MXC Weekly Update - Oct. 7, 2012

This Past Week

We had our last dual meet of the season at Cinnaminson on Tuesday.  I don't have the meet results posted yet, but from the quick report I got it was a good, solid race.  The only two stories I heard were how Horten and Inglis had learned from the week before at the home meet and sat on the Cinnaminson runner for two miles and then pulled away for the win.  The other story I heard was how a couple of the guys took a wrong turn.  Another reason to go out with the leaders...

On Saturday we made the big trip to Holmdel Park for the Shore Coaches race.  There were 27 races from 9AM until 5PM - http://nj.milesplit.com/meets/120028-2012-shore-coaches-xc-invitational. The Freshman got the day off to a great start with Schneider and Morris going 4th and 6th!  Certainly the best Freshman showing in Moorestown history. The Freshman team compete against each other, so it was important to get all 5 scoring runners across the line. They were followed by Cramer, Dyer and Wright with Argentieri in hot pursuit for a 4th place as a team - very nice. Feldon had one of the best finishes of the day battling back and forth with another runner coming down the line and holding him off.  We loved the determination of everyone on this freshman team!

The Varsity were up next and had a very solid day given that Schneider and Morris were in the Freshman race.  With a team average time of 17:50, we were one of the fastest Group 3 schools at the meet.  We were 14 seconds and 24 seconds off of the Ocean City and Kingsway team times.  Delsea, also a rival in the South section, was also at 17:50.  Horten and Inglis ran a great race together, finishing 10th and 12th.  Howard had an absolutely fabulous last mile picking up around 20 runners and finishing 37th.  Kramer had an off day, but we loved his guts at the end.  He was in a pack of about 8-10 runners.  Finishing a second faster or slower is a difference of 8-10 points to the team, and he ran aggressively and was at the top of that pack.  Siegel really put it out there running with Howard for almost the first two miles before Howard explosive mile drive.  Caffrey and Klawunn had a chance to run Varsity this week and had solid races.

The JV race was at the end of the day and I was not there to report, so can only look at the times.  Poaletti continues to improve and had a great time of 19:26 - 7th fastest of the day for 5K.  We also had three PR's (a difficult achievement since this course runs about 30-45 seconds slower than last week's Delsea course) - Insalaco, LaGatta and Elia - nice job!

Also special thanks to Brian Wright for figuring out where I had lost my iPhone at our McDonlads-BurgerKing-WaWa stop on the way home in Jackson!

This Coming Week

Friday - County Championships at Mill Creek.  This will be the last meet for Juniors and Seniors who are not part of the Championship Squad.  Always a bittersweet reminder of how fast time flies.  It will be a new course this year - eliminating the wooded section where a number of runners went swimming in the rain and high tide of last year's race.  For more info, go to http://home.comcast.net/~ecolona/ED3.htm. 

MXC Weekly Updates Sept. 16

This Past week

This week marked the start of the racing season!  On Tuesday we got our Batch Meet season started with solid wins over Delran (21-40), Bordentown (17-44), New Egypt (18-50), BCIT Westhampton (15-50). Bordentown and Delran took the pace out quickly the first mile, and our guys settled into a set of packs running together, staying calm, and knowing the race was a full 5K.  Horten and Inglis went 1-2 with very, very fast times (that might have been courtesy of a somewhat short course).  We had a full minute gap between our 1 and 5 runner, which will need to come down by the end of the season to be as competitive as we want to be in the big meets.

We had nearly 30 new guys, who were "initiated" into the world of XC, and it was a great learning experience.  Everyone across the board has made a lot of progress from those time trials we did in August.

On Saturday, we went to the Cherokee Challenge.  This is a HUGE race with over 2,500 runners this year.  Each race had 300+ runners on the starting line, so the guys got some great experience in a fast, crowded start that will pay off down the line.  It is really not our kind of race, as our team really trains for the full 5K (3.1 miles).  A lot of our guys, including Horten and Kramer, got caught off guard by the fast start and were in 80th+ place after 600 meters, with no room to pass people in the back woods.

The Frosh got the day off to a very fast start.  Morris was 5th, Schneider was 12th and Cramer was 25th - all bringing home medals. Dyer, Boyle and Argentieri all broke 13 minutes as well - laying the foundation for the fastest freshman class we have ever had.  Hill and Feldon both improved over 2 minutes from their 2 mile time trial, while Topel and Klawunn ran a faster pace over 2 miles than they were able to do a mile on the track at the beginning of the season!  The improvement is what we strive for on this team, and it has been outstanding!

We have a small Sophomore class, but the improvement there has been just as impressive. Bauscher, Spirgel and Graham all improved over a minute, and Infanger and Voyack both improved by over 2 minutes from their time trials.

We had 29 Juniors and 11 seniors "toed the line". Inglis ran a superb race and also brought home a medal with a 14th place finish. LaLumia, Hillman, Topel, Entwhistle, Waldin, Voyack, Handlan, Moorer, Schafhauser, Dugan, Elia, and Spirgel all had over 1 minute improvements from their time trial.

I wanted to highlight two seniors, Siegel and Klawunn. First, they both ran very good, solid races - picking up runners the whole way. Second, I wanted to give some perspective to the power of the hard work they have put in over the past 4 years and this summer. Their freshman year, Siegel ran 12:37 and Klawunn ran 12:52. Yesterday they ran 11:00 and 11:19.  Neither are naturally "talented" runners, but the thousands of miles they have done in high school have brought them to the point that they are key contributors and leaders on the team. Congratulations to both of them!

This Coming Week

Tuesday

Meet at BCIT Westhampton (again). The bus will leave right after school from the front of the MAC center. The gun will go off sometime between 3:45 and 4:15. Northern Burlington is our big competition in our league this year, as usual. This will be a tight race, so we can use all the support we need! Taking the times from Cherokee, they beat us 27-30 head-head.

Also make sure to take a look at Pre-Race Preparations on our website - http://www.moorestownxc.org/Racing/RacingGuide.html  The big two things to remember are run in packs and respect your competitors.

Saturday

South Jersey Shootout. http://www.sjxcshootout.com/ This is a fun race with separate events for Frosh, JV and a 1-2 race, a 3-4 race and a 5-6-7 race. We will have to determine who is running in those during the week. Bus departure time will be announced during the week at practice.

MXC Weekly Update - Sept. 8, 2012

This Past week

This was our final pure week of just workouts because the meets start this coming week!

The rain really hurt our schedule on Tuesday.  We had figured Monday was a good rest/fun day with Frisbee and we had counted on a good long run for Tuesday.  Most guys were not able to get a good workout in, but we made up for it with a stellar workout on Wednesday.

If you have never been on a track with 60 guys broken into 3 groups running between 5 and 7 800's, it is a real treat.  Mass bedlam. Everyone is rounding into shape to be able to make this a quality workout, so there was some fantastic effort being put forth.  On Saturday we did another Holmdel Hill day.  Special thanks to all the parents for driving!  

This Coming Week

Tuesday

Meet at BCIT Westhampton.  The bus will leave right after school from the fron of the MAC center. The gun will go off sometime between 3:45 and 4:15.  This is a full 5km (3.1 miles) course for everyone.  it is a batch meet where we will face 3-4 other teams.  Take a look at the VDOT charts - most everyone should improve from their 2 mile time trial - to get a feel for what pace you should be running. Make sure you bring food and drinks.  It is tough to run a race at 4 if you have been in class all day and have not had enough food and water.  Also make sure to take a look at Pre-Race Preparations on our website -http://www.moorestownxc.org/Racing/RacingGuide.html.  The big two things to remember are run in packs and respect your competitors.

Saturday

Cherokee Challenge.  http://www.ccctf.com/ch_chal_main.html.  This is a huge race.  There will be 10 races on Saturday ranging from Middle School to Frosh, Soph, Junior and Senior races for both boys and girls. There can be as many as 200 runners in a race.  The distance is only 2 miles for everyone so it will be fast!  Bus departure time will be announced during the week at practice.

MXC Weekly Update - Aug. 30, 2012

This Past week

We are putting this out early because of some special announcements on when and where we are getting together this weekend. But first, we have to give a few call-outs from this week so far.  

First, this is a really, really great team.  Every guy is putting forth some great effort.  And there is a lot of support for each other. Whether it is BWright letting us know that Vanaria is hopelessly lost and made a wrong turn and is likely in Cherry Hill still, or Morris making sure the pack was together on the thresholds today - all of these guys have the whole team in mind first and foremost.

We took the top 25 guys up to Holmdel on Tuesday.  What looked like a brutal rainy day turned out to be beautiful.  Everyone left a lot on those hills.  Ty Schneider made a case as one of the contenders for the Varsity 7 on The Bowl.  Horten, Seigel and Morris all looked very strong. Kramer started slowly as he usually does and finished looking like he was only half way thru the workout after 4 tough repeat miles averaging around 6 Minutes on rugged, wet terrain.

Today was a refreshing Threshold workout.  The guys are really getting a feel for what this about.  The top guys automatically go back to the line after 2 minutes rest and were packed tighter than sardines in a can. Cramer looked great from all the hard work he has been putting in, big Klawunn sticking, and Caffrey transforming his sea legs into terra firma monsters.  Hillman, LaLumia and Entwhistle looked awesome for the mid pack - nice and steady.  Special kudos to Travis Klawunn for leaving a bit of himself on the trail.  And it is amazing how far Marcus Topel has come since we first saw him this summer - a 6 mile day. Imagine what a bit of work is doing!

Saturday

We are doing a workout at 8AM in Haddonfield on Saturday to get hills in.  We are meeting at 5 East Upland Way, Haddonfield, NJ (type it into Google Maps.  There is a swim club parking lot there near the railroad tracks. Rough directions are Kings Highway to left on Warwick Road to left on Upland and just past the tracks on the right.  It takes about 25 minutes to get there, and we appreciate parents taking the effort to figure out car pools and getting the guys over there!

Monday

Yes, we are practicing on Monday at 8AM.  The good news is that it will be an Ultimate Frisbie practice.  We still run a warm-up and warm-down, and get a good speed workout in chasing Frisbies.

Tuesday and Onward

Practice shifts to 2:45 on Tuesday.

MXC Weekly Update - Aug. 26, 2012

This Past week (and a Half) The first week and half of practice has gone well.  We had our 2 mile time trial to establish baseline VDOT's for everyone. You can see the times and VDOT on our website - www.moorestownxc.org. We use VDOT to help us guide the pace and workout level capabilities of our various runners.  One of the great things about XC is that everyone can do it, and it does nto matter what level of runner you are.  The point we are after is how everyone can set goals, improve, and support the overall team.  So our goal for everyone is to improve over the course of the season, and over the course of multiple years.  You can learn more about our approach on these pages: Guiding Principles Training Philosophy Training Phases There is a lot of information on our website.  Sorry it is a bit out of date and the menus do not look so good.  I will get time someday to update this - but the basics are all there, and the front page will include the important information. For those who are new to the team, we break the team up into 3 general groups - High, Mid and Low mileage groups.  The goal is for these groups to get to about 9, 7 and 5 miles per day, 6 days per week.  The new guys who did not run over the summer are still working their way up, but most everyone did at least that much on Saturday. We will have a Parents Meeting the first week of school - we will likely announce that in next week's Update. Outlook The top 5 guys (Horten, Siegel, Inglis, Kramer, Morris) look very solid, and there a number of guys who will be competing for the 6-7 spots on the Varsity.  The Freshman class looks like it could be the best we have had in years.  Morris enters as a top 5 runner, with a great background and lots of racing experience.  Cramer and Schneider did great work during the summer and came ready to run - they are both doing most of their runs with the High guys.  And a bunch of guys who look ready to work hard and learn about this great sport. This Coming Week Tuesday Trip to Holmdel.  We are taking the high guys and some of the mid guys up to Holmdel Park on Tuesday.  We leave at 7 and will be back around noon-1PM. Holmdel Park is the site of the big Shore Coaches meet as well as the State Championships.  It has some great hills where will will be doing some mile repeats. This trip is not for the whole team - those not making the trip will run on their own.  Note we are only taking one bus, and the workout is meant to focus on the guys who have a shot at making the State Team (top 7), though we are inviting a number of other guys. Here is the list (if you have questions, please feel free to contact us): Horten, Inglis, Siegel, Morris, Kramer, Howard, Caffrey, Klawunn, Scheider, Munilla, Burns, LaLumia, Wheeler, Micro Spirgel, Saldutti, Entwhistle, A Topel, Godlstein, Harris, Insalaco, Argentieri, B Wright, Loveland, Vanaria, Dyer, Waldin, Voyack X2.

RunSignUp for Timing Services

We have had some great adoption of RunSignUp from timing service partners.  We provide a unique Timing Service Program that gives both timing services and race directors access to the race information.  This means no more emailing of race participants, but access to the latest by-the-minute information.

Here are some of our partners who take advantage of this program today:

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• Road Runners Club of America - http://www.rrca.org/services/online-services/create-event-profile/
• RunningintheUSA.com - http://runningintheusa.com/Race/OnlineRegAbout.aspx
• HiTek Racing - http://www.hitekracing.com/feature.htm
• Lee Timing - http://www.leetiming.com/index.html
• TNT Event Management - http://tnteventmanagement.com
• Pro Race Group - http://www.proracegroup.com
• Michigan Running Foundation - http://www.runningfoundation.com
• Run Snoqualmie - http://www.runsnoqualmie.com

We will continue to build out the capabilities to make life easier for timing services.  Look for some nice additions from us this winter that will integrate some of the most popular timing service software into RunSignUp.  If you have suggestions for us, please let us know!

MXC Weekly Update - Nov. 7, 2011

This Past Week South Jersey Group 3 Championships - We started this season thinking there was only a slim chance of us being able to make it to States.  To do so, we would need to finish in the top 5 teams in South Jersey in Group 3.  We had lost 4 of our top 5 from the previous year, including the best runner to ever wear an MXC uniform.  However, this group of young men made a decision to work - and work hard.  They ran all summer long when the days are hot and the miles are boring.  They stepped up to a new level of mileage - 9 miles per day - that would give them the strength to be able to compete at this level.  They really came together over the past two weeks.  Hammering out some of the most epic workouts our program has seen, including the rain-sleet-hail-snow 5 X Paul Drive the week before the race. The culmination was STATES!  Yes, we are moving on thanks to this dedication and some really remarkable performances. Jack Inglis continued to show his leadership - running in the top 15 the whole way.  He earned a great PR, and importantly helped Horten the whole way.  We had a plan that the two of them should run together.  Even though Kevin Horten was nursing a sore IT Band injury, having Jack set the pace gave him the marker he needed to keep going.  He knew if the team was to have any chance, he had to hang on for dear life.  He ignored those demons that come during the race to just let go.  He shattered his PR and ran sub-17 minutes for the first time in his life. No way he does that alone.  Jack really showed the importance of running as a team and stepping up. Joe Inglis provided the biggest breakthrough of any runner.  He broke his PR by 35 seconds and just missed sub-17 by 2 seconds...  This was a big league performance.  He warms up with a very loose, talkative attitude, but once in the race he runs with a quiet determination.  He picked up places the whole way - focusing on the stripes of his older brother and Horten ahead of him. Luke Howard had one of those races where you learn to be tough.  Every runner has races where they are not at their best and the legs just don't feel right in the race.  Many runners will pack it in and accept that it is not their day.  Howard was a true warrior.  Gritting out every single place to make sure his team had a chance to advance. Reed Kramer had a horrible workout last Saturday.  It was the beginning of an illness and fever that bothered him much of the week.  No one was sure what to expect.  As he has proven all year, he is one tough runner.  After the race he said all he was thinking about was picking up places for the team.  The result was a big PR and his first sub-18 minute race. Mitch Cain and Evan Nece also ran great races.  As our 6th and 7th men, they both ran faster than 10 of the teams 5th men - pushing competitive teams back in the point totals.  Cain also set a PR by over 20 seconds.  Both Cain and Nece have had a remarkable senior year - really making significant progress from previous years and showing their determination to make an impact on this team in their final year. I want to make special note of Jack Spirgel.  He got sick during the middle of the season.  Unfortunately we can only run 7 guys in races, but in our view we have a Varsity 8 this year.  He has been a part of every workout - putting as much or more effort in each day as any of the other 8 guys.  He has been there at every race, cheering on, but ready to step up if someone goes down.  He has been a true leader by example and really the type of role model this team is all about. Also, special thanks to the guys who came up to cheer on the team (as well as a special surprise, the fastest runner in MXC history, Anthony Horten, was there with some inspiration).  It was a fun day.  Hanging the Sock Monkey mascot in the tree, running around the course cheering the guys on, and learning the ropes so that they are ready to step up as they prepare to take the place of departing Seniors. Our average team time dropped from the South Jersey Open to to this race by over 30 seconds.  While we had an "off day" at that race, that level of improvement is quite a testament to the hard work the team has put in. This Coming Week State Championships - Saturday Nov. 12 10:50 AM Race Time - Holmdel Park We head to the home of Cross Country, Holmdel Park, to take part in the State Championships this weekend.  This is a great final race for our Seniors.  A beautiful course.  The best runners in the state.  A fun day to let it rip one more time this season and see what we have.  Can't wait! Also, remember the team Banquet on Tuesday, November 15 at 6PM in the high school. Go to the website for more information! And the Turkey Trot is fast approaching!  This is our major fundraiser each year.  We need everyone's help - we will talk more about this at the banquet. And finally, we would like to invite all runners to schedule time with us to debrief on the season and talk about your upcoming plans.  Eagles, Cote and Bickel will be in Eagles room after school this week and next week.  Please stop by, as we want to make sure we get to spend time with each runner on an individual basis.