Blog Archives for 2015
Winter Series
The Pikes Peak Road Runners Winter Series is a 4 race series of progressively longer races starting at 5k and ending with a 10k. The first race is Saturday, January 10 at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. There is a high school team competition that we should be very competitive in. To register and for more info look here: http://www.pprrun.org/events/WinterSeries. If you register for the high school challenge I would suggest the team name WHSXC to make sure everyone enters the same team.
Summer 2015
It is hard to believe that summer is upon us, particularly with the weather we have been having. But, it is here and that means it is time for summer running! We will start running together on Tuesday, May 26th and will meet Monday thru Thursday there after at 7am every day at the WHS track. On Fridays we will meet at 8:30am by the Gladiator in front of Widefield to car pool to Bear Creek Regional Park for a run and workout.
There will be many exciting events and announcements throughout the summer, so come to our summer runs, check back here, and refer to the summer dates handout which will be posted here in the near future.
Remember, summer miles bring fall smiles! The best way you can ensure your 2015 cross country season is all you want it to be is by working hard and smart over the next 3 months!
GPS Watches
There are very few vital pieces of equipment for runners. Good shoes are one. A running watch is another. There are lots of types of running watches. Some, along the lines of the classic Timex IronMan variety, have timer modes, can do splits, and keep running time. Splits can be very important for interval training.
However, for distance runs and tracking mileage, a GPS watch can be a very valuable tool. (Conversely, most smart phones and many apps can be used to track mileage, distance and routes as well.) If you decide you would like a GPS watch and you are not concerned with using it to time intervals, I would suggest the Garmin Forerunner 10. This is the watch we have a few of available for use at practice. It is a no-frills, but very useful watch that can be had at an affordable price for GPS watches. It comes in 2 sizes and many colors.
Two options for buying a Garmin Forerunner 10 online are through Amazon.com and Running Warehouse. Running Warehouse has many GPS watches available, including the Forerunner 10. Additionally, by entering the code RUNBLOG10, you can receive a 10% discount on your order at Running Warehouse. (Coach Nelson buys lots of his shoes through Running Warehouse, using this discount.)
If you have additional questions about watches, GPS watches, and running Apps, ask Coach!
Pre-Season Info 2015
The 2014 edition of WHSXC is nearly upon us! As summer comes to an end there are several things you should be aware of.
First, for the last week of summer instead of our usual summer runs we will have our Pre-Season "Camp" where we meet at different parks and trails around town to run and workout. Instead of meeting in the morning we will meet at 3:00 each day--the same time practice will be. This will help us get adjusted to running in the heat and later in the day. Please see the Pre-Season Camp Page for details.
On Tuesday, August 11th there will be a Parent/Athlete Meeting in the WHS Auditorium at 6:30pm. There will be a general informational meeting and presentation followed by a cross country specific meeting.
All student athletes will need a physical before they can participate in any sport. Physicals will be available on Saturday, August 15th in Bower's Gym at noon for girls and 1:00pm for boys. Please be prompt and show up on time. The cost is $15, cash only.
The first day of practice is Monday, August 17th. Practice will start promptly at 2:55. We will meet at the WHS stadium. Be sure to have your yellow card. (Get this by turning your physical paperwork and parent paperwork in to the main office. All paperwork is available in the Main Office or at the Parent's Meeting. Do not show up with your paperwork at 2:30 on the 17th and expect to make it to practice on time as there will be a line! Be proactive! All paperwork can be turned in at the physicals on August 15th.)
School starts on Tuesday, August 18th.
We jump right into the season with a scrimmage hosted by Lewis Palmer at Palmer Lake on Saturday, August 22nd. Not all runners will compete, but all members of the team should plan on attending.
This season may just prove to be the best in the history of Widefield Cross Country. Let's get it off to a great start by taking care of everything we need to in order to be ready for the first day of practice!
Scrimmage
We will open the 2015 season with a scrimmage hosted by Lewis Palmer in Palmer Lake on Saturday, August 22. Directions to the race can be found on the "Schedule" tab.
Please note the start time for the scrimmage is 8am for the boys and 8:45 for the girls. The bus will leave from Widefield at 6:30am sharp. All runners are expected to go to the scrimmage and will have something to do. However, only runners who have attended every practice will have enough practices to meet CHSAA's minimum practice rule and be able to compete in the scrimmage.
Notes for the Week
There are 2 pieces of information you will want to know about for this week.
First, on Thursday from 4-8pm Colorado Running Company will be hosting a high school cross country spike night. They will have pizza, college runners on hand to talk running and training, and will offer 20% discounts on racing and training shoes to high school runners. Racing shoes are an important part of being a competitive cross country runner, so if you need training shoes or racing shoes, or need to figure out what it is that you need, this would be a great chance! Colorado Running Company is located at University Village Center on North Nevada just south of Trader Joe's.
Second, some information about our upcoming meet this Friday. This is the same course we will run on at State, so many of the top teams in the state will be there to get acquainted with the course. Our JV girls will run at 4:30. The Varsity girls run at 5:00. JV boys will run at 6:30 and Varsity boys at 7:00. There will be a $5 fee for parking, so please plan accordingly. All of the information you need about the race can be found at The Cheyenne Mountain Stampede web site.
Home Meet!
This Saturday, September 5th, is our one and only home meet of the season. We love hosting a meet on our course where we practice every day. We plan to represent ourselves and our school well and would love to have a great turnout of parents to cheer us on.
The meet starts at 9am with the Boys Varsity. Girls Varsity will follow at 9:30. Boys JV and Girls JV will start at 10 and 10:30 respectively. All races take place at the Widefield Community Center. There will also be a Junior High race at 8am.
If you are willing to help make the race run smoothly on race day, please let Coach Nelson know. We can use some help during the races as well as assistance with course set up and tear down before and after the meet.
We hope to see you Saturday!
The Strong Start Continues
WHSXC represented very well at our home meet this past Saturday, although we may not he been the most gracious of hosts. Our boys opened the day with a big win over the 5th ranked team in 3A, Vanguard. Widefield was led by a 1-2-3 finish from Max Martinez, Cole Munoz, and Matthew Arbegast. In total, Widefield brought home 6 individual awards in the Boys Varsity race, 4 in the Girls Varsity, 5 in the Boys JV and 6 in the girls JV. What a day!
This weekend we will make our first ever trip to the St. Vrain Invitational hosted by Lyons High School. This is a very big race with over 90 schools attending. Every year it produces fast times and great competition. Race times will be: Varsity Girls at 8:40, Boys Varsity 9:30, Boys JV 9:55, Girls JV 10:25.
The bus will leave Widefield high school at 5:15am. We will return around 3pm and will stop for lunch on the way home. Please bring money for lunch.
Pueblo Central
This weekend on Saturday September 19 we travel to the Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo to compete in one of the oldest meets in Colorado. Race times will be:
9:30 Girls Varsity
10:00 Boys Varsity
10:30 Girls JV
11:00 Boys JV
We will stop for lunch on the way home so bring some money!
Week 6 in Review, Week 7 Preview
As hard as it may be to believe, our season is over half way over. This past week, members of our team went to the Cougar Classic and Fountain Fort Carson Invitational. Highlights included:
-Max Martinez finished 2nd at the Cougar Classic.
-Caitlyn Anderson ran the fastest freshman girl's time in the past 12 years and one of the 3 fastest freshman girl's times in school history.
-Miles Mena finished 8th overall at Fountain Fort Carson and ran the Varsity Standard.
-5 boys and 1 girl ran PR's at Fountain Fort Carson, including a PR by Zack Goodman in his first race of the season.
This week some of our non-Varsity runners will travel to Canon City to race at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park on Thursday. The meet letter has this information for parents: "Please let parents know that there will be an admission fee of $10 per person if they choose to go inside the gates to the bridge. (Runners/Coaches/Workers are not charged) The runners will finish across the bridge. If parents choose not to pay to get in they will be able to watch the majority of the race outside the gates." The course map makes it appear the race starts in the parking lot outside the park and runs mostly outside the park on county roads. The finish is inside the park and goes across the Royal Gorge Bridge to the finish line. Boys JV will start at 5:00. Girls JV will begin at 5:05.
On Saturday our entire team will have an early departure time to head to Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins. Race times will be:
9am-Girls Varsity
9:30-Boys Varsity
10-Girls JV
10:30-Boys JV
Another Great Week
Momentum. Energy. Excitement.
Whatever "it" is, we have it right now.
This past week we took runners to meets on Thursday and Saturday. Between the two meets we recorded 30 Personal Records, 4 Personal Course Records, a top 3 team finish, and broke through some serious barriers.
On Thursday the JV team went to a very unique meet at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. The race started with about 1.3 miles of uphill. As the saying goes, however, what goes up must come down, and the last 1.8 miles were downhill. The race finished with a dash across the Royal Gorge Bridge. Highlights included a 4th and 5th place finish from Myah Jennrich and Kayleen Chee and some serious breakthroughs for several runners.
Two days later we took the entire team to Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins for the SaberCat invitational. The Girls Varsity started the day with a bang as Caitlyn Anderson and Tabi Frandsen both set PR's with times that put them at 2nd and 5th respectively on the All-Time Top 10 List. Not to be outdone, the Varsity Boys raced with abandon, recording 3 PRs and 3 PCRs, putting 3 runners in the top 12 and finishing 3rd as a team, ahead of the 7th and 9th ranked teams in 4A as well as the 2nd ranked team in 5A. Matthew Arbegast had the biggest breakthrough of the day, running 16:31 to shatter his old PR by 29 seconds.
The JV runners kept the great day going as Myah Jennrich came within 1 second of the Varsity standard and Isaiah Frye came within 3. All girls were under 31:00 and 11 were under 27:00. Every single boy ran under 23:30.
This upcoming weekend we travel to Englewood High School for the Windjammer Invitational. Race times will be:
9:00--Girls JV
9:30--Boys JV
10:00--Girls Varsity
10:30--Boys Varsity
Championship Season
After a very successful Invitational Season, our schedule has now moved from invitationals to our Championship races.
This week we race in the Colorado Springs Metro League Championships at Fountain-Fort Carson High School. Race times will be:
2:00--Varsity Boys
2:30--Varsity Girls
3:00--JV Boys
3:05--JV Girls
There is a 4A and 5A section to our league. The two sections will run together but will be scored and get awards separately. What this means is one of our runners could finish 30th overall but be 5th among the 4A schools and get a 5th place award as well as 5 points for our team score.
Please come support us as we look to win our first League Title in over 30 years!
Leagues and Regionals
What do you do when you win the first League Championship for your team in 31 years?
If you are Widefield High School Cross Country you enjoy it for a day or so and then set your sites on winning the next one.
This past week WHSXC dominated the Colorado Springs Metro League meet. Caitlyn Anderson finished 3rd overall in the Girl's Varsity and the girls team finished 3rd overall. The boys were led by Max Martinez, Cole Munoz, and Matthew Arbegast who went 1-2-3 and let the team to a big victory. In the JV races our runners were among the top 4A runners. We brought home 9 individual awards including 6 of 15 awards in the boys Varsity race.
This week our team will set out to excel in 2 races. On Wednesday our JV runners will go to Monument Valley Park for the El Paso County Open Championships. Race times will be:
3:30--9th and 10th Grade Boys
3:35--9th and 10th Grade Girls
4:15--11th and 12th Grade Boys
4:20--11th and 12th Grade Girls
On Thursday our Varsity teams will compete for a berth at the State Meet. Top 15 individuals and the top 4 teams will advance. Race times will be:
2:30--4A Girls
4:00--4A Boys
Please come support our kids as we close our season strong!
State!
Congratulations to the boy's team and Caitlyn Anderson on qualifying to represent WHSXC at the State Cross Country Championships this Saturday, October 31st.
The boys qualified for State by finishing 2nd in our region. Led my Max Martinez's second straight victory, along with Matthew Arbegast, Cole Munoz and Stephen Agenbroad all in the top 12 the boys were 10 points out of a Regional Championship and way ahead of 3rd place.
Caitlyn Anderson ran a tough race to finish 10th overall and claim her place at State.
This weekend the boys will run at 10:30 and Caitlyn will run at 12:30.
But the festivities start before the races. On Thursday we will have a team sendoff dinner hosted by the Munoz family. Details will be sent home on Wednesday, but we will need a rough count of who will be attending Wednesday night. Families of qualifiers and all team members are invited.
Friday we will have practice at 10 am (tentatively). We are looking into fun activities we can do after practice to keep the kids in as normal a routine as possible on a day they don't have school.
On Saturday the bus will leave at 8:30. All members of this year's team are invited to come to the meet with us. After the meet we will go to Rudy's Barbecue for lunch. Lunch should be around 2pm. State qualifiers will have their lunch paid for. All others need to bring $10-15 if they would like to eat.
All parents are encouraged to come cheer for the team at State! We still have several of this year's team t-shirts as well as leftover shirts from previous years that are available for sale. If you would like to know what sizes we have please let Coach Nelson know.
Good luck at State!