CoachB wrote:
Ideally, the two should go hand in hand. If we are going to be good enough to go top 5 at state, we should be good enough to win our league.
Yes, but you should also be good enough at that point to not have to max out the runners every race leading up to State. Right now, I think you've got a bit of a catch-22 by having to emphasize the less important meets so much.
Dan
Updates?
updates?
how did this team do at state this past weekend. too lazy to check
xc1 wrote:
how did this team do at state this past weekend. too lazy to check
Their #1 made it to state and ran 16:33, good for 28th in his division.
As a team, they won the tie breaker for 5th place in their section final, where the top two advance to state.
Looks like there might have been some sickness or injury or lost some kids to other sports, as only three of their six runners from state were on the section finals team. Their #1 and #4 returners didn't run at all this season, as far as I can tell.
I ran for Rocklin HS and graduated in 2010 so I'm quite familiar with the San Joaquin section. Here's my success and how I did it. Hopefully, you could get some ideas.
My junior year, my PRs was 17:34 at Willow Hills. I pretty much stayed around the entire cross country season. Track PRs were 4:54 for the 1600m and 3200m.
My senior year, however, I turned things around. 2nd place at Sierra Foothills League Finals. 16:19 at Willow Hills (And this was when the course was slower than now), 16:10 at Frogtown, 16:08 at State after battling a cold. In track, I ran 4:21 1600m and 9:19 3200m.
Mileage is very important. I understand you're concerned about injuries but the rewards from upping mileage slowly will definitely payoff when it's time for State. Have your guys run at least 6 days a week and you should be meeting up everyday during the school week. I was running around 45 - 50 mile weeks during the summer and continue that into the season.
My coach and I followed Jack Daniels' workouts. The book is titled "Daniels' Running Formula". I would say that was a huge factor to my success.
Wow. I had forgotten about this thread.
Yeah, #1 guy left school to join the army, #3 guy phoned in the effort. #4 guy decided to play football as a senior but hurt his hip in the pre-season and never saw the field (nor the course for that matter). In my first post, I said top 5 HOPEFULLY. We had a brand new runner step up for us and run very well, and another runner who was a pudgy little dude last year come up with a multiple minute improvement for us to at least keep the team respectable. Sorry if it sounded like I was calling my shot, a la Babe Ruth.
We are more or less in the same situation as last year at the same time. We have 11 of our top 12 returning for next year. We should be solid again. If things go well, we could be in the top 5 at state.....or the team could be sitting home again on thanksgiving weekend.
My #1 guy will be the #11 returner at state next year. That is a good starting point. #2 guy ran 1:59 for 800 as a soph and 17:22 for 5k this year. He is a strength/power guy....pushing 180 lbs right now. #3 was brand new this year. I could easily see him running with our #1 guy next year....lots of talent. #4 guy is tough, but inefficient. He never really put together a race this season that I thought was indicative of his fitness.
After that, we will need someone to step up. We had a very solid freshman this year that came up inelligable at the first 6 week grading period. He was the winner at our 2nd league cluster meet in the JV division. To his credit, he ran on his own for 6 weeks and was able to compete well in the freshman division at the section meet at the end of the season after getting his grades up. We have 4 or 5 sophomores who could potentially be great. Great kids, hard workers....one of them needs to develop a killer instinct.