One Final Touch

Yesterday Coach informed Brian and I that practice was moved up from 11:30 to 10:30. I arrived right at 10:30. Coach took a couple minutes to get ready so that he could run with us today. It was now 10:45, still no Brian. So we went outside and sat at the table to wait. We talked with Coach Williams and after about 10 minutes Brian walked out the door. He had forgotten his watch and wanted to go back inside and get it. I said, “Finally you’re here Brian; let’s go.” Brian responded, “What do you mean? I’m 10 minutes early.” To no one’s surprise Brian failed to retain this information having received it just after completing the hard workout. Not only that but he believed practice started at 11 which was never the case.

After the warm-up we decided to run the Runnymede loop since Mother Nature had spoiled our attempt on Monday. It was an absolutely beautiful day for a run. Brian was going for an easy 25 minutes and I had 35 minutes. Coach joined us for what was a very nice run. We jogged the shady route and talked about a little of this and a little of that including race strategy. Brian and I both made sure to touch the sign as this was our final practice at DeSmet.

After the run, Brian and I had core for the last time. We made it fun by rolling around of the turf. It was nice to see some guys (including 20 Lap Jack) out running. Here’s to a great summer of training which will lead to a great cross country season.

Tomorrow, I have an easy pre-race day run and Brian has the day off. The two of us along with the other Spartans competing at the State Meet depart for Jefferson City at 1:30 (Scherping!). It is going to be a great trip. We are all so excited. Can’t wait to tell you all about it right here on the Milk Table.
The Schedule goes:

• 1600m – Friday 2:40 (Abernathy)
• 400m Prelims – Friday 3:40 (Pickel & Johnel)
• 200m Prelims – Friday 5:20 (Durron)


• High Jump – Saturday 11:00 (Pace)
• 4x800m Relay – Saturday 12:10
  (Scherping-Potter-Johnel-Pickel)
• 400m Finals – Saturday 2:20
• 200m Finals – Saturday 3:20

Quote of the Day: “You guys can make any practice three hours long.”- Coach Traughber to Brian and I as we were getting ready to leave DeSmet. That has definitely become a habit of ours this year. No matter how long or short we run, our practice always seems to go three hours. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun.

Tuesday Tune-up

With the State Meet only 3 days away it was time for the final workout of the season. And it was a dreamy one: another Dream 800 for Potter & Scherping and a Dream Mile for Abernathy.

The stormy, hurricane-like weather of Monday was nowhere to found. It was very sunny and hot. But that didn’t slow us down or convince Abernathy to not wear sleeves for the warm-up. He gained a lot of attention for his not-so-practical look. We skipped and did drills in the shade up by the school. It was way cooler up there. If only the whole track was shaded like that.

For the workout, it was, like last week, over in a hurry. Potter and Scherping the 4x200 with one minute rest. Abernathy 4x400 with two minutes rest. After a few fast repeats the entire workout was complete. Potter’s splits added up at 1:57 and Scherping was at 1:50. Abernathy’s dream mile came out to be 4:09. All three were sharp and definitely ready to run fast this weekend. They should be a part of a couple exciting races. It’s time to put all the hard work into one final race on the big stage and bring home with a well deserved medal.

After the cool down and stretching, it was to the trainer’s room as always for a nice post-workout ice bath. The thing that made this ice bath different from the others was we watched some race videos. On the laptop we watched the Sectional 1600m race and talked strategy for this Friday. The best part of the video was that it had a great shot of Abernathy telling Coach Traughber to get away from him when he came to congratulate him.

Quote of the Day: “Hotter Potter?!?!”- Scherping to Coach after he said “this hot or hotter.”

Wet & Wind

One of the many good things about qualifying for State is we get another week of practice. And today was quite the practice.

Brian and Kevin got started at noon with the standard warm-up. It was the long run of the week so 55 or 40 minutes. The original plan was to run a Greaser, but it switched to Runnymede because we weren’t sure what the weather was going to do. It was dark and cloudy, but didn’t seem out of the ordinary with all the other rainy weather we’ve had this season.

Just because, we decided to make today long shirt, shirt shorts day—a long awaited, highly controversial theme day. You know it was good when as you walk past Pastoral before practice even starts and someone says: “I get it. It’s like you’re not wearing pants.” We looked hilariously awesome in our matching Rawlings Baseball shirts (which Coach Vitello commented on) and nearly not visible shorts.

So after skips we headed for the exit in hopes of getting the run done while having to deal with the least rain possible. Oh boy, did Mother Nature have other ideas. We made it the Jewish and had only felt a few drops of rain. Then all of a sudden it started pouring, absolutely pouring. And the winds whipped up and were raging. The flag pole sounded like it was going to fall over and the trees by the pavilion were leaning in directions that shouldn’t be possible.

At this point, we decided we better head back. The rain and wind were so intense when we first turned around that we temporally hid behind a truck. We charged out into the driving rain and wind. The droplets were slamming into us like little daggers and it was as if we were running up the massive secret hill behind Conway Park. We battled our way back to DeSmet and reentered campus behind the chapel. Just as we got to the circle, Coach was driving down the parking lot to go out and find us. Kevin takes off after him, sprinting down the hill tiring to get his attention. In the process he loses a shoe because of how soaked it has become. As Coach is turning onto Ballas he saw Abernathy in the review mirror.

That whole thing took less than ten minutes. We went back in at the main office, all three of us drenched. This meant a wet squeaky walk down the hallway. We got some really good looks; it probably helped that the wet shirts did cover our shorts completely.

The remainder of the run was completed on the treadmill. But after we changed shirts and wrung out our socks. The most exciting thing that happened while on the treadmills was that they both stopped when the power flickered 3 minutes in. Thought we’d never get this run in, but they cooperated the rest of the way.

Keep it here for complete coverage of State Week.

Quote of the Day: “I don’t think you boys should be running. I just came from Chesterfield and it was pouring.”- Random lady in the parking lot as we were leaving.

At Home & Abroad

Coach was jealous of our hard workout yesterday so he had one for himself today. He ran 3 by 2 miles at sub 7 minute pace. He went negative splits every mile. It was a little reversal of roles with Brian and I watching coach workout.

For us, it was 30 or 40 minutes easy. The original plan was to go to Runnymede just like the good old days of winter training. But, we decided to run a mailbox in hopes of seeing coach during his cool down. Well, coach never left DeSmet. To meet the time quota, we did end up going through Runnymede. I extended my lead in Spotter over Brian for the week with a couple Slugbugs on Ladue.

I finished the 10 minutes on my own by running the classic EtoE Rocky Road. Had a bunch of kids that were leaving DeSmet honking and yelling at me as I was coming up Emerson. It was fun. Practice finished up like it always does: stretch, chocolate milk, and ice bath. Woo!

Another solid run to get ready for Sectionals. Brian’s off tomorrow. I have 35 minutes plus 200s. The schedule for this Saturday at Lafayette is a follows:

• 4x800 – 12:00 (Scherping-Potter-Johnel-Pickel)
• 1600m – 1:30 (Abernathy)
• 400m – 2:10 (Pickel & Johnel)
• 800m – 3:10 (Scherping)
• 200m – 3:30 (Durron)
• 4x400 – 4:20 (Scherping-Durron-Johnel-Pickel)

You can find more information here. We hope to see lots of you there. It should be an awesome, very exciting meet.

On a total side note, Jacob Seiler is traveling to Rome. We wish him safe, fun travels. I blogged from Spain last summer and now Jacob is taking the Milk Table Shirt international. Can’t wait to hear about the trip when he gets back. “Milk Table going global, Italian edition.”

Quote of the Day: “Put some clothes on!!!”- Nick Martini screamed while diving by on Emerson Road.

Joke of the Day: “Squirrel! Come back. I want to ask you some questions. And I want to ask your friends questions.”- Scherping talking to the squirrels in Runnymede. He spent a good 3 minutes talking out loud to the different critters in the neighborhood.

2 Fast 2 Furious

No, we were not racing cars or watching an awesome movie for practice today. Coach simply had two fast and furious workouts to get us ready for this Saturday. There might not be two better words to describe these Phase IV workouts. Or Phase 4.5 as Scherping calls it since there are only a few guys left. All three of us brought out our brand new, just in winter training “Snowpocalypse” shits. Yes, they might have came in, kinda late, but they turned out really good. Time to ride all that hard work in the winter to the State Meet. The 800 guys, Scherping and Potter, had the Dream 800 workout. It’s about as short and sweet as it gets: 4x200 with 1 minute rest in between each. They’re goal was to go 28 or faster on all 4. Scherping closed it with a 25 showing his great speed that made him district champ in the 800. His splits added up to a 1:48 dream 800. Potter’s was 1:55 and more importantly he did not throw up. So point Potter!!

Abernathy’s workout was a surprise – coach revealed it as he progressed. It started with a 200 at race pace followed by a 200 jog. Then came a challenging 800 at race pace which he ran two ticks slow with 2:14. Next, another 200 a little faster than the first. After that came the biggest surprise of the workout, 8 minutes standing rest. He’d never had that long of rest for anything ever. But it would be necessary as the 2nd half was tough. It was a 3x400 at between 65 and 66 with 2 minutes rest. The rest must have got Kevin a little too excited though as the first one was a blazing 60.8. He found the pace on the second running a 65.3. For the last 400, he ran a 61.5 showing that speed he loves to unleash on the final lap of a race.

This workout meant it was time for double chocolate milks and an extra cold ice bath. It was a hard yet fun workout. We’re pumped up and excited for the race on Saturday. Let’s Go!!

Quote of the Day: “There are going to be 8 good guys out there. You have to beat them.”- Coach Traughber shouting motivation to Abernathy as he was running his final 400 of the workout.

Joke of the Day: “Brian it’s going to take you longer to put on that bandana than how long your entire workout will last.”- Abernathy as we waited for Brian to get ready when he was already late. It probably ended up being true because he took forever to get it own.

We’re Not Done Yet

Sunday night the seniors graduated. Immediately following graduation was the Final Fling lock-in. After hanging out and having a blast all night, we parted ways at about 4:30 in the morning. It was then time to go home and sleep all the way till practice.

So a mere 11 or so hours later we were up at DeSmet for practice. The work to get through Districts was complete. It is now time to put in the work to get to State.

Today’s work was an easy 60 minute run (Kevin) or 45 minute run (Brian). Of course Brian nearly overslept and missed practice. I called him as I was leaving and he had just woken up. He was late. But it worked out as I did my extra 15 minutes while waiting for him. As for the run, we went south on Ballas. Before turning around at Visitation Academy, we explored campus for a little bit. We pretended to be cars in the parking lot, found an open field with a broken bench, and ran by the defending State Champ’s soccer practice. But, the highlight was definitely the spiral slide. It was awesome!

On the way back we ran on the path in the park at Ballas and Conway (next to the Ronald McDonald House). This path had nice benches that were not broken. Brian concluded that it was because Ronald McDonald sat on all of the benches every day. We also made a stop at the hospitals’ parking garage. As a new DeSmet Alumni, Brian showed his Men for Others spirit when he threw the football back over the fence at the day care.

After practice, it was time for the Track Banquet. It was a great night of food, ice cream, good words, and awards. On the distance side of things the awards went as follows. Michael Callahan took the Most Improved award. To no one’s surprise, Austin Del Rosso won Rookie of the Year. Jacob Seiler received the 110% award. Kevin Abernathy and Alex Potter both got the Leadership Award. And Brian Scherping earned the Most Valuable Runner award.

Jacob who was also gets the unofficial T-bone All 8 Award as he ran for coach Traughber all eight seasons. This was the last Banquet for the Seiler family after a very long run with the DeSmet Cross Country and Track teams. We thank all five of them for everything they’ve brought to the program over all these years.

At the end the seniors took a few minutes to say some thank yous to the people that have made an impact on their time on the track team and at DeSmet as a whole. None of us could have done any of this without our families, friends, and coaches. You are all awesome! Also noteworthy was that senior Kevin Abernathy only talked for less than 4 minutes and 30 seconds (new PR!) much to the approval of the sophomore table in the back.

Title: Despite having the “Final Fling” the seniors are not done with their time at DeSmet. We will proudly wear our DeSmet jerseys this weekend at Lafayette with the goal of representing DeSmet at the State Meet. It was also a bit of the theme of the banquet—great season so far, but it’s far from over.

Click Clank

Today’s practice started with a medal meeting in the cafeteria with the whole team. There was lots of hardware given out—medals from Vianney, Clayton, and MCCs. Scherping picked up a total of 5 and Abernathy had 4. O’Connor, Waller, Martini, Potter, and McGann were among the other distance guys that picked up a medal.


It was time for practice and it was hot. Everyone that was not Scherping and Abernathy had a workout today. They were running 200s and 400s at “really freaking fast.” It was a good workout to get everyone prepped for their final races. I ran 20 plus laps on the track watching the workout for the first part of my 70 minute run. Then Scherping came out after finishing AP Physics and we ran for another 40 minutes or so. A nice run over to the shady Malcolm Terrace Park.

After practice while icing our legs we talked about the importance of getting enough sleep: 8-10 hours. This is especially important for us seniors who are now on a different routine with being out of school.

Don’t forget to bring your uniform for pictures tomorrow. And be on the lookout for our MCC Champions t-shirt.

Quote of the Day: “Coach, will you miss me when I’m gone? And me saying ‘hi coach’ very peppy everyday?”- Scherping to Coach Traughber after practice.

Joke of the Day: “He probably forgot to switch his clock to daylight savings time.”- Seiler on why he thought Scherping was late to practice.

Title: You could hear that noise before and after practice with so many guys carrying lots of medals.