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.
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       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.