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