Last Weeks Pictures

Above: Top L-Nick Leiby (800 meter pr 2:03); Top R-Brant Watson and Cody Margetis (1600 meter prs 5:32 and 5:22); Middle L-David Blackford (800 meter pr 2:09 split); Middle R-Hugh Gill (800 meter pr 2:07 split); Bottom L-Shane Leiby (800 meter 2:05 split, came back 30 min later tieing the 400 meter school record 50.2!); Bottom R-Hugh Gill (1600 pr 4:45); Bottom-Brock Kingsland (800 pr split 2:05, came back yesterday to win the mile and run a huge pb of 4:48!)

Here are a few pictures the kids took for me from last week at a conference triangular meet with our two biggest rivals. I was hoping to get some video with the new camera last night, but once again it rained : ( Every picture is of a kid running a personal best that night!

The girls conference meet is Thursday, and Friday will be the true test to see if the boys 4X800 team is capable of qualifying for the state meet. I will keep you posted. Happy Running!

Big Week

Last I updated everyone, we had returned from our first outdoor meet of the season in Moline, IL with a very bright start to the spring. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated since. After a few dual meets with hurricane force winds, we had to cancel 4 meets in a row due to snow, cold, wind and rain. We have also had a lot of injuries since we started workout out agressively on the track, ecspecially those who did not train all winter. And although we did not run particularly fast times at those meets, we competed very well. Even better was that I have successfully recruited 4 "sprinters" to become distance runners and to run cross country this fall!

Last Friday night was our first real chance to get good competition, but once again the weather slowed us down a bit. Despite 30 mph winds and torential rains, good things are sure to come. The 4x800 team that I was sure could run 8:12 finally proved to themselves that the work we put in over the winter is starting to pay off, as we cracked 8:30 without my two studs. Shane Lieby won the open 800 with a solo performance and pr of 1:59. His first time under two minutes! He then came back on Tuesday and tied the shcool record on his first attempt at an open 400m with a 50.2! I am so jealous of runers with that kind of foot speed. Senior Nick Leiby, Shane's twin brother, ran 4:43 to place 2nd in the mile. Although that is not near what I think he is capable of, this proves that with a healthy hip and a warm calm evening, he will run 4:30 before he graduates. Nick also came back Tuesday evening to run a pr of 2:03 in the 800 after going out in a suicidal 56 (not his fault, bad coaching)! Senior Brock Kingsland finally broke through in the 800, running a 4 second pr of 2:05. David Blackford, or Mr Glass as I like to call him, is starting to round into shape, running 2:09 (just in time for him to get hurt again). Freshmen Cody Margetis, Alex Cortes and Brant Watson ran personal bests in the mile, running 5:22, 4:51 and 5:36 respectively.

We have not had the same amount of success on the girls side, but there have been some good performances. Unfortunately we are very short of numbers on the girls squad, which has placed the few I have in a tough position of running more events than needed at times for the sake of scoring points. I could not be more proud of 3 in particular: Emily Gustafson, Cassie Lohmier and Ashley Schmitt. They have ran 3-4 events every Tuesday for the last 3 weeks and have not complained or moaned a bit. And although they are not running as fast as they want, they have competed hard and that will pay off over the next two weeks when we back off for next weeks conference meet.

As all may have noticed from others blogs, the athletes at In-The-Arena have so kindly been supplied with digital video cameras. These will allow our viewers and supporters an ability to see first hand what goes on behind the scenes from day to day. I have to admit I am about as tech-savy as a monkey, so please bear with me as I try to figure out how to use the camera, post in on here and then make some sort of sense of what it is that you are watching. I did have some of my injured kids take video of our meet on Tuesday night, but most of the video is of chopped up races. Tomorrow night is our big home invite of the girls and a huge invite just down the road for the boys. I will really try to take some good footage and post it over the weekend at both of those meets (hopefully they kids give you a good show) and give you a look at what is happening here in Central Illinois.

Thanks for listening and Go Raiders!!!

The Outdoor Season Has Begun

After a long grueling winter, I am relieved to inform everyone that our outdoor season finally kicked off Saturday at the Moline Invite. I say relieved because it is difficult to keep 15 year olds motivated to do workouts when the next race is still 3 months away. The weather was not suited for world record conditions, but nonetheless, we had a lot of successes, a few mediocre performances and fortunately, no bombs.

Starting off on the girls side, junior star Emily Gustafson cruised to a win the two mile by over 30 seconds, and then came back with a bit of a dissappointing third place finish in the mile. She was quite upset with herself for letting the leaders go, but reassured her that she has heavy legs for the first time in her life (from training all winter, her first time) and that she will feel snappy when the time is right. Freshman Ashely Schmitt placed second in her first two mile ever, running just over 12 min. Again, she was a little dissappointed with herself, but as a coach, I was thrilled to see her compete so well and hang in there with a 20 degree windchill, which is really hard on her asthma. Sophmore Cassie Lohmeir ran her first race of the year, placing 2nd in the 800 with a time of 2:26. Like the other two, she was a bit mad at herself for not going after it earlier, but 2:26 is pretty amazing for a 16 year old who plays basketball all winter and has only been running for 4 weeks. Needless to say, we have a lot of talent on the girls side. Best of all, we had a real desire to work hard, compete and see the long term picture.

There were some great races on the boys side as well. My pic for athlete of the day was definately freshman Alex Cortes, who ran his first two mile ever (hanging in well in A heat) and then came back to place second in his heat of the mile running 4:50!!! I cannot express how happy I was for a kid who has not missed a practice since he started with me last summer. Expect to hear a lot more about him. Sophomore Hugh Gill also ran a 15 second pr in the mile, running 4:45. And last, but not least, my senior twins Shane and Nick Leiby kicked off the season with quick splits in the 4X800 and coming back and placing 3rd and 4th respectively in the open 800. We were all a little dissapointed with the times, as I really thought they would run around 2 min. It made me sit down and try to rethink what I have been doing and what I have planned for the next month. As a coach, you must not put the blame of bad performances on anybody but yourself, and after looking back on all the work we have done over the last 5 months, I have decided to stick with the plan. What really threw me for a loop was, after having heavy legs in both 800s, and thinking the 4x400 splits would be sluggish, Shane lead off the relay with a 50 flat!!! Into a cold headwind with two races under his belt and the first time running really hard all season.

So to sum it up, all-in-all, it was a pretty good start to the season. I do have a lot of injuries, especially with the younger kids. Some of that is my fault, as it took me a while realized that some of them just cannot handle anything but easy 25 min runs. I really believe that now that the races have begun, our level of intensity and urgency will elevate. Like I said before, coaching track is a heck of a lot of problems. Dealing with so many problems and personalities can make a coach feel a bit insane at times, but it is all worth it when you see a kid work his rear off all winter and come out and run 4:50 for his first high school mile ever!!!

Take care all and GO RAIDERS!

tim