Bahahaha.
Bahahaha.
I will admit I don't follow HS running very closely and didn't even when I was in HS. I ran open races and pretty much ignored school-sanctioned sports. So it is only through this site that I'm even aware of the Hunters. It seems to me they actually try pretty hard to be heard of. Otherwise, it would be quite difficult for me to have heard of them. I can't name another high school coach. Literally. I'd have had to think for moments if you'd asked me who my school's track coach was when I was a student there. That's how much I respect or care about school teams. I think they are kind of a joke; that's why my teenage self didn't wish to participate.
So here's the thing: in spite of what I just wrote, true though it may be, I could rattle off the names 'Loudon Valley High School' and 'Joan Hunter'. Let me reiterate that LRC is 100% to blame for that. I'm not aware of any press they have received anywhere else. But what I really don't get is how emotionally involved the crowd here is in the topic. Like, you all really care - a lot - about this scene. This is most noticeable when point #5 above comes up. Posters one after another will passionately and vigorously argue against recruiting rumors and accusations. Why is that? I certainly don't have a dog in the fight. Neither do all of you - unless it is Mrs. Hunter herself posting (which actually is likely).
Why would you not want to be considered a great recruiter? Wetmore is. I'd guess he's proud of that. Salazar was. He'd talked many a runner into joining him. I'd be bragging about it if I were in the Hunter's position. Is there a single individual in the school district in question who can run more than a mile without stopping who isn't or hasn't been on their teams? I will go out on a limb and say there is not. That is due to effective recruiting. The best distance runners at my school were in my training group and nobody tried to recruit us to a school team. That describes a lack of recruiting. (I'm actually happy about that. If we had heavy-handed coaches like the Hunters who were willing to talk to parents, I may have felt pressure to sign up.)If no effort is put into it, I'm not sure you'd have a program at all.
But that's just within district I'm referring to. Do any of you argue that such recruiting does not take place? If some rando they don't recognize is seen ripping off mile repeats on the track after school, do you suggest the kid is not approached? We weren't at my school. You would be at Valley.
But there seem to be a huge number of what apologists call 'transfers'. Why they need to apologize for recruitment is beyond me, but Joan and/or someone else with an agenda always surfaces when a thread goes that direction. Why do kids get their parents to move just so they can run for the Hunters? It's due to what I call recruiting - very effective recruiting. If they speak to a parent and give them the old
'I believe your son and daughter would be able to meet and perhaps exceed their expectations.... We can promise their potential will not go unused...... There are no guarantees in sports, but......' That's recruiting.
It is possible some of you define the term differently. There are those who may believe that recruiting equals payment. If so, I agree, they don't. Then again, why is anyone ashamed of the constant recruiting talk? Admit it. Be proud of it. Brag about it.
Come on, protect the most vulnerable? That's what wearing masks, all the time, does, for everyone. Simple, and many, many athletes are doing this, and we will continue to do this for some time. The argument that these coaches are standing up for the athletes' welfare is just wrong, and these posts sound so much like the first ones when college programs started pulling back or cancelling seasons. Outrageous, fake news, unfair. Well, the only real mistake was these decisions didn't come soon enough. Even the smallest chance of spreading Covid deserves this type of care and sacrifice (that's probably not the right word). Hyperventilating? Passing out? Haven't seen it.
I haven't met anyone with Covid but I believe that people are dying of it. I also believe that the Hunters would do what they believe is in the best interest of their athletes and eveveryone else's.
Feel bad for the Hunters but not the wacko, rich, entitled Northern VA parents who moved there purely for athletics. They won't admit it because they don't want to be "those parents" but they are. Good thing they moved for "family reasons" (Sarcasm). You can win a national and state championship if your parents find loop holes in the system or are rich enough to buy it for you
Not in Loudoun County. Athletes have to wear masks at all time including competition and hard running.
I think they love coaching and would do so even if the team was bad. When they took over in 2012 LVHS was pretty horrible and they stuck with it. I agree all the transfer stuff is insane though. Maybe all the regulations were just too much. As a coach your legally liable for the safety of your kids. I don't blame them for wanting to be responsible for that.
It’s cross country season. Are the Hunters back coaching? The mask mandate has not been lifted in their county.
looks like wrote:
https://t.co/oDtEoRHBmm
Summary? I am not going to sub to Bezos' toilet paper/rag.
Yeah, if someone with a Washington Post account would cut and paste the article and then post it here, we'd appreciate it. Thanks. I'm cheap (assuming it costs money to get a subscription).
It says little except they were resigning at seasons end. It was mostly about the meet.
It's also nearly a month old.
Hunters left Loudoun Valley the same year Soles left Great Oak. Crazy.
Would someone please cut and paste the article, even if it says little and is old? Thanks.
LC is a liberal cesspool with the rest of the state not far behind. Have you been watching the school board having parents arrested for fighting against CRT in their schools. It’s currently trickling downstream into the rest of the state.
bleu wrote:
LC is a liberal cesspool with the rest of the state not far behind. Have you been watching the school board having parents arrested for fighting against CRT in their schools. It’s currently trickling downstream into the rest of the state.
LC is a bastion of lost clueless self-entitled neo-con idiots. I have multiple kids that attend LCPS - great schools.
Hunters resigned - maybe they were unable to adapt or maybe they are empty nesters looking to move on. Who cares!
BTW - the parent was arrested for not following procedure at a public form - was warned multiple times and assaulted a Sheriffs deputy. Typical neo-con spin - playing the victim when it serves your narrative.
I read the article just by clicking on it. It truly says nothing about the Hunters departure. The title says as much as the rest of the article re the Hunters. The rest is about who won what at the meet.
800 critic wrote:
I read the article just by clicking on it. It truly says nothing about the Hunters departure. The title says as much as the rest of the article re the Hunters. The rest is about who won what at the meet.
Understood, but for me, and most, it isn't as simple as "just clicking on it." That didn't work, because I wasn't registered and didn't want to register. But I've gone ahead and taken the time to enter the Washington Post site with an email address and then a password. Annoying, but I understand why the newspaper, like so many other sites, require registration. I was wrong in thinking that I needed to purchase a subscription to be able to access the news stories.
So here is what the article said. It does say something worthwhile. No earth-shattering revelations, but interesting. Not a waste of words on paper:
By Spencer Nusbaum
June 19, 2021|Updated June 19, 2021 at 8:28 p.m. EDT
Even as the runners of Loudoun Valley High endured the stresses of a pandemic, a condensed roster and the weight of their coaches’ forthcoming exits, there was a sense of familiarity in the Virginia track and field powerhouse’s performance at the Class 4 state meet in Lynchburg on Saturday.
The state titles on the boys’ and girls’ sides were an emotional last hurrah for the seniors and for co-coaches Marc and Joan Hunter, who announced in May they would resign after this season and then punctuated a run of 19 state championships across seven years and three sports at the school.
“It’s kind of a love-hate relationship with the covid year, but it ended really well,” said junior Ava Gordon, who paced the girls’ team with first-place finishes in the 800 and 1,600 meters with two personal records.
It was also a welcome victory for a team that has battled with its mental health this season. Marc Hunter said that for the first time in his career, most of his guidance came off the track. On Saturday, it came to fruition.
“I’ve never seen a team that bonded so well,” he said. “They knew they were coming off something really hard and they needed to come together to make it special. And they did.”
The Loudoun Valley boys’ team created a large gulf between itself and the rest of the field early in the meet, eventually reaching 86 points — enough to easily outpace second-place Courtland (61 points). Senior Matthew Smith, who is headed to Furman University to study and continue his running career, finishing first in the 800 and 1,600.
“Especially after a close defeat in the cross-country season, I’m so proud of our boys for rallying together and winning convincingly today,” Smith said after his final race in a Loudoun Valley singlet. “Proud is an understatement.”
Ava Gordon leads Loudoun Valley girls to cross-country title; boys come up short of sixth straight
The girls’ team found itself in a tighter contest, but its third-place showing in the 4x400 relay brought it across the finish line. Its 71 points were enough to edge Jefferson Forest (55 points) and Fauquier (42 points).
In most years, the Vikings have turned to the depth of their distance program to rack up points. But with pandemic protocols limiting the pool size in each event, the team sent out its most balanced performance in recent years, reaching the podium in 18 of the 34 events.
For the Vikings, the gravity of the last year and the weight of the coaches’ final chapter sparked gratitude.
“Even if it wasn’t what I expected my freshman year, I couldn’t have asked for more,” Smith said.
Sure, if you're interested in how Ava Gordon made out at the meet, its quite informative. ;-)
When you let 50 of the 250 speak and close the floor you have a problem. Are the blacks speaking against this craziness also Nazis? Please, we aren’t stupid.