in meets by coach mike on 15 Oct 2007
i hope today’s meet at Benton is not a preview of things to come! The flying V with pilot Cameron almost crashed. Jones must of passed 50 people after the 1st mile. The boys ran poorly and won! The girls ran ok, they were all packed together for most of the first part of the race and then split up to finish 2nd, we were running short without our number 3, so i guess thats ok. But we have to race better on Saturday.
in meets by coach mike on 13 Oct 2007
Went to the SIJHSAA state cross country meet held at Benton. The local schools did very well. From what I understand Iuka’s boys won and Selmaville girls won, Franklin Park’s boys placed, Selmaville had the number 1 runner in the boys small class Preston Burkett and Franklin Park had the number one runner for the large school girls Ms. Katie Meador. This meet is always fun to be a part of and to watch! The local feeder schools always do well, Raccoon had good teams this year, Iuka and Coach Vincent had a great year. Coach Hood in the first year at the helm comes up with a state championship team and a state champion individual boy. Coach Evans and Worman at Franklin Park always have their kids ready to run. The St. T school in town has produced several good runners for the high school over the years. Good job to everybody! Just remember running can be fun!
in Practice by coach mike on 13 Oct 2007
I have been out of town working the last 2 days. Wednesday’s practice was a simple run, go out and run, from what I understand some made it more difficult than it needed to be! Oh well, sometimes that is the best kind of practice!
Thursday-400 intervals-10-12 over the course at Franklin Park- had some small hills, sounded like it was a good practice, wished I could of been there. Its that time of year, heading toward post season, I love it. I should be at practice Friday.
in Practice by coach mike on 13 Oct 2007
Did something different at practice Friday. Split into groups of twos (some threes) and did a business card run. The rules were (which most cheated at) run to the a place of business in town and introduce yourself as a member of the cross country team and ask for a business card. The time limit was one hour at which time we were going to count and see you had the most cards. the winning groups get to go out for supper. Of coarse you were to run from spot to spot, you were also going to receive bonus points for business cards from a longer distance. Things didn’t seem right when three runners showed up early with a lot of cards and very little sweat! Finally after an hour here came the rest of the groups with tales of seeing some in a car driving by and hooking at them as they ran! Cheaters! Busted! Disqualified! The next problem was one of telling the the truth about staying together and not staying together! The rule was unclear but one member of the team told one story, the other another! The old which tire was flat, late to school story! Oh well, at least they had some fun, by the time the first teams had been to a business, people were waiting for them with the cards! At least people know we have a cross country team in town now! I guess all this positioning to win, was just wanting to be seen with me at a local restaurant!
in meets by coach mike on 10 Oct 2007
The kids were disappointed, thats a good sign, they care, I knew they did, I justed wasn’t sure how much. We went to eat pizza after, and you could read it in their faces. Thats the part of athletics I don’t like, even when you give it your best the next person might just be better on that day. I was very proud of them, both teams congratulated the winners. That showed some class, that showed a lot class. I’m not sure we could of raced much better, 3 points in cross country is easy to come up with and hard to come up with! i think now we are ready for the post season, a few more tough workouts, to fine tune some speed, and some luck as in no sickness or injuries and we will be ready to kick _____ and take names at the regional.
Other notes: GOOD turnout from the parents and families and members of the community. Lots of GOOD help, peer helpers from the school, thank you! Meg K. thanks tons and Coach Boles thanks. Geff thanks for the computer work. Michael you were a BIG help.
Our tent blew away, my brother was helping watch the course, he calls me on the cell phone, send help! I said what help, am out here in the middle of the field on the other side of the school, anyway Michael showed up and they got it put down.
Thanks for the mowing Mr. Jones and son, and yes we were right the school mowed it the next day!!!! But it still helped.
Seeing Drew sprint to the finish and out kick someone!
Seeing Paige pass two girls going into the shoot!
Seeing Meghan win that all conference honor!
Seeing Lindsay win her all conference honor again!
you too Mollie, thats 3 for you i think, one more to go.
Quote from Mollie “I would rather win the team title next year!”
Nix with a very good almost great race and winning all conference! Jaron looking stronger! Tyler with blood all over his hand, and face and body and still racing! Thomas out there battling, that a boy Tigger!
Alyssa fighting through pain and discomfort. Kaity starting to look like a cross country runner.
Gray big help with putting things up and racing well.
Clark getting his first conference race in, keep working!
Cameron and the boys painting the course!
Jones is starting to talk trash again, thats a good!
The fire in the eyes of Kubicki.
Someone had told the girls they had won, I broke the news to them earlier, so they could be prepared, that shows me they care.
ONE BIT OF BAD-NO LOCAL SPORTS WRITER, HE DECIDED TO GO TO CHARLESTON FOR A REGULAR SEASON GIRLS VOLLEYBALL GAME. THE ONLY COVERAGE ALL SEASON HAS BEEN WHAT I HAVE PROVIDED, NO PICTURES, MOSTLY 2ND OR 3RD PAGE COVERAGE! I SENT HIM A NASTY EMAIL, SO NOW WE PROBABLY WON’T GET ANY COVERAGE!!!
I wished we had won, for the kids, for the seniors, but we got beat by good teams, Robinson boys may place at state, the number 5 has to get better, they have a good coach and Cork will get them better.
Thanks again to all the helpers-A BIG THANKS TO THE WILDCATS (WHO ARE WE?) AND THE LADY CATS FOR A JOB WELL DONE-NOW LETS SEE WHAT WE CAN DO IN POST SEASON!
in meets by coach mike on 09 Oct 2007
I don’t like the number 3, both teams finished 2nd by 3 points. Mt.Zion girls won, I didn’t know anything about them, they ran very well, better than very well. The Robinson boys we knew about and it was a battle the whole race. All conference honors to:Meghan Rakers, Mollie Owen, and Lindsay Bolton. The boys Jacob Kubicki, Jordan Jones, Cory Nix, and Drew Shetley. I’m tired its getting late, yes we were disappointed but we are thinking about the post season now. Good job troops!!!!
in Practice by coach mike on 08 Oct 2007
It was the night before the conference championship and all through the house, the coach was as nervous as could be! But you know and I know there is not much that can be done, its time for the tough to step up! Throw out all the races, all the mile times, throw away the stop watches, tomorrow is about guts and beating people! Both races could come down to one point, which means everybody counts, everybody is important. Its about mental toughness! Leave nothing out there, don’t walk away feeling like you could of done more!
in meets by coach mike on 07 Oct 2007
I like this meet. Its very well ran, Coach Jones and his people do a great job. Its laid back, its a fun course, the only problem this year was the “uncontrollable” weather. It was hot, the high 80′s. I also like the format, run all you want in each race. We had a nice trip up, went to the course on Friday, then to the motel, then to a nice supper. We raced well the boys were 8th out of 24 teams, the girls were 9th out of 15 teams. Kubicki and Jones were 1 and 2 for us, Rakers had another good race. Nice weekend, I think the kids had some fun. Next up is our conference meet, we could win both races , we could be 2nd in both???? I’m hoping for cooler weather, but I’m not sure we will get it. Jordan and his dad came out and mowed some paths today, everything is real dry. I hope the meet goes well, it makes me nervous to host this meet, we just don’t run enough meets, to be honest we don’t host any meets!!!!!!!! Oh well it will workout. I think we are ready, there’s not much more we can do now. Robinson will be tough.
in Practice by coach mike on 04 Oct 2007
Wednesday we ran time, 40 to 50 minutes. Then did some baseball, home plate to foul pole to foul pole back to home plate, run outs. Made the boys do push ups at the foul pole.
Thursday ran the course we will race on next Tuesday for conference. Then was going to run two 1 mile repeats for time. Boys made a bet that if 5 of them could run under 6 minutes, they could for go the 2nd one. The bet was on, there were 8 of them under 6. The girls could propose a bet. Made them all get together, decide the bet, 5 under 7 minutes 15 seconds. Of coarse they made it in flying colors. That was not the best part of the whole thing. What excited me the most was 1. they decided as group (it take a little help from me) 2. they set their goals and met them 3. one of the girls took off her ipod and gave it to one of us to watch and number 4 the top girls all ran hard!!
How to get to the Super 8- I-74 into Peoria, exit at War Memorial Drive.
in Practice by coach mike on 02 Oct 2007
Today’s practice was a track workout. The boys did 2 miles warm up, then 4×400, 1 mile , and 2×800 on track. Had a good workout, Jones looked strong, as did Kubicki. Nix is starting to work hard, showing some confidence in his work. Drew does what Drew does, works hard. The 400′s were around 70 seconds, Jones ran the mile in around 5 minutes. the 800′s were in the 2:30 range. The girls did the same workout- hit most of the marks. Meghan looked real strong, the other Shetley put in a great day at the track. Some of the other girls had a good workout. Makes you wonder.
On a personal note my newly married daughter got back to her home from the honeymoon. She sounded tired, but had a great time. Mrs. Brown????