The Best Laid Schemes...

Robert Burns wrote of the best laid schemes of mice and men, saying they go often awry, and Thursday was no exception to that!

We were taking advantage of the fact that we have not run at Northampton Park in recorded history (the course was new in 2006 and revised in 2009) to travel there for a practice on Thursday, ahead of our league meet next Tuesday, and to experience what we seldom experience during the season, after school starts: some serious hill training.

I was able to arrive early and start checking out the course.  I knew there was a ski hill in the second mile, and I had run past it once in the past, but I had not fully experienced the hill.  Seeing it live (rather than on Google Maps) got me quite excited about my planned workout, as its placement was perfect.  The plan (or scheme): some warm-up on the first mile of the course, then dynamic, 2 x 1/2 mile on the second mile, about 5 hill repeats (over 200m a pop), and 2 x 1/2 mile on the third mile (including one last trip up the hill).

The reality: warm-up, dynamic, then noticed some dark and ominous clouds rolling in.  We went ahead with a quick jog and some strides, and got to the line, when the thunder rumbled.  So, it was onto the bus.  After the delay a check of the radar looked promising, so we did a couple of minutes of jogging and a stride before starting the first 1/2 mile.  Just as we finished, another rumble, so it was tempo back to the bus and we had to call it a day.  Not a single hill for anyone (except the coaches who laid out and picked up cones).

The team thinks they dodged a bullet, but now we just have to get creative :-).

Looking to the Dark for Signs of Light

Friday night's Dash in the Dark certainly provided some reason for optimism for this Cross Country season.  While none of our boys will be at the front of big races, it appears that any of the top 4 could be our top guy on any given day.  Getting four runners across the line is a good start, and there seems to be some strong contenders for making the 1 thru 5 gap very small, with perhaps 7 or 8 runners with a chance to crack the top 7.  5 of the 13 boys who ran both years improved by 58 seconds or more this year over last - a sign that hard work is paying off.

While the boys had a good race, the girls were even better.  The top relay team placed 5th, behind only very good teams from Starpoint, East Aurora, Sweet Home and Mendon.  Their time of 37:26 was 11 seconds faster than Val, Amanda and Alaina ran when they won the race two years ago.  And the B team was 4th among B teams, with some excellent running, especially by Ashlynn.  Overall, 8 of the 9 returning girls improved by over 40 seconds, and this year's team beat last year's team by a 24-33 dual meet score.

League Opener

Tonight I'll have time to write up a bit about the Dash in the Dark results, but for now, here is a link to the Yellow Jacket Racing 2013 results page, and you may scroll down on that page to find the results.  They don't list the individual names, but the relays align with the names I listed on the last entry, with A, B and C being in order in the Gold races and D, E and F being in order in the Blue races.

Our league opener is at Center Park, which is located in Perinton, on Ayrault Rd, just east of Turk Hill Rd.  We face Brighton, Fairport and Irondequoit in this meet, all of which are traditionally strong teams.  This year, that is especially true on the boys side, as Fairport and Irondequoit rank 10th and 14th among Class A schools, and Brighton is 8th among Class B, placing them just behind Irondequoit in the overall rankings.  On the girls side, only Fairport was mentioned in the preseason rankings, at 23rd in Class A.  I'll be covering a detailed scouting report with the team this afternoon.

The Boys race first, and are scheduled to start at 4:30pm, with the Girls following, probably starting a little after 5pm.  The temperature could be close to 90 degrees at race time, so there would be a chance of delay if the "real feel" temperature is much above that.  Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Dash in the Dark

Today marks our first interscholastic competition of the season: the fun "Dash in the Dark".  This is a unique Cross Country relay event, where each member of a three-person team takes their turn in completing 2 one-mile loops around the grounds of Oakfield-Alabama High School.  They usually have some hay bales to jump over, to keep things interesting.  The start/finish/transition area is on the football field, in a very festive environment.

The order of events (and our entries) are as follows:
6:00pm - Girls Blue Race
Kara, Sarah, Izzi
Liz, Abby D, Abby F

7:05pm - Boys Blue Race
Noah, Nick, Aaron
Jason, Josh, Mike
Jerry, Zack, Jonah

8:10pm - Girls Gold Race
Julia, Kelsie, Amanda
Natalie, Claire, Ashlynn

9:05pm - Boys Gold Race
Kevin, Peter, Justin
Zach, Ray, Brian
Kade, Adam, Jacob

For those of you who may not know where Oakfield-Alabama HS is located, here is a map with directions from Schroeder:


View Larger Map

The Drought Continues

The streak has run to five.  Once again, the Gold team has prevailed in the annual Blue/Gold competition.  After getting a one-point advantage at the car wash, they took 2 of the 3 intrasquad races, to clinch the overall win, 3-1.  I'm not sure if I have some subconscious bias when selecting the teams, but I do it a little bit differently each year.  On the other hand, it was pointed out that, while I thought I wore a green shirt to the race, to be neutral, it was better classified as gold, so perhaps I do need to be more objective.

The girls race went quite well, with Amanda coming within 11 seconds of the meet record, and the top six spread was only 2:04 (1:57 for the top 5 was better than any meet last year).  On the boys side, Justin went out quickly and took a commanding lead, and held it until around suicide hill, when Peter and Kevin took over, with Kevin edging Peter out down the stretch, finishing only one second slower than Will's time from last year.

Girls results

Webster Park 9/3	Mile 1	Mile 2	Mile 3	Time
Paratore, Amanda	6:20	7:02	6:30	19:52
Canessa, Kelsie	6:35	7:09	6:41	20:25
Wiseman, Julia	6:40	7:12	6:46	20:38
Fitzgerald, Natalie	6:55	7:30	7:11	21:36
Ludington, Claire	6:55	7:38	7:16	21:49
Blose, Ashlynn	6:55	7:45	7:16	21:56
Yursaitis, Sarah	7:30	8:28	7:46	23:44
Cekuta, Kara	7:34	8:43	8:33	24:50
Clemens, Izzi	7:52	9:12	8:37	25:41
Geiser, Elizabeth	8:05	9:44	9:10	26:59
Dyson, Abby	8:19	9:43	9:14	27:16
Fargo, Abby	9:11	11:04	10:01	30:16

Boys Results

Webster Park 9/3	Mile 1	Mile 2	Mile 3	Time
Killigrew, Kevin	5:52	6:17	5:36	17:45
Mallery, Peter	5:51	6:18	5:38	17:47
Shaffer, Justin	5:40	6:17	6:02	17:59
Lyons, Zach	5:51	6:26	6:17	18:34
McBride, Raymond	6:01	6:38	6:10	18:49
Buttaggi, Brian	6:03	6:36	6:12	18:51
Canessa, Kade	6:07	6:46	6:15	19:08
Dyson, Jacob	6:07	6:51	6:20	19:18
Morrison, Adam	6:13	6:57	6:21	19:31
Fargo, Noah	6:28	7:02	6:06	19:36
Paratore, Aaron	6:15	6:59	6:33	19:47
Terrigino, Nick	6:27	7:14	6:40	20:21
Wright, Marshall	6:55	7:39	7:08	21:42
Harrison, Jason	7:01	7:41	7:16	21:58
Edwards, Mike	6:55	8:14	7:55	23:04
Hecht, Andrew	7:07	8:43	7:42	23:32
Merrit, Josh	7:17	8:34	7:52	23:43
Gitsis, Jerry	7:21	8:30	7:53	23:44
Rogers, Jack	9:11	10:29	9:35	29:15
Green, Jonah	9:21	11:19	10:00	30:40

Blue & Gold Start Time

We will be attempting to start the Blue & Gold race at 5pm tomorrow (Tuesday, 9/3), in case any parents want to make it to the race.

The Gold team has taken an early 1-0 lead in the intrasquad competition, thanks to a 15-12 attendance advantage at yesterday's successful car wash.

Blue / Gold Teams Are Set

With the upcoming Blue/Gold meet on Tuesday being preceded by the Car Wash on Sunday (which is the first event in the overall Blue/Gold competition), it is time to set the teams!

Blue

Brian

Kade

Kevin

Adam

Justin

Natalie

Ashlynn

Abby D

Liz

Reilly

Julia

Sarah

Marshall

Jonah

Andrew

Josh

Zack

Gold

Zach

Dice

Peter

Ray

Aaron

Nick

Amanda

Kelsie

Kara

Izzi

Abby F

Claire

Noah

Mike

Jerry

Jason

Jack