Monday, February 4, 2013

Indoor Track Update - Feb 4

Darts - 
We had a great weekend at the Olympic Oval for the UHSTCA Invitational (the Utah Indoor State Championships). We had a ton of PRs (personal records), and as a coaching staff, we were very pleased with our efforts and our performances. Our highlights included Seth Fortin setting 2 new indoor school records: 6.95 in the 60m dash, and 22.38 in the 200m dash (finishing 1st and 4th); Jackson Sagers running 1:55.16 in the 800m (Davis #3 all-time and currently #12 in the U.S.); we had 3 other guys under 2:00 in the same race (Preston Johnson, Seth Thompson, and Skylar Williams); Trevor Leavitt with 22.67 in the 200m and 50.75 in the 400m (both #3 on the Davis all-time list); Ben Bracken with a monster PR in the shot put with 51'05 (top Utah mark at the meet); 16 boys under 5:00 in the mile including big prs from Josh Ward (4:38), Isaac Clouse (4:47), Colter Blanchard (4:53), and Kent Thompson (4:59); some big PRs in the pole vault - Trace Arbon (13'00), Andrew Tyndall (12'06), and Korbin Birrell (11'06); we had a pretty fast 4 x 200 with Colton Chronister, Chance Parker, and a couple of young guys - Ty Hinds and Conner Simonsen; Shea Martinez running 5:02 in the 1600 (Davis #2 all-time) and 2:13 in the 800 barely missing her own school record; Ellie Child with 5:07 in the 1600 and 11:14 in the 3200 (both Davis #3 all time marks); Taylor Cox with 2:18 in the 800m - good enough for 2nd place; a total 13 girls under 6:00 in the mile (including 3 great races from 8th graders Ally Geisler, Aubrey Argyle, and Grace Neuenschwander); 4 girls made finals in the 60m hurdles - Christine Van Brocklin (3rd), Hailee Carattini (4th), Karly Sprague (6th) and Phebe Krutsch (7th); a 1st place finish from our girls 4 x 200m relay team (Rachel Anderson, Elise Berning, Tyra Colohan, Bailey Carling); and a 1st place finish from our girls 4 x 400m relay team (Ellie Child, Christine Van Brocklin, BriAnna Gipson, and Taylor Cox). You can see the full results at http://www.runtwolf.com/uhstca-indoor-2013.html
For current national rankings, you can visit: http://www.milesplit.com/rankings/2013/indoor/hs

Overall it was a very positive meet for the Davis Darts. Both the girls and the boys ended up in first place. The girls won in dominating fashion with 106 points - 2nd place was Box Elder with 27 points (the teams who finished 2-5 combined for 95 total points). The boys win was much closer - we scored 75 points and finished 28 points ahead of 2nd place Woods Cross (47). There were more than 40 teams represented in the meet. 

I did feel that there were a few things we can continue to work on. I thought our attitude was not as positive as it could have been when it came to running in our 2nd or 3rd events. Although you might have been tired or possibly even discouraged with a previous performance, you have to work on coming back strong in your later events. So much of that is mental toughness. We want to train ourselves to be ready to still compete our very best - even when we may be tired or may not be having the best day. I was impressed with some of you who showed that toughness and who stayed positive. I wanted to point out just a few - Andrew Aposhian is coming back from being injured. He ran his first mile of the season on Friday night. It didn't go as he would have hoped. He struggled through it just a bit, and was discouraged with his finishing time. He could have given up on himself, but instead he came back on Saturday as determined as ever to run the 2 mile. Watching the race you could tell that Andrew was fighting for something. He wanted to run his best. Although it was not quite back to his PR, Andrew fought hard through the entire race for a very solid 9:54. Christine Van Brocklin was another one I was very proud of. She is doing everything she can to improve at the hurdles (extra running at practice, extra hurdle drills, time in the weight room, working for hours on her hurdle form), and it is not 'clicking' yet, but it will. In her 3rd race of the meet, Christine ran a PR in the 60 hurdles (9.42), but it is still not quite where she wants to be, and I could tell she was a bit discouraged. I know it was really hard for her to get excited for the 4 x 400 at the end of 2 long days of competing, but she did it - without complaining. She led the way for us in our 4 x 400 victory with a very strong 60.5 split. She was not making excuses and she wasn't focusing on being tired - she was just determined to get on the track and run her best. We can all learn from their toughness and from the toughness that others on the TEAM have also shown us through this indoor season - there really were quite a few examples of members of our TEAM showing they have guts when it counts. We have to keep working hard, and we have to be passionate about doing our best - every opportunity we get. I want to see less fear and more desire. And I think that desire starts in practice - don't be afraid to push those limits as we practice.

Coming Up: 
The Utah Distance Challenge is this week on Friday. The races begin at 5:00pm with the girls 1600m. The track is open at 4:00 for warm ups. The cost is $5 and you can run as many events as you would like, but for most of you, I would recommend 1-2 races. We will talk about it more at practice this week. You can also see the information at www.utahdistancechallenge.blogspot.com I am in charge of the meet, and I am still looking for a few parents to help - if any of you are interested, please let me know. 

Simplot Games - February 14-16. We have finalized the list for the trip. If you would like to see that list, please come to my classroom in the next day or two. I will be doing the entries this Saturday. There will be an email coming with the final Simplot information later this week. The money ($130) is due by next week Monday - in cash or checks made out to 'Davis County Running Club'. Do not pay in the office. If you previously committed to going, but for any reason cannot - please let me know ASAP. 

Track Class - We are down to 6 more A-days inside, and then we will be running on the outdoor track and jumping and throwing in our new facility. I encourage you all to work hard and to get to know your teammates. We will be in the middle of the outdoor season (enjoying the sun) before you know it. Doing a little extra on your own at this point would be a good idea :)

For anyone interested in the outdoor meet schedule, you can go to: http://www.darttrack.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-davis-track-schedule.html

Keep up the good work. 
- Coach Talley

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