Phoenix,
The final week of the season is upon us. There are a lot of important items below, so please follow along.
First, state is on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday we will have a bus leaving the school at 7:30 AM, and returning at the end of the day (early evening). You will be excused from the entire day of school, and because it is school-excused your teachers will work with you about how you can make up the day. Please communicate with them ASAP.
The things about state is, it is so wildly fun. So fun. We get to watch our kids compete with the best, hang out together, play spikeball, relax a bit between races (even if the racers feel stressed), and for those not competing this year, renew our determination to be there next year.
There will not be a bus Saturday, but once again we're asking everyone to come down and support. We're asking you to clear your schedules so you can be at the meet both days. I'm serious when I say it is so much fun. You will not regret coming down. If you've never been, it's an experience at a meet unlike any other. We will be supporting the squad, playing spikeball, (or rather, you'll be getting cooked in spikeball by Hogge and me, Lundy and me, or Marianne and me (note those teams are GOATed not because of me... I choose my teammates wisely).
Ultimately, we want to have a team that contends for, and wins, region and state championships. I have never seen a team get to that level with out an abundance of SUPs. I see our level of support for those who are at state as a sign of how strong of a team we have right now, and going into the future. No one is satisfied with our team placement at region. We as coaching staff are determined to be better, and in turn help you be better. The best way to create a sustainable, successful team, is to have kids who are invested in the success of their teammates as well as their own.
State Qualifiers
Saige Baxter - Pole Vault, Saturday 10:30 AM
Logan Allen - Pole Vault, Saturday 2:30 PM
Cyrus McGregor - Discus, Thursday 2:00 PM
Isaac Hogge - 110H, Thursday 11:25 AM
Kyle Greenwood - 110H, Thursday 11:25 AM
Aubrey Dallas - High Jump, Thursday 2:00 PM
Isabella Tolman - High Jump, Thursday 2:00 PM
Addy Webb - Long Jump, Thursday 4:00 PM
- 100m, Thursday 11:45 AM
Tanner Nielson - 100m, Thursday 12:10 PM
- 200m, Thursday 3:05 PM
Ellie Dorius - 1600m, Saturday 8:25 AM
Landon Sturgeon - 1600m, Saturday 7:00 AM
-3200m, Thursday 10:30 AM
Girls 4x100m - Saturday, 3:10 PM
Boys 4x100m - Saturday, 2:25 PM
Boys 4x200m - Thursday, 5:00 PM
Boys 4x800m - Thursday, 3:50 PM
Region Recap and Future Forecast
On the note of region, there were so many strong performances from our team, in fact, individually I was more pleased with the performances than I could have reasonably hoped for. We had kids set huge PRs, Saige and Logan both won the vault! Addy won the long jump as well! Our freshman, Ava, podiumed in the Jav, just a few feet from state qualifying. Landon, Farmington's Golden Child, is so back. Tanner broke the school record in the 200m, which was a very quality record. Our relays had some hiccups, but there were also some good things there that I'm very happy about, like the girls 4x100 and boys 4x800 qualifying for state on time! Honestly the good far outweighed the bad, and I hope you hold your heads high for how our team performed.
However, our team placement (last for the girls, 5th for boys), is not at all where we want to be. Where our team ended up is not because of poor performance, there are a number of things that contributed to where we ended up, but it wasn't because of anything that happened this week, in fact what we did was very good!
The most obvious issue is not having enough kids out on our team, and being completely locked in all year. We have a little over 100 kids on the team. Layton and Davis (the top two for both genders) have about double the amount of kids on their teams. That tells me that I as the head coach, must do better at getting kids out to participate, and enjoying our time together as a team. We as a team must do better and getting kids to join us, and have fun together in the sport.
We have to have a common purpose, to maximize our talent as individuals and a team, and compete for championships. If we are all determined together, then the whole experience will be more enjoyable, and we'll be winning more. And winning is fun, it's an extrinsic reward for the hard work, which itself is intrinsically motivating. It's a win-win! (pun intended).
The bottom line is, you should be proud of the way you performed thus far this season, and for those of us returning, we will be more driven in our common purpose next year. We'll obsess more with working hard and having fun together; with getting more people to join our cause; with competing at the highest level and achieving team goals. We will still host meets, but you guys are so good at it, we'll be able to find ways to have fun while helping, perform well, and compete to win at the meets we host. The trophies we buy - let's keep them in-house.
Instead of worrying about grades in track class, we should all be so locked in, that the idea of extra credit is completely unnecessary, the conversations about it brief, and the focus on team performance and improvement, day in and day out, brought to the forefront.
What I'm asking of you now, is to set your goals high for next year, and make sure those goals include plans on how to achieve them. If you want to run a 4:19 next year in the mile, what must you do this summer to achieve that? If you want to qualify for state in multiple sprinting events, where do you need to improve between now and next winter to be ready for that jump? Etc.
I know we are 9 months away, but I already cannot wait for next year. Our coaching staff is amazing; our facilities, top-notch, our school, legit; our mountains, best in the county; and our athletes outstanding. SUPs abound. And together we can get back to where we all expect Farmington to be.
Upcoming
Next week we will still be practicing. To what end, you might ask? To support those going to state by giving them training partners. For you distance runners, to get you ready for the night of the 5000s. If you aren't doing that, then great, we'll still squeak a little more speed out of you, truly maximize our spring build, before entering your 2 week break leading into cross country.
For you XC kids, the spring track season peak is essential in reaching new heights for cross country. One additional week of base building for xc is not greater than another week of track training. In fact, adding an additional week of xc training increases the likelihood of burnout or early fatigue in the fall, something many of you complained of last year, so I'm being cognizant of that.
Monday 5/19, 6 PM, Choir Room - Cross Country TEAM and Parent meeting.
Tuesday 5/20 6 PM, Cafeteria - Track Banquet (dinner provided) - Parents, please fill out this survey for you and the kids.
Wednesday - graduation
Thursday - new life
Friday - Live the dream
Wednesday 6/4 - First Cross Country Practice, location TBD
