SWC Championship Week

Cross Country Parents:

Here's the information regarding SWC Championship Week:

Monday: We will be practicing at Cahoon Park in Bay Village. Buses will leave Learwood at 3:30 p.m. and we should return to Learwood by 5 p.m. Athletes should bring something to drink & a snack and parents should arrange for transportation home from Learwood at 5 p.m.

Thursday: We will have our SWC Team Meeting after practice. After the meeting, we will be hosting our Cross Country Movie Night in the Learwood Auditorium. We will be watching Miracle. This is completely optional! Athletes do not have to attend the movie. Mrs. Glasser and other parents have been gracious enough to provide snacks for athletes who choose to attend the movie. We should be finished with the practice/meeting/movie by 7 p.m.
Friday While there is no school on Friday, we will be having our final practice of the year on Friday. We will meet at the Learwood Track and practice will be from 10-11:30 a.m. Afterwards, we will have our Pizza Party in the Learwood Auditorium. Please arrange for transportation home by 12:15 p.m. Attendance to Friday's practice is mandatory!
This week we will be asking athletes to get a lot of rest. Please make sure to get enough sleep, especially on Thursday and Friday nights!
Make sure to eat healthy this week and drink lots of fluids! Athletes are encouraged to eat healthy--refrain from drinking any soda. Make sure to stay hydrated and drink plenty of fluids throughout the week!
Stay healthy this final week of the season! Make sure to stay as healthy as possible! Athletes need to stretch when they get home, and make sure to wash hands at all opportunities to avoid getting sick.
Parents, if you are aware of any toilet-papering of my house, please make sure athletes do not go on my roof! This is the week where athletes typically toilet paper my house...toilet paper, plastic forks/knives, and shaving cream is fine, but please, no silly string (it's impossible to clean up)! Also, athletes told me last year that they were on my roof when they were over...please remind them to stay off the roof! I will conveniently be at Learwood in the evenings for most of this week.
We will be going to Dairy Queen (Avon Lake) after SWCs on Saturday! After the races, we usually go to Dairy Queen. Parents can arrange transportation home from Dairy Queen on Saturday instead of Learwood. Please plan on picking up your child around 4:30ish.

Information regarding SWC Championships on Saturday, October 16th:
Athletes need to be at Learwood at 11:15 a.m.
Buses leave at 11:30 a.m.
Elementary and Intermediate Race will be at 12:45 p.m. Elementary/Intermediate runners should be at LCCC at 12:15 p.m. I will be inputting their names on baumspage this week, but any new runners can register the day of the race. The middle school team will meet the younger runners at our campsite when we arrive, and will be there to cheer on the runners during their race. If there are any questions regarding this race, please let me know!
All boys will run at 1:30 p.m.
All girls will run at 2 p.m.
Awards Ceremony will be at 2:30 p.m.
Athletes should eat a large breakfast later in the morning (sleep in on Saturday!) and they should bring a snack to eat prior to their race.
The weather looks like it will be good, but that can change. Dress in layers and for the weather!
The results will be on baumspage.That's it! It's been a fun season, let's have a great final week! See you on Saturday!

Coach Rocco
Coach Walters

10.3.10 5k Race

1st Annual Avon Lake Hall of Fame Run

What: 5k Run/Walk
When: October 3, 2010
Time: 9am
Where: Avon Lake High School
Why: To have fun while jogging and to see who will win--Coach Rocco or Coach Walters

Register at:

http://www.hermescleveland.com/

Proceeds benefit the Avon Lake Sports Hall of Fame and local charities!!

Coach Rocco and Coach Walters will be running in it also! Don't miss the fun...

Cloverleaf 9.25.10

Here’s the information regarding the Colt C.C. Cloverleaf Invitational:

· Athletes need to be at Learwood at 6:00 a.m.
· Bus leaves at 6:15 a.m.
· Girls’ Open runs at 8:40 a.m.
· Girls’ Team runs at 9:05 a.m.
Charlotte Ward, Esther Killius, Maria Cobler, Allie Spensley, Rachel Cogar, Taylor Duchesneau, and Katey Faber
· Boys’ Open runs at 9:50 a.m.
· Boys’ Team runs at 10:10 a.m.
Trent Glasser, Kevin Knip, Dan Furrer, A.J. McManaman, Alex Thieken, Nick Fowkes, and Joey Lyons
· Our estimated time of arrival back at Learwood is 12:30 p.m. We will have athletes call home when we are almost back in Avon Lake!
· We are dealing with a lot of injuries this week so if there are any changes to the team/open races we will notify the team.

Some reminders about the meet:

· Bring something to eat as it will be a long ride home.
· Parents, there is a $3 admission fee to get in to this meet. This is the only meet where they charge to get in!
· Coach Walters will NOT be at this meet. Instead, Coach Marlow will be there. He’s a very nice, very large man who teaches at Learwood and coaches
baseball in the spring. He will be at the finish line to help with times and to sign out athletes. You won’t be able to miss him!
· Only parents can sign out their children, they cannot sign out other athletes.
· Parents, your help this season has been unbelievable! If you could help out at this meet, especially with Coach Marlow, that would be great. The
start/finish of this race are at different locations. The start is at the bottom of a hill and finish is on top of a hill. Also, the times for races are more
condensed, so I will be running around like crazy. So it will be even more important to give Coach Marlow a hand at the finish! Thanks for all your help!
· A concession stand and t-shirts will be available.

About the team:

· I am keeping a Cross Country Lost & Found in my classroom. It is filling up fast! If anyone is missing anything, please stop by room 404!
· We got some compliments from other teams at Wadsworth on our team behavior—keep it up! Remember to encourage each other, push each other, and
display good sportsmanship.
· This meet will help determine who runs team/open races at next week’s Vermilion Invitational. The top 7 runners will be on team, all other runners will be
open runners, but all runners will have the opportunity to run. We may have to make adjustments, however, due to the large number of injuries we are
experiencing.
· A lot of athletes have gone to the trainer. Keep me posted on your progress! If you are injured you don’t have to come to practice, especially on Tuesdays
and Thursdays as we are most likely participating in roadwork workouts. We want ALL athletes (injured and healthy) to come to practice on Fridays (for
the dinner!) and to the meets to support the team. Just keep me posted on your progress!
· We are ordering our cross country apparel this week! Please have all forms turned in by Thursday so I can process the orders on Friday! We sent an email
out about this and there are extra forms in my classroom.
· We will have a shortened practice on Friday due to the Activity Night at Learwood. We will practice right after school, we will have a short run, then we
will be ending practice at around 3:30 p.m. so athletes can still attend the majority of the dance/activities being held that night. There will be no Friday Night Dinner due to the dance.
· Lastly, please encourage your child to pick up after themselves at the end of meets! We have talked about keeping their items in a duffel bag so the
coaching staff does not have to pick up garbage/clothing items at the end of meets. We do a great job setting up camp, but we have to work on getting
things picked up and loaded on the bus in a more timely fashion. Thanks for your help on this!

Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday!Coach Rocco
Coach Walters

Wadsworth 9.18.10

Cross Country Parents:

Here’s the information regarding the Grizzly Run at Wadsworth Memorial Park:

· Athletes need to be at Learwood at 6:15 a.m.

· Bus leaves at 6:30 a.m.

· Boys’ Team runs at 9 a.m.

Trent Glasser, Kevin Knip, Dan Furrer, Joey Lyons, Nick Fowkes, Alex Thieken, and A.J. McManaman

· Girls’ Team runs at 9:30 a.m.

Maria Cobler, Charlotte Ward, Esther Killius, Rachel Cogar, Allie Spensley, Katey Faber, & Emily Lambert

· Boys’ Open (all other boy runners) runs at 10 a.m.

· Girls’ Open (all other girl runners) runs at 10:30 a.m.

· Our estimated time of arrival back at Learwood is 12:30 p.m. We will have athletes call home when we are almost back in Avon Lake!

· We are dealing with a lot of injuries this week so if there are any changes to the team/open races we will notify the team.

Some reminders about the meet:

· Bring something to eat as it will be a long ride home.

· Parents, the directions to this meet can be tricky (we had difficulties finding the location last year). Coach Walters should have already sent the directions to the meet, but to re-emphasize it, we will be at Wadsworth Memorial Park in Wadsworth, Ohio 44281. The park is in the center of town where the football stadium is located. Bring your GPS and make sure to leave a bit early!

· Make sure to sign out your child with Coach Walters. She will either be at the start/finish line (this meet’s start/finish is in the same area) or the team campsite (which is also close to the start/finish).

· Only parents can sign out their children, they cannot sign out other athletes.

· This race’s results will NOT be online for this race.

· This course, as long as they have not changed it, is awesome! It’s a big meet with some great teams, and it’s fun to watch the runners at this location.

· A concession stand and t-shirts will be available.

About the team:

· I am keeping a Cross Country Lost & Found in my classroom. It is filling up fast! If anyone is missing anything, please stop by room 404!

· Continue to display excellent sportsmanship at this meet—we get a lot of compliments from other teams/coaches on the size, talent, and especially the behavior of our Avon Lakers. Keep this up as well!

· This meet will help determine who runs team/open races at next week’s Cloverleaf Invitational. The top 7 runners will be on team, all other runners will be open runners, but all runners will have the opportunity to run. We may have to make adjustments, however, due to the large number of injuries we are experiencing.

· Again, we are experiencing a lot of injuries on our team this year. If an athlete is injured, please make arrangements to see the trainer at the high school. Her name is Beth Hauck and she is available from 3-4 p.m., Monday – Friday. No appointment is necessary and there is no charge!

Thanks for your help so far this season, see you Saturday!

Coach Rocco

Coach Walters

Video on Shin Splint Stretches

Avon Lake Early Bird Results

The Learwood Middle School Cross Country recently competed at the Avon Lake Early Bird Meet at Lorain County Community College. The Shoremen came in 1st place out of the 13 total teams and the Shoregals came in 5th place out of 12 teams.

The Avon Lake Shoremen Cross Country came in 1^st place. The following Shoremen scored at the meet:

Trent Glasser came in 4^th place

Dan Furrer came in 8^th place

Kevin Knip came in 9^th place

Joey Lyons came in 17^th place

Alex Thieken came in 18^th place

Nick Fowkes came in 25^th place

Ben Dunstan came in 26^th place

The Avon Lake Shoremen are gearing up for the Bruce Lerch Invitational this Saturday at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School. Good Luck Shoremen Cross Country!

The Avon Lake Shoregals Cross Country came in 5^th place. The following Shoregals scored at the meet:

Maria Cobler 23^rd place

Charlotte Ward 26^th place

Julia Yantz 29^th place

Rachel Cogar came in 31^st place

Katey Faber came in 35^th place

Emily Lambert 38^th place

Taylor Duchesneau came in 41st place

The Avon Lake Shoregals are gearing up for the Bruce Lerch Invitational this Saturday at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School. Good Luck Shoregal Cross Country!

SWC Preview Results

The Learwood Middle School Cross Country recently competed at the Southwestern Conference Preview Meet at Lorain County Community College. The Shoremen came in 2nd place out of the 8 total conference teams and the Shoregals came in 3rd place out of 8 teams.

The Avon Lake Shoremen Cross Country came in 2nd place, losing to North Olmsted by a single point. The Shoremen scored 48 points to North Olmsted’s 47 points. The following Shoremen scored at the meet:

Trent Glasser came in 3rd place
Kevin Knip came in 4th place
Dan Furrer came in 6th place
Joey Lyons came in 14th place
Alex Thieken came in 21st place
Nick Fowkes came in 25th place
Ben Dunstan came in 27th place

There were 131 total runners at the meet. The Avon Lake Shoremen are gearing up for the Avon Lake Earlybird Invitational this Saturday at Lorain County Community College. Good Luck Shoremen Cross Country!

The Avon Lake Shoregals Cross Country came in 3rd place, asserting their place among the top 3 teams in the Southwestern Conference. The Shoregals scored 82 total points, far ahead of the other 5 conference schools. The following Shoregals scored at the meet:

Charlotte Ward came in 6th place
Esther Killius came in 7th place
Katey Faber came in 21st place
Rachel Cogar came in 22nd place
Taylor Duchesneau came in 26th place
Julia Jantz came in 27th place
Allie Spensley came in 31st place

There were 132 total runners at the meet. The Avon Lake Shoregals are gearing up for the Avon Lake Earlybird Invitational this Saturday at Lorain County Community College. Good Luck Shoregals Cross Country!


Visit Baumspage for race times: www.baumspage.com.

Friday Night Dinners Volunteer Schedule

Thank you to all the parents that have volunteered for the Friday carb-loading dinners. Below is the final volunteer list. As a reminder, please plan on picking up your child around 5:00/5:15pm at the front entrance of Learwood after each of the Friday night dinners.

* Friday, September 3rd: Herman, Ahren, Moore(Susan), Francy, Cold(Assaf) and Menzer

* Friday, September 10th: Spensley, Litzler, Dotson, Rice and Ward

* Friday, September 17th: Winkel, Jantz, Killius, Lambert and Quinn

* Friday, October 1st: Woyansky, Lucas, Wadsworth, Warthman, Klingshirn and Oechsle

* Friday, October 8th: Spitz, Becker, Riley, Maurer, Popiel and Hebert

Thank you!

Linda Glasser

Directions to LCCC

Saturday's Race

Cross Country Parents:

Here is the information regarding this Saturday’s SWC Preview Meet at Lorain County Community College:

· Athletes need to be at Learwood at 5:50 a.m. Buses will be departing at 6 a.m.

· All boys run at 8:30 a.m.

· All girls run at 9 a.m.

· We should return at approximately 11 a.m. We will encourage athletes to call home to make sure parents do not have to wait for the buses to arrive at Learwood

Some things to remember about the first meet:

· Bring uniform, any extra apparel you may want to wear, two pairs of socks, your practice running shoes (if you have spikes you still should bring your practice shoes to warm-up/cool-down in), your spikes (if you have them), sandals (to wear after the meet on the way home…your feet will be wet), something healthy to drink, a snack to eat both before and after the race, sweats to wear before and after the race, and a cell phone to contact home on the way home

· Parents, if you are taking your child home from the meet please make sure to sign out with Coach Walters at the finish line. Only parents can sign out athletes from the meet!

· After the race, results will be posted online at www.baumspage.com. On that webpage, click on Cross Country. Then scroll down to Southwestern Conference Preview (8/28/10). Click there to find out results. Please note: results may not be updated until later in the day that Saturday or perhaps even into the day on Sunday.

· We will email a course map either tomorrow or Friday. We will do our best to mark it for parents so they know where to cheer on the athletes. We will also pass out course maps to athletes at Friday’s team meeting.

· The goal of the first meet is really simple: every runner must finish the race without walking!

· As for the uniforms, we will do our best to accommodate every runner before race day, but we currently do not have enough as our numbers have increased substantially over the past two weeks. We ordered more uniforms two weeks ago but they are very busy outfitting teams this time of year. I met with the distributor today and we may have our uniforms by Friday but that is not a guarantee. We may have to ask some runners to run in their gym uniforms for this first meet. I have spoken to the meet manager and it doesn’t sound like it will be a problem for runners for this first meet.

Some other areas of note:

· We had a team meeting today to discuss positive team behavior and the importance of supporting one another during practice and at meets. Parents, please reinforce this concept with the athletes as we have a very large team this year and only two coaches. Team captains and experienced runners have been taught to support the new runners and to include everyone in team workouts and upcoming meets. This is the most important aspect of our season and we will not tolerate any inappropriate behavior at practice or at meets. We have had a tradition of excellent behavior from our athletes and we will continue to model such behavior this season.

· Please encourage your athletes to exercise good judgment when road running. We talked about this at our parent meeting, but runners should exercise caution when crossing intersections, should only run on the sidewalk, and should NEVER run on the road.

· At this point in the season there should be no walking during our road running. We have witnessed multiple athletes walking during workouts. This is our 4^th week of running and if a runner continues walking during a workout we will have to set up a meeting with the Avon Lake High School athletic trainer so athletes can be evaluated by a professional. If athletes are not diagnosed as injured by the trainer, then they are expected to run if they attend practice.

Thanks for all your support! We appreciate all the help with the Friday Night Dinners and we look forward to seeing everyone this Saturday!

Coach Rocco

Coach Walters

Avon Lake Cross Country

Friday Night Carb-Loading Dinners

The first Learwood Cross Country Team Dinner will take place this Friday, August 27th following Friday's practice in the Learwood cafeteria. Thank you to Vanessa Furrer, Samantha Fowkes, CeCe Carlson, Traci Wansack, Rebecca Thieken for assisting with the first dinner. Please plan on picking your child up from the dinner around 5:00/5:15pm at the front entrance of Learwood.

I am looking for volunteers to prepare the carb-loading dinners on the following dates (typically five to six people are needed for each dinner):

* Friday, September 3rd
* Friday, September 10th
* Friday, September 17th
* Friday, October 1st
* Friday, October 8th

We are omitting Friday, September 24th as the school calendar is showing an Activity Night at the school that day and Friday, October 15th is NEOEA Day (no school) so we will determine at a later date what we will be doing since this is the day before the SWC Championship.

The typical carb-loading dinner consists of:

2 pans of buttered egg noodles
2 pans of pasta with sauce
garlic bread
dessert (brownies/cookies)
water bottles
plates/napkins/forks

These items are easily split amongst the five - six volunteers. We have already secured the cafeteria for each of the remaining five dates. Typically the volunteers for the dinner will arrive around 4:15pm to set up the food in the cafeteria. Once the runners are done with practice, they grab their things and head to the cafeteria to eat. The volunteers clean up after the kids are done eating and wait to ensure all the kids have been picked up. It's pretty simple and the kids truly enjoy the dinners!!

Please e-mail me at lglasser4321@oh.rr.com if you can be a volunteer for one of the dates or if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Linda Glasser

Week of August 16-20

Hello Parents and Athletes!

We are entering our 3rd week of Cross Country, which is our LAST week of summer vacation! This week, Monday-Thursday, we are meeting at Avon Lake High from 9-10:45. On Friday practice will be held at Learwood, same time; we will also be handing out uniforms that day.

Don't forget we also have the Cross Country Parent Meeting on Tuesday, August 17^th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Learwood Middle School Auditorium. We are looking forward to seeing everyone there!!

Coach Rocco

Coach Walters

Friday Game Day--Capture the Flag

Just one of the many reasons Learwood Middle School Cross Country is a BLAST! Oh, and just for the record... Team Walters did end up capturing the flag first!

Sunday, August 15th Race

Here is an upcoming race that some might be interested in running...click on the link below for the information!

Santarelli 5K

Coach Rocco will talk more about it at practices!

Coach Walters

Necessary Paperwork--Important

Medical Forms/Warning Forms/Insurance Forms are due BEFORE practice on Monday, August 9^th. Coaches will be at the High School at 8:30 with forms should you need to fill them out. These forms are to be turned in to the coaching staff.

· Physical Forms are also due BEFORE practice on Monday, August 9^th. These forms are to be turned in to the office at Learwood.

· Pay-to-Participate Forms are due on Friday, August 20^th. These forms are to be turned in to the office at Learwood.

· Physical Forms and Pay-to-Participate forms can be picked up at the office at Learwood. Medical/Warning/Insurance forms can be picked up either at Learwood or from the coaching staff.

· All forms can also be accessed via the Avon Lake City Schools’ website:http://www.avonlakecityschools.org/learwood/athletics/forms

· Athletes cannot participate in practice until these forms are filled out and turned in. If athletes cannot participate with the team, the coaching staff will give athletes the workouts to run on their own until all forms are turned in.

Cross Country Parent Meeting

We are having our Cross Country Parent Meeting on Tuesday, August 17^th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Learwood Middle School Auditorium. The auditorium is right by the front doors of Learwood. Please plan on attending, especially if you are new to cross country. We will have team packets, schedules, maps to meets, and general information regarding our upcoming season. Hope to see you all there!

Summer Practice Schedule

Summer practices will be held at the following locations:

Monday, August 9^th – Friday, August 13^th & Monday, August 16^th – Thursday, August 19^th

Avon Lake High School Track

9 – 10:45 a.m.

We meet at the caboose in front of the track

Please bring water on a daily basis as it will be hot next week!

Friday, August 20^th

Learwood Middle School Track

9 – 10:45 a.m.

We meet at the front of Learwood

We will be passing out uniforms at this practice!

Monday, August 23^rd

Learwood Middle School Track

3 – 4:45 p.m.

We meet at the front of Learwood

Learwood M.S. Cross Country (Email 7/28/10)

All Interested Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

I hope everyone is having a great summer! I am Rob Rocco, the Learwood M.S. Cross Country coach, and I wanted to email all those who expressed interest in joining cross country this fall season. We are going to have a great season—both the boys’ and girls’ teams look to be very tough again this year—and we are going to have a lot of fun!

Conditioning starts Monday, August 2^nd, from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Learwood M.S. Track. Due to the construction on the north side of Learwood, I think it would be best to meet at the front doors of Learwood and we’ll walk to the track together that first day. I’ll be at the school early so I’ll meet everyone there. Bring light clothes to run in, running shoes (or at least cross-training, athletic shoes—no basketball shoes!), and water. Conditioning runs from Monday, August 2^nd and concludes Friday, August 6^th. The first official day of practice begins Monday, August 9^th.

Parents, don’t worry about any paperwork yet. Since the Learwood offices aren’t open yet, I’ll organize all necessary paperwork Monday morning and I should have everything ready to pass out the next day. All paperwork is due prior to the first official day of practice (August 9^th). We will have a parent meeting sometime in August, probably the week before school starts. This should help to answer any questions you may have.

Athletes, I got your parent’s and your contact information at the end of the school year (7^th graders, Mrs. Juergens emailed your information from those running club participants; 8^th graders, you provided information on the sign-up sheet in my classroom the last couple weeks of the school year). Some athletes may not have printed everything as neatly as possible, so hopefully everyone gets this message. If someone is still wondering about our upcoming season and I have not contacted them, please let them know. We also provided information in The Press.

Finally, we're really looking forward to the upcoming season! We have a new assistant coach this year, Mrs. Anna Walters. Those of you 7^th graders probably already know who she is. We have a lot of athletes interested in joining this year so that should make for a great team and a lot of fun. If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to contact me!

Rob Rocco

Anna Walters

Learwood M.S. Cross Country