Recent News and Updates - E-mail cquick@d211.org

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - Boys Win vs. Wheeling, Fremd

Well, you all have probably noticed the lack of updates lately.  That's because it's April in Illinois and no one has been having track meets.  Our last two meets have all been cancelled due to rain and cold.  Unfortunately, we lost our 5 Team Invite that allows all of our distance kids to run, but our triangular versus Hersey and Rolling Meadows has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 22.  All athletes who are not competing in the MSL West Division meet will get to run on that date.

Wheeling, Fremd Triangular Results

Our boys were chomping at the bit to get some races in since we have only had one outdoor meet so far, and the results were impressive all around on a very windy day.  Highlights:

Saturday, April 5, 2008 - First Tri Results, The Palatine

We had a bit of an odd week due to the cancellation of our meet on Tuesday, but things turned out well because the weather got better and most of our guys ran huge 3200 meter PRs at Hoffman on Wednesday.  Today, the 3200 meter group ran The Palatine and delivered a ton of great performances.  It feels great to finally be outdoors in nice weather after the brutal winter that we just endured.

Mileage Updates - Check out Week 9 and Week 10 miles as well as the updated Mileage Progression.

The Palatine - OB and Chano ran to record times today as the 3200 meter group attacked The Palatine with great vigor.  Kevin tied Mat Smoody for the fastest legitimate (as in not cutting the course) time ever recorded.  His 28:43 was a staggering piece of work and showed that OB is starting to gain confidence and form at the right time.  Chano lowered his PR from 29:06 to 28:52 to establish a sophomore class record that will be hard to break.  Check out the workout results, additions to the Top 50 and Best of the Rest, Career Bests, Senior Bests, Junior Bests, Sophomore Bests, and Freshmen Bests.

Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates Triangular

The focus in this meet was to score team points and start bringing the intensity that is necessary in MSL competition.  We did not lay out a lineup that would optimize our points, but we expected our kids to score enough points to win.  The final score was Palatine 91, Hoffman Estates 69 with Schaumburg in third.

3200 meter run - For the distance crew, the night was all about running fast in the 3200 meter run.  We certainly accomplished that goal.  Once every year I run next year's cross country team all together in the same race.  We didn't quite do that since Chano and some other key players were in other events, but the results did not disappoint.  Kevin O'Brien and Alec Bollman battled throughout the race with Hoffman's Emilio Saraga, and it looked for awhile like Saraga might break both of them with some determined pace-pushing after the 1600.  OB recovered, though, and made it a race after the 1 1/2 mile mark only to see Saraga come back and gap him.  Bollman had tailed them gamely throughout and threw down a sweet kick from 500 meters out to take the win and set a huge PR of 9:56.0 (down from 10:11 indoors).  OB finished third in 10:03 with Bethke (10:13) and Kwak (10:15) close behind.  Then, a huge wave of PRs rolled in: Luke Kierys (Jr, 10:20), Jeff Larson (So, 10:21), Tom Laskowske (Jr, 10:23), Erik Bethke (Fr, 10:28), Lewis Conley (Sr, 10:41), Mike Grobner (So, 10:45), and Justin Smith (So, 10:51) all broke the 11:00 barrier.

Other PRs included: Kuerschner (11:13), Rodriguez (11:13), Wojdyla (11:13), Patel (11:14), Sund (11:25), Alberti (11:58), Anderson (11:59), Benzo (12:19), Pasowicz (12:23), and Bogdanowicz (12:56). The first four guys in this list deserve special props for working together and running smartly and competitively.  Overall, we now have 8 returnees for next year's cross country team who have broken 10:30 so that bodes well for the near future.

800 meter run - Sam Kwak won a crazy race to set an open 800 PR of 2:18.  He followed for a bit too long, hitting the 400 in 72, but he found another gear in the last 150 to negative split and win.

1600 meter run - This race was a bit disappointing.  Chano came off the line way too slow, got trapped in an early box, and missed an opportunity to engage in a spirited race between Hoffman's Matt Perez and Schaumburg's Pat Lesiewicz.  Chano ran 4:39, but his effort was marred by a weak tactical race that he will need to learn from.  With such an intense focus on the 3200 meter run, this race saw mostly workman-like double efforts that were solid for training but not spectacular with respect to PRs.

4 x 800 meter relay - This race was pretty thrilling in the end, and I wish we would have been able to hold on for the win.  I mixed a couple varsity guys in with a couple of JV guys to give Olson and Morlock a taste of some varsity pressure.  Smoody led off in 2:00 per his workout orders, and Olson (2:11) and Chano (2:08) kept us in a nice lead.  Colin Morlock was a bit miscast in the role of anchor, but he managed a solid 2:10 and gave every once of the limited speed he might have to hold off Hoffman's anchor.  It didn't happen, but I liked his fight.  Our time of 8:31 was solid.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - Mileage Updates, Meet Cancelled

Our meet for tonight at Hoffman Estates was cancelled due to a problem with the throwing areas there.  It has been rescheduled for Wednesday, April 2.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and our mega-3200 meter run crew of 25 plus guys will get a good night for some fast times.

Mileage Updates - Check out Week 8 miles.

Sunday, March 30, 2008 - Smoody Wins IPTT Athlete of Meet

We returned from the Illinois Prep Top Times meet on Saturday with a mixed bag of results as the team heads into the outdoor season.  Mat Smoody ran a school record of 1:53.94 to narrowly win the 800 meter dash over Waubonsie Valley's Sean Wiggan (1:54.15).  Our 4 x 400 relay placed 9th or 10th overall, but we got some really solid efforts from our lineup in equaling our season best of 3:29.  Outside of those two events, the meet was a wash.  Our DMR went down in flames on the backs of a couple cruddy legs, Chano got tripped up and fell in the 3200, our 4 x 200 ran poorly, and Nick Busch did not clear a height in the high jump.  This meet is not the worst place to turn in a bad performance so I hope we got it out of the way.  We certainly have a lot of mental and physical work to do if we want to win the MSL and compete with the state's best teams.

Illinois Prep Top Times - Smoody Runs to New School Record

3200 meter run - I have really limited the number of times that Chano Bernardo will run his favorite race since he will have to run it so many times from mid-April on.  He was excited to race with some of the better runners in the state, and his race was going perfectly until he fell.  It went out slow in 71 seconds or so, and Chano came through in 2:23 and 3:33.  As he hooked up with fellow soph Pat Lesiewicz at the 1400 meter mark, another athlete jumped down from lane three going into the turn and cut him off.  No foul was called, but Chano did a barrel roll, cut his lip, and tried to get back up and get into the mix.  He hit the 1600 at 4:47, but was way back of the pack and never got back in.  I was disappointed that he did not get to race in the last mile.  Still, he ran 9:55 and learned some valuable lessons about how to handle traffic during a race.

800 meter run - Like Chano, Smoody will have to run this event a ton of times when the big team meets roll around so this was only his second one of the year.  He opened in 1:55.0 at York on March 1 so I expected a big drop in the right kind of race.  Too often, Mat gets right to the lead in these things and has been able to cruise to victory without being tested.  That was luckily not the case in this one.  Mat took it out in 27.5 and 56.2, and I think he expected most of the field to drop.  Most did, but Sean Wiggan, in the breakout race of his career, tagged along and then made an impressive surge to the lead right at the 600 meter mark, breaking away and trying to break Smoody down the backstretch.  I saw Mat at the 150 mark at the "moment of truth" and hoped he would find a gear to go get him.  He did. 

It took until the last curve to gain his shoulder, and then Mat kicked by for the win in a stellar 1:53.94 (1:53.7 manual time).  That time is apparently (according to the Dyestat crew at the meet) the fastest flat track indoor 800 in the nation this year.  More importantly to me, it was only .4 off of the meet record set by Jason Van Swol, who broke 1:49 later that year outdoors and went on to be a multiple time Big Ten champion in the event at Illinois.  Congrats go out to Coach Rafferty and his athlete for bringing such a great race.  How about we arrange a rematch at the WWS ABC meet?  Babb vs. Farnsworth vs. Smoody vs. Wiggan?  Sounds like a good idea to me. 

4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relays - With Telly Halloran suffering a gruesome season ending Achilles injury at Lewis and Mookie sitting out with a sprained ankle, both of these relays involved new players.  The 4 x 200 did not look strong running against tough competition, finishing in a lackluster 1:36.  The 4 x 400 was much more competitive with Smoody leading off in 50.8, George Faber keeping the lead in 53.2, Dan Sutton competing his butt off to keep us right on the lead in 53.9, and Chris Norman setting a 51.4 indoor PR, but getting kicked down by a couple of tough anchors.  We were 4th in our heat in 3:29 and 9th or 10th overall (the official results are wrong).

Distance Medley Relay - This race was a bit of a mess due to 20 teams being let in, but Adam Bethke ran a solid 3:24 while getting jostled all around.  He put us in a nice pack of people.  Gerald Hutton also ran a nice 54.3 leg in the 400 to show he is coming into fitness rather quickly.  However, both Wiggen and Bollman ran weak legs that cost us a ton of position.  Both of these young men will have to learn how to come through in big meets with a lot of competition or someone else will have to step in and do the job. 

Bolingbrook Fast Times Meet at Lewis University

The primary objective at this meet was to set Smoody up for a school record in the 1600 meter run, to get Morlock and Bethke shots at improving their 3200 times, to qualify the 4 x 200 to the IPTT meet, and to knock a 4 x 400 school record out of the park.  Highlights included:

Mileage and History Updates - There are none yet!  I'm still collecting spring break miles from people, and I should be grading the 15 essays I have left rather than updating this stupid web site at 9:18 pm on Sunday night.  More later.  I did update the 800 and 1600 meter all-time lists to reflect Smoody's recent accomplishments.

Friday, March 21, 2008 - Manderson Invite Results

Thousands of years of pent up anger and frustration were unleashed Thursday night as the Ku Kwak's Klan stormed its way to a huge victory in the 5th Annual Manderson Invite.  Kwak took the overall title, and his fellow Klansmen won a resounding 32-50 victory over the nattily dressed Business Casual unit.  Dead Men Running showed a little life in placing third with 61 points while the Firm Titans melted under the bright lights and the pressure, finishing last with 67 points. 

Picture Updates - I created a brand new gallery of pictures taken during the race.  Check out all of the water-wading action shots!

Manderson Results - Kwak and Krew Charge to Victory

Above: Ku Kwak's Klan poses after their victorious run.

I don't have time to do a full story since I am leaving soon for the Lewis meet, but I do have full results of the race.  I'll see you guys again on Tuesday for the train trip.  Enjoy the pictures.

Ku Kwak's Klan - Team Champions with 31 points

Business Casual - 2nd place

Dead Men Running - 3rd place

Firm Titans - 4th place

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - Manderson Preview, Glenbrook Results

Glenbrook Results - I'll write an update on the meet later, but I did update the Performance Lists.  We are now up to 15 guys under 5:00 with five more at 5:05 or better.  The highlight of the night was simple: Tim Anderson won a race, running 5:37 and breaking his guy wide open with a powerful shift at about the 1000 meter mark.  After coaching Tim for four years, that was a "forever moment" for me.  I was so proud.

Manderson V

Well folks, it is that time of year again.  Welcome to the preview for the 5th Annual Manderson Invite.  This year's edition will feature four well-balanced and competitive teams, duking it out in nerdy costumes over a muddy and water-infested 2.5 mile course at Deer Grove East.  The race will feature a 75-100 meter puddle that must be run through twice along with numerous other soggy and disgusting areas that only a true CC runner can love.  The question is: which team has enough true cross country warriors to get the job done?  And can they get the job done wearing a somewhat emasculating costume?

Manderson History - For those of you wondering about past Manderson Invites, check out these preview and result pages, complete with pictures.

For anyone interested in watching, Manderson V will occur at 5:00 pm tomorrow at Deer Grove East no matter rain nor shine.  The teams:

Death Row (Captains Mat Smoody, Alex Mourousias, and Luke Kierys)

My guess is that these fools will show up dressed in some combination of hard core rapper gear and haughty prison inmate decor.  Maybe Dr. Dre can write them an anthem that will make the rest of the playas in this race fear the two freshman they took with their top picks.  Apparently the prison food and promise of an imminent demise told them to put their fate in the hands of a second-generation Bethke, a younger Kwak who can't even play the cello, and a metal head like Smith who thinks Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are brand names for carpet cleaner.  At least they bring McPherson's audacity into their gang of homies, but one out of Tim "Meat Hands" Anderson, John "Straight Money" Pasowicz, and Kendall "No I'm Not Dating Barbie" Cox will have to step up and fill the fifth man role.  The conventional wisdom says this crew will be headed back to the slammer, eating soggy food, studying electrical current and the finest advances in lethal injection, and pondering their utter and total cross country racing demise.  It's time for that last appeal...  Odds: 10-1.

Ku Kwak's Klan (Captains Paul Kwak, Alec Bollman, and Mike Grobner)

After being rudely passed over with the top pick, Captain Kwak went out and formed a vigilante group of racist assassins who love Koreans, short Jewish kids, and winning cross country races.  The KKK has promised to don its hoodies, wrap themselves in bed sheets and bequeath vengeance on all the unfortunate souls who dare to denigrate running, cello playing, and the Korean way.  Their hopes may rest on the faulty IT band of a hobbled, yet still spirited Jolson or the squeaky old man knees and flu-ridden body of one Brian Sund, but they also have two key freshman.  Roehrborn has enough of a screw loose to go forth and take out his pseudo-Korean wrath on others while Alberti brings the spirited retribution of thousands of years of anti-Semitic sentiment to bear on his enemies.  I hear that he punches people.  All in all this mish-mosh of ethnic rage will be fronted by Blyth, who has achieved such great status that no one even remembers his first name.  His name might as well be Thunder.  This rage-filled unit may just hate its way all the way to the top of the Manderson heap.  Odds: 4-1.

Business Casual (Captains Kevin O'Brien, Colin Morlock, and Adam Bethke)

These three brainiacs pulled out their calculators and applied the following formula for Manderson success: Over-analysis + mucho mileage - acquired brain damage * attention to detail / inability to find a date = Manderson gold.  They studied...and pondered...and analyzed...and sacrificed their pathetic social lives to come up with a crew of cold, calculating men who could still look good in a hula shirt and loafers if the company ever gave them a day off.  This crew plans on dressing up Tommy Lasko and Stink Larson in business gear, but it would be easier to feed a dog its own tail with mustard and relish than it would be to get these two wild animals under wraps.  They emendated (look that up Death Row crew) their roster with a plenitude of cognitively-inclined good citizens such as Vlad and E-Rod, but we all know Vlad may be a toss-up.  He could be playing WOW, filming a documentary film on spark plugs, pontificating on a variety of subjects he barely knows about, or seeking the best bus fare home from Pennsylvania rather than getting to the line on time.  Dyla the Gorilla part two and Zach "Mercedes" Benzo will have to pick up the fifth man slack, especially if Bogdanowicz is helping his mama cash her check at the bank.  All in all the calculators say that the brains are the best bet.  Odds: 3.1415926535 to 1 (memorize it or face immediate expulsion)

Firm Titans (Captains Lewis Conley, Juan Perez, and Chano Bernardo)

Denzel Washington once told us all to Remember the Titans, but last time I checked Atlas was holding the world on his shoulders and a stinky looking vulture was eating Prometheus' liver each day.  The only thing Firm about this crew is that they would make some great money on Wall Street if all their risky investments paid off.  Unfortunately, unemployment is up, gasoline is nearing $4 a gallon, and this ship might run out of gas before it runs aground on the coast of broken dreams.  Sure, Eddie Lo could be the pick of the day with his great CC creds, but King Lewis Yang will have to run a confident race.  Even he didn't want to pick himself, though, so the real task of holding things up falls to Tirth Patel and Erich Kuerschner.  I hear that Kuersch had an elliptical workout today that magically healed his aching IT, but my final question is: can Juan find the healing touch of Hippocrates to get Stars and Baran back into working condition?  Is there even a cure for the black lung?  Will Baran be left standing at the end with a trophy in one hand and his Staples Easy button in the other?  Or will he be grasping his foot and calling for mama?  Will Colish show up with his trident and part the seas of the great lake as he takes this band of Greek heroes straight to the top of Olympus?  Or will this be one act that even Coach Colish can't pull off?  My guess is that these boys get as close to Mt. Olympus as a one-armed and one-winged man with a club foot and an attitude problem.  Odds: 15:1.