Phoenix,
Well done to everyone who raced yesterday. It is great to be in the full swing of things. We had some very strong performances, but beyond time, we had fantastic effort and support, which is a hallmark of our team. I always enjoy watching each of you race because I know the work that you put in, and the journey that each of you is on. Whether it is Kamryn, Julia, Tyler, Spencer, any of the A names, or M names, or one of our many freshman boys, or our one freshman girl, Sophia, and so on and so forth - I appreciate your hard work and sacrifice to give your best day in and day out, and I love watching you race. Ultimately I love seeing your hard work pay off.
Our varsity girls finished in 2nd place, behind Weber by 10 points. We have some work to do if we are going to overcome those points and get the win at Region in October. The boys team finished in 3rd place, 2 points behind Davis and 12 behind Layton. Same thing, we have a lot of work to do. I'm not sure that I've ever had a year in my career where both teams that won pre-region go on to win region. It seems like every year at least one is different, and this year, we hope to make it two that are different, and under 1 name, which would be fitting because there is only one PHOENIX.
Our path to victory, and reaching our team's potential is very clear. We have to run together. Gaps between our runners must close, and we have to be tightly together. Great teams have low spreads, meaning the time between runners is low, and that's our key. The idea of running together is both a strategy and a philosophy. We are better together. During the week, we will warm up together, run together, do abs together, have team dinners together before meets, etc. You are bound together as teammates, and we want that to manifest on the course.
We are already getting there, in terms of pack running, but we have work to do still. In the JV races I saw several groups working together as they went around opponents. In the varsity race, Ayla led her group through the mile and beyond extremely well, and as they master that element we will be tough to beat. The boys seem bound and determined to get it down, as once they do the pack may be overwhelming. Let's continue working in groups each day at practice. We're better together.
In order to better help us coaches plan our training, will you fill out this form to tell us each of your mile splits in the race?
Upcoming
This week we will be travelling to Orem for the Timpanogos Invitational. The meet schedule and location can be viewed on our schedule page. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS MEET IS IN THE MORNING, AND YOU WILL LIKELY MISS THE FIRST 3 PERIODS.
We will be facing off with some of the best teams in the state, so it will be a perfect opportunity for us to gain the experience we need for region, state, and beyond.
We will only have 7 varsity runners at this meet, with the JV runners being split into freshman/sophomore and junior/senior JV races.
The entries for that meet can be found here. Please let me know if you will not be there.
The buses for this meet will leave at 7 AM.
Team dinner
This Thursday we will be having a team dinner provided by the Reaveleys! 6 PM with the location to be shared in the coming days.
Team snacks at races
If you sign up to provide snacks or drinks at meets, feel free to send them with your child on the bus, or you can bring them up if you'd like. Either way works great. Thank you to everyone who has been bringing them and signing up, the kids demolish them after the races.
Meet Schedule
The Park City race has been removed from our schedule. Just too many races for the team. We'll do some quality training instead to be ready for what is next.
After School Practices - Class day (B-day)
On B days we will no longer be able to hold official after school practices. Therefore, if you aren't in the class, you may opt to do your runs/workouts in the morning, or at a more convenient time. You are still welcome to come after school, and get started before the class group gets finished, but it won't be official, and there likely won't be a coach there for the entirety of it. On Thursday there were just 3 kids who came after school, and I think you could have found perhaps a more convenient time or place to accomplish the workout.
Team Yard Signs
Laura Muirbrook has kindly put together a sign order. She's going to order them, if you want one you'll just need to send payment to her. This is, of course, completely optional. Here is the form and info if you'd like to order one. You have until Sunday night.
NXR
For information on NXR please go here.
Please fill out this form to let me know your interest in attending NXR.
This week training
This week will be pretty similar to last week, but with some stronger runs thrown in there. After the next week we're going to settle in to about 80% the rest of the way, and that will have you feeling pretty good I hope.
If you have any questions please let me know.
