Cross Country Update - November

Darts -
With one week behind us, the Nike Southwest Regional training is going very well. We have 3 more weeks of intense training, and then I think we will be ready for our best race of the season. I like the energy and excitement that you all brought this past week. Continue to commit yourselves to becoming the best you can in these next weeks. Keep doing the small things - stretching, abs, eating right, sleeping enough, preparing for hard workouts, hydrating, etc. Combined, the small things will make a big difference. I would like to see all of you make a big mental jump between now and the regional race. We are working to be physically and mentally as strong and confident as we can be. Again, if each of you can improve your prs by 10 seconds, we will be a tough TEAM to beat in Mesa.

Coming Up:
TEAM Banquet - We will hold the banquet on Thursday night at 6:30pm at the school (November 3). We will have pizza for dinner. You can sign up to bring a salad or dessert. The banquet is just for athletes (not parents). We will have a small awards ceremony as well as dinner. There will be no cost.

24 Hour Run Fundraiser - Will be on Friday and Saturday (November 4-5) on the track. We will begin at 1:00pm on Friday and run until 1:00pm on Saturday (relay style with 1-2 people running at a time). You will need to sign up for two 3-hour time slots - we will do the sign up on Thursday after school. The weather is not supposed to be great, so plan on dressing warm and bringing blankets and stuff to keep you warm. We will be allowed to stay at the school overnight, but there will be rules that must be followed (or the 24 hour run will be cancelled forever). The only access door that will be open for us will be the tunnel door to the track. We will go over all of the rules on Thursday. I have attached a fundraising form. The idea is to either get donations or pledges based on how much we will run during the 24 hours. You can use the money toward your trip to the Nike Regionals. Those of you not going on the trip, the money donated will go towards things that the TEAM does on a regular basis - it will all go back into the program. Even if you are not going on the trip, you are encouraged to participate. We could definitely use some money in the program at this point. It should be a lot of fun, and is a great way to raise some money. Parents - please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If any of you would like to stay through part of the night and help with supervision, you are welcome to join us. We will have coaches at the track for supervision. Someone will be awake during all of the hours of the night to make sure things are going smoothly. We will also have separate rest areas for girls and boys. If any parents would like to bring any type of refreshments during the 24 hours - I am sure that the athletes will eat whatever you bring. Thanks.

Nike Regionals - November 17-20. I have attached the itinerary with all of the information. I will also be handing out a waiver that will need to be signed by both parents and athletes. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Congratulations Brad Nye on setting a new Vita Course Record last Saturday - 43:35!!!
Alumni Update -We have many alumni who have been competing well for their college cross country teams this past season. The conference meets were this past week - here is how they did:UVU (Great West Conference) - Women finished 1st - Jessie Wilding was 11th with an 18:52 5k; Anna Ward finished 48th in 21:05. The Men also finished 1st - no Darts ran, but 2 former Darts who run for the Wolverines are on missions (Seth Gutzwiller and Logan Petty - almost)Weber State (Big Sky Conference) - Women finished 1st - Loren Storey was 20th with a 19:01 5k; Natalie Haws also runs for the Wildcats and is coming back from an injury. The men finished 2nd - Chris Burnett was 32nd with a 27:07 8k.Utah State (Western Athletic Conference - the meet was in Hawaii) - The women finished 3rd - Tessa Brown and Anni Andersen run for the Aggies, but did not run in the conference meet. The Men finished 1st - Devin Lang was 18th in 26:36 for 8k and Austin Neuner was 24th in 27:18. Adam Mathias is also running for Utah State. BYU (West Coast Conference) - The Women finished 2nd - Morgan Haws was 3rd with a 20:38 6k; Candace Eddy was 15th with a 21:42; Katie Swanson and Meghan Hedquist are also running for the Cougars. The men finished 1st (and are currently ranked 3rd in the NCAA) - Jared Ward was 4th with a 24:03 8k; Josh Adams is also currently running for BYU. Many of these athletes will be representing their schools at the Mountain Regional Championships on Saturday, November 12th at the East Bay Golf Course in Provo. The men will race at 11:00am, and the women will race at 12:00. We will be taking a group down to watch the races and support our former Darts.