I put together a table of comparisons for our freshmen so they can see how they stack up as a group (ten deep) versus our team's from the last three years.  This should give you young guys a view into how solid (or not solid) the older guys on the team were in their first Invite race.  Enjoy!
 

2006		2007		2008		2009
Name	Time	Name	Time	Name	Time	Name	Time
Grobner	11:32	Laskowske	11:18	Meincke	11:17	Smith	11:10
Bollman	11:46	Bethke	11:21	Gregorio	11:18	Vanderwiel	11:26
Abram	11:49	Roehrborn	11:24	Johnson	11:19	Zambrano	11:27
Sund	11:57	Frey	11:41	Tomkiewicz	11:47	Jarrett	11:41
Larson	12:00	Baumgartner	11:42	Yosif	12:05	Stella	11:51
Cannon	12:02	Kuerschner	12:03	Erdmann	13:05	Mars	11:53
Pearson	12:16	Kwak	12:11	Scheve	13:31	Clingerman	11:55
Smith	12:43	Allen	12:42	Blihovde	13:54	M. Bawa	12:00
Murphy	12:53	Alberti	13:05	Bobus	14:24	Squeo	12:10
Repking	13:01	Benzo	14:18	Stover	14:30	Kalfas	12:21

September 5, 2009 - Varsity Boys Place 2nd at Hinsdale

We had a solid meet today at the Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invite.  We placed fourth on the sophomore level, second on the varsity level, and fourth in the freshmen race.  Overall, the meet was very fast this year with fifteen guys under 15:50 in the varsity race.  Aaron Beattie of Neuqua Valley won the varsity race in 15:08 while Mike Fahey of Glenbard East took the sophomore race in 15:56.  The freshman race was very fast and deep.  We had eight guys run 12:00 or better and got fourth.  Our frosh ran way faster than most every class we've taken there in nine years but walked away without a trophy.

I was really pleased with our overall effort.  Our varsity ran well.  Any time that we have four to five guys under 16:00 at this meet, we end up in contention for a state trophy.  Other than 2004's great run (minus Finley), this team probably performed better than any of our other squads.  We finished in 15:24, 15:25, 15:30, 15:57, and 16:01 and got beaten by 20 points.  My conclusion?  We are good, but Neuqua is just better at this point in the season.  Hopefully we can give them a better run when we meet again.

I put together a huge comparison sheet of our program's three mile performances at this meet since the year 2000.  Check out how we stack up in relation to other squads.  I compared our runners at each spot (1-20), and the comparisons are favorable to this year's crew.  We registered only the 5th best performance by a #1 guy and the 3rd best by a #2 guy, but we were best at 13 positions, including #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, and #8 runners.  The stats are skewed a little by Finley not running in 2004 and Chano not running in 2007, but that does not slant the numbers too much.  The final analysis: we are deep and talented, but our All-State level guys will have to step up and race better for us to reach our full potential.  I put the season accolades earned at the bottom of each for further reference to show you how each team turned out.   

Practice Schedule - Week 5
 

Sun 9-6	Mon 9-7	Tues 9-8	Wed 9-9	Thurs 9-10	Fri 9-11	Sat 9-12
On own	8:00 am (all) 4:00 pm (on own)	3:45 pm (Bus time)	6:00 am (Soph-JV-Var) 3:45 pm (all)	3:35 pm (bus) Hoffman Estates Dual	6:00 am (all)	8:00 am (all) The Palatine

Mileage Update - I updated the Miles for Week 3 and the Mileage Progression.

Picture and Video Update - Zach Gates shot a ton of pictures at Saturday's meet.  The creek jump pictures aren't as sweet as usual since there really wasn't a creek jump.  There was a ramp into and out of the creek this year due to erosion at the normal jump-off point.  I also spied Steve Johnson taking pics all over the course so I hope to get those pics to share as well.

Varsity Boys - Bollman, Bernardo, and Laskowske Pace a Solid Effort

I know that we are fit, but I had absolutely no idea what to expect in terms of time or place in this race.  Our Tuesday meet with Wheeling was on a really flat course with little competition so it really gave us no indications heading into Hinsdale.  In the end I walked away impressed with both our results and our potential for improvement from here.  As usual, we ran our sophomores down, and they will be breathing down the necks of our varsity by season's end.

The two most impressive efforts of the day belonged to A.J. Laskowske and Ryan Wojdyla.  A.J. ran well at the Wheeling dual, but dropping down to 15:30 and 10th place overall was impressive.  Of course we all know that Andrew has great potential, but it is another thing to actually get it done.  Guys that can open up at 15:30 at Legge often go on to get All-State by the end (see OB's 15:36 clocking from 2007).  Ryan Wojdyla ran one of the greatest races that I have ever had a kid run to finish as our 5th man.  I never in my wildest dreams thought he would run 16:01 at Legge (or anywhere else for that matter).  The kid ran 19:57 at this meet as a sophomore and only mid-17:00 last year.  We needed someone to step up big, and he was our guy.  I was so proud after the race thinking about his effort that I had to hold back tears walking up to meet the team.  What an incredible testament to hard work, our program's culture, and his big heart.  Go Wo-Ho! 

The race itself was run according to our usual Hinsdale race plan - all out to the two mile mark and then finish as best we can from there.  Our guys executed everything to perfection.  Our places at the two mile were 2, 3, 8, 17, 23 for a total of 53.  We finished with 64, but the race was a bit tighter than the final outcome.  Neuqua ran a well-paced race and was able to blow it open to a 20 point win by the end (44-64).  I loved how we executed though.  Bollman and Chano were 10:07 at the two mile before suffering in the close.  Jeff and A.J. were 10:24 and 10:17 at that mark.  After we freshen up and add the speed, those finishes will come.

Outside of our top five, a number of men really laid it down.  Third and fourth best race honors go to Tirth Patel (16:42) and Brian Sund (16:52).  Tirth especially ran a great race.  Our most improved junior award (after A.J.) goes to Reuben Frey.  He has been so dedicated this year, and his hard work is starting to pay off.  He dropped down from 18:01 last year to 16:30 this year and finished as our #7.  Check out all of the improvements below:
 

Name	2008	2009	Improvement
Bollman	15:47	15:24	-23
Bernardo	15:34	15:25	-9
Laskowske	16:43	15:30	-73
Larson	16:31	15:57	-34
Wojdyla	17:24	16:01	-83
Smith	17:28	16:24	-64
Frey	18:04	16:30	-94
Patel	18:16	16:42	-94
Bethke	17:17	16:43	-34
Sund	17:37	16:52	-45
Cox	18:02	17:13	-49
Roehrborn	-	17:14	-
McGough	17:38	17:19	-19
Kuerschner	17:21	17:20	-1
Shaler	17:49	17:30	-19
Baumgartner	-	17:48	-
Kovach	19:52	18:25	-87
Alberti	19:14	18:26	-48
Pasowicz	19:06	18:53	-13
McCall	20:27	19:11	-76
Colin	19:06	20:09	+63
Norris	25:28	23:28	-120

Sophomore Boys - Gregorio Places Second in Stellar Time

We always run all of our sophomores down, and we really thought all summer that we could win this one.  Our problem has been getting all of last year's fab five healthy and fit at the same time.  Peter Tomkiewicz was not able to go in this one so that left a huge gap in our lineup.  Marcus Garcia did spike up and race after three weeks off from training, and he was at least able to notch a 24th place finish.  In front of him we put Anthony Gregorio (2nd), Tim Johnson (12th), and Tim Meincke (19th).  The big revelation in this race was Spencer Much, who answered our pre-race challenge to our #5 man contenders.  He ended up in 59th place in his first ever CC race, running a stellar 18:49 time on this course.  I was very proud.  Spence ran down a ton of guys at the end of the race and really saved us.  We ended up 4th as a team.

The biggest story of this race had to be Anthony's race.  Gregorio has been impressing everyone with his work ethic and tenacity all summer, and his 2nd place 16:07 clocking was right on expectations.  Only Glenn Morris has run faster as a soph on this course in my nine years here.  Anthony's 16:07 bested Smoody's 16:14 clocking to win his sophomore year and was much better than the times of many guys who went on to run at the state meet as sophs.  I can't wait to see what happens as he moves up to varsity later this season.  Ditto about Timmy J.  His 16:38 clocking was one second off of OB's 16:37 finish from his soph year.  We all know that Tim is training well now and improving each week.  Meincke ran 17:00 to establish himself as a varsity contender as well.

I created an improvement chart based on last year's 2 mile times from this race.  All I did was extrapolate another mile at the pace they ran last year.  It is truly a tall order to go an extra mile at a faster pace than one could run for two miles the year before.
 

Name	2008 Predicted Pace	2009	Improvement
Gregorio	16:57	16:07	-50
Johnson	17:00	16:38	-22
Meincke	16:59	17:00	+1
Garcia	-	17:24	-
S. Much	-	18:49	-
Blihovde	20:59	20:00	-59
Erdmann	19:37	20:10	+33
Z. Much	-	20:10	-
Ruston	-	21:22	-
Zubach	-	22:33	-

Freshmen Boys - Eight Men Break 12:00 in First Invite

Our junior high coaches kept telling me that this would be one of our best ever freshman classes, and I am starting to believe them.  Even though we missed a team award, our performance was very good.  I was impressed by our front guys as well as the depth that we are starting to show.  Eight guys ran 12:00 or better in their first high school race!  That dominates any previous frosh result from this meet.  I also think that our end result falls partly on my shoulders.  I cautioned everyone about going out too quickly, and then we over-corrected and ending up running from behind in a short race.  Still, we only missed a trophy by 6 points, and I see a ton of room for improvement.

Our #1 man on Saturday was Brian Smith, and I couldn't be more impressed by his run.  Brian was a solid, but not spectacular junior high runner, but he broke out to clock 11:10 and finish in 10th place.  Only Glenn Morris (10:40 in 2002) has run faster in the last nine years.  Tom Laskowske's 11:12 was the previous second best time at this meet so Brian's run was very impressive.  Adam Vanderwiel and Christian Zambrano packed it up in the mid-11:20's while Jordan Jarrett was our 4th man in 11:40.  Jordan went out a bit too hard for only having 4-5 days of practice under his belt, but he certainly flashed his vast potential by hanging on to win a medal.  Ditto our next group of Zach Stella, Joe Mars, and Andrew Clingerman.  All three of these guys possess great track speed and will only continue to improve as they do some consistent distance training. 

Other great races came from both Mundeep and Harmeet Bawa, Tyler Squeo (who went out way slow and was mowing down people the last 800 meters), Christian Kalfas (who annihilated his junior high best), and the rest of our freshman crew.  Good job boys!  Check out how your times compare to our other freshman teams since the year 2000.

September 3, 2009 - Boys Sweep Wheeling to Pick Up First Win

We finally got to compete on Tuesday night after another long summer of training, and the results were impressive on both levels.  The varsity boys swept the first 16 spots to achieve a perfect score of 15-50 while our F/S won handily behind the 1-2 finish of Tim Meincke and Tim Johnson.  After a rather hilarious and embarrassing detour on the course, our girls varsity also managed to go 1-6 and win the race.  We roll into action again on Saturday at the powerful Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invite against national and state power Neuqua Valley.  There should be good races on all levels.

Varsity Boys Race - Laskowske Cranks It Up a Notch

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!