Ian and Zach moving on to Masters!

Our two stud seniors are winding down their high school careers.  Before they do so, they have at least one more meet to attack....The CIF Sac Joaquin Section Masters Meet.  They will be joining a school record sized group of 10 athletes making the trip to Elk Grove for this meet, which is more elite than many state meets.

 Ian is qualified in the 800m.  He will go in as the 5th seed, with his time of 1:56.87 from the divisional meet.

Zach will go in with a lower seed.  His time of 9:42 will put him perhaps 10-12.  However, Zach's 2 mile at divisionals was run while it was still fairly warm, whereas the other divisions (where kids posted faster times) ran later in the evening when the weather was cooler.

Both of our boys should represent HHS very well at the Masters meet.  Let's give them our best wishes that they come out with PRs and maybe even more!

Cross Country and Track

We're getting down to the end of the track and field season here in central California.  As I start to think about the championship meets coming up on the track, I also am thinking about the upcoming cross country season.  Specifically, I'm thinking about how the two sports compliment each other.

There aren't any two sports that benefit each other like cross country does for track and like track does for cross.  The two sports are nearly inseparable for athletes striving to reach their full potential in either.  To be sure, some people prefer to race on the track and some prefer the trail.....but almost without exception, every runner who is good at one sport also competes in the other (my apologies to guys like Coly Candel and ladies like Tiffany McWilliams, who don't fit the general mold).

So, I've posted two videos to our Training and Racing Page.  The first features the Butler University Women's Cross Country Team, who surprised the big name schools at last fall's NCAA championship meet to take 3rd place.  The second video is a track workout by Alexa Efraimson who last fall broke Sarah Baxter's lifetime unbeaten streak in cross country to win Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

It is highly unlikely that the Butler women or Efraimson would be as good as they are if they decided not to run either cross or track.

Butler on the Podium last fall in Indiana

Efraimson crossing the line first at Nike Cross Nationals