Official Idaho 2024 Track Thread

Heemeyer will push the pace. Nobody else has the same incentive that he does to do it. Ringert, Sheesley, Helder, Max CS will all sit off of him if he doesn’t make it fast enough, and Stadtlander will too if he runs it. It will be interesting to see how Jeff Howard will gameplan for it. I don’t think Landon will want to leave it to a kicker’s race if he can help it, and I don’t know that he will necessarily be able to run away from the other guys if he tries to solo it.

His 9:03 is the best altitude mark, but then he only went 8:59 at sea level 3 weeks later.

I think the girls group has more potential champs than people think, and I think you could absolutely see someone really good and really decorated over their career not score.

Orme is really good, too. Allie Bruce is always there. Rilyn Stevens looks great. I wouldn’t be shocked if Sasha Livingston stole it. Reeder is another good frosh that has a lot less racing under her than Ihmels does. Earl is out there as well.

I still think Ihmels will win it but that 1600 shows she’s more vulnerable than I think most people assumed.

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Looking at splits from Heemeyer's Pasco 1600, he ended up closing the fastest in the field in 59.2, over Teeples 59.3.

Cervi-Skinner brothers both closed 60.9.

Heemeyer will still need a decent gap to hold off the field. Before Pasco I would have expected that he would need a 30-40 meter gap to secure a win, but now I'm thinking a 10-15 meter gap could still seal the deal for him.

The CS brothers closed the last lap in exactly the same time and ran the last 800 meters within .016 of each other. Not .16. Literally .016.

My guess?

Kemper in 4x800, 1600, 800, 4x400.
Helder in 4x800, 1600, 800, 4x400.
Sheesley in the 4x800, 3200, 1600, 800.

Boise at most, Helder pushes Lucas down one spot in the 3200, and the upside is that he takes 3rd or 4th. That's only worth 6-7 points on the swing. If he pushes Cole Reed and Lucas/Jensen in the 800 and takes 3rd, it's worth an 8 point swing. Boise goes from in contention to winning the 4x400 to fighting for 3rd if Helder doesn't run it and Rocky becomes the favorite to win it. Goggins is unlikely to score much if anything in the 3200 (Heemeyer, Ringert, Sheesley, Lucas, three CDA guys, Ihmels, possibly Stadtlander).

Lucas will break for 4x800, 3200, 1600, 4x400
Jensen will go 4x800, 800, 4x400
Cole Reed will do the same
Heemeyer will go 4x800, 3200, 1600, 800

Rocky will be concerned with maximizing points at 800 so Jensen won't even try to run the 1600 since it will be an absolute dogfight to score in. Between Heemeyer, Stadtlander, Kemper, Helder, Lucas, Sheesley, the CS brothers, another CDA guy, Ringert, Ihmels, I think it could take 4:18 to score, especially because Heemeyer's best placement will come from even splitting it upfront and pushing the pace early, hoping that Stadtlander and Kemper fall off the pace enough to not kick him down. I know he closed fast, but if it turns at all tactical, he could finish anywhere between 4th and 8th. Boise's and CDA's best bet would be to immediately get up front and slow things down to 4:20-ish pace and try to box in Lucas and Heemeyer to leave it to the last lap. It saves Kemper and Helder's legs for the 800, and Lucas has been outkicked in the last month at 1600 by Max and Zach CS, Helder, Kemper, and Stadtlander. The dream scenario for Boise is that they can make it bunch up and Heemeyer and Lucas score 5 points or less together in the 1600 final.

Boise is about equal across everything else. They have to beat up Rocky at the distance races, and making them tactical for the 3200 and 1600 is their best bet. It's Rocky's best bet to time trial it.

Sub-5 is far from enough to help a team get top 2 at the state meet

Oregon relays entries are out.

Idaho kids in distance races and what heat they look like they are in:
800-
Bruce (2nd)
Annabelle Carr (3rd)
Tylee Smith, Jamie Roldan (4th)
Samantha Watson, Elizabeth Baruch, Annie Herd (5th)

Helder (1st)
May, Chase McOmber (2nd)
Thomas Stevens (3rd)
Nick Janecko (5th)
Ethan Derderian, Luke Drescher (6th)

Mile:
Ihmels (1st)
Chitwood, Orme (2nd)
Lily Simmonds, Olivia May (3rd)
Carr, Sasha Livingston (4th)

Kemper, Stadtlander, Cervi-Skinner brothers (1st)
Stockett, Benjamin Jensen (2nd)
Ringert, King, Carr (3rd)

2-mile:
Emma Bellomy, Gabrielle Johnson (2nd)
Ihmels, Reeder (freshman)

Ringert, Ihmels (1st)
Stockett, Clasen Chamberlain, Stadtlander (2nd)
Carr, James Anderson (freshman)

Kemper in 2k steeple

Lots of relays... Looks like Boise is going for the win in the DMR and mixed 4x800, likely has a good sprint medley as well.

Huh?

Maybe coaches shouldn't seed every single kid in the 100 and 200 that ever recorded a mark and then have 40% of them not even show up. The 100 took 2 hours last year, and then half the kids leave because it's taking forever.

Really great 1600m on Saturday. Luke started off the race HOT with a 60 flat 1st 400 and a 2:04 first 800, but slowed heavily in the last 800 and almost got caught by the field. The rest of the field took it out slower than expected (65-66 first 4 and 2:11/2:12 first 8 for the top guys.) lots of jostling up front, especially in the middle 800, but things began to string out in the last 600. Sheesley and Speirs took off in the last 400 and almost caught Athay at the end. Goss and Ringert had good finishes as well, with Goss ending up nipping Ringert at the line. Ihmels ran solid as well, running a PR and rounding out the top 6.

So the athletes have to suffer for mistakes of the coaches?

come on, thought we were better than that

Luke’s lead at 800m was the biggest I’ve ever seen at that point in an invitational. It might have been close to 50yds. It looked a little surreal. Najera.photo on Instagram kind of shows the lead, though I didn’t know at what point in the race he got that shot. I imagine no one thought he’d hold on after pacing himself the way he did early so they didn’t go with him.

With better pacing and a few pulling and someone pushing him at sea level, he could have been close to 4:10. Not bad for just a year post surgery.

Looks like JV Districts has now officially been limited to 3 guaranteed entries per event.

13 teams x 3 entries = 39 out of 48 final spots, so the next best 9 in the district will get in.

Thoughts?

Personally I think that those who have made this decision should not and cannot call themselves real coaches and/or promoters of the sport.

The purpose of high school athletics is to give athletes recreational opportunities in a good natured, yet competitive environment, allowing the students to grow in non-academic ways.

The purpose is NOT to give special opportunities to the top 5%. The purpose is NOT to help athletes get scholarships. The purpose is NOT to hand out medals to the best team on that day.

All of these things are nice bonuses that occur, but should never be the focus of any high school activity. By limiting JV districts to those in the top 3 from each school, ignoring the massive depth disparity, (Rocky will have 5-6 in the top 10 for each distance event, with Boise likely occupying most of the other spots), and actively denying kids a great end of season opportunity, coaches and officials who have come up with this proposal and pushed it forward have failed.

Those who have pushed for this have lost sight of what high school athletics should and can be. I've heard rumors circulating sighting the reason for this not necessarily being to make it a true "championship", but rather, for convenience.

I will stand by this following statement:

If you would rather exclude 80% of athletes from competing, rather than spending 3-4 additional hours at a meet, you should resign. Coaching is not for you. You are in it more for yourself than the kids. Or at least, the slow kids, who through your actions you are declaring to be beneath your position, neither worth your love or your time.

I will be working hard to get this change reversed, and would encourage others to do the same.

The most bogus thing I’ve seen in Idaho Track and Field. “True JV Championships!?”, with the field unlimited as it has been in the past it’s always been the most “True” it could be. No one is getting snubbed if it’s unlimited.

There are probably a few athletes in events that will have better PRs than some school’s guaranteed guys yet they won’t be racing because the field is that deep.

It’s a disgrace.

If they really wanted a "True JV Championship" they could at least have something similar to xc where everyone gets to run but they have two JV District races to make it competitive for the top 3. But it's all to save time these coaches ruin fun in the sport and only celebrate good marks and times. Disgusting.

Let's be honest, JV districts sucks. Nobody wants to watch 4 heats of the 3200 and 30 heats of the 200. This change is long overdue.

Nobody asked you to show up to it.

Thing is, the athletes all expected a complete JV championships when signing up for the season, and the coaches new what it was when they signed on.
If you aren’t going to fulfill your job description, don’t take the job