Avon Lake Fun Run

Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

 

Here’s what’s going on this week:

 

·         Parents, THANK YOU for bringing the pizza to the Cloverleaf Invitational! That was awesome!

·         Lost & Found: we have missing items in our classrooms. Please stop by to claim your items! Any lost items, by the end of the season, will be donated to charity.

·         We are going to be registering our team for the OHSAA Middle School Invitational (State Meet) very soon. We are planning on taking the top 20 boys & 20 girls on our team (who are interested in going). Please let us know if you’re interested in participating in this meet! The meet will be held in Lancaster, Ohio, on Saturday, October 24^th—athletes who will be competing at this meet will be practicing the week prior to this meet!

·         The end of the season is quickly approaching! With the end of our season soon upon us, the coaching staff is planning some fun activities that hopefully will promote team-building and an appreciation for the hard work put in this season! The next 2 weeks’ activities include:

Thursday, October 1^st                       Avon Lake ‘Fun Run’

Saturday, October 10^th                     Dairy Queen AFTER Jack Wilhelm Invitational (parents can pick up athletes from Avon Lake Dairy Queen)

Saturday, October 17^th                     End-of-season Bowling Celebration (after SWCs)

Avon Lake Fun Run Information:

 

·         I reserved Kopf Reservation for this event—but there will still be other patrons of the park so runners will have to make sure they are aware of their surroundings when they’re running!

·         We will need a few volunteers to man the course so runners know exactly where they’re running. Our runners are very familiar with the course, but Amherst might need some help. I made a map and we’ll have our kids walk the course with them, but if you can help out at all, let us know! I’ll be getting to the high school early tomorrow (around 3 p.m.) if you would like to meet me there.

·         NO SPIKES! Make sure runners are wearing their ‘normal’ running shoes.

·         We got buses to transport our kids from Learwood to the high school, but we WILL NOT be returning to Learwood! Athletes will need to be picked up at the high school after the race!

·         We’re taking the day off on Friday, so make sure all runners get a 35 minute run in at some point this weekend!

 

Here’s the schedule:

 

4:20 - 8th grade girls

4:40 - 8th grade boys

5:00 - 7th grade girls

5:20 - 7th grade boys

Cloverleaf

Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

Here’s our 2^nd update of the week:

·         Parents, we still have a surplus of paper plates, plastic cups, plastic silverware, napkins, and drinks for the dinners. Just stop by my room (404) to pick up what you need!

·         Lost & Found: we have missing items in our classrooms. Please stop by to claim your items! Any lost items, by the end of the season, will be donated to charity.

·         Just a heads-up…very soon we will need to know who is willing to go to the OHSAA Middle School Cross Country Championships. We’ll talk to the team about this but we need to know who can make this meet so we can take as many kids as we can, without leaving anybody out who would want to go!

·         Avon Lake Fun Run is set for Thursday, October 1^st. This is a dual-meet with Amherst, an informal 1.8 – mile run and a tradition for these two SWC schools! We will need volunteers (not many) to help run this race, so if you are willing to help out, please let us know! Here’s the schedule:

7th Girls     4:30

7th Boys     4:45

8th Girls     5:00

8th Boys     5:15

·         The end of the season is quickly approaching! With the end of our season soon upon us, the coaching staff is planning some fun activities that hopefully will promote team-building and an appreciation for the hard work put in this season! The next 3 weeks’ activities include:

Thursday, October 1^st                       Avon Lake ‘Fun Run’

Saturday, October 10^th                     Dairy Queen AFTER Jack Wilhelm Invitational (parents can pick up athletes from Avon Lake Dairy Queen)

Saturday, October 17^th                     End-of-season Bowling Celebration (after SWCs)

Cloverleaf Information:

·         We will meet at Troy at 6:15 a.m.

·         We should return around noon.

·         Here’s the course map (NOTE: this is a change from last year…again!): http://www.baumspage.com/cc/cloverleaf/2015/MS%20Course%20Map.pdf

·         Normal breakfast still applies, with a light snack both before & after the race. Bring water for both before and after the race, and don’t forget your sports drink!

·         Results will be on baumspage.com!

·         Weather looks great! This course is notorious for being rainy, wet, and muddy. But…this year looks nice, cool, and dry!

·         Parents, this race usually charges an admission fee.

·         Concessions and t-shirts will be available.

·         This race is held at Cloverleaf High School (8525 Friendsville Road, Lodi, OH 44254).

·         Lane assignments (and participating schools) can be found here: http://www.baumspage.com/cc/cloverleaf/2015/2015%20Lane%20Assignments.pdf

·         Here’s the schedule:

9:00 a.m.         Girls Team

                        Maggie, Sumaya, Emily, Lily, Emma, Olivia, Isabell

9:20 a.m.         Girls Open

                        All other girls

9:45 a.m.         Boys Team

                        Brandon, Michael, Joey, Ryan, Billy, Cole, Liam

10:05 a.m.       Boys Open

                        All other boys

Sandusky and Cloverleaf

Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

Here’s our weekly update:

·         Avon was awesome! Congrats on two victories by both the boys and the girls!

·         The 1^st Annual Avon Lake Fun Run is re-scheduled for Thursday, October 1^st. We asked Amherst if they would be willing to move this meet up a week so we could have a meet that week (since Upper Sandusky was moved to tomorrow). We will need a few parent volunteers to help run this meet, but it should be really easy.

·         We will send out Cloverleaf information after our meet tomorrow!

Upper Sandusky Information:

·         First of all, we want to apologize for the timing of this meet. Originally, it was intended that this meet would be next week. But, we found out very recently of the change. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

·         Parents, we realize this race is far away, but we strategically tried to find a replacement meet for our previous one that has a flat, fast course for this particular week. Vermilion used to be the meet that met that criteria for us. Vermilion is no longer an option for us, and we’re not going back there.

·         We are leaving school early for this one! Students will be let out at 1:30 p.m., and we’re leaving Learwood at approximately 1:45 p.m.

·         We should return to Learwood between 8:30 – 8:45 p.m. Parents, we’ll make sure students are doing homework on the bus. Last year, we made every kid do his/her homework on the way out, so everything was completed prior to racing and we could enjoy the ride home!

·         This is an OPEN race! This race will determine what happens at Cloverleaf on Saturday.

·         Please pack a nice snack for this (crackers, banana, apple, water, sports drink), as you’ll want to eat prior to arriving to the meet and after your race. It will be a long day so plan accordingly!

·         Results will be on baumspage.com

·         Weather looks great! Stay hydrated for this!

·         There is no concession stand, but last year all runners got a free hot dog, potato chips, and water.

·         This race is held at:

Harrison – Smith Park

East Wyandot Avenue

Upper Sandusky, Ohio

·          Here’s the schedule:

5:00 p.m.         All Boys

5:30 p.m.         All Girls

Awards Presentation will be held after the Girls’ Race

Avon Meet

Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

• Great job at Tiffin last Saturday! Last year was Avon Lake’s best overall finish (boys & girls combined)…until this year! The girls came in 4^th place overall (out of 52 total teams). Boys…this was an interesting race. The unofficial results had us in 2^nd place. But, when I checked finishtiming.com, it was clear they made a mistake and completely omitted Billy. After a few phone calls & texts, we got the matter cleared up, and we won! We came in 1^st place out of 47 total teams! Great job!
• I know our OPEN runners also scored extremely well—Boys’ Open came in 2^nd out of 34 teams, and Girls’ Open came in 5^th out of 29 teams.
• I think we’ve outfitted everyone, but if you still want to get a jacket, just let Coach Walters or Coach Rocco know on Friday after practice.
• FYI parents: I've got a lot of supplies for the Friday Night Dinners in my classroom. Feel free to stop down and pick up any needed items before our next dinner. Please use these items! I have no need for them, except the water, I’ll use this at practice/meets.
• There will be no Friday Night Dinner this Friday. Our next dinner will be next Friday, September 25^th.
• Injuries…please let us know! As always, you can see the trainers at Avon Lake High School from 3 – 4 p.m. Just let them know you are an athlete on the Learwood Cross Country team.

Upper Sandusky Meet SCHEDULE CHANGE:

·         We just found out late last week that our Upper Sandusky Meet has been changed FROM Thursday 10/1 TO Thursday 9/24.

·         We will then have 2 meets next week: Upper Sandusky on Thursday, 9/24 and Cloverleaf on Saturday, 9/26.

·         Because of this, we will be moving our AL ‘Fun Run’ with Amherst the week after this (on Thursday, 10/1).

Avon Meet (ATHLETES):

• The Avon Meet on Thursday is going to have a lot of great competition. This is a perfect opportunity to practice racing with our SWC competition!
• We will be leaving Learwood at 3:15 p.m. and we should return around 7:30 p.m.
• Bring a healthy snack to eat after school on Thursday! Also, bring extra water for the meet.
• We will check the weather, but right now (on Monday) it looks like a chance of rain. We’ll talk about this as a team on Wednesday!
• Results will be posted on baumspage.com for this meet. 

Avon Meet (PARENTS):

• The course will be held at 3701 Veterans Memorial Parkway Avon, OH 44011
• Races start at the west end of the park (by fields #6 & #7)
• We’re including a course map and general meet information.

SCHEDULE:

• Boys Team – 5:00 p.m.

Brandon Holton, Michael Kuban, Joey Carson, Ryan Keller, Billy Starr, Liam Gannon, Thomas Cline

• Girls Team – 5:30 p.m.

Maggie Jantz, Lily Stepak, Sumaya Salem, Olivia Crimaldi, Emily Presley, Isabell Russell, Mackenzie Roberts

• Girls Open – 6:00 p.m.

All other girls!

• Boys Open – 6:30 p.m.

All other boys!

Tiffin

Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

 

PRACTICE TOMORROW (THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10^th) IS CANCELED!

 

·     The coaching staff will be attending calling hours for Kim Stepak tomorrow. Athletes & parents, if you would like to attend with your families, calling hours will be from 2 – 4 p.m. and 6 – 9 p.m. at Busch Funeral (163 Avon Belden Road, Avon Lake, OH) on Thursday, September 10^th.

·         Our thoughts and prayers are with the Stepak family during this time. Tyler and Lily, your Avon Lake Cross Country family is here for you when you are ready to return! God Bless, and we’ll see everyone Friday.

 

Here’s our weekly update:

 

• We had an awesome meet last week! Our boys’ team had a commanding win at the A.L. Earlybird, and our girls’ team came in 2^nd place out of 21 total teams. Great job!
• Execution was phenomenal! We set up camp, broke it down, and supported each other throughout the entire meet! Our goal this week is to keep up this consistency, and to be there for our teammates!
• Picture Day has been re-scheduled (again) for Monday, September 21^st! We will remind all athletes of this at practice. Please bring your shirt, shorts, and jacket for our team and individual pictures.
• If you still want to get a jacket, just let Coach Walters or Coach Rocco know at the team dinner on Friday.
• Attention parents: thank you for bringing the extra water to my after the team dinners. I’ve been purchasing water for the kids on really hot days/hard workouts, and the extra water is used for this purpose as well. If you want to continue dropping off extra supplies from the Friday Night Dinners, I’ll make sure the kids received them either at practices or meets!
• Also, I still have a bunch of napkins, plastic silverware, cups, and paper plates in my classroom (404). Parents, please feel free to go to my room to get what you need for the Friday Night Dinners! Everything is above my cabinets in the back of the room.
• Injuries…please let us know! The trainer at the high school is very good, very nice, and…she’s very free. It doesn’t cost you anything to go see her. Although, Coach Arebaugh’s really good at diagnosing problems and he’s good at treating them (better than me). So let us know at the end of practice, or head up to the Athletic Office at the high school after school to see if Mrs. Reading can assist you! If she’s not in the trainer’s office she’ll be on the football field but she said you can meet her there too.

 

Tiffin Carnival Information (ATHLETES):

 

• Okay, SWC Preview was about seeing what we’ve got and what everyone else has in our conference (Southwestern Conference). Avon Lake Earlybird was our first big meet, and our home meet. Tiffin Carnival is all about SIZE! It’s the biggest meet we’ll attend this year! We get to compete against schools we won’t see again for the rest of the year! The best advice for this week: enjoy it! You’ve just got to experience it.  
• We will meet at Troy at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, and we should return between 5:30 – 6 p.m.
• Eat a good breakfast for this one! You don’t have to wake up super early. Parents, kids should pack a good, healthy lunch as they will be eating their pre-race meal once we get to Tiffin. Food high in carbohydrates are preferred. Remember that food helps build up the necessary glycogen, which produces the energy needed in races. Pasta, whole wheat bread, bagels, cereal (Cheerios…but watch the bus floor because you’ll be the one cleaning it up), apples, bananas, grapes, orange juice (limited quantity), yogurt, 1 chocolate cookie…these are examples of good food to bring as part of your lunch, which is vitally important as that is your pre-race meal.
• We want to eat our pre-race meal (lunch) 2-4 hours before our race. So we’ll let the team know when they should eat.
• Bring a healthy snack home, along with enough to drink. You’ll need something before your race, something after (water AND sports drink). You can also bring money and buy some unhealthy food after your race.
• Again, we’ll be stressing healthy eating/drinking this season. But it’s good to have one ‘cheat’ meal a week…maybe make the pizza you eat after the race that reward for a week of healthy eating. We have been talking to the team about eating an ‘unhealthy’ meal after their race on Saturday, but keeping it healthy Sunday – Friday.
• Right now, the weather says there’s a chance of rain Saturday, but it will be cooler. So…bring rain gear, hat, wrap your gear in your duffel bag in plastic (to keep it dry), and bring sandals to wear on the ride home! It’s a long ride home, and you’ll want your feet to be dry.
• Results will be posted on baumspage.com.
• I’ll be printing Tiffin Carnival Cheat Sheets on Friday.

 

Tiffin Carnival Information (PARENTS):

 

• Information from Tiffin’s website can be found here: http://www.tiffin.k12.oh.us/Athletics/Cross-Country-Carnival/index.html
• We will meet at Troy at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, and we should return between 5:30 – 6 p.m.
• Make sure kids get a healthy breakfast and that they pack a healthy lunch (plus more food than normal…it’s going to be a long day).
• There will be food and t-shirts available.
• Watch the time…it is very hectic parking at this meet, since it’s so large. We try to get there a little early so kids can eat, and so we have enough time to find a place to set up camp. Plus, the buses have to wait to get into the park, so it takes time. I would leave earlier than what your GPS says so you’re not rushed!
• The race is held at Hedges-Boyer Park (491 Coe Street, Tiffin, OH).
• The meet managers encourage spectators to enter the park using the rear entrance off Summit Street and to park at the bottom of the park. You have to walk to the start/finish (pretty much the same place), but it’s worth it as you’ll end up sitting in your car if you try entering the top of the park (they stop traffic during races).
• The map for this race is really hard to read, but this is the one on the school website:http://www.tiffin.k12.oh.us/documents/carn%2015%20course%20map.pdf

 

The start is naturally a good place to be, then turn left, as the kids will run out, turn left, and come back. Then, if you can jog (or walk fast) to the softball field and/or woods, that’s another good place to be. Then find a good spot at the finish! There are a lot of people there so maybe get a little away from the finish…lining up along the last turn to the finish isn’t bad…the kids will be able to see and hear you there.

 

SCHEDULE:

 

• Boys Team – 1:05 p.m.

 

Michael Kuban

Brandon Holton

Ryan Keller

Billy Starr

Liam Gannon

Alex Folds

Cole Sparker

 

• Girls Team – 1:50 p.m.

 

Maggie Jantz

Sumaya Salem

Lily Stepak

Emily Presley

Emma Sherban

Alyssa Whalen

Ava Kramhoeller

(Isabell Russell—you may be running in this race so be ready!)

 

• Boys Open – 2:15 p.m.

 

All other boys!

 

• Girls Open – 2:40 p.m.

 

All other girls!