Blog Archives for 2013
Summer Fun
Summer is upon us!
As all cross country coaches and veteran runners can attest, the fall season will be made or broken by what you do between now and August 12. Put in some great mileage over the next three months and you can expect a great fall season. Slack of for the next three months and, well, you can expect your results to be subpar.
Starting Tuesday, May 28th we will meet at 7am at the Widefield High School track to run. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we will lift weights after running.
As important as running over the summer is, we don't want the summer to be all drudgery and no fun. We will kick off the pure fun part of the summer with a team dinner at Coach Nelson's house on May 30th from 6-8 pm. You can get directions at any of our first three summer runs.
Many other fun events will follow. Stay tuned for a complete list of fun events and important summer dates that will be coming soon.
Summer Dates
Below is a list of all the important dates for WHSXC happening this summer. Please refer to this list often. If you have any questions, please check with Coach!
May 28- August 9: Summer running every weekday at 7am at the WHS track, Tuesday & Thursday weightlifting after running
May 30th: Summer kickoff BBQ at Coach Nelson's house (3144 Blue Mountain Way, 80906) 6-8pm; RSVP by May 28 to erik@eriknelsonrunning.com. Please bring something to share! Parents are welcome.
June 1st: Hershey's Track and Field at WHS track
June 2nd: Jack Quinn's Championship 5k
June 3-7th: WHS Track camp from 7:45-10:15am at the WHS track
June 15th: Sailin' Shoes 5k/10k
June 29th: Bristol Mile 1 mile downhill race
July 4th: Palmer Lake 4 mile race; 4th of July half marathon
July 13-14th: Barr Trail Mountain Race Aid Station Challenge fund raiser and backpacking trip
July 20th: Classic 10k
August 5-9th: Pre-season camp. Location and times TBA
August 6th: Parent meeting at 6:30pm in the WHS auditorium
August 8th: Girl's physicals at 5pm in Bower's Gym
August 10th: Boy's physicals at 1pm in Bower's Gym
August 12th: First day of practice
Be sure to check back here often for updates and details!
Sailin' Shoes
This Saturday, June 15, the Sailin' Shoes 5k/10k takes place in downtown Colorado Springs, starting and finishing at Acacia Park. Many members of WHSXC have used this race as a way to kick start their summer, and several will run it this year as well. Make sure you are one of them! For details visit the Pikes Peak Road Runners.
Pre-Season Camp 2013
This is the last week we will be running in the morning. Next week we will start running at the same time we will practice when the season starts. Check here for information on our upcoming pre-season camp.
Shoe Special at CRC
The Colorado Running Company is offering a special deal to high school cross country runners. Buy a pair of shoes at regular price and get a pair of cross country racing shoes for $15. The offer is good through August 31, but the selection and sizes are limited, so don't wait!
Scrimmage
Our team will see it's first race action at the Lewis Palmer scrimmage this Saturday, August 24th. The scrimmage takes place at Palmer Lake with the boys racing at 8 and the girls racing at 8:45. The bus will leave at 6:30 from WHS. To get to Palmer Lake take I-25 to exit 161 for Monument. Take highway 105 west through Monument and Palmer Lake about 4 miles. The "lake" will be on your right.
Cheyenne Mountain Stampede
Our team runs our first real race of the season this Thursday, Auguts 29th. (Please note: the originally released date of Friday, August 30th was incorrect.) The race takes place at the Penrose Event Center and Bear Creek Park.
Race times will be: JV girls 2:35, JV boys 3:15, Varsity boys 6:00.
There will be a fee for parking at the Penrose Event Center. Costs will be $10 for the closest lot and $5 for the farther lot. You may be able to find parking not on the Event Center property free of charge. However, carpooling is advised.
Labor Day Practices
We will be practicing at 8am on Saturday and Monday of Labor Day Weekend. If you aren't able to be there make sure you run over the long weekend! In fact, for many of us it probably wouldn't hurt to run Sunday as well!
Enjoy the long weekend!
Home Meet
Our only home meet of the year happens this Friday, September 6. Please come support our team! If you are available to help make sure the meet runs smoothly, please let Coach Nelson know ASAP!
WHS Cross Country Invite
Bringing home 12 individual awards and a team trophy, we represented Widefield very well at our home meet. With temperatures in the 90s, the conditions were far from ideal. Continuing the trend established at the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede, this year's version of WHSXC continued to run hard, compete, and persevere in tough conditions rather than folding in challenging circumstances.
This Tuesday brings the Florence Husky Invitational and a forecast calling for temperatures in the low 70s and 50% chance of showers. As long as lightening stays away, the favorable conditions could give us a great chance to see what we can really do!
Be sure to talk to your teachers about missing 7th hour on Tuesday!
League race times
Our league meet on Thursday, October 10 will have very early race times. Varsity boys run at 2:00, girls at 2:30, and JV at 3:00 and 3:10 for boys and girls respectively.
Upcoming practice times
With a long weekend, practice times will be as follows:
Friday, October 11- 2:50pm
Saturday, October 12- 10:00am
Monday, October 14- 9:00 am
Upcoming race times
Mesa Ridge JV Meet (Wednesday): boys 3:30, girls 4:00
Regionals (Thursday): girls 2:30, boys 4:00
State Bound
Congratulations to Shao Jun Liu for qualifying to represent WHSXC next Saturday at the State Championships. Congratulations to all members of WHSXC on what was truly a spectacular season.
State Info
State is this Saturday, October 26th at Bear Creek Park and Norris Penrose Event Center. The 4A boys race is at 10:30. We will have a bus taking any members of the team that want to go. The bus will leave WHS at 8:15 Saturday morning. After Jun runs we will watch a couple more races before heading up Highway 24 to Rudy's BBQ for lunch. Bring $10-15 for lunch. We will return home around 1:30-2:00.
Please wear you Jai You shirts, or other WHSXC shirts to support Jun!
For more information on the State Meet, as well as driving directions for spectators, visit the state meet web site.
Post Season Awards Banquet
We have lots to celebrate and will be doing so as we hand out Letter Awards, Team Awards, Academic Awards, and more at our Post Season Awards Banquet. The banquet will take place on Thursday, November 7th from 6-8 pm. It is a pot-luck, so be sure to bring food to share. If you have any questions, please let Coach Nelson know. See you there!