Practice Schedule - Week 6
 

Sun 9-13	Mon 9-14	Tues 9-15	Wed 9-16	Thurs 9-17	Fri 9-18	Sat 9-19
On own	6:00 am (JV-Var) 3:45 pm (all)	3:45 pm (all)	3:45 pm (all)	3:35 pm (bus) Fremd Dual	6:00 am (Frosh-Soph-JV) After 7th hr. (Varsity van)	5:30 am (Frosh-Soph-JV) Peoria Notre Dame

Hoffman Estates Dual - Strong Execution Leads to a Big Win

Hoffman is always a team to be respected, especially since they have pumped out a number of tough front runners in recent years.  They returned Kyle Gonzales, 13th in the MSL last year and a 9:40s two miler, so we wanted to be ready to meet his challenge.  Our race plan was to follow for the first mile and then try and run under 5:00 for the second mile.  Gonzales let a couple of his teammates lead through a pedestrian 5:35 first mile before we opened it up.

We shot to a 1-6 lead just after the mile, and our guys kept pulling away as we crushed the second mile.  Chano split a 4:49 to lead the charge, and it became apparent in the back loop that Gonzales' fitness was not where it has been in the past.  He faded as our guys kept charging and we ended up 1-10 by the end.  Ryan Wojdyla and Justin Smith continued their runs of success by finishing in 15:52 and 15:57, and our split from 1-5 looked pretty: Chano 15:27, Bollman 15:36, Larson 15:43. Wojdyla 15:52, and Smith 15:57 for a 30 second gap.  Note as well that Laskowske sat out sick and that Gregorio ran in the under-level race.  That probably puts our gap at 30 seconds 1-7.  Obviously, Chano and Alec can run much faster (they both ran slower than at Hinsdale on a short course), but I also think our back end can turn it way up.  To become a really dangerous team, that split needs to be in the 20-30 second range when our front runners are at their best.  I think we can do it.

A ton of guys turned in all-time bests on the course despite the lagging opening pace:
 

Name	2008 Best	Hoffman Dual	Improvement
Larson	15:56	15:43	-13
Wojdyla	16:13	15:52	-21
Smith	16:16	15:56	-20
Frey	16:47	16:02	-45
Shaler	16:30	16:06	-24
Patel	17:28	16:17	-71
Sund	16:56	16:27	-29
Roehrborn	16:58	16:42	-14
Alberti	18:26	17:40	-46

Our emphasis was on a strong second mile and the splits sure demonstrate how we executed like a championship level team (top 12 guys):
 

Name	1 mile	2mile	Split
Bernardo	5:35	10:24	4:49
Bolman	5:35	10:33	4:58
Larson	5:35	10:39	5:04
Wojdyla	5:35	10:45	5:10
Smith	5:35	10:39	5:04
Frey	5:35	10:48	5:13
Shaler	5:35	10:58	5:23
Bethke	5:35	10:58	5:23
Patel	5:35	10:51	5:16
Meincke	5:35	10:56	5:21
McGough	5:35	11:13	5:38
Sund	5:35	11:20	5:45

Freshman-Sophomore Race - Gregorio Runs to Huge Victory

With Johnson and Meincke running varsity and Garcia and Tomkiewicz out hurt, Anthony Gregorio and our freshman had to hold the F/S team together.  Anthony ran to a 51 second win and a 2.5 mile course PR of 13:15, and our freshman stepped up to run as our 2-8 guys.  Hoffman was able to snag 4th place, but we took 12 out of the first 13 in a dominating 17-46 victory. 

Our freshman ran some very nice times.  Check out these comparisons with other Palatine frosh in their first race on the home course:
 

2006		2007		2008		2009
Name	Time	Name	Time	Name	Time	Name	Time
Grobner	14:09	Laskowske	14:02	Meincke	14:11	Smith	14:06
Larson	14:20	Bethke	14:19	Gregorio	14:12	Zambrano	14:26
Bollman	14:29	Roehrborn	14:36	Johnson	14:13	Clingerman	14:43
Abram	14:48	Frey	14:40	Yosif	16:37	Jarrett	14:43
Pearson	14:52	Baumgartner	14:48	Scheve	18:03	M. Bawa	14:44
Sund	14:55	Kuerschner	15:04	Bobus	18:07	Stella	14:46
Cannon	15:09	Kwak	15:26	Blihvode	18:23	Mars	15:10
Smith	15:25	Allen	15:57	Stover	19:16	H. Bawa	15:29
Murphy	16:16	Benzo	16:50			Kalfas	15:31
Long	16:25	Alberti	17:01			Squeo	15:44

The Palatine - Three Seniors Dip Under 30 Minutes

We run this workout less frequently than we did back in the 2002-2004 time period, but it is still a marker of our threshold fitness.  I know that the grass runs are still labeled "grass miles," but I measured them two or three years ago and each loop as I mark it is exactly 1500 meters.  Each grass mile is thus 109 meters short so use that to estimate your tempo pace and whether you were able to shift out of it on the track.

I updated all of the lists for this workout so see where your effort today fits into the larger history.  Check out the Top 50 Palatine times, the Best of the Rest, the Career bests list, and the grade level lists for seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen.  The full results of the workout can be found here.  I also updated the All-Time list for the Junior Palatine.  Check out Ruston running faster than Smoody's time from freshman year.  Rusty - that might be the only time you sneak ahead of Smoo on an all-time list so relish the moment!

This workout is not a great predictor of race results, especially for speedier runners, but we ran a number of times today that bode well for this season.  Again, Laskowske sat out as he recovers from illness and J. Smith missed with an achy shin, but most everyone else outside of Marcus and Peter saddled up for the ride.  Chano ran two seconds off of his PR from sophomore track season, but much of that has to do with the pedestrian 3:57 opening pace.  He closed really well (5:09 last loop, 5:10 on track).  That 5:10 may be near the fastest we have had in this style of workout.  Morris' 4:50 phase record came when we pulled off the pace on the grass loops and really emphasized the track shifts.  Gregorio's 30:08 is a monster run bettered only by Chano's run in April of his sophomore year.  Chano also ran 29:06 in his fall cross country season.  Anthony did move in front of Morris' 30:14 from his sophomore year (Glenn went on to win the MSL and place 12th at state).  That is certainly the right company to keep!

Our depth continues to impress as Jeff, Alec, and Chano were supported by sweet runs from Wojdyla (30:13), Bethke (30:48), Frey (31:37), Patel (31:40), and Meincke (31:50).  Zach Gates also ran a nice 32:15 as he returns from injury.  Wojdyla continues to blow me away.  His 5:27 final mile on the track was our second best finish.  Check out today's results versus previous bests:
 

Name	Previous Best	9/12/2009	Improvement
Bernardo	28:52	28:54	+2
Larson	30:40	29:37	-63
Bollman	30:28	29:49	-39
Gregorio	32:42	30:08	-154
Wojdyla	33:11	30:13	-176
Bethke	32:51	30:48	-123
Frey	-	31:37	-
Patel	33:40	31:40	-120
Meincke	34:13	31:50	-153
Gates	34:44	32:15	-149
Johnson	32:03	32:15	+12
Shaler	36:04	32:21	-163
Roehrborn	35:58	32:40	-198
Sund	34:01	32:59	-62
Cox	34:16	33:16	-60
Kuerschner	33:41	33:51	+10
Kovach	37:46	34:08	-218
Alberti	37:23	34:30	-173
McCall	38:25	36:08	-137
Pasowicz	37:04	36:49	-15
Colin	36:49	39:10	+141
Baumgartner	37:15	39:10	+115
Erdmann	40:07	40:52	+45
Blihvode	41:34	41:16	-18

September 7, 2009 - Hinsdale Results and More Pictures

Above: Our top 7 guys pose with our 2nd place trophy from Hinsdale.  Back Row: Alec Bollman, Ryan Wojdyla, Justin Smith, Reuben Frey.  Front Row: Chano Bernardo, A.J. Laskowske, Jeff Larson.

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.   

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.