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| MND CC Update 1(7) |
MND Cross
Country Update
Volume 1,
Number 7
October 24,
2015
|
Oct
24 |
OHSAA
SW District 2 |
12th
of 12 Season
Record: 18
- 46 |
Highlights |
||
|
Allison |
38th |
20:49.9 |
|||
|
Beth |
34th |
21:04.0
|
|||
|
Beth |
36th |
21:55.6 |
|||
|
Personal Records |
|||||
|
Erin |
71st |
22:31.6 |
|||
|
Season Records |
|||||
|
Moria |
69th |
22:25.3 |
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|
Maddie |
79th |
24:04.6 |
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Lebanon Results: http://www.finishtimingresults.com/2015/09-05-LEB/index.html
Lakota Results: http://www.buckeye-timing.com/Results/2015/08-29-LAK/index.html
Cedarville Results: http://www.finishtimingresults.com/2015/09-19-CED/index.html
New Richmond Results: http://www.baumspage.com/cc/ccevent.php?peventid=212&table=C
St. X Results: http://www.ghgtiming.com/Website/Results/2015/StXavier/results.html
GGCL Results: http://www.buckeye-timing.com
OHSAA SW District 2 http://www.buckeye-timing.com
Individual Results for
Entire Season
|
|
East Classic |
Lebanon Inv |
Cedarville Inv |
New Richmond |
St. X Inv |
GGCL |
OHSAA SW District |
|||||||
|
Athlete |
Plc |
Time |
Pos |
Time |
Plc |
Time |
Plc |
Time |
Plc |
Time |
Plc |
Time |
Plc |
Time |
|
Allison Rogiers |
7 |
21:00.7 |
7 |
20:52.2 |
15 |
21:03.08 |
5 |
20:51.95 |
20 |
20:36.52 |
7 |
19:48.8 |
38 |
20:49.9 |
|
Beth Heimbuch |
13 |
21:38.5 |
20 |
21:25.9
|
19 |
21:18.29
|
8 |
21:21.21 |
33 |
21:02.19
|
36 |
22:06.5 |
46 |
21:04.0 |
|
Chloe Griffith |
16 |
22:01.3 |
33 |
22:38.0 |
60 |
22:40.00 |
12 |
22:09.65 |
107 |
23:05.86 |
34 |
21:36.9 |
65 |
21:55.6 |
|
Moira Fiebig |
57 |
24:03.6 |
47 |
23:51.8 |
87 |
23:15.29 |
28 |
23:50.00 |
111 |
23:24.46 |
39 |
22:45.6 |
69 |
22:25.3 |
|
Erin McLean |
54 |
23:51.5 |
– |
– |
74 |
22:58.32 |
23 |
23:19.81 |
104 |
22:58.11 |
40 |
22:56.0 |
71 |
22:31.6 |
|
Faith Harold |
78 |
24:55.7 |
44
(J) |
25:27.2 |
154 |
24:14.53 |
31 |
24:11.61 |
128 |
23:53.78 |
30
(J) |
22:48.0 |
– |
– |
|
Reilly Hass |
69 |
24:34.9 |
48 |
23.58.4 |
145 |
24:11.63 |
33 |
24:17.73 |
121 |
23:37.57 |
34
(J) |
22:56.1 |
– |
– |
|
Katie Hohman |
75 |
24:52.0 |
57 |
24:56.0 |
140 |
24:06.76 |
27 |
23:47.60 |
122 |
23:38.45 |
41 |
22:59.3 |
75 |
23:07.4 |
|
Audrey Stevenson |
77 |
24:55.7 |
40
(J) |
25:15.0 |
142 |
24:10.43 |
32 |
24:12.54 |
117 |
23:33.52 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
Sarah Ray |
90 |
26:11.1 |
– |
– |
217 |
25:32.48 |
– |
– |
163 |
25:01.59 |
36
(J) |
23:52.5 |
– |
– |
|
Emma Sander |
– |
– |
– |
– |
139 |
24:06.63 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
Maddie Farlow |
60 |
24:14.7 |
58 |
25:03.5 |
169 |
24:35.01 |
34 |
24:30.26 |
131 |
24:18.12 |
39
(J) |
24:14.7 |
79 |
24:04.6 |
|
Kelly Snyder |
– |
– |
64
(J) |
26:24.5 |
178 |
24:39.76 |
– |
– |
155 |
24:51.45 |
40
(J) |
24:21.0 |
– |
– |
|
Jordan Cline |
98 |
26:42.0 |
77
(J) |
27:06.4 |
255 |
26:36.45 |
49 |
25:37.17 |
204 |
25:42.27 |
64
(O) |
24:24.3 |
– |
– |
|
Allie Kendall |
129 |
29:53.0 |
95
(J) |
27:49.3 |
285 |
27:37.71 |
67 |
27:02.16 |
257
(J) |
26:46.86 |
76
(O) |
24:54.7 |
– |
– |
|
Anna Hale |
88 |
26:03.0 |
70
(J) |
26:44.9 |
209 |
25:18.18 |
48 |
25:34.53 |
165 |
25:03.53 |
41
(J) |
24:56.8 |
– |
– |
|
Taylor Chatlos |
114 |
27:55.4 |
90
(J) |
27:30.2 |
– |
– |
40 |
25:11.95 |
216 |
25:50.73 |
84
(O) |
25:12.4 |
– |
– |
|
Sarah Horton |
117 |
28:11.0 |
– |
– |
287 |
27:45.75 |
65 |
26:56.73 |
259
(J) |
26:49.17 |
85
(O) |
25:21.3 |
– |
– |
|
Sydney Collins |
– |
– |
– |
– |
302 |
28:29.45 |
69 |
27:25.88 |
334
(J) |
25:12.56 |
42
(J) |
25:54.2 |
– |
– |
|
Gabby Marcum |
116 |
28:10.7 |
98
(J) |
27:55.8 |
252 |
26:32.18 |
– |
– |
223
(J) |
25:57.02 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
Abi Brennen |
122 |
28:47.4 |
– |
– |
264 |
26:54.41 |
51 |
25:52.71 |
247
(J) |
26:30.29 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
Nastia Cappozzo |
109 |
27:43.7 |
– |
– |
286 |
27:41.40 |
68 |
27:13.38 |
246
(J) |
26:25.10 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
Mariah Bradley |
133 |
30:25.7 |
129
(J) |
30:41.2 |
320 |
30:14.98 |
85 |
28:36.36 |
303
(J) |
28:14.77 |
95
(O) |
26:38.0 |
– |
– |
|
Elaine Edwards |
134 |
30.31.1 |
135
(J) |
31.22.5 |
322 |
30:47.44 |
86 |
28:37.05 |
319
(J) |
28:44.08 |
103
(O) |
27:41.0 |
– |
– |
Coaches Comments
I
selected the runners to compete at the OHSAA District meet as a way to mark the
end of one era and the beginning of a new one.
The
era that ended was the era of our five seniors
While
this is my first year coaching MND, I have only been the coach for 4 months.
Four months is a small fraction of the 3 or 4 years that our seniors have been
running for MND. For that reason, I
knew that my influence on this team’s seniors would be relatively slight
compared to their past experiences.
Looking
way back to the seniors’ first race of their freshmen year, at the Moeller
Primetime Meet of 2012, Chloe, Moira, and Katie ran varsity and Maddie ran JV. Their freshmen year PRs?
Chloe, 20:57; Moira, 21:56; Katie, 22:40, and Maddie
24:20. (Our current freshmen should
let that sink in for a moment.) Not only were those 4 running fast, they were
just 4 of 10 freshmen who were also running very well: Maddie
Gentile ran 20:29, Ellie Privitera, 22:33, her sister
Sophia 23:43, Cathy Evers-Smith, 23:25; Catherine O’Connell, 25:03; and Beth
Holly, 25:49.
By
the end of the 2012 season, 4 freshmen ran varsity at GGCL and another 4 ran
JV. The future was exceptionally bright for MND CC.
Then,
in 2013, Allison Rogiers, Beth Heimbuch,
Anna Hale, and Kaitlyn Young joined the CC team. The
future of MND CC seemed assured.
But,
unfortunately, somewhere between 2013 and now, things didn’t go as planned. While individuals ran well, at times, the
team, as a whole, did not make the expected progress.
So,
as I have said in the past, and will say forever into the future, I was
extremely grateful that our seniors decided to return for one more year of cross country. For that reason, at District, I gave the
seniors one last opportunity to race together. Their decision to stay with the
team not only ends an era but helped start a new one. The seniors’ positive
attitudes and tremendous work ethic provided their younger teammates a template
to follow in the future.
At
the District meet we had a combination of results.
Allison,
coming off an amazing PR at GGCL did not close out the season as she would have
liked though she still ran her #3 time of the season. She also finished the
season as our #1 runner in every meet. Allison, like all of our seniors, has
untapped potential. Putting her into a comprehensive, year-round training
program is the only way possible to reach that potential. There is no doubt
that a winter conditioning program, and 1 indoor meet, will get Allison ready
to run in close to 5:25 in the 1600m and 11:20 in the 3200m (yes, wrap your
mind around the 3200m, it is in your future).
Moira,
after running as an Open or JV runner last year, regained her Varsity form this
year. She followed up a fast time at GGCL with an even faster time, at
District. Her 22:25 was her #2 time ever. A winter conditioning program will do
wonders for Moira and my personal goal for her in track will be 12:20 in the
3200m and 6:00 in the 1600m.
Chloe
ran her #2 time of the year and faster than any time she ran last year. all but two of her best times in her freshmen year. Last
year, Chloe did not run varsity for us at GGCL or Districts. This year, she was
a varsity runner by any team’s definition. I do not know Chloe’s plans for
track but if she does decide to run, I see her running very fast in the 800m
and 1600m. Actually, Chloe has already run very fast in the 800m and 1600m. Her
freshman times of 2:29 and 5:43 are ridiculously fast. But, based on her CC
season, I do not have any doubt that she can run even faster than this Spring.
Katie
took the entire season to get back into shape after a broken toe. But her work
paid off for her and she followed a SR at GGCL with her #2 time of the season
at District. Because of her toe, the season ended before Katie could really get
in great shape. If Katie stays healthy during the winter, but continues to
improve her fitness (though swimming?) then she can start the track season
really close to where she ended her cross country
season. If that happens, I suspect Katie will run under 6:00 in the 800 and be
part of our 4x4 and 4x8 teams.
After
running 23:05 last year, Maddie was poised to run
close to 22:00 this year. But she took on a work schedule that made it impossible
to train consistently. Maddie is a testament to how
important training is to racing well. Her season was heading in the wrong
direction until she made a commitment to work with her employer so that she
could be at our most important practices. As a result, her times started
dropping, instead of rising, and she ended up with a SR at District.
We
had two non-seniors race at Districts, too.
Beth,
still fighting the effects of her illness, ran a very strong race from start to
finish and ran her #2 time of the season. Beth was ready for a huge
breakthrough at the end of the season but factors out of her control kept that
from happening. Still, Beth displayed all the characteristics of a front-runner.
Next year, with a better pre-seasons preparation, I expect Beth to step into
Allison’s vacated spot and be one of the best runners in the GGCL and SW
District.
Erin,
as usual, ran another big PR. Erin seems to have unlimited potential. The major
drawback Erin is facing is experience. In only her second season of high-school
running, she ran so fast this season compared to last season that she’s
basically a rookie again in terms of race experience. Erin’s strategy,
therefore, has been to run close to Chloe and Moira. Next year, however, those
two will not be here so we will have to develop another strategy. Erin has
decided to run track in the Spring so I expect she
will continue to drop significant time off her PR next year.
What’s Next?
I
mentioned that the District meet marked the start of a new era.
After
4 months with the team, I can now answer the question I have had on my mind
ever since I started coaching at Mercy 2 years ago: “Why isn’t MND competitive
in the GGCL?”
The
answer has two parts.
Part I: We Need More Runners
MND
has talent but it just does not have ENOUGH talent. Every other GGCL team had
24 runners identical in ability to the 24 runners on MND. But every other GGCL team
had an 16 – 30 runners in addition to those
MND-like 24 runners. That means for every Allison, Beth, Chloe, Katie, Anna,
Faith, Gabby, etc, that we had on the MND team, every
other GGCL team had 2 Allisons, Beths,
Chloes, Katies, Annas, Faiths, Gabbys, etc. Some
of the teams, like Ursuline, had 3 runners who were
equal in ability to each one of our runners. Mason, with its 130 girls(!)
has 6 runners for every one of our runners. (Imagine having 6 Allisons on your team. Mason does. That’s why they were 3rd
at State.) At the District meet, if we had 2 Allisons,
two Beths, and two Chloes,
we would have scored 233 points and been tied with Oak Hills for 9th.
Keep in mind, Allison didn’t run her normal race and Beth was still feeling the
effects of her illness. But when we
lose an Allison or Beth or Emma, then we lose our only Allison, Beth or Emma.
Other teams have an additional Allison, Beth or Emma to fill in when needed.
Had everyone run well, and had an identical twin, MND would have scored about
155 points and been 5th.
Depth
makes all the difference in cross country and we just
did not have enough girls to be competitive. At the GGCL, Elaine, our slowest runner, ran faster than 7 St.
Ursula runners. Seven! And Allison, our fastest
runner, ran faster than EVERY St. Ursula runner. So, that would indicate that
we should be very competitive with St. Ursula and maybe even beat them.
However, between the time Allison finished and the time Elaine finished, there
were only 17 other MND runners (of our 24, 4 were out due to illness, 1 due to
injury). St. Ursula, even with 7 of their runners finishing behind Elaine,
still had 43 runners finish between Allison and Elaine. Ursuline
also had 43 runners finish between Allison and Elaine. Mercy had 32 runners
finish between Allison and Elaine. It is literally impossible to win a cross
country meet if, every time one of your runner crosses the finish line, 2 or 3
runners from another team crosses the finish line, too. This is not advanced
math. So, just getting an extra set of equally talented runners would make a
significant difference in our competitiveness. What that means is that we don’t
need better girls, we just need more girls exactly like the ones we already
have.
So,
how do we get another set of equally talented runners? Each girl on the team
has been asked to bring one new girl to the team next year that is exactly as
good as she is. (Seniors, you will need to recruit two new runners who are
exactly as talented as you are since you are not coming back next year. Good
luck with that.) We also need 10 – 15 freshmen coming out for the team
next year because for every senior we lose, we need 2 – 3 freshmen to
replace them. My job, as coach, is
to make sure every girl that does come out for the team has a positive
experience, returns to the team the next year, and runs faster and faster each
year.
So,
building the team numbers is very important because our low numbers is one of
the reasons we are not competitive.
But
numbers alone wont solve the problem and that brings me to the other reason MND
is not competitive.
Second, We Need More “Runners”
I
could not be happier with the commitment our team made between Aug 1 and
October 17. Girls came to practice, ran hard, took ice baths, stretched, and
did core and bands. As a result, times dropped substantially throughout the
season.
But,
as I spoke to each girl about her plans for the Winter and Spring, I was amazed
by how many of the girls did not consider themselves a “runner”, in other
words, did not consider running as their primary athletic interest.
Now,
if you are a person that does not consider running to be your primary interest
because you are more interested in basketball or volleyball or lacrosse, that
is perfectly acceptable with me. Cross country is a “participation
sport”, so the only requirement I have for participating is that you commit to
the team during the season (go to all the practices and the meets) and are a
good teammate. There will never be
any implied or explicitly stated negative consequences for any girl who’s primary athletic activity is something besides running.
That
being said, I have never been associated with a cross country
team that did not have at least 90% of its runners also run track in the
Spring. Just consider the list of girls on this year’s cross country team that
ran track last Spring: Allison, Beth, Chloe, Moira, Emma, Maddie,
Katie, and Audrey. All of these
girls finished in the top half of the team. If Emma had not been injured, she
would have been on varsity and Erin would have been the only non-track varsity
runner.
Why
is running track so important to running well in cross
country? Because the training you do for track carries over into cross country. If you were to run track, there is only a
month between the end of track season and the start of cross
country conditioning. You will not lose your fitness in 1 month. So, you
would end the track season in great shape, take off 1 month for rest, and you
would start conditioning for cross country in very
good shape.
Even
though everyone was racing very fast by the end of the season, I doubt any of
the non-track girls came close to running to their
potential. The season was too short to take a girl from running 1 mile a day in
August to running the types of workouts (like Allison’s, Beth’s, and Chloe’s
workouts) that are needed to race exceptionally well. But what if you started the season able
to run 3 and 4 miles a day? You’ll quickly learn what it feels like to run like
Allison, Beth and Chloe.
While
we will always have, and welcome, girls to the team that do not plan on making
running their #1 sport, if you want to be a successful “runner” AND you are at
least a sophomore, you should strongly consider running track in the Spring. I
would welcome freshmen to run track and cross country
in the same year, but I don’t think it is necessary to make such a commitment
to a single activity that early in your high school career.
If
you want to qualify as an individual, for the Regional or State meet, AND you
are at least a Junior, then you really have to consider a year-round training
program: conditioning in the Summer, cross country in the Fall, conditioning in
the Winter, and track in the Spring. I would not consider it a good idea for
freshmen or sophomores to participate in a 10 month running program. Likely, while
they would run very well early, they would risk burn-out
or injury long before their senior year.
If
this type of commitment seems excessive then you probably are not a “runner”
(someone who lives, breathes, and gets cranky if she can’t, run). As I said before, not being a “runner”
is perfectly fine and you will be welcomed and appreciated on the team. But, if
you want to be “First Team, All GGCL”, run under 20:00, and be remembered as
one of the best runners in MND history (hmm, who does that sound like?), then you
really have to make that type of commitment.
Think
of it this way: how many girls are there on the MND’s varsity volleyball team that ONLY play volleyball during the volleyball season?
I would say “zero”. If you want to achieve the same
level of success in cross country as MND achieves in
volleyball or basketball, then you will need to make a similar commitment. In
other words, be a “runner”.
I
would say the #1 reason that MND is not competitive in the GGCL is that the
girls on the other teams are putting in 3 additional months of training
compared to our girls that do run track, and 7 months of additional training
compared to the our girls that do not run track. I know Mercy puts in that
extra training because, while I was their coach, I met them at least 4 days a
week during the Winter. Their ability to win the GGCL
CC title in 2013 and 2014 was directly related to the fact that most of the
girls on the CC team ran track the previous Spring.
Varsity: 22:00 or Better
So,
to be more competitive, we need to have more runners and more “runners”. But all
of that does not matter unless we run competitive times. And to run competitive
times, we need to have a very good idea what those times are and set them as
our goal.
In
SW Ohio this year, 226 girls ran 22:00 or better. Mercy had 8 runners under
22:00, Seton, 9; McAuley, 10; St Ursula and Ursuline 12 each. Mason? 35! (I will always include Mason
in our discussions because Mason is the team to beat and we need to understand
what it will take to beat them.)
So,
22:00 is the definition of a competitive time. For that reason, next year, our determination
of who earns a Varsity award will not be determined by who runs on the varsity
team during meets. Rather, a Varsity award can only be earned by running under
22:00 at least once during the season. If we only have 3 runners that break 22:00,
then we will only have three girls receiving varsity awards. If we have 12
girls break 22:00 minutes, then we will have 12 girls receiving varsity awards.
I
know that if they make the commitment, the group of runners that broke 23:00
this year will break 22:00 next year.
For
a JV award next year, a runner must run under 24:00. I expect that with a true summer
conditioning program, ALL of this year’s freshmen should run under 24:00.
Season’s Final Comments
Before
I close, I want to make sure you clearly understand how proud I am of your
efforts and performances.
It
was a pleasure to coach you because of your great attitudes and work ethics.
No,
we didn’t place higher than 6th in the GGCL. But now we know what we
need to do to Not Be 6th and with a year to
work on those things, we will be in a better position to beat a GGCL team next
year.
Freshmen
Great
season. Just the six of you dropped over 17 minutes from the start of the
season. Often 2 minutes at a time! Who does that? Well, brand new runners do
that. But next year, if you decide to run, and I hope you all do, you will not
be brand new runners so dropping that much time will not be as easy. But I
still expect you to drop your PRs by 2 minutes or more because you will be in
better shape when you start next season. But for now, go off and play whatever
sport you want. If I see you in track, great! Don’t assume you will be a
distance runner if you come out for track, though. Gabby was a sprinter in JH,
and was particularly fast. I see her on the sprint team again. She might not be
the only one, either. I’m thinking Sarah H, if she runs track, will be a long
jumper. But, if I don’t see you in track, please strongly consider returning to
CC next year. You were great teammates this year and I see fast times in your
future.
Sophomores
There
is a lot of talent in this group. But this is also the group that has the most divergent
athletic interests. That is ok with me. If, however, you decide that you want
to transition from someone that runs to being a “runner”, you will need to make
a commitment to this sport. Way back in the summer, we had a trivia game in the
MND gym. One of the questions on the quiz was how many MND girls have been on
state championship teams in two different sports. You would think that a school
that had one 15 state titles in 20 years would be full of two-sport state
champions. But, if you remember, there was only 1 girl in the history of the
school that has been on state championship teams in two different sports. To
perform at a championship level means making a full-time, full-year commitment.
Some of you may decide to make that commitment to a different sport. That is
not a problem with me. You will always be welcomed on the CC team because of
your work ethic and great attitude. And, as long as you set goals that are
matched to your level of commitment, you will have a positive season. But, if
your goals are high, and many of you should set high goals, you will have to
make the commitment to running necessary to reach those goals.
Juniors
Beth,
Faith, Anna, Taylor, and Jordan, while the freshmen and sophomores have some
time to figure it out, your future is upon you now. All of you have said that
you want to train through the winter and will strongly consider track in the Spring. If, in your senior year, you want to lead MND out of
the GGCL cellar, then you really have to make the commitment to train
year-round. I would like each of you to send me an email ([email protected])
and let me know what you are thinking. There is nothing to worry about. I will
not have any issues if you decide not to participate in a year-round training
program. You will be a very valuable member of the team next year whatever
decision you make. But, there is only one way to get
out of the GGCL basement: we need more “runners”.
Seniors
You’re
free. By that I mean, I am not going to expect you to participate in a
year-round training program that is designed to get you fit for next year’s
cross country season because you wont be here next cross country season. However,
if you plan to run in college, then you really need to participate. You cannot
hope to be successful in college if you do not enter college ready for the work
that will be expected of you. Starting on a year-long training plan while you
are still in high school will prepare you for the year-long training you will
be faced with in college. If you do not plan on running in college but really
want to run well in track, then you should consider a winter conditioning
program of some sort. It does not have to be running. Swimming is excellent. Bowling….
well, just keep you your aerobic conditioning, somehow. For all seniors,
regardless of your long-term plans, I would be ecstatic if you came out for
track. I am sure your track season will be full of PRs based on what we were
able to accomplish this season in CC. Hint: I see a very fast 4x8 in our
future! And I mean, Regionals-qualifying-very-fast. Please
send me an email ([email protected]) and let me know your short-term and
long-term plans. Thanks for everything you have done for MND this season. I
promise to you that if another set of ridiculously talented from top-to-bottom freshmen
decide to run CC for MND, I will take care of them, they
will have positive experiences, they will run faster every year, and before
they graduate, they will take MND to Regionals. Possibly
farther.
