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!

Early Bird Prep

Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

Here’s our weekly update:

·         We had an awesome start to our competition season last Saturday! Both teams won the SWC Preview! Now we have a big target on our backs for the rest of the season. We’ll have to keep working hard to hold off the SWC competition this season.

·         Just another reminder: bring water and a watch to practice every day! We are working on intervals on the track and don’t always have access to water! We also are working on pacing so athletes need to continue timing themselves on intervals, along with keeping track of normal workout times and making sure we are aware of the ‘normal’ time!

·   Wednesday bring your spikes! We’re going to have a ‘shoe check’ before practice.

·         Please let us know if there are any issues with uniforms!

·         Parents, the cafeteria was SPOTLESS on Friday! Normally I am there to help clean up, but was busy with uniforms last week. If you need help accessing rags/mops, let one of the coaches know!  Also, when putting the cafeteria back together please do the following: 1. Fold up the tables but leave them in their original place 2.  Stack the chairs in stacks of 6 and leave them near their table.  

·         Athletes seem to be doing pretty well injury-wise, besides a few aches and pains. The big thing we’re noticing is tight calf muscles. We’ll go over some stretches to help with this throughout the week, but athletes need to make sure they are stretching right after practice, at night, and on Saturdays/Sundays. If there is consistent, long-lasting pain, let us know (Coach Arebaugh is awesome at this), as we can help schedule a time to see the trainer at the high school. She’s really nice and the service is free to all Avon Lake athletes. Just email us to let us know.

Mock Meet Results:

I know everyone’s excited over the SWC Preview results, but let’s not overlook the 2^nd Annual Avon Lake Intra-Squad Meet results! Here are the results:

Meet Champions             172         Green Gangstaz               (from the cul-de-sacs of Avon Lake)      

Ryan Keller, Dominic Houdeshell, Cole Patton, Sam Baugh, Eddie Wolski, Chris Haynes, Clay Ledbetter, Thomas Cline

Runners-Up                       181         Maroon Runnerz             

                                                190         Blue Greg Arebaughs!  

                                                195         Yellow Fast & Furious Thunder Nuggets

                                                                (won on a tie-breaker)

                                                195         Gray Greasers

                                                199         The Red Team (very original)

                                                220         Team Owen

                                                255         Chasing Cheet-ohs

Here is the information for Earlybird:

• We will be meeting at TROY (not Learwood), on Saturday, September 5^th, at 6:00 a.m. This is an early one again, but right now weather is a concern (86 degrees, extremely high humidity) so the earlier we can run, the better. Buses leave at 6:05 a.m. We should return between 10 – 10:15 a.m. at Troy. We will have athletes call to be picked up so parents do not have to wait!
• We have been talking about HYDRATION for the past several weeks. Please keep hydrating prior to Saturday. The next week and a half look very hot & humid, so we’ve got to prepare as much as possible!
• All BOYS run at 8:00 a.m.
• All GIRLS run at 8:30 a.m.
• This race will determine who runs TEAM and OPEN at the Tiffin Carnival next Saturday! We will talk about that on Friday!
• Bring uniform, apparel, running shoes AND spikes (if you have them). You will only wear your spikes for the race. Bring a cell phone, water, your weekly sports drink (just one), and a healthy snack!
• Last week everyone experienced the ‘wet feet’ associated with running a race so early in the morning. Just a piece of advice, bring sandals to ride home in as you’ll want to dry out your soaking wet feet on the trip home.
• Another reminder: if you wear compression shirts, shorts, or just regular shirts/shorts underneath your uniform, it has to be BLACK!
•  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 Avon Lake Earlybird (9/5/15). 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.
•  Parents, course map this week is the same as last week. It’s best to view athletes running at the start line, at the mile mark (by the tennis courts), and then at the finish. If you really want to cheer kids on where they will totally hear you, the base of the hill is also a good spot (I usually go there…they need some cheerleaders there!). The downside is you might not get to see the finish. These locations are fairly close to each other so you should be able to walk to each location without difficulty! I have extra copies of the course map in my BIG maroon bag (you can’t miss it, it says: AVON LAKE TRACK & FIELD). Feel free to grab one on race day.
• 6 ½ weeks until the SWC CHAMPIONSHIP!

Coaches Arebaugh, Rocco, & Walters

Early Bird

Cross Country Athletes & Parents:

Here’s information regarding our team this week:

·         I’m including the link to the informational packet passed out at our Parent Meeting here.

·         Another reminder: Bring running shorts, shirt, shoes, long-sleeve t/hoody (for when it gets colder/rains), water (multiple bottles), and a light, healthy snack!

·         Our 1^st Friday Night Dinner is planned for this Friday, August 21^st! Parents, we will be meeting in the auditorium after our practice for our team meeting, then we’ll head to the cafeteria around 4:45 p.m. Coach Walters and I will help get rags and mops for clean-up.

·         Parents: I’ve got the following items from last year’s Friday Night Dinners in my classroom (should you need supplies). These are estimates:

250  per plates, 700 napkins, 48 cups, & 240 plastic forks

·         We just passed out uniforms yesterday (we’ll pass out jackets on Friday at the Friday Night Dinner). Any issues with uniforms/jackets, let us know by Friday!

·         If your athlete is complaining of injury, let me know so we can set up a meeting with the ALHS athletic trainer at the high school. If athletes are not diagnosed with an injury, they are expected to run at practice! So far we’re pretty good but please let us know so we can monitor any issues. We want to peak at the SWC Championship and making sure we are all healthy is the best way to accomplish that goal.

SWC PREVIEW Information:

·         We will be meeting at TROY (not Learwood), on Saturday, August 29^th, at 6:00 a.m. Buses leave at 6:05 a.m. We should return between 10:00 – 10:15 a.m. at the same location. We will have athletes call to be picked up so parents do not have to wait!

·         Please remember to pick up your child in a timely manner as coaches have to wait for every athlete to be picked up.

·         All GIRLS run at 8:00 a.m.

·         All BOYS run at 8:30 a.m.

·         Bring uniform, apparel, running shoes AND spikes (if you have them). You will only wear your spikes for the race. Also, bring sandals to wear afterward, as your feet, socks, and shoes will be wet! Trust us, it’s a much better ride home if your feet are dry! Bring a cell phone, water, sports drink (just one), and a healthy snack!

·         Remember, if you wear compression shirts, shorts, or just regular shirts/shorts underneath your uniform, it has to be BLACK! Officials are much better with the logos, but make sure your shirts/shorts are a solid color (black). We’ll review this at our team meeting on Friday.

·          Parents, if you are taking your child home from the meet please make sure to sign out with Coach Walters. She will be either at the finish line or the campsite. 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 (8/29/15). 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.

·          Parents, we will include a course map on the blog site. It’s best to view athletes running at the start line, at the mile mark (by the tennis courts), and then at the finish. If you really want to cheer kids on where they will totally hear you, the base of the hill is also a good spot (I usually go there…they need some cheerleaders there!). The downside is you might not get to see the finish. These locations are fairly close to each other so you should be able to walk to each location without difficulty!

Coaches Arebaugh, Rocco, & Walters

Mock Meet

Be at the high school at 9am.  Meet should finish by 11am or sooner.

Make sure to bring water and wear your team color!

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Dinner Sign Up

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Coach Walters