“What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle and giving 110% all the time.”- Don Zimmer

The heat index was 100 degrees. Humid but bearable. Walked up to the start line with the lyrics of “Lose Yourself” (I know its cliché) still in my head and ironically feeling it "His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy…Oh, there goes gravity" I did my strides thinking - well at least I was able to wear this uniform once in my career “On your mark” Then I remembered Coach Williams's words still vivid in my mind “you worked hard to get in your position, now show them what you can do” “Get set” take in one last breath because this is the moment I have been waiting for *Gunshot goes off* and the race begins

Recently I have thinking back on years of running cross country as this is my senior year.  The word that comes to mind would be patience. In past years being a runner, I came to believe in the fact that it is hard to compete against people with talent. (And don’t get me wrong, it still is) And in some ways this perspective discouraged me. But discouragement can cause failure and complete surrender of a gift and determination. Most people go through life never realizing their gifts. Recently I saw a video that explained it all to me. One theme I took away from it was that there is nothing a powerful as a changed mind. You can change your hair, your clothing, address, spouse, and residence, but if you don't change your mind, the same experience will perpetuate itself over and over again because everything outwardly changed, but nothing inwardly changed. You have to have to have confidence if you ever want to succeed or else the same experience will occur over and over again because nothing changed. It’s like what the coaches have been saying all along, if you don’t change and adapt the runner’s lifestyle, your times can’t change and same can happen with your mindset when the gun goes off. But don’t give up because it takes patience. And when the time comes for each one us, you’ll be standing in a hall of fame.

But back to present now…

On August 25 the one only De Smet Spartans raced an impressive race at the good old Fleet feet Classic at Arnold City Park.

In the varsity action, we had runners: Joseph Reed, Tyler O'Connor, Collin Donovan, Neil Winter, Michael Ruiz Del Arbol, Matthew Woodford, Christian Weishaar, Teddy Weishaar, Patrick Sanchez, and Sal Alu. The Varsity guys decided to start a new tradition and wear tattoos under their uniform shorts (on the left thigh area to be specific). This theme was Avengers. Our scorers for this race were Joseph Reed with a time of 10:14, Tyler O'Connor (10:38), Collin Donovan (10:41), Neil Winter (10:57), and Michael Ruiz Del Arbol with a time of (11:07). There was a 53 second range between these five runners, taking a solid third place out of fourteen teams.

In the JV action, these guys battled tough in the heat and raced great as a group. Our scorers for this race were: Nick Einig (with a time of 11:33) Alex Smith (11:47), Sean Lane (12:25) Joseph Moffatt (12:29), and Alex Volker (12:54) These Spartans raced an amazing split range of 56 seconds. Nice job JV guys and can’t wait to see more action and race with you guys this season.
But let’s not forget our newest members. We have 24 freshmen so far (which is an awesome turnout for our team) which raises the team roster higher than in previous years. With a bigger team, brings bigger victories. There are more chances for runners to run together and prosper together in races.  And that’s exactly what all three levels are heading towards. At the meet the top 5 five freshmen were: Owen Madigan with a time of 12:06, Luke Jansen (12:56), Joab Hackman (13:17), Nick Abbenhaus (13:31), and Matt Wunderlich (14:04).


Coming back from break, I felt great and ready to get back to longer distance after an awesome track season and a great chance I given to become closer to my teammates during the summer.  This summer our team traveled up to Stevens Point Wisconsin for a running/conditioning camp up at the University of Steven’s point. Around twenty of us traveled up to Wisconsin including coach Traughber and Coach Boehm. When we arrived, we ran a time trial and were put into groups with other runners at the camp. Each day we do a short run in the morning and a longer run/workout in the afternoon. We would also attend a lecture to learn more strategies to living out a runner’s lifestyle and better ways to improve racing techniques. Along with the schedule we had lots of free time to explore the campus, town, and pokestops. Yes I just said pokestops. Being a college campus, the University of Stevens Point offers a multitude of Pokémon, pokestops, gyms and the opportunity to work towards becoming the next Pokémon master. We even got Coach Boehm on in the action. But along with the running with my teammates, I felt more of a brotherhood with these guys as I had the chance to live with them. We drove together, ran together, showered together, and even slept together (in the dorms). As weird as this might sound to you guys who weren’t there, living your brothers really makes a difference and makes the run easier when you’re sweating to run that pace together and even race together. You bring back these memories together and this just makes the next season even better. To this day I still can’t listen to a song by the Chainsmokers without thinking of Nolan’s parody of the song, the Pokémon caught, ameba tag, Keegan’s diving lessons, or even the infamous shower trot.  And I just have a great feeling that more memories will be made coming soon.


All teams showed an amazing effort and raced strong together as we gave other teams and idea of hard it is going to be to beat us this year. We have a really strong team this year and we can’t wait to show our hard work from summer training. Our next meet is in Granite City, IL. Catch everyone next time but until then, this is Sal Alu signing off.

-Sal Alu

A New Project

Here we are. The holiday season has started, Thanksgiving has passed, and winter running has been going for a couple of weeks. I had intended on a couple of the guys to write a couple of blogs on Districts, State, and the season as a whole, but they haven’t done that yet, so I will leave all of the “filling in” to them if they ever do it.

Anyway, back to it.

As most of you know, we started a new off season racing and training squad called “Two Rivers Distance Project”. There are two purposes to this new team: to continue to develop as “racers” and not just runners, and to have a more concrete support group during the off season months. Racing during the off season a couple of times will allow us to maintain that feeling of what it’s like to race instead of going into track without hurting much outside of controlled workouts. It’s kind of like looking over class material during a long break; we will still get the relaxed atmosphere, but we will also maintain what it means to race. The team will also be . . . well, a team. Just like in cross country, the team will be there to support one another, hold each other responsible, and of course have fun.

Personally, I am pumped. It seems like most people are pretty psyched about it, which is awesome, but being motivated during the first weeks of winter running and being motivated after three months of a cold winter are two totally different things. This is why I am writing this blog now (and because one hasn’t been written since State). I don’t want a one or two week commitment; I want an entire off season. I want people to look at this cross country season and say, “we will do better” and I want to see the confidence when I hear people say it. If cool shirts will help with that, then so be it; they’re on their way.

-Adam Boehm

A Coach's Perspective

A blog hasn’t been written in a while, so I figured I would try and tide you over until they start popping up again.

I got back from the State meet about two hours ago. I ate some food, relaxed for a little while, and tried to digest the season without getting too close to the various milesplit tweets and retweets about teams and individuals doing outstanding. A question I hear frequently about cross country is, “why are other teams so much better and how do we copy that?”, “why is (insert individual-champion name here) so much better than the rest of the field?”, and “what do they feed those guys?” and there isn’t one answer to those questions. (It’s about to get math-y)

Picture a circle. That circle has an infinite number of points, and each one of those points has a corresponding slope (as shown below). 

Pretend like the individual or a team is a single circle. These teams and individual champions at the state meet have an infinite number of things that are going for them. Now pretend that each point on the circle is one of those “things”. They have the right genes (talent), they really like the sport, they do the appropriate runs at the appropriate times and at the appropriate paces (half coaching/ half motivation and discipline), they stretch well, they eat well, they sleep well, they hydrate well, they work hard (this sometimes out does talent), they have near perfect opportunities that they take advantage of at the near perfect time, they have a near perfect warm up and a near perfect cool down, they tuned their muscles to a near perfect level, they are motivated intrinsically and extrinsically, they are motivated by their teammates and their teammates are motivated by them, they are confident, they take chances at a near perfect time, they are mentally tough, they enjoy the challenge of running faster, they find purpose in running, they are in the right State, etc, etc, etc. If one of these “things” is off or not perfect, that point on the graph gets skewed, and the circle becomes something different.

This is what I love about Distance running. You can’t just blindly gain muscle mass and out push or out sprint someone else. No, you have to make everything go according to the right plan at the right time. Everything matters even though you can’t control every single aspect, but all of the things you do control have to slope in the right direction, or else a season or race won’t be the absolute best it can be (ie it won’t be a circle).

So, when I am thinking about our season, I am thinking about when we made everything work, and when we didn’t. I am thinking about injuries, sickness, and effort as well as success. I get that things happen. People get hurt, sick, or otherwise unable to run. Life happens, but there is always a way to make some of those “points” slope the way you want them to. World and national records have been set by people who weren’t at their peak physical condition and Olympic medals have been awarded to people who weren’t necessarily the most in shape but to those who made that specific race work.

Part of the reason Joe and Tyler (as well as a load of our JV, freshmen, and Varsity guys) had a great season is because they made it work.

Coach, how do I “make it work”?

You can’t make this last season work anymore. It’s over, but, you can make next season work. Train appropriately over the winter, eat well, sleep well, hydrate well, challenge yourself, have fun, and maintain consistent running (don’t get sick and don’t get injured as much as you possibly can). 

-Adam Boehm

Time Trial

Post-race Struggle

Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative."- Steve Prefontaine

I've put my own little twist on this quote. When I first read the quote in an email of the day last year, what really stuck out to me was how Steve seemed to feed off the positive energy of others. So, while I know there's some deeper philosophical meaning in what he's saying, I've boiled it down to  "when you look good, you feel good"( or at least when you think you look good you feel good). For some that may seem pretty self-centered or narcissistic and what not, but for me, it’s just one of the ways to psyche myself up and have fun with races.  On Tuesday I broke out all the special gear: headband, short shorts ,and my spikes from freshmen year. And it made all the difference. I finally broke the five minutes for the mile (thanks in part to the incredible pacing job by Coach Boehm a.k.a. “the metronome”).

But enough of myself; everybody brought their A-game on Tuesday, and it was incredible.  I think it all those PR's come back to our training . Running in training groups was something that really helped me this year. I really liked the group of guys I ran with, and it made practice not only more enjoyable but it’s great to lean on your teammates when you’re having an off day or tough race.  In addition, the cutback in mileage at this part of year just makes you feel so much more rested and ready to race. I think its these things which lead to a strong showing at our most recent meet the Borgia Invitational at Big Driver golf course in Washington, and I'm very excited for the varsity's upcoming district race there this Saturday, especially after the way our season ended last year.

-Thomas Linhares

Post-Season

So, I couldn’t find an athlete to do a blog post about the MCC meet, and I procrastinated way too long to do a good one. So, I’ll just update everyone on how the team is doing, in a super casual (read not edited) style.

                With the MCC meet behind us, the team has shifted its training and focus for the remainder of the season. For the first time this season, the JV teams and Varsity are split to accommodate the differences in scheduling; the varsity squad will focus on the district meet next Saturday, and the JV/frosh will focus on their final meets of the season, starting this Saturday at Borgia.

                The end of the season always catches me off guard. I stop looking for improvement based on fitness, and start looking for improvement based on pure grit, which everyone is starting to develop at this point. It’s fun to watch massive PR after massive PR, week after week, no matter the course or weather. JV are shifting the balance of the Varsity, and Freshmen are developing their own personality as well as their place on the team. But it’s not just performances and places on the team I am noticing changing. They have all grown so much during the last two and half months. They’re fitter, leaner, stronger, and can endure the constant pounding on pavement, as well as the late nights caused by the demand of daily classes, homework, and school. However, they still have this fire in their eyes that's almost entirely new to this young team. Leaders are emerging and attitudes are being focused on their own. It used to be a battle to get this year’s varsity to focus on a race the next day when they were freshmen, and now this year’s freshmen are modeling them so well, that battle is now just a minor struggle.

                This team wants to get better, and they are just now developing a pack mentality as well as a responsibility for their own fitness and health. A frequent question I am asked is, “(Coach) Boehm, what’s my sandwich time”, to which I will respond with an outrageous time for that person. Unfortunately for my bank account, it isn’t too uncommon for me to owe that person their sandwich the next week. However, more and more frequently, they just want a time. They don’t even care about the sandwich (Thank God); rather they want a mark they know will be just out of reach. They also started to take care of themselves, largely without a coach’s direction. I realize that all of this sounds so small, but self-motivation, self-responsibility, and goals are the building blocks of a great team, and these guys have it.

                I am stoked about the last couple of weeks of the season. Let’s make it a good one.

Sorry for the late blog post

Washing Feet

Finding God in all things.

I’m taking a risk by putting myself out there on this post, but here it goes. I noticed a picture as I was going through my camera when I got home. It’s of Neil Winter’s feet. Weird picture, I know, but he had just run most of the race with just one shoe on. I came back to the tent right after the varsity had finished, and I started to tell Neil that we needed to clean up his foot. The rest of the coaches and I were worried about any cuts or bruises even though he said they felt fine.

Anyway, I tried to get a picture of the carnage, and I wanted to clean his feet.

I was scrolling through the pictures, and it dawned on me that this was remarkably similar to when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

Now, before I go any further, I am in no way comparing myself to Christ. For one, I never went near Neil’s feet. I also know that it is know where even close to the part of the year when this gospel is read.

But I digress.

The point is that I never looked at the washing of the disciples’ feet with a sense of urgency and empathy until today. Yeah, Christ was acting as a servant, and there is a lot of value in that. However, He also felt our pain through his own temptations, and knew that it was urgent to clean us up. It’s like when you help someone after they had a rough day at school or work. You know they could probably do whatever it is that they are doing by themselves, but you help anyway because you can empathize with their exhaustion.

Homily over.

Blog post on the actual race is coming soon.

“Unity is strength…when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”                           -Maddie J.T. Stepanek

I would definitely have to say that this quote describes the bonding of our team and strengthening of relationships this past weekend. Last Friday, the Varsity guys left right after school ended to head down to Jefferson City to practice the course for the race the next day and spend the night in a hotel. The JV and Freshman groups on the other hand ran through our normal pre-meet routine and got out of practice early.

The next day (Saturday) the JV and Freshman woke up at the crack of dawn to meet at De Smet at 6:45 AM to begin the journey. The journey took approximately 2 hours and the way down was mostly quiet for the first hour as everyone took the advantage to rest and fuel up before the race. As we got closer and saw the state capital, enthusiasm rose up. The race was at Oak Hills golf course which was pretty neat as we were racing on the greens and fairway. The course itself was full of hills in the first and third mile while the second mile was flat. This was a unique and enjoying course in which our team competed very well. As far as places he had the Varsity guys place 6^th out of 27 teams and the JV guys placing 3^rd out of 16 teams. Varsity placers were: Joe Reed (16:35), Tyler O’Connor (16:56), Michael Ruiz del Arbol (Smith Cotton, Wilson, Stein, Malone, Jackson) (17:03), Neil Winter (17:45), and Matthew “Justice” Woodford (17:47). Congrats to you guys with your fierce competition. As far as JV guys, we had an awesome race. Placers were Patrick Sanchez (18:36), Nolan Shannon (18:45), Thomas Linhares (18:52), Kole Wetzler (19:00), and Tim(bo) Abbenhaus (19:12). Almost all of the JV runners PR’d (Got a personal record, for those who don’t know). After the race, I went around asking people how they did and the answers were awesome. Juniors, Dominic Kinsella and Caleb Hackman responded with “Are you talking about before this race because THIS IS IT”.  Freshman Alex Voelker responded with “I PR’D BY 1 minute and a half!” I, myself PR’d as well and it was awesome to finish the race with the feeling that I just broke my own record on a course that I have never run before. The results of this race were extraordinarily remarkable and I congratulate everyone that ran and thank all those who supported us and the Varsity guys in the race.

After the race, we headed back to De Smet where the journey back is one to remember. We all (JV and Varsity) stopped by a sketchy McDonalds at a rest stop along the highway for lunch and thus continued the journey home where the varsity guys went their separate ways. Along the journey there were multiple activities going on. In my row, we had Happy Wheels tournament going on where we all struggled to beat some levels. (Happy Wheels is a game on the smartphone).  Car Sickness claimed a victim in which we luckily found a grocery bag to use to improvise a barf-bag. I feel like there is one more thing that I am forgetting…Oh wait we got stranded at a gas station. We stopped for a bathroom break and a 5 min break turned into a 1 hour break. As we stopped, the bus driver thought it might be a good idea to fill up the bus tank while we were stopped. So he paid for the gas and had it running while he went to go use the restroom. Well…..it turns out he forgot to start the filling and filling up a bus tank takes a lot longer than a car tank. So 20 min later, the driver comes back to find out he didn’t start it and starts it. While we were stopped, some of the athletes decided to go into the gas station to use the bathroom and buy snacks. By the time, the tank was filled up, we were about 45 min late on schedule which was a problem for some sophomores who had homecoming and we all joked around about fake flat tires and more stops needed. Anyway we all got back to De Smet around 5 o’clock and enjoyed what was left of a Saturday off. The bus ride was a truly memorable experience as the JV guys (and Varsity the day before) were able to spend an entire day together, talking about strategies, joking around, and competing together on that same day. This trip definitely proves true that the journey is just as important and exciting as the end goal, getting to the race, or end of the trip. 

                -Salvatore Alu

                Class of 2017 

Metaphorically Speaking

Saturday night after I got home from work, I watched the movie Unbroken about Louis Zamperini. The beginning of the movie starts with a sequence with him as a child that ultimately ends up with his brother telling him "if you can take it, you can make it," which ends up being a major theme for the rest of the movie. Without spoiling too much that you couldn't figure out by googling his name, Louis ends up in a POW camp in Japan where he becomes the favorite subject of abuse by the sadistic prison camp commander.

In one of the final prison camp scenes, Louis, after injuring his leg, is forced to hold a rail road tie above his head. If he drops the tie, he gets shot. Basically, it's a rigged game of last man standing that is meant to be Zamperini's last. Louis, covered in coal and fatigued from two years of war and captivity holds the tie for what seems like hours. As the light of day changes from the mid afternoon to dusk, Louis's breaking point seems to be inevitable. The commander stares at him anxiously waiting for this thorn in his side to finally be shot and gotten rid of. Louis's fellow POW's all whisper their own words of encouragement, but expect this to be the last time they see him alive. However, something extraordinary happens. In an act of defiance, Zamperini looks the commander directly in his eyes (something he had been ruthlessly beaten for before), and raises the railroad tie well above his head, shouting the entire time.

During every race there is a moment when you don't feel like you can hold on anymore. Your legs burn, your lungs are working at full capacity, and your heart feels as if it will burst out of your rib cage. In this moment, a thought crosses your mind to give up in order to feel that ironic comfort in failure.

Don't. 

Act defiantly. Tell your body or your mind - which ever one wants to quit the most - "No!". Lift the railroad tie above your head and shout hysterically at your metaphorical commander and keep going.

Saturday was the first not great meet of the season. Guys showed up not wanting to race saying that they weren't ready or didn't feel recovered. It was disappointing, but in these moments when a team starts to fall a part, guys like Louis Zamperini emerge and kick some major butt.

PR'ing at Jefferson Barracks is a tough thing to do, but all of you who did or came close had an awe-inspiring day. 

Now that I got all these metaphors and comparisons out of the way, let's get to some results. 

Varsity started the day off at 8:30 and placed 8th, only 48 points from our goal of 4th. Joe Reed ran an incredible race, placing 11th overall with a time of 16:57.  Ruiz placed 29th with a time of 17:25, followed by O'Connor with a sore ankle in 36th with a time of 17:33. Neil Winter and Matt Woodford came in at 55th and 64th with times of 18:05 and 18:10 respectively. Huge Props to Neil Winter for PR'ing by 26 seconds on such a tough course. Sophomore Colin Donovan, despite a tough race and some frustrating workouts, came in with a strong 18:48 in 88th.

The Junior Varsity (freshmen combined) raced an hour later and placed an impressive 5th place. Patrick Sanchez led the JV with an impressive race, placing 22nd with a time of 18:56 (a significant PR). Nolan Shannon also had an impressive race, finishing in 25th and almost breaking that 19:00 barrier running 19:03. The next three scorers were Thomas Linhares finishing 55th with a time of 19:42, Tim Abbenhaus, finishing 61st with a time of 19:44, and Ralph Skitt finishing 65th with a time of 19:48. All of these guys listed above either set a PR or ran extremely close to one, which on this course, as stated above, is an impressive accomplishment. 

Full results are linked below:

Varsity: http://www.trxctiming.com/Hancock/2015_Results/boys_varsity_class_4.htm

Junior Varsity: http://www.trxctiming.com/Hancock/2015_Results/boys_jv_class_4.htm

DeSmet XC is back in action this Saturday in Jefferson City for the state preview meet. Stay tuned

-Adam Boehm

FPXC

“Last Saturday was one of the best times I have ever had at a meet”

–pretty much everyone

                The Forest Park invitational was one of those meets…… if you stuck around. Starting off the fantastic meet was the JV’s performance. They came in at a solid 14^th place, with many of them running PRs on a longer and harder course, headed by Patrick Sanchez, Andrew Smith, Thomas Linhares, Nolan Shannon, and Ralph Skitt. The Varsity coming in at 11^th was headed by me, Michael Ruiz Del Arbol Smith Cot Wilson Stein Malone, Tyler O‘Connor, Mathew Woodford, and Collin Donovan. The Freshmen had an amazing race. They came in at 6^th place headed by Teddy Weishaar, Nick Einig, Will Cramsey, Mathew James, and Joseph Moffatt. The whole team ran a competitive race, not just against runners in the area, but in the whole Midwest and farther!

                Running so competitively was a huge contribution to the buzz and excitement along with the nervousness and dread. What kept me motivated was the sheer excitement of what we were going to do after the race. PAINTING UP!  I could not get the thought out of my head. My mental approach to the race was, “The faster I run, the faster I get to paint up.” After we finished, we hurried back to the tent to see Nolan hidden in the trees making some sort of concoction. When he finally got the mix of red and black right, we all started to apply awesomeness to our bodies.

Beforehand we figured out who was what letter. Tyler was the D, Chris was an E, Michael Ruiz Del Arbol Smith Cotton Wilson Stein Malone was the S, Woodford was the M, Collin was another E, and Neil was the T, I of course was the most important Exclamation Point and painted my whole body maroon, Christian was a poser Spanish Exclamation Point, Nolan painted a Spartan on his chest, Juice (Justin McNeil) painted his whole front and had a white hand print, and Finally Nick looked like he was going to come out of the forest and kill me with a spear.

It was a very swell time cheering on the Freshman. Having already run a hard race, sprinting from one place to another made it even more memorable. This was an extraordinarily great idea from Mr. Coach Adam Boehm. The only downside was the crustiness after! Luckily it was washable paint so it was just a quick scrub to remove.

-Joe Reed

The Season Begins

**Note, this was supposed to be posted last week. A blog about Forest Park Cross Country Season will come soon.

**This post is written by Colin Donovan

To say that we started off our season well would be an understatement.

DeSmet Jesuit Cross Country began their season with the Fleet Feet Cross Country Kickoff at Parkway Central, and they did it in tremendous fashion.

The JV team started things off with fantastic showings all around, with Christian Weishaar, Teddy Weishaar, Patrick Sanchez, Kole Wetzler, Ralph Skitt, Andrew Smith, and Sal Alu scoring. With JV getting the impressive third place finish, they showed not only the depth of the team, but also started off the season the way they needed to: by competing.

The Varsity Top-10 followed up JV with an equally impressive race. Led by Joe Reed, Michael Ruiz del Arbol, Colin Donovan, Tyler O’Connor, Matt Woodford, Neil Winter, and Chris McNiel, the team received another third place finish behind the previous Class 3 and Class 4 state champions, Lafayette and Festus. With a very impressive 1-5 man split of only 36 seconds, the team showed that they could not only run together, but they could compete together. This was a giant success for the team and a definite sign of great things to come...

And come they did.

The following race came at the 42^nd Annual Granite City Invitational with three miles. The Varsity team started the day off this time, and they did it sensationally. Last year at this meet, the Varsity team could only run six people in the race due to injury, and they ended up with an average time of 17:15 that gave them an eighth place finish. Not bad, but the goal for this year was to improve, and we definitely did that. Running seven runners we improved our average time to 16:51, and we did it in much worse conditions than we had last year. Led by Joe Reed, Michael Ruiz del Arbol, Tyler O’Connor, Matt Woodford, and Neil Winter, the team got second place in a field of 30 teams, and they took home a nice trophy to show for it.

Normally at Granite City, DeSmet gets a chance to show off their best young prospects in a Freshman and Sophomore B/C race. This team was made up of Teddy Weishaar, Keegan Callahan, Nick Einig, Joseph Moffat, Tim Abbenhaus, Nick Riordan, and Henry Gloriod. They knew what time to get to the meet, and all of them prepared extremely well for it. But the JV team some attention, too. The JV race was originally scheduled for 10:30, but because of the heat, it was moved up and combined with the B/C race at 9:30. Nonetheless, they handled it like champs and dominated alongside their B/C teammates. The majority of these guys had run better than they had last year despite worse conditions and a rushed warm up.

In the end, the Granite City Invite was a huge success. It’s just another big sign of great things to come. Only two meets into the season, and already we’re experiencing great success. I know that I’m ready and excited for the rest of the season, and I hope you guys are too.

#gethype

-Colin Donovan

Up and Running Once Again

The Milk Table is back up and running once again. Many thanks to Alex Potter, Jacob Seiler and Kevin Abernathy for allowing me to resurrect this blog.
This might be a little bit longer of a post, but a lot has happened since Austin's last blog. So, let's get down to business.

Last year, as many of you know, we did not make it out of our District. It was a tough loss and a very tough district. Fortunately, Tyler Blechle (SR) and Micheal Ruiz Del Arbol (Smith Cotton Wilson) (SO), both made it to the Sectional meet and competed amazingly, but did not make it to State on their own.

Despite these setbacks during the Cross Country season, our sophomore-dominated team matured (just a little) and kicked some major butt in Track, led by then Senior, Nick Dolan. Our 4x800 team (Reed, Dolan, Ratz, Sherping) took 12th in a season best 8:13. Then sophomore stud, Joe Reed, ran both the 1600 and the 800, making him the first Spartan to compete in three distance events at State in over 15 years. Reed finished the 1600 in 15th place and 11th in the 800 with a time of 1:57. His 800 time was the fasted for De Smet since 2006.

We also had two other sophomores, Michael Ruiz Del Arbol (Smith Cotton Wilson) and Tyler O'Connor (SO), qualify for the sectional meet on their own as well. Ruiz qualified for both the 1600 and the 3200, while Tyler qualified for the 3200.

Now we get to the juicy stuff. All those sophomores who were doing some pretty amazing things are now Juniors, and, for once, had an outstanding summer of training. Not to mention, we have a soon-to-be-stud sophomore class led by Collin Donovan.
Both time trials were amazing compared to the last seasons, and the guys ran the alumni run like they never got out of racing shape from track. Reed and Donovan both ran PRs, and Ruiz and O'Connor almost matched theirs.

The top 10 for De Smet's opener meet (Fleet Feet at Parkway Central) are listed below, as well as their times from the 1.4 mile time trial.

Reed (JR) 7:31
Ruiz (JR) 7:31
O'Connor (JR) 7:31
Donovan (SO) 7:35
Woodford (JR) 7:43
McNiel (JR) 7:45
Winter (JR) 7:47
Plassmeyer (JR) 7:50
Linhares (SR) 8:09
Riordan (SO) 8:13

Honorable Mention - Up to the 14th man
K. Callahan (SO) 8:21
T Weissaar (FR) 8:24
Sanchez (JR) 8:34
Abbenhaus (SO) 8:36

Not only were the times pretty fast, but the Juniors led the way. These next two years are going to be fun, so buckle up.

**Alumni, please, please, please show up to meets and practices when you can. If you do show up and want to write a blog post, let me know. The goal of this blog is twofold: to get the guys excited about how amazing their team can be, and to connect them to the tradition that YOU helped create.


-Adam Boehm

Forest Park Conference Action

      Today, the JV and Freshmen teams departed off to Castlewood Park (greatest park ever) to run in the Patriot Classic Meet. Coach Williams (@DeSmetTrackXC) tweeted after the meet that junior Nick Trunko PR'ed and broke the 18 minute barrier! Congrats to him. Full results will be posted at some point in the future, most likely the next post.

       While they were racing in Castlewood, the leftover runners ran a fartlek workout on the track at DeSmet. The workout was 200 easy, 100 hard x 12, making it nine laps in total. This was our first sprint workout of the season, and it will hopefully help us find the extra gear we need later in the postseason. After the workout, Coach Boehm lead us on a nice and easy stoplight cool down. After we got back, we had circuit weight training for the second time of the week, which basically means the cross country team took over the weight room. Coach Albes, Mahood, and Boehm oversaw the workout to make sure no one hurt themselves. After a quick core and stretching routine, a chocolate milk was well deserved by everyone.

       There was a fairly important meet this past Saturday, very important actually, and it was the MCC Championship at Forest Park. Once again, all three of our teams took second in the meet to SLUH. We did have numerous great individual performances, though.

       In the freshmen race, DeSmet's first finisher was Eric Boland who came in 3rd, and Nathan Bira also had a top ten finish with his 7th place. 

       In the JV race, Glen McGann, Nick Dolan, Matt Barkofske, Justin Potter, and Blake Waters all earned top ten honors. Glen finished 2nd with a sub 17:30 PR. You know what that means...new hat! 

       In the varsity, Austin and Collin both made the top ten, and Michael Callahan dropped a big PR of 17:12! Stephen Plassmeyer and Patrick Callahan also broke 17:30 earning a hat! That would make it a total of five hats earned this season with more to come.

Start of the Varsity MCC Race

          I appreciate you reading the blog, I wish you a wonderful day!

One, Two, Three Meet Recap

       I apologize for the blog's drought. Since the last post, the Spartans have ran in three meets, so hopefully this will be a thrilling post to read.

       Up first......Hazelwood East Invitational. For De Smet, the JV and Freshman teams ran, and they both blew away the field in this 4k race. 

       On the JV side, Scott Peetz (junior) lead the way to a team win with an individual victory of his own. The JV runners completed the sweep and perfect score of 15 with all top 7 finishers in the race being Spartans.

       For the freshmen, it was a very similar result as the JV team. Nathan Bira was the race winner and four more De Smet runners followed him to complete another perfect score of 15. This was a great showing for De Smet. Solid work.

       Next race......Rim Rock Farm XC Classic. The top 12 runners on the team were offered the opportunity to race at this huge meet. After a six hour car ride through the exciting state of Kansas, the team finally arrived at the usual Super 8 for the night, just outside Lawrence. In the morning, we headed to Rim Rock Farm. We were greeted by the alums Alex Potter, Drew Higgins, Jacob Seiler, and Nick Martini, who all came to cheer us on. Thank you to them! The conditions were prime, and we were ready to race. Almost everyone ran their best times. Collin Sullivan smashed the 17 minute barrier with his 16:38, and Michael Callahan PR'd with a 17:24. These performances both earned them the coveted "17:30 hat." Glen McGann and Patrick Callahan rolled in next just missing the mark with a pair of 17:35's. Those 5 seconds will surely drop off. Also, junior Stephen Plassmeyer made his return back from his injury and ran the same time as his personal best from before! Expect to see him dropping major time. The team ran spectacular as a whole which paved the way for a happy drive back to St. Louis. Good job to everyone who made it an exciting day with all of the fast times. And one last thing, the mound was due for a visit. This called for the annual shirtless picture.

Job well done, The Mound.

       And the most previous race......Parkway West Invitational at Living Word Church. There were four different races (Varsity, JV, Sophomore, Freshman) at Living Word Church, which was unknown territory. It was not liked very much after the race due to the many sharp turns and scattered mud. This meet had many of the highest ranked schools in Missouri, which made it an important and challenging meet. The Freshman team placed 8th out of sixteen teams lead by Eric Boland coming in 11th place. The Sophomore team came in 7th out of ten teams as Nick Dolan grabbed the 12th place spot. The JV team captured 2nd place out of eighteen teams with Andrew Hubbard's 5th place effort. Justin Potter also turned in a top 10 finish. Finally, the varsity team took 7th place out of twenty-one teams. Overall, this was not the strongest De Smet has looked this year with the exception of the JV team and some individual performances, but we will take what we learned and use it for next meet.

      This Saturday, October 6th, is the MCC Championship at Forest Park. The varsity race is first at 9 a.m. on the Central Fields. The JV and freshmen will follow. If you aren't busy, feel free to come and watch!

                                   After a long wait, thank you for reading.

       

Parkway Central Round 2

       Today the team met at DeSmet at 8 a.m. for a long run. Once again, we ran to Malcolm Terrace Park for some loops. It was chilly this morning as Coach Albes, Boehm, Mahood, and Schumacher lead the groups out to the roads. When we got to Malcolm, Coach Williams and Russo were at the usual park table with the water waiting for us. The three top groups were sure to hit the assigned paces after the outcome of the meet last Thursday, which is described later. The park trails were just a little damp from the previous rain, but the temperatures stayed down which was a nice. This could possibly be the end of the 90 degree days. Fall is in sight.

       Last Thursday was the Parkway Central Invitational. The race was held on the Central course, which will be our district and sectional course again this year. The freshman 2.4 mile race was first up, and the young Spartans did not disappoint. They captured 2nd place out of ten teams with the top five De Smet finishers being Eric Boland, Nathan Bira, Harry Reinagel, Sean Geimer, and Adam Craig. Congrats to the freshman!
       Next race, the varsity 5k, did not turn out as well as the freshman race did. The team took 4th out of 14 schools. Our goal was to win the meet, which was very possible if we ran well, but we could not put it together this meet. Collin Sullivan turned in the team's best performance with a 13th place finish. The team will take this as something to learn from and use it as motivation for next week at Rim Rock.
     The JV race was the final race. These guys really showed up to run. Out of the 13 participating teams, they came in first! Outstanding performances across the board: Patrick Callahan (2nd), Justin Potter (3rd), Jimmy Reed (5th), Andrew Hubbard (14th), and Mason Bracken (17th). This was a dominant performance by all of the JV runners.

Justin Potter, Patrick Callahan, Andrew Hubbard, and Jimmy Reed (1 step behind out of the picture) leading the race

       Thank you for reading and have a great rest of the weekend.

Loops on Loops

       Before practice today, it seemed evident to everyone that something was different in the locker room. It was not nearly as crowded as usual. The milk machine had been moved! It was relocated to the wrestling room, which frees up a good deal of space in the cross country locker room.

       As we departed De Smet for a middle/long distance run, the sky was looking a bit ominous. Our destination was Malcolm Terrace Park, one of the favorites to run at, so we would be relatively close to De Smet if the weather didn't cooperate. Before we left, we noticed that on the turf, a soccer match was about to start between the CBC and Chaminade JV soccer teams for a tournament. On our way to the park, the sky didn't lighten up at all. All the groups ran up to five of the 1-mile trail loops before heading back. On the fifth and final loop, thunder could be heard. Shortly after we left the park, the cold and blistering wind came crashing down on us. Coach Tom and I, Group Sullivan (consisting of Collin, Michael Callahan, Glen McGann, and Nick Dolan), and also Patrick Callahan who was running alongside Coach Boehm all experienced the weather's wrath. It was so intense, Michael almost had his USA hat blown away. Good thing that didn't happen.

       Upon our arrival back to De Smet, we saw a deserted stadium. Unfortunately, lightening did appear which postponed the game, and cut the run 10 minutes short for those who were still running. We made our way to the wrestling room for stretching, and the halls were flooded with CBC and Chaminde soccer players. It was an odd sight.

       While stretching, Coach Traughber took a look at his GPS watch that Group Sullivan uses to pace their runs. His reaction was priceless as he was reading off their mile splits. The watch said that they increased their mile pace by over 30 seconds throughout the run. Collin insists that the watch was mistaken, but it seemed like a fishy situation all around. Nobody is perfect, but what about watches? Surely they have flaws once in a while too.

Joke of the Day

"It's like gambling!" - Said by Glen McGann talking about how buying a milk from the milk machine is like gambling. You never know when it will fall or not, and this was proven after Andrew Hubbard's chocolate milk happened to get stuck. Thankfully Coach Traughber came in and saved the day. He deserves a chocolate milk and a round of applause for that.

                                                   Thank you for reading, goodnight.

Fleet Feet Kickoff 2012

       On Wednesday, DeSmet made a good showing at the Nike Fleet Feet Cross Country Kickoff at Parkway Central with the JV and Varsity teams both winning the team titles. The JV team lead by Patrick Callahan (race winner and JV course record holder now) didn't have much of a problem fending off 2nd place by 15 points. The Varsity had a bit more trouble, though. Fox High School and DeSmet tied, both with 50 points, so it went to the tie breaker: the sixth man. Who would be up for the task? Blake Waters AND Matt Barkofske were up to the challenge. Both juniors beat the opponent's sixth runner, securing the victory. Collin Sullivan and I both cracked the top ten finishers, and M Callahan, Glen McGann, and sophomore Nick Dolan (in his first varsity XC race) rounded up the top 5 on the team. We made that one interesting and luckily came out on top, but we can't be satisfied.

Nike Cross Country Kickoff

       This morning, the varsity team had practice at 6:30 a.m. before school. The plan was to get the workout in before school, so we would not have weather complications afterwards from Hurricane Isaac. We all arrived at Conway Park knowing the workout: 3 mile tempo, 2 minute rest, 2 mile tempo. Usually, we would have 3 minutes rest after the 3 mile tempo, and we were all wondering why it was shorter rest, but when Michael Callahan asked Coach Traughber, he responded with, "Because we want to get better." That is a what we need to do. Wednesday was a solid start to the season, but if we want to achieve the goals we set for ourselves, we need to get better!

       After the early out at school today, the coaches gathered the team in the wrestling room to go over the plan for Labor Day Weekend. There will be no formal practices for the next three days, but you are encouraged to run with your friends! Everyone was emailed a spreadsheet with each individual's schedule for this weekend. Remember to plan around Isaac's rain. 

       After the meeting was finished, everyone who ran this morning hit the weights, and the other runners got ready for tempos on the track!

       Thank you to sophomore Jake Fouts for enlightening me on the track workout. Everyone either ran a 2 by 2, 3 by 1, or 2 by 1 tempo on the damp track as it was raining on and off all day. They endured the chance of a storm breaking out at any second to get the workout in. Way to go, guys!

                               Thank you for reading, have a great Labor Day!

Tomorrow is the Day

       The big day is almost upon us, my friends. We are less than 24 hours from finishing our first cross country race of the 2012 season. The location of this event, you ask? Parkway Central High School. The time? 5:00 p.m. The plan? Dominate. The Nike Cross Country Kickoff, which we will be running tomorrow, is a 2-mile race instead of the typical 5k for the first meet of the season, and the more support we have, the better!

       Today, the team circled up on the track (a very large circle) while Coach Traughber and the rest of the coaching staff laid out what the plan looked like for tomorrow, and unfortunately, informed us that we would not be practicing on the course at Central today. After they finished, everyone ran through the race day procedure with his training group on the track (warm up, stretches, etc.) minus the race part. The soccer team had a lot of pressure with the whole cross country team running circles around their practice the whole time, but they provided nice entertainment for us during our laps.

       During the cool down, different groups were running in opposite directions around the track, so we exchanged high fives as we passed. The enthusiasm in the high fives looks like our team spirit will be through the roof this year, but I have learned from some alums that this is a "no fun team," so we can't have too much fun along with the team spirit (not really). Then after our stretching in the cross country corner, we were devastated by the news that the milk machine was empty. Luckily, coach was prepared and had some throwback chocolate milk cartons for 25 cents, just like the old days.
___________________________________________________________
       Again, we have a meet at Parkway Central tomorrow, August 29th. JV and Freshmen run together at 5:00 p.m., and Varsity runs after them at 6:00 p.m.
       Runners, remember to bring spikes, uniform, warm ups, and snacks, just like coach said, and let's have a good start to the season!
     Here is a quote you have probably heard sometime throughout your DeSmet cross country experience so far. Hopefully it helps everyone run a bit faster tomorrow, good luck!

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine

On a side note, you can like the Milk Table Facebook page if you have not already to get updates whenever the blog is updated.

                      My work is finished for today, thank you and farewell.

First Day of Classes

      Today kicked off the first day of school.  The school bell rang at 12:18 today because we had a half day, so practice started around 12:35 instead of the usual 3:10.  We had a handful of new runners because of the start of school which was great.  The coaches gathered the team on the bleachers under the extra bright sun, and went over some basic ground rules.  Then came the passing out of the uniforms.  Everyone went into the cafeteria where the coaches passed out the brand-new, sharp-looking freshman and JV Nike uniforms.  They will be the best looking runners out there.  Unfortunately, the new varsity uniforms were not in yet and won't be until after the first race, so last year's uniforms will have to suffice until they arrive.

       After the uniforms were dispersed, the team embarked on an easy run, still recovering from Saturday's hills.  The different runs varied from 4 to 7 miles.  Two easy days in a row, today and tomorrow, will hopefully have everyone ready for the 2 mile time trial on Wednesday.

      The big news of the day was the arrival of a chocolate milk machine in the locker room, which happens to be right next to the cross country lockers.  It seems like the rightful place for a milk machine.  This new idea could come off as bad because the machine sells pint-size bottles for a dollar, instead of the usual carton for 25 cents, but it will become more convenient for everyone as we get used to it.

CHOCOLATE MILK MACHINE

REMINDER:  Any DeSmet runner who reads this on Monday, August 20th, needs to have their uniform for picture day tomorrow.  This will hopefully not be a problem because Coach Traughber told everyone to leave his uniform at school.  Also, if you have not claimed a cross country locker yet, do so as soon as possible.

Thank you for reading, I wish you a happy week.

We Meet the Hills

       The team met at 8 a.m. at Big River Running Saturday morning.  Unlike this practice last year, the weather was beautiful.  There was no lightening that forced us to run our strides under the stores' overhang this time.  Off we went to Queeny Park.  Inside the park, we did our stretches in a grass field next to the Washington University cross country team.  When we were done, Coach Traughber and Coach Williams brought the team to the base of the steepest, tallest, meanest hill in the park.  Anyone who has ran at Queeny Park knows of this monster.  The groans could be heard from miles away as coach explained the workout.  "200 meter hills at 5k pace."  We were split up into groups and everyone had either 4, 6, or 8 hills.  After the workout was finished and the pain subsided, the team ran back to Big River for team day.

       On team day at Big River, everyone on the team can buy shoes, apparel, or anything in the store and receive a 20% discount.  There was much commotion about the release of the new Nike Flyknit technology shoes, but no one besides Coach Tom has them.  Maybe he will share.  Thank you to the Big River workers, they were as helpful as always with suggesting the right shoes for everyone who needed them.  We should be geared up for another successful fall!

       Today was the last practice before school starts for everyone except the freshmen, who had Freshmen Orientation on Friday.  Good luck to everyone with school. 

Joke of the Day is back!! (for one day at least)

       "I might need to ban shirts from practice" - Coach Traughber after some runners had to run back to get their shirts from the park bench.  He could probably start a collection with all the shirts that are forgotten at parks we run at.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.

Taking a Dip

       This morning brought more favorable weather on the track.  Everyone was asked to show up to practice determined to dominate tempos after an overall unsatisfactory workout last week.  During the warm up skips and stretches, all of the runners carried on the usual jokes and chatter, but when it came time to tempo, we were ready.  Last week's workout didn't phase anyone this time.  To Coach Traughber's delight, the groups rolled in, one after another, nailing each of their paces.  Also, we were even lucky enough to receive cross country race simulation! The varsity soccer squad (congrats to Justin Abernathy, Kevin's younger brother, for making the team) ran their 2-mile race while we were tempoing, so we were weaving and wiggling our way through their pack like a real race.  Hopefully this workout is foreshadowing what is to come later in the season: Domination.  But this will be no easy task, especially because we are going into the season as the complete underdog.  We need to keep up the fantastic workouts like these, great work runners!

       Shout out to Alex Potter for making an appearance today at practice!  It was great to see him again and talk with him before he heads back to Columbia for his second year at Mizzou.  We wish him luck as he will join the Mizzou Running Club. #freepotter

       After practice, most of the team took a trip over to Coach Boland's house for the beginning of the season pool party.  Coach Boland, accompanied by Coach Russo, Williams, Traughber, and Mahood, barbecued the most hot dogs I had ever seen, and good thing because a high school runner sure gets hungry after tempos.  The pool water was a bit chilly because it had not warmed up yet, but since when does temperature affect a DeSmet cross country runner?  Despite the cold water, we all had a great time playing in the pool.  The Boland family deserves a big thank you for their hospitality, so thank you!

Thank you for reading. Cheers, my friends.