Orem Invitational

Darts,
I can’t believe we have just over 2 weeks left in the season. We have worked hard all summer long and all season long to get to this point–right now. I was very pleased with the energy level and the passion that we brought to the races and workouts this week. We ran well as a team on Wednesday at the open region meet (www.darttrack.blogspot.com for results), and we came back and had some great races at the Orem Invitational on Saturday (www.runnercard.com for full results). We have just 2 races to go: Region and State. We need to come together as a TEAM more now than we have all season long.

Girls JV:
2. Julianne Wirthlin 21:00.7
5. Brittany Blankenship 21:40.7
9. Jessica Wilding 21:44.4
13. Talya Kussee 22:13.3
16. Morgan Durtschi 22:20.4
18. Lizzy Wallin 22:22.0
20. Ally Adams 22:26.9
22. Brooke Stromberg 22:35.8
26. Brittany Sumsion 22:41.1
44. Emily Prince 23:46.2
57. Carlee Peterson 24:27.3
79. Erica Petty 25:36.9
80. Michelle Clouse 25:39.3
89. Danna Stuart 26:00.9
92. Sarah Greenman 26:03.6
93. Cecily Nye 26:05.2
102. Kortney Rees 26:33.7
117. Kensie 27:50.3
132. Dallas Johnson 30:08.9
134. Juliana Garrett 30:19.1
Team Scores:
50 Davis
52 Alta
69 American Fork

Boys JV
2. Michael King 17:53.6
3. Carston Feigleson 17:56.5
9. Derek Gallacher 18:11.3
12. Colin Cromar 18:16.9
20. Garrett Allen 18:31.9
32. Logan Petty 18:46.8
34. Jacob Whittaker 18:49.2
35. Cody Robbins 18:51.4
36. Caleb Ward 18:52.4
85. Andrew Steinecke 19:50.1
96. Joseph Albrechtson 20:03.3
105. Adam Seelos 20:13.4
125. Dan Willoughby 20:46.0
139. Cade Cloward 21:12.0
153. Zach Christensen 21:50.3
Team Scores:
46 Davis
77 Alta
87 Bingham

Girls Varsity:
1. Natalie Haws 18:36.9
2. Candace Eddy 18:54.8
13. Emily Hansen 19:46.4
18. Kelsey Valentine 20:10.2
24. Loren Storey 20:17.8
27. Hollie King 20:28.5
29. Meghan Hedquist 20:32.6
Team Scores (5A):
57 Davis
102 Timpanogos
106 American Fork
Team Scores (all divisions)
96 Davis
170 Timpanogos
176 American Fork
176 Orem

Boys Varsity:
3. Spencer Anderson 16:25.0
4. Seth Gutzwiller 16:27.0
24. Bryce Larsen 17:15.9
33. Jason Thomas 17:25.0
34. Jordan Stuart 17:25.2
48. Leland Stenquist 17:40.9
54. Bryson Snow 17:44.5
Team Scores (5A)
64 American Fork
69 Alta
98 Davis
Team Scores (all divisions)
98 American Fork
99 Orem
118 Alta
178 Davis

Although bringing home 4 trophies in 4 races was impressive, there were many other reasons that I was proud to be the Davis coach on Saturday:
I was impressed with Natalie’s race. Her hip flexor and quad have been hurting all week. We weren’t sure if she was going to race. She limped a little through the warm-up, so I was leaning toward not letting her run, but Natalie was in the competitive mode and was thinking she wanted to race. By the time we were at the starting line, we still hadn’t decided what to do. About 2 minutes before the race, Natalie said she wanted to run. I told her to be careful, and even to stop if the pain got worse, so I wasn’t surprised that she started the race more conservatively. I was a little surprised that she made such a bold move into the lead a little over ½ way through the race and started gapping the rest of the field. I thought she ran with a lot of toughness–it wasn’t until the last 50 meters that Hailey caught her.
I thought all of the varsity girls stepped up their efforts without Katie in the race with them, but Kelsey in particular put together a really awesome performance. Before they went up to the ponds on the second lap of the race (just over a mile to go), I noticed Kelsey had put in a big move and was running right behind Loren. After I cheered for Loren and then saw Kelsey right behind her, I got so excited that my voice cracked when I yelled for Kelsey. I am not sure if Kelsey could understand what I was yelling. Her hard work and determination and dedication to the TEAM were all evident in the race on Saturday.
The JV girls also ran a gutsy race. We were missing 3 of our top JV girls. Meghan, because she was in the varsity race, Megan Waddoups, because of an injury, and Ashley Ballard-Sume because of band. So it was going to be a big challenge for the JV girls to continue their undefeated season. I thought Julianne ran very tough, fighting for the lead throughout the entire race. She has really stepped it up, despite running with a lot of pain in her leg. Talya also came through for the TEAM. She woke up feeling like she had the flu and was thinking about not racing, but decided to run through her sickness. She ended up finishing 4th on the TEAM, and helped us to gain a 2 point victory over Alta. Without Talya, the JV girls would have finished 2nd. I liked how Jessica went out aggressive and risked a little bit in the race; she ended up beating her pr (from last week) by 17 seconds.
I was also proud of the way the boys fought hard to run their best. Seth and Spencer did exactly what I asked them to do. They went out a little harder over the 1st mile of the race. I thought it was a risk that they would be able to handle. I think it showed Spencer that he is still strong over the last part of the race, and I was very impressed with how Seth stayed tough and stuck with it, even though he has not been feeling his best this week. One of the hardest things about running is doing your best when you are having an “off” day. It is easy to do your best when you feel great, but running hard through the pain and through a bad race is what shows a lot of character and guts.
I thought our boys JV ran their best race of the season as a TEAM. We had solid efforts up front, and we showed a lot of depth with 9 guys in the top 36. The most impressive race was by Michael King–he started out patient, but continued to move up the entire way. Carston ran with a lot of guts, going after the leader the whole way, fighting to the end. Jake and Cody both had breakthrough races this week, both running close to a minute faster than last week. This group is where we will find our Spencers and Seths of the future. Who is it going to be? Who is going to step up and help lead this team next year? I tell you what, it doesn’t start next summer, it starts now. Set the goals, and go after it.
Another highlight of the meet was Caleb wrestling with Mr. Guts (I hope it’s okay to call him that). I think it added a lot of excitement to the awards ceremony. I thought Caleb held his own, and I am glad that Seth’s dad didn’t drop Caleb on my head. Good fightin’ Caleb.
I was also very proud to be your coach when I was running in the coach’s race. I couldn’t help but smile when all of your cheers seemed like payback from the things that I yell at you in races, but I appreciated all of the support and the confidence and the excitement for me as I ran. It helped me to get past the pain and the negative thoughts that come in a race, and instead helped me to concentrate on doing my best. Even though Spencer and Seth “owned me”.

Athletes of the week:
Kelsey Valentine
Jessica Wilding
Jordan Stuart
Carston Feigleson

I challenge all of you to come to the workouts this week prepared to run as a TEAM and to put your whole effort into one last week of hard work. Continue to give your best. Here is the schedule for the week:

Monday: 6 - 8 mile distance run
Tuesday: Intervals on the track
Wednesday: 5 mile distance run
*Thursday: Hill Repeats on the Vita Course road
Friday: 5 mile distance run
Saturday: Meet at Layton Park at 8:00 am for intervals on the region course.

Region Meet: Wednesday, October 10th, Layton Park
State Meet: Wednesday, October 17th, Sugarhouse Park

Run Strong,
Coach Talley
580-8713