Coach Mikes Blog

in meets by coach mike on 03 May 2008

No matter how much these guys have driven me crazy this year, almost to the point of throwing in the towel, (not really) when it comes to the conference championship, they don’t mess around! We scored in every event, doubled placed in all but three, every relay was in the top 4. Sam Follet cleared 13′in the pole vault to finish 2nd!!! Thats crazy! Josh finished 3rd in the event! Tony Bartley, what can I say, around season long, he couldn’t hit the board, he was driving me nuts! I yelled at him at Centralia, I don’t like to do that, but I needed to try something different with him, it didn’t work. Finally we had a little heart to heart talk, a little pat on the back session, he started to look better, then at conference he goes over 21′ in the long jump and over 40′ in the triple to win both, All Apollo!  Then Q Garrison was 2nd in the triple with a jump over 40′. The high jump we doubled, we had some problems, but Sager and Follet scored points and thats what counts! Branch got to the finals of the 100M, he was pumped! Both of our hurdlers won their heats to get the finals. I took a little bit of gamble and let or put Pruden in the 200M, thinking we could get two to the finals, Pruden did make the finals. Matt won the discus with a throw over 140′. We doubled in the shot put, Logan finally threw over 40′, he went over 41′!!! I told him if he didn’t throw over 40′ he would walk home (2 hour trip in a bus) and there would be NO FOOD!!!!! He showed me! So down he needs to hit 45′! On the track we started to pile up the points! The 4×800 won going away. The 4×100 placed and ran a good time for us. Jones was 2nd in the 3200M race and Nix was 3rd, more points. The 110 hurdles was the race of the night, the two Wildcats battling a Robinson hurdler. Ryan Knapp fell at the finish to settle for 3rd. The top two spots between Harris and the young man from Robinson was tight, Harris got the nod, to win. More points. Branch finished 4th in the 100M with his newly colored red hair, every year he comes up with a new hair style at conference! The 4×200 with preparation H with Bartley finished out of the medal hunt but still scored points for us, not bad for 3 sophomores, Hanus, Hargis, Heminover! We doubled in the 400, Brummel 2nd and Dan 4th. Kubicki ran a great race in the mile to win that event, looking very strong with his finish, Jones placed to score us more points. The 300 hurdles we went 2 and 3 with Knapp and Kloppadel. Pruden placed in the 200M and the 4×400 relay team of Pruden, Wilkins, Brummel and Conklin won the last race of the night. I left out the 800m run, we have won that race the last two years. Newton High School gives a traveling trophy each year to the winner of this race, so I handed the trophy to Pruden on the way up and told him we expected him to bring it back. I was very worried about this because i let him talk me into running the 200M. Which means he had to run that prelim, then his leg of the 4×800 before his race. Coach Cummings was not to pleased with me over this, so Kory needed to bail me out. There were two other good racers in the event, young man from Newton and one from Robinson. All three with about the same seed time. This at the “get go” turned into a four horse race with Wilkins in the pack also. Cummings and I both thought Wilkins would go out to the front, instead Kory took the front. After the first two hundred Kory and Hahn from Newton pulled away, strange thing happened next at the 400 meter mark Hahn took the lead, which means he ran the back stretch running into a head wind. Pruden set in behind him until the last 150 and he started his kick to win the race and keep the trophy in the hands of the Wildcats.

The boys stepped up, won the meet by 80 points for the 3-peat! I couldn’t be more proud of their efforts, everybody that made the trip scored points for the team one way or another. Guys like Dustin Fredrich, Adam Hargis, Matt Heminover, Doug Hanus made the trip for 1 or 2 events, maybe just a relay, they could of belly ached and said no way I’m going for one event, but no they were there for the team, to do what is needed! Thomas Goff, was very strong in the 4×800 relay to help us score points that was his only event, but Thomas is your team player, what we need he does! The 2008 Wildcats will go down as winning the Apollo Conference Championship by 80 points! Be proud to be called conference champions!