Coach Mikes Blog

in meets by coach mike on 05 Oct 2008

Its amazing to me that year after year one school can dominate a sport like York Elmhurst. There they were again, front of the race in their white uniforms with green trim. Top two males runners from York. Coach Newton sitting in his chair yelling at his troops.

I thought we raced well, we looked strong, then we got the results and we were 32nd out of 52 or 53 teams.  The girls were like 37 I think out of 42. Once again the girls were packed in tight. Tiffney was our number one for two meets in a row. She ran a decent time of 20:21. Courtney was number 2 for us, followed by Alyssa, Mollie and Paige was back in the line up for her first race in over 3 weeks. The girls looked stronger to me, better finishes, we will have Kaity back next week end and Chelsea, so we should be full strength. Plus Paige should be stronger after a week of practice.

On the boys side-Nix had a great race running number one for us and Jones also raced very well, running our number 2-both their times were the best we have had up there in several years.  I was hoping someone would break under 16 minutes, they were  close, maybe we will get another chance in a few weeks.  Goff and Hesser raced well-Hesser got knocked down, stomped on and spiked, but got up and ran in our top 4. Kubicki was our number 5, he is in rut, struggling with the mental aspect of racing right now. But he is a senior and has been through the struggles before and will snap out of it!

So we move on-this weekend we race at Centralia and then the following Tuesday is our conference meet. So its time to get serious, time to focus.

The trip to Peoria is always special-the kids have a good time, get to spend sometime together. They get to eat at Cheddars, hang out together. Enjoy that 6 hours on the road.

in meets by coach mike on 28 Sep 2008

Well that was a hilly little 5k. Not sure what to think. The girls had a pack time of 42 seconds 1 through 5. Now in most cases thats good, but when your number 1 is 41st, you have a little problem. Also when your freshman that has been running 6th and mostly 7th for you is number 1 that too is also a little problem. I wonder sometimes how important this is to some of them? Do we focus and prepare mentally? Or do we just show up, thinking that we aren’t going to do well, so why not just go through the motions? Lets not push ourselves, lets just get done with this so we can go home! Do we warm up right? Do we even run any of the course to warm up? Or does the coach need to follow you around like in grade school? I’m looking for someone to step up and race, to lead by example in the race! I know some are trying. Do we not work hard enough in practice? Do we need more miles? Do we need more speed? Or do we need more —–? Positives- the cheerleader, with only three workouts, this past week ran number 2 for us, the freshman ran well. Mollie ran without as much pain. Courtney was sick as a dog, but has she been doing anything to make herself better (sickness)? Kaity ’s problem is showing back up. Alyssa ran a good strong racing starting off and then faded, but you know she was giving all she had. By the way the cheerleader does have a name-Chelsea and the freshman is Tiffany. Right now I predicting a 3rd or 4th place finish at conference and 5th or 6th in the regional, thats not be very positive, but time is running out and the finish line is getting closer each day!

Boys race-split the squad and tried to run two full teams in the varsity and the jv, but that didn’t pan out, we have too many injuries. So we ran 5 in the varsity and 4 in the jv. Nix ran very well, got a very good start and was our number for over half the race, before Jordan caught him. Cory had been getting better each meet. Jordan was under the weather for a couple of days during the week running a slight fever. I like the idea of Nix moving forward. Kubicki had another tough race, he seems to be unable to focus on the task at hand, this is not uncommon with seniors, they have a lot on their plates, all kind of things to worry about, college, ACT scores, girl friends, grades, getting into the college you want. Life is getting ready to be different. Its tough having fun with this sport-you run and you are excepted to run fast. You run over roads, up hills, through creeks, hard dry ground, wet muddy grounds. It hasn’t cooled off yet, so its still hot, of course there is not time outs and no subs-if you are having a bad day, there is no where to hide. Sometimes the fun is the trip home-bus time- time to cut up a little-time to share-time to talk and laugh. We had a very nice trip home-stopped at the food court at Fairview Heights for lunch. That was the bus drivers idea and a good one-NO McDONALD’S! The trip home is a time to bond with your teammates! Back to the race-Thomas also continues to struggle, I know he will come around-he always does. Sam Follett, soccer player, ran his first race of the season, not a good one to start with! But his time was good, 20:23-take almost 30 seconds off for the 3.1 and maybe another 30 or more for the hills, not bad at all. Use Hesser and Clark in the jv race trying to build some confidence for the younger guys, Hesser raced very well, had a bad start but recovered very well to finish 5th overall, would of been 3rd on our varsity-Clark had a good start-faded then came back, finished 21st-they gave 20 medals! Meigs is getting better and will be a solid racer for us in the future years! The day was ok-somewhere different-the drive was easy- the park was very nice, would like to go back and just walk around for a bit sometime and look things over. This week we travel to Peoria for the big invite-hope to put some guys in the top 75 or better-not even sure I’ll have enough girls for a team! May have to have Kirsti Owen run!

in meets by assistant coach on 25 Sep 2008

Here are the directions and a race map for the Hankcock Cross Country Invitational (Jefferson Barracks).

Meet Info and Directions

Race Map

These can also be found on the Meet Directions page. 

in meets by coach mike on 20 Sep 2008

Today was the Olney Invitational. The meet was bigger this year than it has ever been. Why? Two reasons: The Apollo Conference meet will be hosted this year at the College and also Olney will host a regional or maybe its a sectional for class A later this year. So everybody wants to race on the course. This is a very nice meet with close to 27 teams there today. The Lady Rams won the girls side of the meet, while Mater Dei’s boys won on the boys side. Some very good races with the top runners also. Margo from Mt. Vernon was beaten for the first time by a freshman girl from Freeburg, who has a twin that finished 3rd. The boys race was won by Walters from Mt. Vernon out dueling someone that at this moment, I can’t remember who he was or where he was from, because I don’t have the results. Anyway some very good races today. The team results weren’t real close, our girls were 9th and the boys a very good 2nd. The girls need a front runner, Courtney was like 34th, you just can’t do much when your number one is that far back, unless it was the Peoria Invite then that would be ok. But front runners are hard to come by. Plus the ladies are getting better, and we will just have to keep working to get better, hoping a top three, maybe top two finish at conference would be very good for this group. The boys, the top three raced very well, but can do better. The 4 and 5 were too far back, a 1:53 pack time is not good. Jones had a very good race, and Jacob K raced a lot better, Cory had a good race. Goff is still brothered by shin pain, made up a lot of spots but just had to slow of a start. Hesser was in his first real varsity race and got bounced around and did not handle it very well, hopefully he learned something from the race today. Clark ???????????? I don’t know. Top 3 must continue to get better and then the next group must keep moving up.

in meets by coach mike on 15 Sep 2008

Had a very nice picnic hosted by the Jones last Saturday night after the Mt. Vernon meet. Thanks for the  hospitality. Had a very good turn out. The food was good and  people got to meet each other.  This get together is one of the nicer things we do and I really enjoy the chance to see the parents of the athletes.

in meets by coach mike on 14 Sep 2008

Mt. Vernon Rams  invitational-the flighted races-seven different races, starting with your number 7 runner working your way up to the number 1 race.  Had to use Bryce as our number 7 runner, we have several injuries. He did the best he could, but we put a 6 on the score board and we couldn’t recover from that. Bryce will be a good runner, he just needs time to get better and needs to put in some miles in the summer. Musial ran for the girls in the number 7 girls , she had one of the girls better time. Clark and Knaak ran the next race. Both struggled. Chelsey is doing the best she can, she is a cheerleader and just doesn’t get enough time to train, I hope next year, she might be able to run during the summer and build some base. Clark just didn’t have it, he is only a sophomore, the mental part of the game he still needs to work on. He’ll work at it. Number 5 race featured TG, Mr. Goff and Ms Zimmermann. Thomas was all geared up, ready to go and he took off and never looked back-Zim raced well and she keeps getting better. Next race was Peanut butter cup, super freshman, Jacob and Kaity. Jacob ran a heck of a race, when he and the boy from BE took off from the pack, the race was on, only problem neither one of them knew the course that well, the BE kid got off the course and Jacob got back on quicker than he did and won, so that was 2 wins in a row for us. Kissner ran a solid race for the girls. In the number 3 slot was Nix and Shetley, by this time the heat and humidity had really kicked in. Nix raced very well finished 2nd-looked strong. As strong as someone who is 6′2 and weighs 130 can look.  But he did look good.  Shetley battled, she was under the weather a little bit. Next up number 2 race, Kubicki and Owen. Of late Mollie has looked better in practice and has raced better, she had another race with improvement, which is good. Kubicki started out strong and then faulted. He just doesn’t handle the heat and humidity very well. But he knows he needs to be tougher. Race number 1 pitted Jones and Wiedemer as our runners. Jordan settled in second place after hanging with Champbell for while and finished the race in 2nd. Courtney finished with the best time for the girls. She has had a very good season so far, very proud of her.  This type of meet is all about being mentally tough, being ready to race, we were about 50% on that, we need to be better at that.

in meets by coach mike on 09 Sep 2008

Both squads won! So extra work on the day before the meet didn’t affect the performances of the runners. Best race the girls have ran all year. Courtney continues to lead the way. She looked strong again today, best time on this course for us in several years. Mollie had her best race so far this year, she is starting to show some life toward her running. Shetley was Shetley, she just works hard all the time. Miss Kissner ran strong as did Ellie. I was very please to see this group of young ladies step up. Varsity boys looked good 1 to 3. Jones went out fast, another sub 5:10 first mile, he finished 3rd over all. Kubicki even though he took a bad fall and skinned himself up, raced to a 5th place finish. Nix looked very strong and is getting better each race. The new kid, Jacob H, ran a very good and smart race for a freshman in his first varsity race and brought home 9th. Thomas is having some problems with his shins and struggled to a 17th place finish, followed by Clark and Davis. In the open race Bryce was the number one boy. Brittney ran very well in the open. Gray stone fought through the pain to run well.

in meets by coach mike on 07 Sep 2008

Sunday morning, just got back from church. Fried some eggs for breakfast. Some notes about the meet yesterday. Need to leave by 6 am, 6:30 is to late, we got there at 8:10 am and the first race starts at 8:30 am!!!! The weather was nice, over cast at first, nice temperatures for racing.  Tif had a good jv girls race, finished in the top ten and, she was proud of the medal she got, I should of raced her in the jv race at Murphysboro. Chelo had a good race for only 3 practices, she was disappointed, but I wasn’t, I saw the will to compete in her eyes.  The f/s boys race was a test for Jake and he came through with a very good race finishing in the top 10 and putting up a good time, good experience for him.  The other younger runners are looking better, which is good to see.  The girls varsity race, as far as the finish as a team, I wasn’t very happy about that. But looking for bright spots, Court continues to race well, as did Alyssa. Mol showed some signs of improvement. We still need to work harder and get better before conference.  The varsity boys race was good, but not great. We still need to put together a complete team race from top to bottom. Jones had another very strong race, but Jacob struggled, while Nix picked it up. Goff was strong at the end, but still struggles at the start. Clark looked stronger this race, while Hopkins fell off. We had set goals -top 5 team finish- we finished 5th. Beat as many 2A schools as we could-two beat us. Triad and Springfield High. Triad looked tough. So we move on to Tuesday at Herrin, a meet that we do well at every year, only difference is we are going to work hard on Monday and then work through the meet, test of toughness! The grades will be posted on Tuesday night!

in meets by coach mike on 03 Sep 2008

The first one is in the book, and what did we learn? First don’t get on the floor of the bus, there could be gum on the floor that will stick in your hair!  The hurricane did not cause it to rain! Baby D can run a whole race. P D Meigs can run a whole race. Tanya and Britany can run a whole race. Tiff can pull her hair back.  Little Jake can race, as he won the jv race. Grayson can be a leader of young men. Cam the man can gut it out! Jim West is not out west but in Murphy! And he is ahead of schedule. That the Mt Vernon jv girls can start the race from their camp site. AND THE WILDCATS CAN WIN AS A TEAM IN MURPHY!

Jones, Kubicki and company raced well enough to win the team race beating Mt Vernon by 6 points, but where was Cross? That was the big question?  Fast first mile for the boys JJ at 5:07 and JK at 5:18. Then Nix at 5:35.  We won but, here comes the coaching thing! Big gaps-need to close the gaps! But we will! i thought Tyler had a good race! He needs to get more mileage and he could be a big help!

The girls struggled as a team-Courtney and Alys had good races-the rest are going to get better, I promise!

in meets by coach mike on 03 Aug 2008

First day of practice is August 13th. We are meeting at the high school on the track at 6 pm.

August 13^th season starts

Season Starts August 13^th

September 3^rd Murphysboro

September 6th Granite City

September 9^th Herrin

September 13^th Mt. Vernon

September 20^th Olney

September 22nd Tri Meet @Mt. Vernon

September 27^th Hancock Invite @Jefferson Barracks St.Louis

October 4^th Peoria

October 11th Centralia

October 14^th Apollo @ Onley

October 20^th Benton

October 25^th Regional@ Mt. Vernon

November 1^st Sectional@ Centralia

November 8^th State@ Peoria

Changes on the schedule: no Metamora, Centralia Invite instead-two reasons for this change-1. the high cost of travel for us and the parents. But the most important reason-the sectional will be held on this course and we as a team we do not run this very well-we need to become tougher on this type of course and the only way to conquer is to attack and you can’t attack if you don’t race on the course and own it! as of now it has owned us!