Monroe County Girls XC - Preseason Team View

TullyRunners just posted their preseason look at the XC teams around New York State, and since our XC camp started this week, it seemed like a good time to take a look ahead at the Monroe County 2013 XC season.  Today we will be looking at the girls, from a team perspective.

Canandaigua certainly suffered the greatest loss to graduation, losing 3 girls ranked in the top 31 in Monroe County last year, and they did not have as much depth as some of the other teams.  Thomas lost 3 of the top 57, including Eileen, but they had a number of girls not far behind.  Mendon lost 3 of the top 63, but not only did they have decent depth, they also had an off-season transfer: Mary Barger, one of the top F-M runners from last year has moved to their part of the Pittsford school district.  Irondequoit loses their 1-2 punch that made them competitive in many meets last year.  R-H also loses two top runners, and we lost Val and Katie from the top of the Varsity ranks.

Ignoring the shuffling that happened during track season, here is what the returning team scores look like at this time:

1	Penfield	70
2	Rush Henrietta	79
3	Mendon	106
4	Honeoye Falls Lima	128
5	Fairport	154
6	Hilton	163
7	Thomas	199
8	Schroeder	221
9	Canandaigua	245
10	Victor	271
11	Sutherland	280
12	Brighton	307
13	Batavia	344
14	Irondequoit	406
15	East Irondequoit	431
16	Brockport	485
17	Gates Chili	498
18	Spencerport	539
19	Odyssey	560
20	Athena	563
21	Churchville Chili	580
22	Arcadia	623
23	East Rochester	inc
24	Olympia	inc

So, we start out in the 8th spot, with quality teams just behind us (Canandaigua, Victor and Sutherland), and many of our usual nemesis just ahead of us (Thomas, Hilton and Fairport).

TullyRunners sees things a fair amount differently, for the state-wide rankings they have:

7. Penfield 400

17. Mendon 495

22t. Rush-Henrietta 550

22t. Honeoye Falls-Lima 550

27. Hilton 560

Among Class A, they have Hilton 11th and Fairport 23rd.  I think that is more of a tip of the hat to Hilton's past performance than a reflection of where the two teams stand based on last year's results.  And at the top, I expect a very tight battle (again) between Penfield (5th on Tully) and R-H (9th).

In Class B, I expect HF-L (13th on Tully) to provide a strong challenge to Mendon (9th).

All the Cool Kids Were There

The Webster Distance Runners camp opened with a very nice turnout yesterday.  If you were not able to attend, new campers are still welcome for the remaining sessions.

The heat threatened to postpone opening day - as of 4:05pm, the "Real Feel" temperature was still 100 degrees, but it dropped to 94 by 5:10pm and we were good to go, although with scaled-back intensity.

Yesterday's clinic covered safety, so this included timely information on some signs of heat illness, in addition to the good practices usually discussed, such as running facing traffic, ideally on roads with wider shoulders and lower speed limits, and making sure that someone knows your planned route, especially if you are running alone.

Camp Starts Today!

So, the off-season has now ended for me.  While most of the team has been faithfully attending Captains' practices, I have been limited to parenting duties, but today I return to coaching.

Today is especially exciting as camp opens under a new umbrella: Webster Distance Runners is now an official USATF running club and will be the group that administers and conducts the summer running camp.  Coach Brust and I will run the camp in much the same fashion as in past years.  Val has volunteered to be an assistant coach for the camp, and we quite excited by this addition (I am still searching for additional volunteers, if any readers are interested).  I also expect to have at least one guest coach make an appearance to provide a different perspective on the sport.

I'm looking forward to seeing the 2013 XC team at Webster Park by 5:30 this afternoon!

More on XC Camp

The registration form for the camp is now available here:

I believe I have set up the permissions properly for everyone to view / print the document.

The instructions say you can register by sending it to the address on the form, but you can also deliver it to Zach at a Captains' practice (I would expect the other Captains would accept it as well).

Summer Camp Is For Boys, Too

Contrary to the listing in the Webster School District newsletter that was sent out recently, the Webster Distance Runners XC camp is open to boys as well as girls.  All runners entering grades 7-12 are encouraged to attend.  Here are the main details for the camp:

Who:       Open to all runners entering 7^th thru 12^th grade.

What:      A Cross Country camp dedicated to fully preparing athletes for the 2013 season.

Where:   Webster Park, in the field south of the pier parking lot (near the Beeches shelter).

When:    Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 5:30-7:30pm.

Why:       To learn more about the sport of Cross Country, to mentally and physically prepare for the 2013 XC season, and to have fun!

Cost:        $50 – contact Coach Lyons regarding need-based scholarships – checks payable to Webster Distance Runners may be sent to 20 Sanfilippo Cir Rochester, NY 14625

Details:   Each session will include a brief clinic on a different aspect of the sport of Cross Country, and the sessions will include a variety of training exercises that will help the athletes understand how the different components of a training program come together to help them achieve their goals.  The camp will be led by Coaches Mike Lyons and Cathy Brust from Webster Schroeder, and will include instruction and exercises appropriate for all ages and abilities.

Questions?  Contact Coach Lyons at mclyons at frontiernet dot net 

Silver at Nationals for Val!

A beautiful day in Greensboro, NC was the setting for Val's second place performance in the Steeplechase at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.  Keelin Hollowood led early, then Val took the lead on the third lap.  With 450m to go, Keelin made a strong move and opened a gap that she would not surrender.  Val ran 6:47 to place second, comfortably ahead of the heated battle for third, which Hannah Cole lost by just 0.01 seconds (the officials originally awarded Hannah the bronze medal).  So, a very nice ending to a wonderful high school career for Val, who is looking forward to continuing her running at Duquesne in the fall.

The Boys Steeplechase did not go exactly as expected.  First, a runner from Colorado Springs ran away from the field in the first heat, coming within 0.13 seconds of the meet record (and was just 5 seconds off the national record).  Then Brennan Root and Tyler Ranke were running 1-2 in the second heat, with a shot at the win, when Brennan caught a barrier with about 800m to go and did a tumble.  Tyler then opened up a bit of a lead, but was passed with about 100m to go and finished second in the heat, and third overall, as the time from the first heat held up for the win.  Brennan should great heart, as he popped up and finished just a couple of seconds back, sprained wrist and all.

The Girls Two Mile Run was an excellent race with Katie Lembo and Eileen O'Hara in the Championship Section of 13 girls.  The pace was a little hesitant at first, so Katie went to the front to get things moving, and was co-leader for most of the first mile, before a group of three pulled ahead.  Eileen started to fade, but Katie stayed in the mix for fourth for a while before finishing 8th in the very talented field, just a few seconds out of an All American spot.

The Boys Two Mile followed immediately, and went out very quickly (perhaps 2:07 at 800m).  Mickey Burke was in the second pack that formed when the top three runners pulled away.  He seemed to struggle a bit on laps 6 and 7, drifting back to 7th place, but he rallied nicely on the last lap, and wound up 4th, just 0.2 seconds from the bronze.  He almost broke 9 in the two mile, going through 3200m in 8:57.

The East Aurora girls closed the evening in the 4x800m relay, with a very strong performance, knocking six seconds off of their NY State Meet time, running 9:17, to capture 3rd in the first heat, and 11th overall.

State Champions!

The girls distance races at the NYS Track & Field Championships were swept by girls from the Webster-Penfield area, as Katie won the 3000, Val was victorious in the Steeplechase, and Eileen pulled off the win in the 1500.

More later...