Rock Chalk

Lawrence
On Friday, the De Smet Cross Country Spartans took off for Jay Hawk country. After the long bus ride, the Varsity, JV, and IR squad met in the Coach's room for some final thoughts. No new information was given, just reemphasized such as running in packs and strategy for the course. Senior Josh Goetz and Junior Nick Martini talked about what was different about racing out of town.

"It was nice being able to talk about the meet the night before and not having to drive in the morning." -Goetz

"I had to be responsible and not stay up too late since I had a friend with me in the room. Other than that it was pretty normal." -Martini

After an early breakfast, the team was off to the course. The JV squad raced first after running the course with Coach Traughber and Garwitz. Leading from the gun, and finishing first for the Spartans while setting a PR of 18:30 was senior Seamus Hamilton.

"Making this trip made me realize how many people love to race. I'll be the first to admit, I like racing, but I don't love it. I felt like I owed it to my teammates to love it today and I went for it. Coach was right, it isn't fun, but it was worth it." -Seamus

After Seamus came the big pack of Michael Callahan, Josh Goetz, Collin Vieth, and Jimmy Reed. This was Jimmy's second ever 5k, and he set a PR by over a minute.

"I ran with the team, which gave me the support I needed. It felt great finishing a minute better than Central." -Reed

Fighting strong for the JV were sophomores Collin Sullivan and Pat Callahan who also ran great times on a very difficult course.

The Varsity Guys with Potter, Husmann, and OC on the Skyline
After the JV, the Varsity took the line. The team raced unbelievably. Several PRs were set, and most importantly, everyone ran in a pack, the Calvary. The five that scored were only separated by a minute. Although Junior John Waller was not in the top 5, the pack would not have finished as well as it did without him early.

"Watching John compete made me want to suck it up and forget about the fact that my shoe was falling off from the start, and continue to move up"- Seiler

"He carried us big time through the first two miles. Seiler and I were towards the back of the pack, and Martini and Matt were a little ahead. John kept the pack moving at the correct pace for as long as he could. He "bull dogged" the first two miles."- JC "Bulldog" Madey

The team did a workout specifically geared for running in packs two days before we took off. It paid off for Senior Brian Scherping.

"The workout taught me that if I can or cannot run with the Calvary is all mental." Scherping

Ahead of the pack was Senior Kevin Abernathy with a great time of 16:30 on a difficult course. The Rim Rock Classic featured some of the best runners in the Midwest. Kevin talked about how running with some of the best around changed how he attacked the course.

"Going in it didn't change anything. The plan was to get out smart and compete. It got tough as the race went on because there were lots of guys ahead of me that I needed to pass in the later, more difficult part of the race. I executed my plan well, and ran just about even on the three miles, and still finished 22nd. It shows me how good these guys are." -Kabes

Finishing 2nd for the Spartans and setting a big PR was Junior Matt O'Connor.

"The race was awesome especially when I was falling in the very beginning. I had a good day, and staying with the pack, especially Nick Martini really helped."- O'C

Congrats to the top 14 for a great race. Every runner should make this their first goal of the season, because it is a great experience.

From Lawrence
Alex Potter
Milk Table(MTBL)

NOTE: Pictures will be added tomorrow. If you have any good ones email them to us at milktable@gmail.com

We’re not in Kansas Anymore

Because we were joined by Alex Potter instead of Harry Potter, we could not just disapparate and arrive at Rim Rock. Being mere muggles, we had to make the 5+ hour drive from DeSmet by bus. It was the 7 Varsity guys and the top 7 JV accompanied by Potter, Husmann, and T-bone.

Following the trend of last year, the road trip started off with a reading assignment and journal time. The article was about race-specific training—the types of workouts we are now starting. This year we didn’t have a TV which meant no Pre Movie and no 12 Rounds. Upset though we were, it didn’t stop us from having fun. We had some fun taking pictures with Madey camera. We played some left vs. right trivia. It was intense. The highlight on the ride down might have been Coach coming back to still among us and just chat.

We stopped at the normal Fazoli’s for some dinner. The in-line breadsticks were nice. Dinnertime meant Carbotime for Brian as he finished off three people’s meals. You could tell who was not racing from the deserts. Rob got slice of cheese cake and Potter had a big slice of chocolate cake. Everyone had a great laugh when Patrick’s permit got passed around. He is definitely a convict in his photo. The rest of the ride to the hotel was in the dark so it was pretty chill. We talked a lot about the Milk Table. I told the complete story of the origin for the first time. Eventually it will be in a post, but not yet. After checking into the hotel, we had a very good, serious meeting about the race.

The ride back…
Parking was way better when we arrived this year, but that did last as it took awhile to get off the farm. We were down two guys; Matt and Jacob were now both with their families. The best one-word description of the ride back might be candy. There was a lot and everybody shared and ate their fill of fruit snacks, Swedish fish, skittles, and others. Coach probably liked that the best; he’s a sucker for just about any kind of candy. We stopped at Wendy’s for a nice lunch. We had some guys watching Robin Hood on Michael’s computer. They realized what coach does when he’s not coaching, running, or teaching. He acts in movies under his alter ego, Russell Crowe. At the rest stop, we had a 150 show-down. We stripped layers of clothing for this sprint race. In it Potter got has racing glory taking the gold. Goetz had a nice performance earning silver, and Abernathy took bronze. Some of us played some cards. I beat Pat, who was acting like a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex, in low-card War. Next came fruit snack Texas Hold’em which was a lot of fun. After that we moved on to BS. We finished up with a little 31 which Goetz won. Finished the ride by just hanging and listing to some tunes.

All-in-all it was an awesome trip for everyone. We ran well and had a blast. Can’t ask for much more. There were a ton of great quotes and jokes the two below stuck out the most.

Quote of the Trip: “What were you thinking?!”- Coach to Matt OC after Jacob told a funny story about Matt on his behalf.

Joke of the Trip: “Water, water, water. Bagel, bagel, bagel. Skittles, skittles, skittles.”- T-bone at Wendy’s mimicking how Scherping announced everything we was eating and drinking after the race.

Baffled

Today was the long awaited Solid Color Day. We had a solid turn out: black, gray, white, yellow, blue, red, and maroon.

It was a pretty easy-going start to the weekend. The JV and Freshmen had their long run today so there was so mixing with the Varsity. We were down a bulldog but picked up Steve and Adam M. for the Spoede + EtoE. Adam, a rookie, won GTTG. Kabes beat lil OC again in Spotter even though he had a 2-0 lead going into Olive. Practiced ended with a circuit training flashback, hurtle hill sprints.

Quote of the Day: "Scherping, during the race just pretend that the guy ahead of you has the answer to your question."- Rob after Scherping kept following him to ask him questions.

Best Dressed: Matt. No more recognition deserved. (Katie)

Title: It’s the only word that can describe everyone’s reaction to what Matt was wearing.

Lawrence Kansas

After weeks of anticipation, the bus for Rick Rock finally takes off tomorrow afternoon. For many runners, making the squad that travels to Lawrence is their goal and motivation for training in the summer.

Only 4 of the 14 runners racing Saturday made the trip last season: Seniors Kevin Abernathy, Jacob Seiler and Josh Goetz along with Junior John Waller. I asked John how the runners that have not traveled such a long distance for a meet should prepare

.“My advice is making sure you come prepared. Make sure to bring plenty of food and water and pack clothes for all weather.”

Making his first trip to Rim Rock is Sophomore Collin Sullivan. Collin will be racing with the JV squad on Saturday. Collin has had a particularly impressive season so far because he has been fighting with the infamous IT Band all season.

“The IT band has slowed me down for many of the practices. Some days, I have not been able to practice because it hurt too much. During the races, I do not believe it slowed me down though because adrenaline kicks in and I do not much feel pain in my legs.”

Junior Nick Martini will be making his first trip, and running with the Varsity. Nick was one of the most consistent runners this summer, and it has definitely showed and paid off and he has run Varsity in every race this season. I asked him what he is most looking forward to this weekend.

“I’m really looking forward to the bus ride down there; I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun from guys who ran it last year. I’m also looking forward to the race itself because it’ll be cool to see so many teams racing together. I’ve been told that its one of the hardest courses I will ever run and that the hills are insane.”

Seniors Kevin Abernathy and Jacob Seiler have continued to lead the Varsity team with the experience that they have gained in the last two seasons. They have done a great job of showing the ropes to the guys that have not been on Varsity before. As Martini and Waller say, Varsity is the place to be.

“The competition is on a whole different level. Last year at JV races I was always pushing the front of the pack along with teammates. Since being called up, I’ve learned that I need to run much smarter races because I only have six teammates running with me and the score matters.” Waller

“Well the practices for Varsity are ten times more fun than the JV practices; we joke around a lot, play games while we run, and find the strangest and funniest things on our runs (Wiggles the dog, the Halloween costume guy, etc.). Even though we have a great time practicing together, we still complete our practices well and on time.” Martini

Good luck to everyone running this weekend. The Injured Reserve squad (need nickname suggestions) of Potter and Husmann will be there to cheer the guys on. There will be some rain tonight, but looks like we will beat the rain on Saturday and it will be about 65 degrees, but bring clothes for all weather and a whole drawer of socks! Special thanks to Collin, Nick, and John for being the quickest trio in history to respond to my email.

See everyone tomorrow

From Lawrence KS
Alex Potter
MTBL

Malcolm Mystery

Once upon a time, there was a group a group of 14 DeSmet runners. They were split into two groups and asked to go to Malcolm Terrace Park to solve the Case of the Mystery Workout. Upon arrival they we greeted by Potter and Stack. During the freestyle skips they noticed a clue. There were orange cones that appeared to be marking a course of some kind. Still unsure of what was going to happen, T-bone gave them the next clue—the workout was a ladder. Armed with this new knowledge and the fact they remembered to check the board, the runners realized they were going to run a 5k ascending ladder. They were told that to solve the case they needed to stay in a pack. This was no problem for them early as the distances were short. Then came the last thing standing between them and solving the case—the mile. They nailed it, right on pace! A victory 400, with the last 200 all-out, was in order to celebrate the brilliant work done by the DeSmet runners in solving the Case of the Mystery Workout.

*—I was trying to write the post as a classic children’s mystery book. With “Malcolm Mystery” as title because of the workout and its location, I figured it was worth a shot to mix it up a bit today and venture away from the regular blog writing style.—*

And now a word from Glen McGann on what was going on with the rest of the team:

For those of you are unaware, today marked the 27th day since the epic beginning of the greatest group to ever assemble, Mega Group. Today Mega Group ran the run that started it all a, Falaise. We talked about the humble beginnings of Mega Group and our favorite running memories. It was a fun run filled with riddles, Mad Libs, and the famous Mega Group theme song. In addition, Matt Beers finally solved a riddle that he couldn’t figure out for over a week.

Glen McGann and the rest of the JV Squad

Quote of the Day: “I didn’t rescore the meet. Well… actually I did. BUT, that does matter because you can’t do that in real life.”- Coach Traughber during the Top 14 post-Central meeting.

Joke of the Day:

Coach Russo: “If you take a line you are not as cool as you think you are.”
Higgins: “Unless you are a senior.”
Coach Russo: “In that case then you are really not as cool as you think you are.”

-written by McGann-

Best Dressed: Steve Placht dressed in the yellow De Smet Summer Scholars shirt and black shorts with matching yellow stripes.
-written by McGann-

REMEMBER: Tomorrow is Solid Color Day. It's simple: wear as close to only one color as you can. So that's matching shirt and shorts in one color. Avoid shirts with words as that add colors. Comment what color you want so we can get some nice variety. And there will be a blog pic!

Time Flies When We’re Having Fun

The JV and Freshmen had the Warrior Invitational at Arnold Park. Here is a quick meet recap:

The meet began with the JV race. With the top 14 not racing, Coach Traughber stressed stepping up and filling their spots. The JV team finished in 4th place behind solid efforts by Matt Beers, Justin Potter, Dan Bowman, Mackenzie Smith, and myself. Next, came the Freshmen for their first 5K. They finished in a solid 5th place. The team was lead by Steve Placht, Patrick Burns, Blake Waters, Matt Barkofske, and Ben Gliedt. Matt, Justin, and Steve all received medals for being in the top 20 in their races.

Yours Truly,
Glen McGann
A Mega Group Leader

The Rim Rock squad headed out to Katy Trail for the first time this year. The best way to describe the run is in the words of Jacob Seiler, “Family Game Night!” After the Bridge Warm-up and some freestyle skipping we headed out for a long run, 70-85 minutes. All those minutes flied by as we had a great time today.

This fun stemmed from a series of games we played while running. Katy Trail was an excellent location for this. The wide paths and low traffic allowed us to go four across, stay in a big pack, and talk without annoying people. We started with Mad Libs Stories. Each guy says one word and we try to create a story if you mess-up you’re out. We had some pretty funny ones. The best was a story about Hall of Famer Zach Boyle’s flow. It was hilarious. Jacob was the champ as he made it to the final two both games. We then took a short break and sang some Classic Church songs, a Katy Trail Tradition. Next we moved on to the Famous Person Game. This one can be a little challenging. You have to name a person with a first name starting with the first letter of the pervious person’s last name. It requires a large data base of names and quick recall. I took home the gold here. We finished with a game of rapid I-Spy. Madey, Martini, and Waller tied.

Quote of the Day: Why-are-we-speeding-up-question-mark. – Scherping talking to the group in Mad Libs style when the pace got a little too quick.

Best Dressed: Michael Callahan. He knew the importance of stepping up you game for the off campus runs. He broke out the golf-visor today. As far as I know, it the first visor we have ever seen on the team. And he made it look darn good with the complimenting sunglasses.

NOTE: Thursday is going to be a themed day. We are telling you now so that you can plan ahead and so we can have a great turnout. The theme is Solid Color Day. Try to wear as close to one solid color as possible. So if you have red shorts wear a red shirt. Avoid stripes and words as they add colors. Good Luck and Bring your A-Game Thursday.

A Long Day at the Office

With the Blogmasters having a busy weekend, it was a nice rest period for the Milk Table. We apologize to those who were waiting around to read. Wait no longer; we are back in action.

We stated by going over some stuff that we haven’t talked about in awhile but that’s still important: road safety. There was a noticeable whole today with some of the sophomores Ascending. Runner of the Week honors were announced. The winners were Seiler, Scherping, Beers, & Trunko. Click here to read their paragraphs (they might not be up yet though). The noteworthy one here was Seiler. It was his 5th time winning and as far as we know that is a record. How’d he do it? As a sophomore he earned both JV and Varsity honors.

The top 7 headed out for the first Bender 40 of the season. This run was a critical run for the Varsity guys last year and we hope it aids us again. Rob and I broke away and got some work in at a little bit faster pace. The story of the pack was again Scherping who has just started running with them. He stayed with them the whole way and did his now famous “Bridge Breath.”

During practice some of the guys talked about something that some of you might not know about. That something is the end of season Blog Party & Award Ceremony. The Milk Table has awards to give out and this is the when that happens. We get together to have some fun and recognize great work on the blog. If you are interested in more details check out the blog from the Blog Party after Track last year. We talked front-runners for the awards and all of them are still up in the air.

After stretching and getting the Rim Rock handout, the varsity guys had weights and core. That is why it was A Long Day at the Office. But a well-deserved chocolate milk and extra rest tonight make it worth it. While lifting there was some musical clashes. We couldn’t be convinced to stay on Joy or Z so we meet in the middle at 103.3 Rewind and it worked out well.

Quote of the Day: Today's is a little different. Blake Bender ('10) on the run that bears his name:

“The Bender 40 helps runners work thorough tough parts of races. The long stretch along Outer 40 gives the runner the urge to pack it in on the run. The long uphill stretch laid out in front of you resembles the point in a race when you have to make a decision to give it all for yourself, your team, and your school or to give up. Through running the Bender 40s runners develop their mental strength that will transfer over into race. Proven through science.”

Joke of the Day: “It looks like the bulldog has become the prairie dog.”- kabes. Everyone was sitting on the track but Madey who was kneeling and looking around frantically.

Best Dressed: Rob. He broke in some brand new shoes that glistened in the sunlight. He was also sure to match his shorts with them today. With the extra “spring” provided by the new kicks, Rob and kabes broke away from the pack and cranked out the Bender 40. Rob was also coming off a 5k championship. He won a race on Saturday in South City, and picked up a trophy and gift card. Solid work Rob!