Thursday, October 11, 2012

SWC Week


THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE YUMMY MOVIE SNACKS!!!  


Cross Country Parents:

This is it! SWC Week is here. Here’s an update about our final 3 days!
Thursday 10/11    
  • After practice we will have an OPTIONAL team movie night in the auditorium. The movie will start at 4:30 p.m. and should end around 6 – 6:15 p.m. Parents should plan on picking up athletes around 6:15 p.m.
  • We will be watching Kicking and Screaming, a comedic sports movie with Will Ferrell as a hapless coach.
Friday 10/12
  • Practice is canceled! Athletes need to run 15 minutes VERY EASY! Take it easy! Rest is the best thing you can do at this point…all our work is done!
Saturday 10/13
  • Be at Learwood at 11:45 a.m.
  • Bus leaves at 12 p.m.
  • SWC Championship Race is held at LCCC—course map is the same as previous LCCC races. The map is located on the blog and we have extra copies.
  • Boys run at 1:30 p.m.
  • Girls run at 2 p.m.
  • Awards Ceremony will be held by the tennis courts at 2:30 p.m. The top 7 runners will be honored with All-Conference, and runners 8-14 will be honored with 2nd team All-Conference. Team Awards for both boys and girls will be announced.
  • We will be back at Learwood around 3:45 p.m.
  • We will have our End-of-Season Celebration at Spevock’s Bowling in Avon Lake afterwards!
Things to Keep In Mind This Week:
  • Athletes need to rest this week! Other than the mile run on Tuesday, we are TAPERING! Athletes need to eat healthy all week! Stay hydrated throughout the entire week. Stretch before and after workouts, and then again at home. Get a good night's sleep each night this week, and sleep in on Saturday! Athletes need to wake up well-rested and ready to go! No late nights out! All energy is to be focused on race day this Saturday.
  • On race day, athletes should eat a healthy breakfast, and then they should eat a small, healthy snack before they get to Learwood. We will NOT be eating a snack when we get to LCCC as we are getting there about an hour before our race.
  • Normally athletes are permitted to sign out and leave a meet early, and we understand the busy schedules of families. However, if it is at all possible, we would like the entire team in attendance for the awards ceremony after both races! This is the only race where we ask that all athletes be in attendance as we conclude our season!
  • There will be SWC apparel to purchase at the race.
  • Remember to represent yourselves, your teammates, your school, and your town well at the meet! People are watching and your positive behavior is recognized by other teams, parents, and the varsity teams (who will be there to cheer you on!).
Lastly:

This has been a great season! All athletes have worked extremely hard this year and your training will set you up for a great finish! That goes for both the boys and the girls! All our work is done! We have come a long way since July, and now we will see all our hard work pay off. Everyone has been trained to peak at this race! You will be amazed at how well you have progressed, both individually and as a team, when you run on Saturday. I'm looking forward to a great week and, although we all know our competition will be tough, we are READY! Get some rest, believe in yourself, and believe in your TEAM!

It's been a great season...now let's finish it! See you all Saturday!

GO SHOREMEN & SHOREGALS!

Coach Rocco
Coach Walters

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Shutter Fly and Pictures

Attention Photographers,

A private team website has been created for the cross country team.  I have noticed parents have been taking a lot of pictures throughout the season, so I have created a website that we can use for you to upload any pictures you would like to share.  

Here is what you need to do to gain permission to view this PRIVATE site.

1. Go to learwoodmiddleschoolcrosscounty.shutterfly.com

2. If you are not a member of ShutterFly you will need to create a FREE account.  

3.  After you create a FREE account, it will prompt you to hit "ASK".  It will have you type in your NAME and a message.  You don't have to type a message BUT please type in your CHILD's FULL NAME--not your name.  That way I know it is actually someone from our team.  

I will get a message telling me that you have requested to be a member of my site.  If I like you, I will give you permission (haha).  Once I have granted your request to join this site you are free to upload and view pictures on the site.  

One more important message and this is VERY SHORT notice.  But if you can upload any pictures by SUNDAY EVENING that would be super awesome.  We are still looking for a parent that could put together a slideshow.  This slideshow will need to be finished by Tuesday, so we can put it on the Thursday announcements (gulp-I know...short notice). 



Also, as long as I have you all here, I also created a ShutterFly account for track and field in the spring.  If you know your child will be doing track... you can go ahead and request to join that site right now...follow the same directions but use the site below.  

Website:  http://learwoodtrackandfield.shutterfly.com/#

Thanks for all of your help this season!!



Coach Walters and Coach Rocco  

Friday, October 5, 2012

Jack Wilhelm


DON'T FORGET BOWLING MONEY IS DUE ON MONDAY!!!!  $11.00 in a sealed envelope with athlete's name on it. 

 
Cross Country Parents:

 
Here’s the information for the Jack Wilhelm Classic. The race is at Lorain County Community College (LCCC). Here are the race details:

 
      ·                 Athletes need to be at Dairy Queen at 7:15 a.m.

·                 Bus leaves at 7:30 a.m.

·                 There are no more team/open races—all boys will run together and all girls will run together!

·                 Girls run at 10 a.m.

·                 Boys run at 10:30 a.m.

·                 Our estimated return to Avon Lake is noon.

·                 We are going to Dairy Queen after this race. Because of this, we are asking athletes to be dropped off at Dairy Queen in the morning and picked up at Dairy Queen between 12:15 – 12:30 p.m. Coach Walters & Coach Rocco need to park their cars there so they can go home after ice cream!

  

About SWC WEEK next week…this is lengthy but bear with us:

 

·        I am keeping a Cross Country Lost & Found in my classroom. The Lost & Found is growing! If you’re missing anything this week, please stop down to Room 404 and claim your lost items!

·        This is the time of year for athletes to start eating healthy! Athletes need to stay hydrated (lots of water) this next week, and they need to continue eating healthy. One (small) dessert per day is all right, but other than that athletes should avoid all other unhealthy food/drink.

 

FOODS TO AVOID

Soda (NO SODA)

Candy

Sweets

Chips/Junk Food

 

RECOMMENDED FOODS

Fruits/Veggies (salads are great)

Whole Grains

Chicken

Fish

Pasta (carb loading)

For snacks…granola bars, crackers, pretzels (skip the chips, cookies, and candy bars!)

 

·        Athletes also need to get rest this next week. Athletes of this age group need a little over 9 hours of sleep per night. While this may not always be feasible, they should try to catch up on sleep on the weekends. I would STRONGLY ENCOURAGE all athletes to start catching up on their rest. This next week is crucial in their season-long recovery!

·        Athletes need to make sure they are STRETCHING after practice and at home! We are doing dynamic stretches prior to practice, but athletes need to make sure they are doing their static stretches at the end of practice and then at home! We need to stay healthy for this stretch run of the season.

·        Please check your running shoes to make sure they are holding up! We’ve been running for almost 3 months, some of you have been running for even longer. Check to make sure your shoes are not worn out! I can check your shoes at practice if you want. I know this is an expense, but running shoes are something you can always use. We will be running in the off-season and during track season so they will not go to waste!

·        We have put together a Cross Country Bulletin Board at Learwood! Check this out…it has pictures, records, and team standings at the SWC Meet for the past 9 years. Parents, if you have pictures you want us to post, just send to us and we’ll add it to the board!

·        Any parents who took pictures this year—We would like to put together a power-point for the morning announcements next week. If anyone can put together an approximately 5-minute presentation and send it to us, we can put it to music and share it with the school prior to SWCs! Let us know!

·        Next week marks the time when athletes participate in the tradition of toilet-papering my home. More important than this tradition is the new tradition (started last year) of athletes coming to clean up the day after (Friday may be the best day for clean-up). I don’t mind this tradition, as long as it is limited to toilet papering, forks/spoons, and signs in yard. Shaving cream, silly string, or anything on my actual house actually damages it (this has occurred in years’ past). This should be a fun endeavor but remember to be respectful! Also, a cop lives a few houses down from me.

·        We will have our movie night on Thursday after practice! We are planning on watching the classic movie Kicking & Screaming. Athletes are not required to attend, but most of them said they wanted to so we’re doing it again this year. We will meet in the auditorium after practice. Athletes should plan on getting picked up Thursday night between 6:30-6:45 p.m. Just a reminder: there is no school the next day!

·        Practice on Friday, October 12th will be held in the morning from 10 – 11:30 a.m. at Learwood! Attendance to the final practice is mandatory! There will be NO Friday night dinner on this date!

·        Make sure all uniforms are in code for the championship! You may want to wear compression shirts/shorts so make sure your logos are checked with a coach PRIOR to the last race!

·        The LCCC course map is the same for the last 2 races as the first 2 races. It is located on our blog site. Parents can cheer on athletes at the start/finish, the mile mark (by tennis courts), and the base of the hill. The base of the hill is CRUCIAL, as athletes are usually alone at this point, with no one cheering them on as they gear up for the last leg of the race (and the season). Parents, if some of you want to go there, it would really help the runners out! The only down-side is you won’t get to see the finish (unless you sprint back!).

·        At the beginning of the season we talked about getting ALL athletes to attend the championship meet and STAYING for the entire meet! While this may not be possible it would be great if the team were together. At the end of the SWC Championship Race ALL teams will meet for the SWC Awards Ceremony, where all conference schools (Amherst, Avon Lake, Berea Roehm, Berea Ford, Brecksville, North Olmsted, Olmsted Falls, and Westlake) gather and honor both team and individual results. This is an awesome opportunity for our team to recognize other teams and to celebrate their accomplishments at the meet and for the season!

·        Lastly, parents, if it is at all possible, we are asking athletes to make cross country the priority for next week! We are very accommodating with everyone’s schedules for the 11 weeks leading up to SWC Week, but this final week of our season, we ask that athletes rest as best they can. This means sacrificing games/practices for the 3-4 days leading up to Saturday’s race! In the past we have had athletes manage their schedules so they are fully rested and ready for the final race of the season. Thanks for all your support on this!

 

We will send out the SWC Championship schedule and End-of-Season Celebration reminder after the Jack Wilhelm Classic. Looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

Coach Rocco

Coach Walters

 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Westlake Fun Run


Cross Country Parents:

 

Here’s the information regarding the Westlake Fun Run. The race will be held Wednesday, October 3rd at Clague Park in Westlake. We’ve included a course map from previous years’ races so we hope they use this one!

 

·         Our bus will leave between 3:00 – 3:15 p.m. Athletes are encouraged to bring a healthy snack!

·         Here’s the schedule:

 

7th grade GIRLS – 4:30 p.m.

7th grade BOYS – 4:45 p.m.

8th grade GIRLS – 5 p.m.

8th grade BOYS – 5:30 p.m.

 

·         The course is about 1.5 miles in length

·         We should be back at Learwood no later than 6:30 p.m.

·         As always, if you need to sign out your child just find Coach Walters (it will be MUCH easier to find her at this race!)

 

Finally, there are a lot of things we need to communicate to athletes/parents this week, so please check the blog as we update everything we are planning for the end of our season.

 

Thanks for everything this season! The team’s really come a long way. Let’s have a great finish!

 

Coach Rocco

Coach Walters

 

Monday, October 1, 2012

End of Season Bowling Celebration!!!!

Let's Celebrate!!!! 

When:  October 13, 2012 from 4pm-6pm
What: Bowling and Pizza
Where: Spevocks
Why:  To celebrate our bumpy BUT fantastic season!
How:  Please bring in $11.00 CASH in a SEALED envelope with the ATHLETE'S NAME on it and give it to COACH WALTERS no later than Monday, October 8, 2012

Looking for a parent volunteer to stay and wait until every athlete is picked up from the bowling alley.  Please let me know if you are willing to stay for pick-up!

Thanks

Coach Walters