Wheeling's program is rebuilding and a bit down on its luck, but we ran well en route to the win.  Our goal was to crank the first 1 1/2 miles and then shut it down and finish as a group if we could.  The team executed well.  Our goals were to have 5 guys at 7:30 or under and 15 guys at 8:00 or under.  We didn't quite reach those lofty goals, but we did approximate them a bit:
 

Name	1 1/2 Mile Split	3 Mile Time
Bernardo	7:29	16:17
Bollman	7:32	16:17
Laskowske	7:33	16:16
Gregorio	7:43	16:44
Larson	7:49	16:44
Smith	7:53	16:45
Bethke	7:54	16:45
Wojdyla	7:57	16:45
Frey	7:58	16:45

Obviously, the boys shut it down pretty hard after the halfway point so we'll have to wait until Saturday to gauge our fitness more fully, but I really appreciated our effort and execution.  Behind our front nine, Tirth Patel, Brian Sund, Ryan McGough, and Drew Shaler packed it up at 17:08-17:09 while Erich Kuerschner, Kendall Cox, and Matt Baumgartner also got past Wheeling's #1 in the last 800 meters.  Baumer had a really great race, running a huge PR and putting on a huge kick to nearly catch his teammates.  Overall, the efforts were solid for an opening dual meet.

It was obvious during Good Vibes the next day that A.J. Laskowske's race had left the biggest impression on the team.  We sent him into the middle of our circle and gave him a round of applause.  He looked great and was breathing down Alec's and Chano's necks en route to the halfway mark.  If he continues to perform like that, we will become very dangerous.  Congrats A.J. on a sweet opening effort!

Freshman-Sophomore Race - TnT Lead the Way to a 22-37 Victory

The first version of Palatine TnT was when Tim Larson and Tim Brodeur christened themselves with that nickname when they were sophomores.  Now Tim Meincke and Tim Johnson want to throw their names in the hat as a new and more explosive version of that old championship mixture.  Heck, if we shorten Anthony Gregorio's name to "Tony" then our lead sophomore group will "pack" quite a punch.  Too many puns?  I'm in mid-season form already baby!  (Or I eat lunch with Nalley too often). 

Our TnT combo took off in a 5:18 first mile and never looked back, maintaining a steady rhythm to come in side by side.  Coach Polak told me that his best three runners are the sophomores from this race, and it was obvious that he has some tough customers on his hands.  The young men who finished in 3rd and 4th proved too tough for our freshmen to reel in, and our second pack of guys settled for 5th, 6th, and 8th places.  Brian Smith (5th), Adam Vanderwiel (6th), and Christian Zambrano (8th) showed that our frosh unit will be tough to contend with during this upcoming season.  Peter Tomkiewicz came back from injury to finish 9th and Mundeep Bawa rounded out the top 10 to give us a solid seven of the first ten spots.  When we add Jordan Jarrett and Marcus Garcia and get some more training on the legs of our freshmen who did not run this summer, we will be a dangerous F/S unit.  Some combo of Gregorio, Meincke, and Johnson may make the varsity by MSL time, but the "leftovers" may be good enough to defend our F/S conference crown.  Keep working hard boys.

August 30, 2009 - Week 2 Miles, Practice and Meet Schedule

It seems like we have been training for an eternity, but the competitive season is finally upon us.  We race Wheeling at Heritage Park on Tuesday afternoon and then swing into invitational action at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invite on Saturday.  Neuqua Valley among other ranked teams will be on hand for us to measure ourselves against.  We are fit, healthy, and ready to see how we will fare in a race.  The boys look great in practice.  Our team is deep and talented, and we should develop nicely over the course of the season.

Mileage Updates - I updated the Week 2 miles along with the Mileage Progression.  I started logging miles with our first full week so the progression does not include the half week that began on Wednesday, August 12.

Practice Schedule - Week 4
 

Sun 8-30	Mon 8-31	Tues 9-1	Wed 9-2	Thurs 9-3	Fri 9-4	Sat 9-5
On own	6:00 am (JV-Var) 3:45 pm (all)	3:35 pm (Bus time) Wheeling Dual Meet	6:00 am (Soph-JV-Var) 3:45 pm (all)	3:45 pm (all)	6:00 am (all)	7:00 am (Bus time) Hornet Red Devil Invite 9:00 am (First race)

August 22, 2009 - 3 x Mile Results

I'm heading out for dinner and a date with my wife so the full write-up will have to wait until tomorrow.  I did compile the results from today for both the 3 x Mile and the 6 x 800.  Check out the results of this workout from 2002 on in our Workouts section.

We have a pretty eventful week during Week 3 as school starts, we regain the use of our track, and we have our Meet the Team night.  Each athlete needs to bring at least one parent to our meeting on Thursday, August 27 at 6:30 pm in the student cafeteria.  We will be providing pasta for everyone, and each athlete will be responsible for bringing a side dish.

Practice Schedule - Week 3
 

Sun 8-23	Mon 8-24	Tues 8-25	Wed 8-26	Thurs 8-27	Fri 8-28	Sat 8-29
On own	8:00 am (all) 4:00 pm (JV-Var)	3:45 pm (all) Teacher Institute	3:45 pm (all) First day of school	6:00 am (JV-Var) 3:45 pm (all)	6:00 am (all)	8:00 am (all) The Palatine

Banana Split Relays - 11 Guys Break 16:00, Frey and Rhodes Take the Victory

As usual, we ran the Banana Split Relays with our girls team on the first Saturday of practice, and it was once again a fun and competitive time for all.  Both teams are usually gunning for the great times run by previous athletes, and this year was no different.  Sara McIntosh tied the best ever girl's workout with a 17:00 cumulative clocking while three other girls ran under 17:40 for the first time ever.  On the guys side, Alec and Chano clocked two of the top five times ever while Anthony Gregorio recorded the #2 soph time ever.  To see how you stack up against the "All-Time Greats," look at the workout records that I compiled for the Banana Split Relays.  The correlations between performance in the workout and in the championship phase are far from perfect, but they are telling in many ways.  Pay attention to those MSL and State places!

As a full team, the boys' efforts were a bit uneven, but our results indicate that we should be a tough team to beat again this year with a lot of upside later in the season.  A couple of our summer stalwarts had weak workouts while some of our seniors really came on and performed well.  Ryan Wojdyla (Sr) and Drew Shaler (Sr) stepped up to clock near 15:30 for the three reps while Reuben Frey (Jr) lit it up to claim victory with partner Erin Rhodes.  Reuben clocked under 15:30 to come in as our #1 junior.  Our goal as a team was to exceed our 2007 record of 13 guys under 16:00.

While this workout has not often been a great predictor of end-season success, it does show a few things.  First, our two front-runners are clearly on the level of our other All-State runners.  Second, our sophomores are clearly very good.  Gregorio ran 15:16, Johnson recorded a 15:49, and Meincke finished in 16:04.  All three of these times rank with the best sophomores we have ever had.  Third, we have a lot of work to do.  Our depth to the 15th man is good, but we still need big improvement from our juniors and seniors in the 3-4-5 positions in our lineup.  Larson will have to close the gap back down on Alec and Chano, and A.J. and Justin will need to rebound from sub-par workouts to continue working their way up to Jeff.  It should be fun so see who surprises and catches fire during each part of the season.  I know that the competition for top five and top seven will be very tough, and that usually results in a great team at the end of the season.  I'm excited and ready to prove that we are probably not the #18 ranked team in the state (check the Dyestat pre-season preview).

Above: Reuben Frey and Erin Rhodes pose after running to victory in the 2009 edition of the Banana Split Relays.

Picture Updates - I made a small photo gallery of shots taken by David Cox so I thank him for the pics.  Check out our Pictures section to see this gallery and others from seasons past.

Miles Update - I uploaded the miles for Week 1 to our Mileage section.  I did not record miles for the half week that began on August 12th, but I will keep them from now on.  Remember, the period for recording summer miles ends on August 31, and I know there are guys pushing 1000 miles for the summer.  Use your Sunday runs to add extra volume if you deem it necessary.

August 5, 2009 - Cross Country Season is Here!

I wait all year long for the cross country season to roll around, and it is finally near enough to touch.  This year's group of boys has been working hard and staying committed with hopes of another championship season in 2009.  I think we may surprise some people if we keep improving our fitness and staying injury-free.

Our first mandatory practice this year will begin on Wednesday, August 12th at 8:00 am at Palatine High School.  In order to participate, all athletes need the following:
 

Parent permission form - Your parents must sign this form allowing you to participate. Emergency card - You must include all emergency information on the green card. Physical form - You must have proof of a recent physical.

All of these forms are available outside of the Athletic Director's office at the high school.  Furthermore, all forms should be turned in to the nurse prior to the first day of practice.  You cannot practice until all forms are cleared in the Nurse's office.

It has been a great summer for me since I have seen so many of my favorite alums at Early Bird and elsewhere.  Here's a rundown of the latest news:
 

	Don Macatangay has been around most of the summer.  He ran with the team on most days and also worked as a special education TA all summer long.
	Brian Dankowski stopped by while he was in town.  He is now living and working in Des Moines while continuing to pursue his career as a race team mechanic.  He gets flown around the United States to serve as a crew member in one of the lower level race series so he is well on his way.
	Glenn Morris was in town for two or three weeks after finishing basic training in the Marines.  He is now going to Missouri for further specialized training before being deployed.  It was great to see he and his family at the reception the Morris' held at their house in mid-July.
	Tim Larson ran with us a ton at Early Bird this summer and is really rounding back into solid shape.  He continues to manage at Running Unlimited and is one of our greatest allies in sponsoring running in the Palatine community.
	Steve Finley had a successful outdoor season at the University of Virginia.  He advanced to the Division I national meet for the first time in the 3000 meter steeplechase and also competed at the USATF National meet in an attempt to qualify for World Championship team.  He gained a lot of experience racing at the highest level, and I am sure he will continue to develop as he gains confidence.
	I saw a number of our recent grads from the class of 2005.  Brian McLain graduated from U of I and is now working for the FBI is some top-secret location (Virginia?  Africa?  who knows?).  James Macatangay also finished up at the U of I and is looking for a job.  John Lancaster graduated from North Central and is studying vigorously for his CPA exam in September.  I think both James and John are going to run the Chicago Marathon.
	Alex Soto and Matt Dettloff trained quite a bit at Early Bird and are both going to keep up with their running careers at Eastern Illinois University.
	Alec Bollman calls our most recent grads "the freshmen," and they maintained a pretty stellar Early Bird attendance record for new collegiates.  Colin Morlock, Adam Bethke, Vlad Novikov, Eric Blyth, Jacob Starcevich, Juan Perez, and Fremd grad Austin Bruns had a pretty sweet group going all summer.  Vlad and Austin are both going to run for Augustana College while Jacob Stars will compete for Illinois Wesleyan.
	Speaking of Wesleyan, we also had a ton of Paul Kwak sightings as he gets in shape for another solid cross country season there.
	Matt Moss was around for a bit in June at Early Bird, and he will continue his seminary studies this fall in Fort Wayne, IN (I think).  Moss continues to stay in shape while pursuing his dream of becoming a minister.
	We were privileged to see Kevin O'Brien the last two weeks as he is on leave from the United States Coast Guard Academy.  He successfully completed his first year and now gets to look at his food when he eats it (among numerous other luxuries).  He will continue to run on their cross country team this fall.
	Mat Smoody has been at Early Bird off and on and is running solid base mileage in preparation for his first collegiate cross country season at Illinois State.
	A number of our alums ran the Bix 7 road race in Davenport, IA in late July.  I got to talk with J-Mac, Lancaster, Donny, Mike Ducore, and Sagar Patel after the race.  Ducore still runs on Purdue's club XC team and looks fit.
	I was mailing some letters at a mailbox by my house and ran into Chris Wojdyla, Tim Anderson, and Andrew Kretschmar on their way to Chipotle.  Wojdyla recently completed a half-marathon down at the U of I and is working on becoming a scratch golfer.  I know that his handicap is coming way down as he pursues golfing greatness.
	Tim Brodeur is back in town after a year at USC.  He accepted an art position at Oak Lawn High School in the southern suburbs of Chicago and will be volunteer coaching with their team in the fall.  His twin, Brian, continues to attend school out in Baltimore as he works on a M.A. beyond his B.A. in architecture.
	Joe Roth and Nate McPherson are both teaching and coaching in high school now as rivals in the North Suburban Conference.  Joe coaches girls XC and boys track at Libertyville while Nate has been a volunteer coach for Zion Benton.
	I'm sure I forgot a couple, but it was great to see everyone around town this summer!