Darts,

It has been a very successful week for both the boys and the girls TEAMS. We started with Wednesday's Davis County Clipper victories at Layton Park. Davis won all 4 TEAM competitions (boys & girls varsity and JV). The JV girls had a standout performance taking the top 14 places. For results go to: darttrack.blogspot.com.

I wish I could have seen the BYU Invite races, I guess the text updates I got from Brad while I was running on top of some mountain will have to do. From the results it seems like we had some very solid performances in our first big invite of the year. Most of the top teams in the state were at the race.

The girls swept both the Varsity and JV TEAM titles. The varsity girls placed 7 in the top 19 (from 5A teams) and ended up winning by 100 points. Candace was the individual champion followed by Natalie in 4th. They have both been so consistent over the last 3 years as 2 of the states best runners. Staying consistent at that level is a huge accomplishment. Katie finished 12th and has really stepped up to help the team. Emily had a breakthrough race, improving 3:04 over last year. Loren is continuing to run strong with a 2:41 improvement over last year. And Kelsey and Hollie have also improved greatly (over 1:00 each) and have consistently helped the TEAM. There were also some great performances in the girls JV and 9th/10th grade races. The JV girls won by 9 points over the best team from Montana. Ashley Ballard-Sume was the individual champion, and some notable improvements over last year include: Talya (2:55), Lizzy (1:26), Megan (:59), Morgan (3:23), Missy (3:40), and Brittany (3:16). All the girls have been stepping it up and running better and better. The hard work has paid off. Keep up the positive attitudes and the passion for the TEAM.

The boys also ran very strong races. It may not be evident by the place (5th) compared to 2nd last year, but the boys Varsity team ran a faster team time this year (17:00 average for the top 5 compared to 17:08 in 2006). This year's team would have won the 2006 race. The 4A competition has improved and our boys finished 5th but were the #1 5A team in the meet. Seth came through with a huge race running 16:13 (only :07 off of Jared's time from last year). Spencer finished 14th overall (#4 in 5A). Bryce improved his time 2:11 over last year for a strong finish. Jason is improving consistently with every race. Bryson, who won the BYU jv race last year, still improved his time, and is going to run even faster. Jordan has been sick, but ran 1:04 faster than last year, and Leland has stepped it up to run varsity and showed that he belonged in that race. A very impressive race; we are starting to show that we are contenders, and the thing I like most about it is that we are capable of running even better. The boys JV team has come together nicely. The top 7 runners were within :53 seconds of each other. Good enough for a 3rd place finish in a tight battle (once again the top 5A team). We are improving with every race. Let's keep that going through the region and state meets.

Here are the Davis Results from the BYU Invite (for complete results go to http://www.runnercard.com/):
Girls Varsity:
1. 18:40 Candace Eddy
4. 18:53 Natalie Haws
12. 19:27 Katie Swanson
19. 19:49 Emily Hansen
31. 20:16 Loren Storey
37. 20:23 Kelsey Valentine
42. 20:27 Hollie King
Team Scores:
65 Davis
165 Spanish Fork
176 Timpanogos
184 Bozeman
194 Orem

Girls JV Race:
1. 20:56 Ashley Ballard-Sume
9. 21:20 Talya Kussee
13. 21:38 Lizzy Wallin
17. 21:52 Megan Waddoups
36. 22:47 Ally Adams
37. 22:48 Morgan Durtschi
43. 23:03 Brittany Sumsion
45. 23:05 Carlee Peterson
94. 24:43 Erica Petty
99. 24:57 Michelle Clouse
175. 31:59 Juliana Garrett
Team Scores
70 Davis
79 Bozeman
112 Cedar

Girls Fresh/Soph Race:
9. 22:13 Brooke Stromberg
13 22:41 Jessica Wilding
16. 22:45 Missy Lott
45. 24:46 Emily Prince
74. 26:17 Sarah Greenman (really a Junior - oops)
98. 29:11 Dallas Johnson

Boys Varsity:
6. 16:13 Seth Gutzwiller
14. 16:36 Spencer Anderson
54. 17:21 Bryce Larsen
58. 17:25 Jason Thomas
59. 17:25 Bryson Snow
85. 17:45 Jordan Stuart
96. 17:55 Leland Stenquist
Team Scores:
111 Timpview
140 Orem
149 Mt Crest
175 Mt View
184 Davis

Boys JV
11. 18:09 Carston Feigleson
15. 18:16 Caleb Ward
16. 18:17 Michael King
25. 18:33 Colin Cromar
31. 18:44 Garrett Allen
33. 18:45 Logan Petty
45. 19:02 Ryan Thomas
74. 19:34 Dan Willoughby
89. 19:57 Jake Whittaker
142. 21:04 Benson Richards
145. 21:06 Adam Seelos
157. 21:29 Josh Tyndall
Team Scores
72 Orem
76 Mt View
97 Davis

Fresh/Soph Boys
54. 19:46 Cody Robins
70. 20:10 Joseph Albrechtsen
89. 20:35 Andrew Steinecke
122. 21:43 Cade Cloward

Athletes of the Week were very hard to chose this week, everyone is doing so well, the following were chosen for their hard work, positive attitudes, and improvement:
Emily Hansen
Ashley Ballard-Sume
Jason Thomas
Colin Cromar

This week:
Monday: meet in my room after school - intervals on the track (I can't move much farther than that)
Tuesday: meet in my room after school - running to Nichol's Park for a game of running "steal the flag"
Wednesday: meet in my room after school - Hard workout
Thursday: Easy run
Friday: Murray Invite 5k @ Murray Park. We will be leaving at the start of 8th period. I will send out more details later.
Saturday: No organized team practice. Run in groups or on your own (6 to 8 miles). Best of luck to Corinne and Jami in the Logan Marathon.

Now, some of you may want to know about my 100 mile endurance race yesterday. Let me just start by saying thank you for the tremendous support and encouragement. I didn't have a pacer for the first 40 miles, but I had all of you in my thoughts. I was also getting text messages like crazy every time I would get service. It was annoying the other runners to hear my phone going off every few minutes. I think I counted 127 text messages during the run. They were so positive and really kept me going. I am sorry that I didn't respond to your questions - it is difficult to text and run on trails. Brad was sending me messages to update me on the BYU races. It was getting me so excited. In fact, during that stretch (from about 9:30 am to 11:30 am) I was running along a few different ridges, and I moved from about 12th place up to 5th place. It was also the fastest pace that I ran the entire race - because I could not hold back my excitement. Sometimes he would send me updates and I would raise my hands in the air and cheer. (don't worry, I was alone at the time - no one could see me). Thanks for running so well and motivating and inspiring me.
The race was incredible. I kept saying that I could not believe how good I felt and how positive I was thinking. My hip flexors started hurting about 12 miles into the race, but that was the only trouble I was having. I was able to eat and drink and stay hydrated. I came into the aid station feeling great at 39 miles and picked up my 1st pacer (Steve Petty), and was able to see Stef and Ashlyn for just a second, but it gave me a huge boost. Steve did a great job getting me to mile 53 at Lambs Canyon. Mile 53 was the highlight of my race. I can't describe how uplifting it was to see so many of you there. My parents (and about 20 other people who were at the scene) have told me how incredible my team is, and I absolutely agree. I left the aid station on an unbelievable high that kept me going the next 2 or 3 hours. My next 2 pacers (Kenneth and Mark - old college running buddies) were surprised that I was so upbeat and that I could keep moving so well. My knees and my hip flexors were still in a lot of pain, but it didn't seem to slow me down too much. It was not until nightfall (at about 70 miles) that I started to feel some major pain, I was also having difficulty eating and drinking. I made it to Brighton Ski resort (mile 75.6) at about 9:30. I knew that I was tired and hurting, but I also knew that I could finish. I was still in 5th place. Stefanie and my parents were there which gave me a huge boost. I grabbed some food, read about 20 inspiring text messages, and set out on the climb to 10,500 feet. I also picked up my last pacer, Jed, who had stepped up to pace me last minute.
It is difficult to write about the last part of the race. Right as we left Brighton I could feel that I was in trouble. We slowly walked up the trail to Lake Mary. It was a steep uphill, and I was really struggling to lift my legs. I also started having some difficult stomach problems. Jed and I had to stop a few times so that I could throw up. I would feel a little better for a while, but knew that I was losing valuable calories and electrolytes. Everything I ate, I immediately threw up. Okay - this is getting gross, so I will finish up quickly. It took me and Jed about 1 hour to hike 2 miles up the trail. We came to a point that I had to stop and sit down. My legs were cramping and I was shivering and getting a bit delirious. About 5 or 6 other runners had passed me during the hour. I laid down on a big flat rock and couldn't get up for about 30 minutes. Jed kept encouraging me, but my body was at its limit. Everytime I tried to stand up and keep going, my legs would cramp and I would start shaking uncontrollably. We finally decided to walk back down to Brighton. But even that 2 mile walk seemed more difficult than the 78 miles I had already traveled. My stride was about 6 inches wide because I couldn't lift my legs. I had to keep stopping because I couldn't lift my legs. There were 2 or 3 times where Jed put me on his back and carried me as far as he could. Eventually I was able to walk a little bit, but the hour down the mountain was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. It was made even more difficult because I kept passing runners that were continuing the race up the mountain, and they were all so sympathetic and encouraging. I wanted desperately to keep going, but there was nothing I could do. Jed and I covered about 4 miles together in just under 3 hours. My pacers were all incredible, and I felt bad that Jed had to struggle with me through the hard part. Steve, Kenneth, and Mark were the lucky ones. We had fun and I was doing well, but Jed had to endure the challenging parts with me. I covered a total of 80 miles and then officially dropped out. I feel like it was a physical decision, not a mental one.
People think I am crazy for trying and crazy for putting my body through something like that, but I am glad that I tried it and that I had the experience. I pushed my body and mind harder and farther than I ever had before. The most I had run before the race was 31 miles. It would have been nice to finish, but at the same time I know that I did my best. Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement and concern. I had the best fans of anybody in the race. I really am inspired by your sacrifices to make our TEAM what it is.

Coach Talley
580-8713
"Some people confuse happiness with pleasure. Happiness is different than pleasure. Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing." -George Sheehan