Sunday, April 24, 2011

Track Update - WX Invite

Darts -
It was a busy and a successful week for Davis Track & Field. I think we did a lot of things that helped us re-focus our efforts, and I really liked the competitiveness I saw at both the Clearfield meet and the Woods Cross Invitational. The girls and the boys finished 1st place in both meets. We have been keeping track of who scores the most points in the meets. So far the girls have won at the District meet and the Clearfield meet, and the boys got the win at the Woods Cross Invite (246 to 210). We saw quite a few season bests at both meets. The Clearfield meet was dominated by our throwers as we saw 33 PRs just in the throws at Clearfield. At Woods Cross we had 28 season best marks for the boys, and 25 season bests for the girls. Our hard work is paying off, and we are stepping it up when we need to step it up. This upcoming week is even more important as we host the Davis Invitational on Saturday. This is the premier event for our track program each year (please read the notes below about the Invite). It is the 54th Annual Davis Invite - and looks to be one of the best ones.
We would like the TEAM to work on bringing more energy and excitement for each other. It was awesome to see the excitement and the cheering during the boys 4 x 400 and both 4 x 800 relays on Friday night at the end of the Woods Cross Invite. Those who were done competing really supplied a lot of needed energy to those who still were out there competing. The sad thing was that over half of the TEAM had already left for one reason or another. I understand it was a Friday night, and a rather long meet, but I would like to see more of you sticking around after your events and encouraging those who are still competing. Track & Field may feel like an individual sport - but there are so many opportunities to make it a TEAM sport if we try. We have always prided ourselves on being a TEAM and on being there for each other, and we need to see more of that. At the Davis Invite, the Region Championships, and the State Championships, a big part of our success will be to have those who may not be competing still right there making noise and offering support and encouragement. The strength you can provide for your teammates might just make the difference. Let's try to be more passionately supporting one another as we compete. The general rule would be to focus on your own events until you are finished (while still looking for opportunities to encourage others), then get out and cheer for your TEAMmates when you are finished competing. Think of it as a TEAM - you would never leave your TEAM in the 4th quarter of any game even though you might not be playing any more. We are working on our mental toughness - and competing for your TEAM and helping your TEAM will really make us stronger in that area.
If you would like to see the results from the Woods Cross Invite - you can see them at www.runnercard.com - even though they are currently posted in an odd format.

We haven't really been doing 'athletes of the week' this year (we have been pointing out those who we feel are strengthening the TEAM in on way or another), but I was impressed with the following performances at the Woods Cross meet and the Clearfield meet -
Bailee Carling and Taurus Jones - filling in for the 4 x 100 and still helping us pull out the victory.
Matt Parry - stepping up last minute for the 4 x 100 anchor leg, keeping his cool, and looking really strong in the 4 x 100 victory at WX.
Alex Hedquist - running tough and getting a win in the 3200 after being sick all week.
Tara Anderson - with PRs in the 100m, the 200m, and the 400 relay split - all in the same afternoon.
Shea Martinez - setting a new school record in the 400m in her first high school attempt at that event (57.34) breaking a 13 year old record.
Kaylee Brown and Jessica Richardson - throwing over 100' in the discus for the first time (at Clearfield). Those are the kind of barriers we are hoping to break through over the final 4 weeks of the season.
Mark Lindstrom - with his 135' pr in the discus at Clearfield.
Houston Merrill - with his high jump victory (5'10) at Woods Cross.
Spencer Betker - with his 176' Javelin throw - another big PR.
Kayla Sagers - with her 16'01 long jump at Woods Cross (pr and state qualifying).
Bridger Parkin - with his 20' long jump (breaking barriers).
Austin Neuner and Brayden Cromar - with their state qualifying mile times at Woods Cross (4:23 and 4:25).
Freshman Skyler Williams with his 4:29.99 at Woods Cross (another huge breakthrough).
Tracey Munson and Whitney Williams with their big PRs in the 4 x 800m at the end of the meet when it was cold and they had been helping with other things all day.
Mikell Wood - stepping up and helping us get the 4 x 400 victory at Woods Cross.
Ryan Lee - with his 52.4 anchor leg in the 4 x 400 - looking very strong and nearly getting the win.
Seth Fortin with his 22.77 200m, good enough for his second 2nd place of the meet and for a state qualifying time.
Addy Jones, Sarah Oldham, and McKenna Hill with their prs in the 100 hurdles.
Juston LeBaron with his pr in the 110 hurdles.
The Boy Distance Runners who scored 92 points in 3 events at Woods Cross. 16 out of the 18 boys entered in the distance races finished in the top 8 (scoring points).

*The point is that we have people stepping up in many areas, which is exactly what we need at this point in the season. I think we are facing some adversity and some challenges, mostly to do with injury. How are we going to respond as a TEAM? Are we going to show some guts and some toughness and build ourselves into champions? Who is going to step up and help carry the TEAM and inspire the TEAM. Who is going to have another breakthrough performance over the next 2 weeks - I hope that all of you are shooting for that.

Important days this week:
Tuesday - Jr. High make-up meet - begins at 3:15. Those of you who are in the track class will work out during class. Those of you who are after school will work out during the junior high meet. Plan on helping in the areas where you would normally help.
Wednesday - Tri-meet at Layton with Roy. This will be another great opportunity to improve your marks as we get closer and closer to the region meet. If you want to see where you rank right now in the region meet and what it might take to qualify, check out the rankings at www.regiononetrack.blogspot.com They are not completely updated, but are close. You need to be in the top 32 in your event to make it in. (Remember that some people ranked in the event might not necessarily compete in that event at region).
Thursday - Important track practice - both because we will be working out and we will be going over your Davis Invite jobs. Make sure you are there.
Saturday - Davis Invitational. This is our biggest day of the year (as a program). We take a lot of pride in putting on one of the best meets in the state. We will need help from everyone. If you are competing in the meet, you will still help at the times you are not competing. We would like everyone to stay as much of the day as they possibly can. Plan on being at the track at 7:30 in the morning and leaving at about 6:00 at night. If you are going to miss for any reason at any point in the day - please let me know. This really is a HUGE thing for us. One of the biggest indicators of our success as a program is how well we put on this meet. Show up ready to compete well, but also ready to be as helpful as possible.
*If there are any parents who would like to volunteer some time - we need a few parents to help us in the bullpen the first half of the meet (from 8:30 until 1:30) and some parents to help with the luncheon set up and clean up (from 12:30 until 3:00). If you would like to help at the bull pen, please send me an email or call me at 801-580-8713. If you would like to help with the lunch, please contact Jamie West (801)721-0333 or westjamie2@gmail.com

T-Shirts - Just one last reminder - I still have a lot of Davis Track t-shirts that you may have ordered, but not paid for. Please pay the $8 in the office, and pick up your t-shirts.

Thanks
Coach Talley

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