2:35
Anneleise 78  2:39
Janelle   80  3:01

3200m
Nate   76 2:35 3:53 5:12 6:33 7:53  9:11 10:26
       76   79   78   79   81   80    78    75
Kenny  76 2:35 3:53 5:12 6:34 7:56  9:17 10:33
       76   79   78   79   82   82    81    76
Geoff  81 2:41 4:03 5:26 6:50 8:16  9:42 11:07
       81   80   82   83   84   86    86    85
Steve  81 2:42 4:04 5:31 7:00 8:29  9:59 11:25
       81   81   82   87   89   89    90    86
Ethan  86 2:53 4:23 5:54 7:24 8:54 10:24 11:50
       86   87   90   91   90   90    90    86
John   87 2:53 4:23 5:55 7:24 8:54 10:24 11:51
       87   86   90   92   89   90    90    87
Eric   89 3:07~4:49 6:32 8:13 9:54 11:34 12:56 (way too much left at the end)
       89   98  102  103  101  101   100    82

4 x 800
AJ     68  2:16   Ethan   75  2:33   Will    76  2:36
Arjun  77  2:41   Alex    80  2:37   Devon   86  2:51
Joe W  64  2:27   John    73  2:31   Geoff   70  2:27
Justin 64  2:23   Ryan    61  2:07   Nico    65  2:16

Update

I saw the results of the Webster Invitational here.

It was disappointing to see that we had no girls in the 800 or 3000. In the 1500, the good news was that Anneleise was less than two seconds behind Brianna, the bad news was that Brianna only ran 5:23, but still a decent time for Anneleise, given the conditions. Becka was the lone participant in the Steeplechase. Finally, the 4x800 averaged 2:46, which seems to be a solid improvement over the dual meets, but fell short of Letchworth by a fraction of a second.

On the boys side, I wish I had been able to see the 800m. AJ and Ryan were edged out by Brimstein from our cross-town rivals. The 2:03 winning time seems to indicate a tactical race. In the 1600, we had Whitty moving up and Geoff moving down from their usual distances.

The 3200 results are very interesting. It shows Kenny, who was sick at home, finishing in a dead heat with Nico! What does that say about Nico's performance? Actually, Nico's time was quite good, especially given the heat and wind that were present. And it looks like Geoff Kelly ran another steady race. Meanwhile, a couple of other Sophomores tried their hands at the Steeplechase, with both John and Joe turning in respectable first time performances.

I'm not sure what happened in the 4x800, but Hilton walloped us pretty good. They ran a pretty decent 8:23 (Fontanez makes that much easier to achieve), but we barely averaged under 2:09 (end of a long, hot day?).

Next up is Gates. I think a new track may have been part of their massive reconstruction project last year, and the Wednesday forecast looks good for running. Here is the brief scouting report, which is consistent with their XC performance, with the exception of a missing Steve Schwalm, who finished halfway between Nico and Nate at Counties (but 30 seconds behind Nate on the same course in our dual meet):

1600
Ricky Solimowicz 4:46
Anthony LaRocca 5:17
Hayden Buss 5:19

800
Hayden Buss 2:16

3200
Travis Jordan (freshman) 10:34
Ricky Solimowicz 10:49

Webster Invitational

Some facts and figures from last year's rain delayed (and ultimately rain-shortened) Webster Invitational:

The 3200m was won easily by Chris Mateer, in 10:11. 6th place was 10:44 and just 10 runners broke 11:00.

The 3000m Steeplechase was nearly a photo finish, in 10:00. 6th place was 10:36 (Dunham ahead of a fading Brimmer) and 8 runners were under 11:00.

And back in 2007, the following were the distance results:

800m: Marc Priddy second in 2:04 (2:03 won), and 6th place was 2:07 (and 2:14 for 7th).

1600m: Dave Xu was 5:18, Nico went 5:25. The winner was 4:33 and 6th was 4:52.

3200m: Corey Robinson won by 51 seconds in 9:30. Chris Mauro was 11:30. 6th place was 10:49.

Steeple: 10:04 for the winner (Brimmer second in 10:20), 6th place was 10:54, Xu was 11:36 and Nico was 12:18.

4 x 800m: Penfield won in 9:06 and Schroeder was 7th in 9:40.

Thursday's Workout

It's the time of season where we need to differentiate among the different distance specialties. I think Coach Klehr will have separate workouts, with target time ranges, by individual, for each of the three groups (800m, 1600m, 3200m).

For example, Nate did 4 x 1000m today, at about 3200m race pace. And Zach (currently a miler) did 4 x 600m, at about 1600m race pace. The 800m guys can expect 5 x 300m at 800m race pace (or quicker).

Each of these workouts should provide that late race feeling, on the later repetitions, even with pretty much full recovery between each one. Maintaining race pace on those later reps will train your body to do the same in a race.

Next Tuesday's Workout

Here it is:
5 x 700m - Goal time is 800m race time (e.g. AJ 2:00, Kenny 2:12?, Thunder & Joe 2:30. This means you run 700m in the time that it takes you to race 800m. It does not mean run 800m race pace for 700m!

You may take 3-4 min recovery between each interval.

Have fun!

And don't forget the weekend is one day off, one day with tempo work, as discussed.

Muuuuuuuuuuuch Better!

A very nice effort by the team at this evening's track meet. I think we scored about 103 points! And the Distance Team held a 25-7 edge. Great teamwork in each of the distance races.

1600m
AJ     75  2:30  3:40  4:43  - 75, 75, 70, 63
Nico   75  2:30  3:39  4:49  - 75, 75, 69, 70
Steve  75  2:31  3:42  4:54  - 75, 76, 71, 72
John   80  2:40  4:04  5:21  - 80, 80, 84, 77
Joe M  80  2:40  4:04  5:24  - 80, 80, 84, 80
Will   83  2:50  4:15  5:33  - 83, 87, 85, 78
Alex   84  2:50  4:15  5:33  - 84, 86, 85, 78
Arjun  88  2:59  4:29  5:54  - 88, 91, 90, 85

1500m
Anneliese 85  2:56  4:25  5:23  - 85, 91, 89, 58 (77)
Becka     89  3:03  4:40  5:49  - 89, 94, 97, 69 (92)
Megan     91  3:12  5:02  6:23  - 91, 101, 110, 81 (108)
Khrystyna 95  3:22  5:11  6:27  - 95, 107, 109, 76 (101)
Catherine106   -     -    7:34  - 

800m
Ryan   69  2:08
AJ     69  2:13
Steve  70  2:15
Joe W  70  2:20
Will   75  2:26
Joe M  75  2:30
John   76  2:30
Eric   76  2:36
Alex   79  2:38
Ryan   78  2:39
Arjun  80  2:42

800m
Val     82  2:37
Janelle 83  2:51
Alicia  96  -

3200m
Nate   80 2:39 3:58 5:16 6:35 7:54  9:12 10:24
       80   79   79   78   79   79    78    72
Kenny  80 2:39 3:58 5:16 6:35 7:54  9:12 10:27
       80   79   79   78   79   79    78    75
Geoff  81 2:40 3:59 5:18 6:39 8:03  9:30 10:54
       81   79   79   79   81   84    87    84
Ethan  81 2:41 4:07 5:36 7:05 8:35 10:04 11:27
       81   80   86   89   89   90    89    83

4 x 800
Nico  62  2:11.1  Joe M   74  2:32.4  John    74  2:33.0  Joe W   70 2:30.8
Vanzo 63  2:12.9  Nate    63  2:11.7  Kenny   69  2:37.9  Geoff   72 2:32.9
Steve 66  2:19.9  Alex    78  2:38.8  Justin  77  2:42.9  Ethan   73 2:32.5
AJ    68  2:15.9  Arjun   80  2:43.4  Tristan 79  2:41.9  Patrick 84 2:52.8

Orienteering News

Nate headed to Italy?

Well, the US team for the Junior World Orienteering Championships was announced last night, and Nate is listed as the first alternate, in a very heated competition for the spots. The rankings in all "A Meets" over the last year are used to determine the team. Here is how the top 20 & under US orienteers are ranked:
Greg Ahlswede DVOA 96.11
Gabriel Svobodny MVOC 94.20
John Goodwin WCOC 92.95
Jordan Laughlin USMAOC 92.74
Andrew Childs GMOC 91.22
John Hensley Williams GAOC 89.75
Nathaniel Lyons ROC 89.60
Michael Norris USMAOC 89.41
Carl Underwood NEOC 85.89
Huw Stradling COC 85.24

Nate missed the top 6, and an automatic spot on the team by 0.15 points. That works out to be as little as 22 seconds in one of the races over the last year, or about 5 seconds per race, for each of the 6 races that counted in his rating. Ironically, he was 4-0 against John in their common races, but finished behind him.

Last year, the top Junior's rating was 88.32, so the competition has improved tremendously over the past year. Nate was also ranked 7th last year, when his rating was only 76.60.

The good news for Nate is that the rumor is that Jordan Laughlin (a cadet at West Point) has US Army duties to fulfill this summer, and may not be able to make the JWOC competition.


Webster Orienteering Team headed to Buffalo?

Since the team was not quite ready to tackle an Orange course at West Point, in the Interscholastic Championships this year, we have set our sights on the Buffalo Orienteering Festival on May 16th and 17th. Complete information is available here. I am arranging free lodging just a few miles from the Saturday race sites (my father and sisters have a total of 4 houses in East Aurora), and I can provide transportation to/from Buffalo for a decent number of competitors. The Early Bird pricing expires this week, so sign up soon! I can help you sort out how to enter.

Athena / Odyssey

It looks like tiny Odyssey actually contributed more distance prowess during indoor track, than the much larger Athena. I think we will have some very good races on our hands tomorrow.

Starting with the 1600, here's what they did:
Aaron Heckman (Ody) 4:48
Tyler Zimmerman (Ody) 4:51
Kevin Richard (Ath) 4:55
Brian Houle (Ath) 5:10

In the 3200, they put up:
Aaron Heckman (Ody) 10:17
Tyler Zimmerman (Ody) 10:58

Looking at their 800 speed, we see the following in the 1000 indoors...
Nate Wallenhurst (Ath) 2:46
Kevin Richard (Ath) 2:46
Tyler Zimmerman (Ody) 2:48
Aaron Heckman (Ody) 2:49

... and the 600...
Steve Kleinhammer (Ody) 1:29
Kevin Richard (Ath) 1:31
Tyler Zimmerman (Ody) 1:33

So, by combining the teams, they can put together a reasonable 4x800 relay.

Happy Easter!

I trust everyone got their tempo run in over the weekend!

Another meet on Tuesday, at home against the Athena/Odyssey combined team. I should have a scouting report posted by tomorrow evening. Athena did manage to beat us at the County meet in XC, but only one runner from either school should have broken into our top 4.

A Tough Loss

Here are the splits from tonight's disappointing loss to Fairport. Tonight was not a good night overall. In fact, it completely sucked (especially after the meet).

1600m
AJ     78  2:36  3:48  4:52  - 78, 78, 72, 64
Nate   78  2:37  3:48  4:57  - 78, 79, 71, 69
Ethan  79  2:40  4:04  5:21  - 79, 81, 84, 77
John   80  2:43  4:06  5:27  - 80, 83, 83, 81
Joe M  80  2:43  4:07  5:28  - 80, 83, 84, 81
Alex   82  2:50  4:18  5:40  - 82, 88, 88, 82
Arjun  86  2:58  4:32  6:07  - 86, 92, 94, 95

1500m
Anneliese 83  2:55  4:30  5:34  - 83, 92, 95, 64 (85)
Becka     91  3:11  4:50  5:54  - 91, 100, 99, 64 (85)
Khrystyna 97  3:25  5:20  6:39  - 97, 108, 115, 79 (105)
Catherine106  4:02  6:15  7:48  - 106, 136, 133, 93 (124) 

800m
Ryan   64  2:04?
Steve  64  2:21
Joe W  70  2:23
Joe M  75  2:30
John   74  2:31
Alex   79  2:40
Arjun  86  2:58
AJ     64  DNF

800m
Val    73  2:35
Liese  78  2:41
Becka  83  2:51

3200m
Kenny  79 2:44 4:05 5:26 6:47 8:08  9:27 10:43
       79   85   81   81   81   81    79    76
Nate   79 2:44 4:05 5:26 6:47 8:08  9:30 10:56
       79   85   81   81   81   81    82    86
Geoff  81 2:48 4:15 5:41 7:05 8:30  9:53 11:13
       81   87   87   86   84   85    83    80
Ethan  80 2:48 4:15 5:42 7:11 8:40 10:10 11:32
       80   88   87   87   89   89    90    82

4 x 800
Steve 66  2:16   Joe W   72  2:32   Kenny  70  2:34   Justin  74 2:32
Nate  65  2:15   Alex    78  2:38   Arjun  80  2:49   Patrick 86 3:01
Vanzo 62  2:08   Geoff   68  2:30   John   74  2:34   Ethan  ~73 2:34
AJ    59  2:05   Ben     74  2:38   Joe F  75  2:32   Eric     ? 2:38

Fairport Scouting Report

Short version: Andrew Rice

Slightly longer version:

Fairport was quite limited in their indoor performances. Andrew Rice went 4:32 in the 1600 and 2:39 in the 1000, but their best 3200 performance was Kevin Jablonski's 11:02 (see that Geoff?).

They were a better team during XC season, and I would expect some of those runners to have returned for outdoor. Ethan Rice ran fairly well during XC (e.g. 18:23 at Sectionals) and Evan Losh beat Nate in Nordic Skiing.

The distance team should be able to outscore Andrew Rice, errr, I mean Fairport, tomorrow. Overall, the meet should be another good one, so the distance points will be important.

Splits

OK, I still have not figured out how to make a pretty table inside a blog entry, so this will again look like garbage, but here are last week's splits:

1600m
Nico   73  2:25  3:32  4:48  - 67 3rd lap in a shot for the win
Ethan  77  2:38 ~4:00  5:20  - 77, 81, 82, 80
John   80  2:44  4:07  5:28  - 80, 84, 83, 81
Joe M  79  2:42  4:07  5:29  - 79, 83, 85, 82
Alex   83  2:50  4:17  5:35  - 78 last lap indicates too much left, but great time
Arjun  87  3:01  4:38  6:11  - 87, 94, 97, 93

800m
AJ     62  2:00
Ryan   61  2:02
Joe W  71  2:22
Ethan  69  2:23
John   73  2:28
Will   73  2:28
Joe M  75  2:32
Alex       2:34
Eric       2:34
Arjun      2:53

3200m
Nate   76 2:34 3:53 5:13 6:33 7:52 9:08 10:22
       76   78   79   80   80   79   76    74 - great last 1/2; last mile almost a PR
Adrian/
Geoff  78 2:39 4:01 5:26 6:52~8:19 9:46 11:06
       78   81   82   85   86  ~87  ~87    80 - a little too much left

4 x 800
Ryan  64  2:09    Joe     74  2:32    John   74  2:33
Steve 65  2:13    Patrick 80  2:55    Arjun  78  2:48
Nico  65  2:10    Geoff   72 ~2:33    Adrian 73 ~2:27
AJ    64  2:14    Will     ? ~2:33    Ethan ~73 ~2:29

Wow!

Yes, this is a long overdue post on the victory over Rush-Henrietta last Thursday. The Distance Team, for many years a liability to the boys track team, was no such thing this time. Against one of the top distance teams in Section V, and the early favorites to win the large school category at next year's XC Sectional meet, our squad more than held their own.

It started off with a warning shot over the bow. Nico made a courageous effort to steal the 1600m run, but couldn't match the closing speed of the opposition and settled for 3rd. The 800 was a different story. Vanzo took the lead, and gapped R-H, but AJ stayed close and had a brilliant second lap for the win, with Vanzo finishing a solid second place. Shortly afterward was the 3200m, and an R-H runner went to the front, with a teammate just a bit behind. Nate found a spot ahead of the third runner. Partway through the second mile, as the pace slowed a bit, Nate moved up on the leader, and when there was no response, took the lead and broke away, for a big upset victory that meant we only had to win 2 of 3 relays. That was not an issue as each of the three relays was won by a comfortable margin. Including the 4x800, with Ryan, Steve, Nico and AJ cruising to victory.

I do have most splits, and I'll post them when I am not so tired.

Next up: Fairport, postponed to Thursday. I'll have a scouting report available by Wednesday.