Week of January 4

Hi all!  Happy New Year!!

There are many points to review in this email, so I'll get to it.

1.  Please welcome to our new Coach Heather Bailes to the program.  She has coached volleyball previously at SJA and has a background in jumps and hurdles.  She and Coach Williams will cover all aspects of sprints for indoors.  I will have mid-distance and distance both indoors and out.

2.  Check our meet schedule on the team website - www.sjatrackandfield.blogspot.com.  Look at the top for the tab "indoor track and field schedule 2016"

3.  There is a meet this Saturday at Oberlin...a schedule will come out soon for this, but sprinters can expect to run the 55m dash and the distance can expect to run the 4 x 800.  

4.  Because there is a meet Sat, we need to practice ahead of time at least a little (you should be doing something on your own!!!)

Wed: sprinters at SJA from 2:00-3:30 in the afternoon

Wed: distance at SJA from 3:00-4:30 in the afternoon

Thurs: sprinters at SJA from 2:00-3:30 in the afternoon

Thurs: distance at south mastick 3:00-4:30 in the afternoon

5.  Because there is a meet and because there are practices you HAVE to have your paperwork up-to-date.  Mr. Manuszak sent the email to everyone who needs to get that going.  Get that done before Wed!

6.  Dress appropriately for practices!  Hats, gloves, tights, etc...expect to be outside whenever it is reasonable.

7.  Have good shoes and spikes!

8.  We will pass out uniforms this week...please have solid black shorts or tights to wear at meets.  All black - no white stripes of any kind!!

9.  Our focus for indoors is health, overall fitness, and a suitable background for outdoors.

10.  Happy belated birthday Ceci!!!

Regional Success - Columbus Bound!

Last week the Jaguar track and field team qualified from the Amherst Regional to the state meet in more events (9) than ever before in program history .  In addition, the Jags also scored their most points ever (64) to finish as runner-ups to Brunswick.

To qualify for the state competition, athletes had to finish in the top 4 in their event.  In some cases this meant surviving prelims and semifinals on Wednesday just to make it to last Friday's finals.  The following will be traveling this week to Jesse Owens Stadium at Ohio State to compete against the best in the state.

Brittany Morrison ('15) returns to the state meet for the second time in both the shot put and discus.  She won the regional in the shot put and was 3rd in the discus.
Maggie Wagner ('17) qualified to the state meet with her 4th place finish in the 1600m run.
Sydney Seymour ('18) qualified to the state meet with her 4th place finish in the 3200m run.
Jenea Adams ('15) returns to the state meet in the 100m dash with her 4th place finish at Amherst.
Kye Williams ('16) will be competing for the first time at the state meet in the high jump after her 2nd place Amherst finish.
Monica Hahn ('16) will also be competing for the first time at the state meet in the 300 meter hurdles after her school record time and 4th place finish at Amherst.
The 4 x 100 meter relay team of Hahn, Lauren Zawie ('17), Williams, and Adams set a big school record of 48.61 and finished 3rd at the regional meet.
The 4 x 200 meter relay team of Hahn, Zawie, Bridget Roche ('15), and Adams scored a big 2nd place finish at the regional meet with a season's best time of 1:43.49.

As a sophomore, Zawie returns to the state meet as part of last year's school record and podium placing 4 x 200.  As a senior, this is Roche's first trip to the state meet in any event.

Congratulations and good luck to all!

District Champions!

For the fourth consecutive year the Saint Joseph Academy Track and Field team won their OHSAA district title.  At a new location for the first time in over 30 years, the Lakewood district moved to Brunswick High School where the host Blue Devils were expected to run away with the title.  Despite the fact SJA had lost convincingly to Brunswick three separate times this spring, the Jaguars saved their best for the most important meet of the season.  Most athletes set personal bests and a handful of school records were set.  In all, SJA qualified athletes to the Amherst regional in 15 of 17 possible events.

The barrage of school records began on Wednesday when senior Brittany Morrison went big on her last shot put throw with a mark of 41' .5" - good enough for 9th in the state at the moment.  Morrison would repeat her big last throw style in the discus where she set a personal best of 127' 1" for the win.  Morgan Schauer, a sophomore, also set a personal best at 114' in the discus and finished in 4th place which qualified for the regional meet.

School record number 2 came at the hands of junior Bridget McGuire, who made a big break through in the pole vault where she tied the school record of 10' 0".  That jump placed her fifth, while senior Alexis Bloor finished 8th in the event.

Perhaps the biggest record came with a Beamonesque long jump by Kye Williams ('16).  On her first attempt she leapt 18' 1", good enough for the win and for a 14 inch school record.  Equally mind-blowing was senior Bridget Roche's last jump in finals, which bumped her from 8th place to 3rd and allowed her to qualify to regionals.  She improved her PR from 15' 0" to 16' 11" at districts!

The finals of the running events on Friday were off to a quick start as the Jaguars began the meet with 2nd and 5th place finishes in the 100 meter hurdles.  Williams just missed her own school record set in the prelims Wednesday, and fellow junior Monica Hahn ran her all-time best to set the tone for the day.  Next came senior sprinter Jenea Adams in the 100m dash, where she held of an incredible field to break her own school record in 12.24 seconds and win her 2nd district title in the event

The final school record of the meet came from the 4 x 100 meter relay team of Hahn, Lauren Zawie ('17), Williams, and Adams where they ran a quick time of 49.13 seconds for second place, just .01 second off the winning time.

Other great performances include; Williams and Roche in the high jump who finished 1st and 3rd, Hahn and Roche in the 300H who finished 2nd and 7th, sophomore Maggie Wagner and freshman Sydney Seymour who finished 3rd and 4th in the 1600, Seymour and sophomore Olivia Battistoni who finished 3rd and 5th in the 3200, Wagner and sophomore Katy McAfee who finished 3rd and 7th in the 800, Adams who came back for her 4th event of the day to finish 3rd in the 200m dash, 2nd place by the 4 x 200m relay team of Hahn, Zawie, senior Sarah Stottner, and Adams, and a 4th place finish in the 4 x 400m relay by the team of Katie Pellegrino ('17), Zawie, Wagner, and Roche.

Week of April 13

SJA Track and Field Week of Monday, April 13

 

Welcome back to all of you have been travelers.  I truly hope you enjoyed your experiences.  I also truly hope you get back to track/field mode quickly because while you were away the season didn’t stop! 

 

The annual dual with Mags is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14^th at St. Eds starting at 5:00pm.  The shot and discus will apparently be competed at Mags on Monday at 5:00pm.  We will take a van from SJA at 4:20.  I will have the full itinerary emailed and online by 9:00pm tonight.

 

Congrats to the many great efforts at both Nordonia and Bedford on Saturday.  Our sport is half mental and half physical – I think a lot of you took huge steps on both fronts with your performances.  2^nd at Nordonia and 5^th at Bedford is nothing to gloss over – that is phenomenal!  Thanks to all the girls who came to Bedford strictly for support as well as Lauren for coming to Bedford after the Nordonia meet….very classy ladies!

 

Monday, April 13

Full team meeting in the gym at 3:15

Distance to mastick after – done by 5:15

Sprinters on the track – pre-meet plus light lift

Throwers to Mags at 4:20

 

Tuesday, April 14

Be smart!  You need to have PROPER energy food between lunch and the meet so that you don’t “bonk”.  PB&J sandwichs, bananas, crackers, pretzels, etc…all easy to digest and good for pre-competition.  Gatorade good too. 

Do your homework at school while snacking before we go to the meet – won’t get done at Eds until after 8:00.

Throwers – lift right after school then go to the meet?  Double check with coach on Monday

Full team – we’ll take a bus to St. Eds at 4:00.  If weather is good this will be a drop off only, so bring all your homework, etc…First event at 5:00.  See itinerary on team website.

 

Wednesday, April 15

Distance – to mastick for mileage.  Done by 5:00

Sprinters – at SJA…done by 5:00

Throwers – normal day

 

Thursday, April 16

Distance – at SJA for cross train….done at normal cross train time

Sprinters – at SJA…pre-meet.  Done by 5:00

Throwers - ???  Check with coach on Wednesday

 

Friday, April 17

Meet for varsity at Lakewood HS

Itinerary posted Wednesday for this meet.  Limited entries

 

Saturday April 18

Possible distance run “practice” at Mastick.  More info this week.  Expect it!

 

Week of March 9th

We will be on the track all week, but it will be wet so bring spare clothes to wear for after your running - this includes dry socks.  If your bag is too large for the halls or lockers, you can keep it in the back of room 331.

Monday:

team meeting first

throwers: meet new coach

sprinters: warm-up and SE I workout

distance: with Coach Gallagher

Tuesday:

throwers: with coach

sprinters: warm-up, specialties, lift

distance: with Coach Gallagher

Wednesday:

throwers: with coach

sprinters: warm-up, speed day - bring spikes!!!

distance: with Coach Gallagher

Thursday

throwers: with coach

sprinters: warm-up, specialties, lift

distance: with Coach Gallagher

Friday:

throwers: with coach

sprinters: warm-up, SE II

distance: with Coach Gallagher

Saturday and Sunday: work out on your own

general expectations for track and field!

Hi everybody!  Thank you for signing up and being a part of Jaguar track and field!

*****!!!*****Sunday (March 8) at 11:00am we will have a "shoveling party"...with warmer temperatures coming next week it would be in our best interest to get the track clear ASAP so we can practice.  The more athletes and parents that show up with a shovel the faster we can clear it.  It really should take an hour or less if the numbers are good.  See you Sunday!!!!

This email is meant to provide you with the basics you'll need for the season and hopefully answer some questions before you have them.  If there is something not addressed in this email please ask!

team website:  www.sjatrackandfield.blogspot.com - a lot of historical information can be found here as well as what it takes to earn a varsity letter, the competition schedule, itineraries for meets, etc...Bookmark this page!

physicals/Final Forms - the AD will let us know how we stand with this, but if you know a physical is expiring this season get your new one scheduled now.

Practice times: you will be emailed a schedule for the week each Sunday and it will also be posted on the team website.  Unless otherwise indicated we will NOT start practice as a full group, instead you will meet with your specific event coach.  Typically you will be done by 5:00-5:15 each day....and yes, practice is held everyday including spring break.

If your parents want to be part of a similar email list have them email me and I'll include them on the weekly email.

Uniforms:  we provide a uniform top that you will give back (in perfect condition) at the end of the season.  You should provide your own shorts (they must be ALL black - no white stripes at all!!!!) but can be any style (running shorts or spandex are most common).  

We expected to be outside as much as possible - please bring gear for possible cold conditions.  We will use common sense, but we can't train nearly as well indoors as we can outdoors.

Team gear: starting last fall the track and cc teams have switched to a format of purchasing team sweats that YOU KEEP after your 4 years.  It will have your name, etc... on it.  Order forms will be provided the first week of practice and the order will be put in on Monday, March 16th.  You do not have to buy gear, but you're expected to wear SJA purple gear to meets if you don't.

Practice expectations:  you are expected to be at every practice and to participate to the BEST of your abilities.  If there is a conflict DO NOT PASS WORD THROUGH A TEAMMATE.  You MUST talk to your coach personally.  We understand conflicts may arise, but we expect you to make every effort to schedule appointments and conflicts around practice time.

Meet expectations:  if you are signed up for a meet  you will be there....no exceptions.  You miss a meet and you're off the team (illness, etc...aside).  Just  not showing up is unheard of.  At the meets your job is to compete and help your teammates.  Cheer, be positive, and take care of business.  You are not there for meeting guys, etc...

Varsity letter:  to earn a varsity letter you must meet performance standards at least 2x.  These standards are on the team website.

Spring break:  because spring break is a different week every year, we do NOT switch our schedule.  We realize some athletes go on trips.  We will be asking for you to provide us with specific dates so we know when we'll see you.  If you're in town we expect you to come to practices (usually around noon) and any meets that are scheduled including our own Jaguar Invite.

Bottom line:  COMMUNICATION and organization.  This goes for the coaches and the athletes.  When these 2 things are done properly then a successful season becomes much easier.

I love track and field....it is a great sport and Cleveland, OH is one of the best areas for it in the whole country.  We must set the bar and continue to raise it because everybody around the region is more than happy to kick your butt if you give them the chance.

We are in this together, so we can either thrive to greatness again or we can experience the alternative.  I choose greatness!

don't forget to follow us on twitter....@SJAtrackcc

Go Jags!

--

"HARAMBEE!'

www.sjaxc.blogspot.com

www.sjatrackandfield.blogspot.com

www.sja1890.org

 

Week of March 2

Hi ladies - there are small signs of spring in the forecast!!!  I saw 50s for the first week of outdoors!

Currently for indoor state meet Kye is in the high jump.  Both the 4 x 200 and 4 x 800 are on the outside looking in - you'll both need some teams to not show up to get in. 

In keeping with our "active recovery" phase between indoors and outdoors, here is this week's plan.

Monday - all sprinters until 4:15

Distance runners meet with Coach Gallagher

throwers throw in gym until 4:00

Tuesday - varsity sprinters for running workout then lift.  Plan on being outside!!!  Done by 4:30

Distance runners meet with Coach Gallagher

throwers lift

Wednesday - all off

Thursday - all sprinters have workout then core.  Done by 4:15

distance runners meet with Coach Gallagher

Friday - throwers meet to throw - done by 4:15

Saturday - Indoor state meet - morning session.  HJ is at 9:30 am.

Sunday - train on own.