Weekly Update May 21

May 21
This Past (2) Week(s).

I was lazy this past weekend in doing the Weekly Update. I have an excellent excuse as I was witnessing my daughter's boat win Stotesbury - you can read more at my blog.

It has been a great rush toward the end of the season on the track with a ton of PR's, and a wacky finish to the regular season for the team.

We raced at home against Pemberton in our last dual meet of the year Tuesday the 12th. While there was not a lot of competition from the other team, we had some excellent performances, highlighted by the 1600. 4 guys ran together thru the finish, with Matteson setting the pace and taking the win in 4:46, followed closely by Szumski in a PR of 4:46, Balch and Weintraub at 4:47. Not far behind was Ems with a PR of 4:52. It was very cool to see the pack running we use in XC applied to the track. Friedman led the 2 mile with a nice 10:10. Horton hung on for 6 laps and finished with a great debut time of 10:17. Robinson and Samocki ran together for solid 10:36 and 10:37 times - also PR's.

The younger guys went down to the Cherokee Novice Meet and laid down some very good times. Evan Nece continues to improve and ran another 4:57 showing his growing strength and consistency. Bennett made the Varsity qualifying time with a 4:59.99. Inglis had a PR of 5:01, Sheehan and Fowler also had PR's at 5:14 and 5:27.

Last Saturday was the County Open. Friedman ran a solid 10:01 and placed. Weintraub looked good for 6 laps, but his breakfast caught up with him. He still had a PR of 10:14 on a humid day. In the 1600, Horton ran a 4:44 with Balch closing well in 4:46. They have both become very consistent runners this Spring. Micah Friedman was our sole 800 runners on this Prom-heavy weekend in 2:10.

This past Tuesday was my favorite track meet - the Haddonfield Distance Night. It was a beautiful night again this year under the lights at the cozy track and almost everyone made the most of it with PR's. The list of PR's is long. The two highlights were John Stalle running a 2:01 and Dave Wilson breaking thru with a 18 second season best of 4:59.90 to qualify for Varsity. Also running PR's for the season and in most cases their career: Weintraub 4:37, Ben Friedman 4:39, Matteson 4:41, Robinson 4:42, Balch 4:44, Szumski 4:45, Ems 4:51, Samocki 4:56, Bennett 4:59, Wilson 5:00, Josephson 5:03, Shehan 5:10, Thomas 5:12, Reutsch 5:18, Fowler 5:23, Regan 5:30 and Quien with a 21 second PR of 5:43! In the 800 Micah Friedman also had big PR with a 2:05 and Horton had a super debut of 2:07 (but said he was not anxious to do this race again and would stick to the 1600).

This Coming Week
Friday and Saturday is Sectionals down at Buena. Friday Wolff, Weintraub and Horton will run the 1600. The top 6 will go on to States, and it will take a truly excellent race to make it. Saturday Friedman, Matteson and Balch will run the 3200, while Stalle and Micah Friedman will run the 800. This is a great meet to go down and watch - some great athletes and performances. Group 2 will be there as well, so it is an opportunity to see the Haddonfield runners. Colin Baker has gone 4:20 several times this season and has his eyes in a school record of 4:14. Of course Group 3 has the great Brett Johnson, who has run 4:12 / 9:15 this year and is fun to watch. And you can not count out David Forward to perhaps give Johnson a run.

It is the end of the season for most of you. Here is the schedule coming up:
Now - Hand in uniforms to Eagles.

Now - June 5 - Relax. You should run twice per week, three miles. Take some down time, but keep your muscles in tone so you don't get injured when you ramp it back up by running a couple of times per week.

Tuesday June 2- MXC Sign-up. Meet in Eagles Room at School. Get the word out to everyone and new people! We will be handing out copies of the MXC 2009 Program Guide to everyone! This is new for this year!

June 6 - Scott Coffee Moorestown Rotary 8K. Everyone should plan on running this for fun. It is our kick-off for the XC season - great teams are made during the summer!

June 8 - Captains Practice starts for the 2009 Cross Country Season. Meet at the benches after school.

Coach Eagles & Bickel