Team Dinner

Braves,

We will be having a team dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe on Thursday, 11/2 at 5:30 PM. We will give out team awards and individual letter certificates at this dinner. We will also cover the cost of the buffet and a drink. Hope you all can make it.

Please turn in your uniforms in my classroom this week.

Keep running and see you at the indoor track meeting on 12/5.

Coach Jacobson

10/22 update

Braves,

An extremely successful cross country season was capped off by some awesome races at the state championships on Wednesday. Our girls continued to make history by finishing 8^th, tied for second highest in school history, second to only the 1981 team who finished fifth in the second year of women’s cross country as an official school sport. The girls really re-wrote the all-time performance list which can be found on the website. They now own 5 of the top 10 fastest times in Bountiful High History.

Our boys ran a tough race to finish outside of the top ten, but showed a lot of heart throughout and really battled in such a way that they could walk away from the course knowing they gave their best. At the end of the day, the season, or a high school career, that is what really matters: giving everything you had day in and day out. As we move into track season, don’t leave room for regret by not doing what it takes for you to be your best.

Congratulations on a great season. It has been a blast for us as coaches, and we appreciate the hard work that you have put in all summer and fall. We were lucky to have a group of kids who bought in to this great work ethic and it will take the team to new heights. We are very fortunate to have coached this team and recognize the role that each one of you played in making this experience a positive one for everyone involved.

A few announcements as our season officially ends. The footlocker trip is still pending. I know it is frustrating for you as you try to make plans for the next few months, and we will let you know as soon as we know, which will hopefully be this week. The trip will be around $500 and in addition to racing some of the best runners in the country, we will go to the beach and Disneyland. The dates would be 11/30 to 12/3. There will be further announcements regarding this trip as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience.

For those who are interested in going to footlocker, and those who may not be going but still would like to work out with the team before our indoor track season begins, we will be meeting in my classroom tomorrow at 3:15 to talk training schedules for the next month before indoor.  It will mostly likely include 3 days of official meetings and 2 days of running on your own or in groups without an official practice. We will discuss those details tomorrow for a few minutes before going on a team run. Those not going to footlocker will probably be taking it fairly easy for a week or two to get further recovered (those going to FL will do that after the trip). We encourage all of you to come out. You have improved so much over the past few months and taking the next 1-4 months off would undo a lot of the work that you have put in.

There have been a lot of questions about indoor track so I will try and answer of few of those here. Indoor track goes from the end of November until the end of February. Outdoor track begins at the conclusion of indoor track (with about a week off in between). During the indoor season we train inside when the weather is too severe to be outside. The meets are all indoors, at indoor tracks at BYU, Weber State, the Olympic Oval, and Idaho State (Simplot games). Successful track teams rely heavily on training hard during the indoor season so that you have a solid base once outdoor track begins.

Indoor track is one of my favorite seasons because of the tight-knit group. Training hard through the winter is a unique challenge that brings the best out of us as a team, and in my mind, is one of the reasons that the boys track teams have won region the last three years, and finished 3^rd at state in 2016, and one of the reasons that our girls team has legitimate shot to win it for the second time ever, and the first since 2000. Last year we took 20 kids to the Simplot games and we had an awesome time. This year we would like to double that amount, and get a lot of individuals and relays qualified for finals, which is a great accomplishment, but one that we can achieve in a lot of events. If you have any questions about indoor track please reach out.

Lastly, we will have a team dinner next week at Pizza Pie café. Date and time are TBD but I will let you know once I make a reservation.

Coach Jacobson

10/15 update

Braves,

The State Championships are finally here, and we have put ourselves in position to perform at our best and end the year on a high note. I firmly believe that we can place higher than we are projected to, based on the caliber of the individuals that make up our team. Let’s make some good things happen, run hard for each other, have fun, and the results will take care of themselves.

The bus for state will leave at 11:30 on Wednesday, earlier than previous meets because we race earlier, and it takes a significant amount of time to find parking then get set up. We are treating this meet like every other. We will get there, set up, then there will be some time to familiarize yourself with the course, and then warm up as a team before your races. The girls race at 2 PM, and the boys at 3:30.

Attached is the course map.

All JV members of the team are encouraged to ride the bus with us to State. I will excuse you at 11:15, however, anyone who doesn’t come to the meet will be “unexcused” so to speak, so you will receive a truancy if you leave class but don’t come to the meet – I don’t see that being an issue but thought I’d give you a heads up. Bring money for food in case the team decides to stop for a little something to eat on the way home. And please remember, if you choose not to ride the bus home, you are only allowed to go home with a parent, and I need that parent to tell us they are taking you, per district policy.

Tomorrow, Monday, the Barlow’s have invited the team to their home at 5 PM for a team pasta dinner. Furthermore, Jared Ward, who finished 6^th at these past Olympics in the Marathon, will be there to address the team and talk about his experiences. Jared is a great person and athlete and it will be well worth your time to hear from him. We are asking that you bring a side, e.g. fruits/vegetables/dessert, to share with the team as well. The address to the Barlow’s is

45 S 500 E

Bountiful, UT 84010

Finally, I have included some information that we have been asked to share with our team and supporters concerning the state meet.

Parking

Parking in Sugarhouse Park is limited, will be crowded and is discouraged. With races being run throughout the day, vehicle access to the park and leaving the park will be slow. Parking for both buses and spectators will be available in the Highland High School driving range located just south of the school and adjacent to the stadium where all races finish. Use of this lot is strongly encouraged. The lot is accessed from 17th East. Only meet administration will be allowed in the lot immediately west of the starting line.

Assistance to Competitors

Coaches, please educate the members of your team, their parents and others that will come to support your student athletes that per rule 9-7-4 it is a disqualification for a competitor who receives any assistance (other than cheering) from another person. The most common form of the violation of this rule is when a non-competitor runs alongside a competitor during the race (pacing). This has been a problem in the past. It would be unfortunate to have to disqualify a runner for the actions of someone not in the race. Please help by informing those who will be there to support your team.

10/8 update: Region Champs!

Braves,

I’m going to have a difficult time putting the events and emotions from Friday into words. I cannot say enough about this team, boys and girls, and the performances that we saw from you as individuals, and more importantly as a team. Of the 40 medals given for top ten runners, our team had 15 of them. That’s nearly half of the top ten finishes in each race in a field of 5 teams. We came away with two first place team finishes (boys JV and girls Varsity), one second (girls JV), and one third (boys varsity). Girls XC became an official sport in Utah in the year 1979. In the previous 37 years no Bountiful high team had won the region title. That drought ended on Friday with a spectacular TEAM performance. Boys XC began in 1971, and only 7 times has a team finished higher than 3^rd. There were a lot of great things on Friday, so I won’t be able to highlight them all, for which I apologize. (This is going to be a longer email, so brace yourselves. I will try to make it worth the read.)

This is a fairly sentimental email, highlighting the region meet, but we are by no means finished. The state meet is on the 18^th, so we have a little over a week to get better and be ready to be at our best. We invite all of you to continue to train with the team leading up to state, but this is not a requirement for those who did not qualify for state. Let’s continue this run we are on and go over achieve at the state meet. All of you who did not qualify are still invited to ride the bus down with us to the meet to support the team. We have a great opportunity ahead of us to really show what we can do on an excellent course, with the best teams in the state. There is nothing quite like the State Championships, and we are excited to see you perform at the highest level. You’ve earned this opportunity, now let’s go make the most of it.

The JV girls team really started us off on the right foot. Kaitlyn Dickey ran a huge personal best to come away with the win. She, Kiwi, and a Box Elder runner were close together for the first mile, but the next time we saw them just after the halfway point, both had left the competition behind and were dominating the field. It was awesome to see Kaitlyn cap off a long xc career with a huge win and personal best in her final race. She has been a great example of what this team is about: a good attitude, hard work, and caring for your teammates. Shayla came back from what appeared to be a season ending foot injury, and was able to run a strong time, right next to Emma for a sub 10-minute pace. Keep in mind Emma’s first race was 12 minute pace on a two mile course, so that improvement is extraordinary. I don’t know if I have ever seen someone improve that much, in such a short time. Credit to both Emma and Shayla for their persevering attitude. Hard work pays off.

On the boys jv side it was awesome to see 5 of our boys in the top ten (even if they tried to change the results at the awards ceremony). Scott ran a season best to earn his first medal, but it won’t be his last. The way he has worked the past two seasons has been as consistent as it has been determined. The two JV races and how fun they were to watch, I feel put us in the right direction for the two varsity races. The team was excited because of some great performances, and the support of the jv runners was huge during the varsity races.

The boys varsity team lost one of their top runners, Luke, to surgery the day before region. We feel bad for the timing for Luke’s sake, but the team ran for him on Friday. A year ago this boys team missed out on qualifying for state in a heartbreaking race. Losing by 7 points, in a 7 team field is such a slim margin. That loss fueled the returning members from that team and they were not about to let that happen again. Going in we knew that we were the underdogs, and would really need to make some good things happen to place anywhere higher than 4^th. These boys ran their hearts out to give themselves a chance at breaking up the other teams and sneak in to the top 1 or 2. Every single one of these kids looked spent with about 600m left in the race, and yet every single one of them finished the race strong. Unlike last year, they did not come up just short, they came up big, finishing 3^rd in a very talented field is an accomplish they should be proud of. Now, unlike last year, this team has a shot at state to continue what they started. All we as coaches can ask of you is that you give your best. Win or lose, if you can look back and say you gave your best day in and day out then you stand proud with no regrets. We don’t always reach our goals, especially the lofty ones, but it is in the aiming for high goals that we achieve higher than we otherwise would have. That’s what these boys did this year, and they deserve a lot of respect for what they accomplished. The best news of all: there is one more race to go to do even better.

The girls varsity race was, hands down, the greatest race I have ever seen in my years of coaching. It was truly a team performance: we didn’t have a top three finisher, and yet you still won it by 11 points, which is quite a bit in a 5 team race We had an idea of how the race might go, but during a 5k race, a lot of crazy things can happen, and a lot of variables come into play. It made me nervous to think, “how are we going to be positioned with 800m to go.” We knew we had a chance to see history made but we didn’t know how close it was going to be. We were in solid position right from the beginning, but it was still anybody’s race. We had confidence in our girls that they could make good things happen, and during the 1.5-2.5 mile stretch these girls took control of the race. I was bracing myself to watch a last ditch effort over the final 600m to seal the win, but by the time I could see the girls again, with about a half mile left, the writing was on the wall: this team was going to win it.

There were 3 or 4 things that, if they happened, we knew we would probably win. Every single one of those things happened, and more. I stood at the hill about 700m from the finished to give one last bit of encouragement before the end but after seeing what had already transpired, there really was nothing left to be said. Laurie came through first battling for 3^rd or 4^th, well ahead of some critical opponents. We have asked a lot of her this season, and she has risen to the occasion at each and every time. Her performance Friday, and more importantly, over the course of the season, was invaluable to the team’s success. Trisha came by next, shortly after her best friend Laurie (that’s a joke we say to convince her to run with Laurie). Trisha ran a huge personal best to be that close to Laurie, and it really repositioned the team, because she was well ahead of where she was projected. As was Sophia, who came by shortly after Trish. Sophia was dealing with an ankle issue and through the first half of the race, pace-wise, looked like she was in for a difficult race. Somewhere around the half way point she found another gear and ran out of her mind to catch up to the other two. When I saw those three girls so close together and battling some of the other teams’ critical runners I was admittedly emotional, watching these kids run for each other and over achieve as a team. It was a great moment. Belle came by next, also running a big personal best. We knew we could have 4 in the top ten, but that was a pretty lofty goal. Belle battled past some runners that had been in front of her in previous races to finish 10^th. Anna Sophia came by next, in a position she is unaccustomed to. She was previously our top runner, but an illness set her back, one she is still dealing with. Seeing her battle through breathing difficulty, a brutal cough, and general exhaustion so she could help this team be successful was a special thing to witness. We all know she would like nothing more than to be 100% and be at her best, but sometimes we are given less than ideal circumstances, and have to do the best with what is given. Anna Sophia made the best of it, and the fact that she still was able finished 14^th is, frankly, incredible, and a testament to her personal drive and desire to see the team succeed. That is a skill everyone needs to develop, on and off the course. Emmie came through as our sixth runner, and honestly looked like a different runner than we had seen yet this year. She ran with a unique determination and displaced scoring runners on three teams in the process. I am thrilled for Emmie, that after 4 years on the team she was able to be a part of such an awesome accomplishment. Sami, a freshman who only turned 14 a week or so ago, also displaced scoring runners from three teams. Though she was not one of our scoring runners, the importance of displacing the other teams cannot be overstated. She battled for her teammates, as she has all year long. There were a lot of special moments on Friday, but my favorite one was when the girls first found out they won and were screaming and celebrating. Months of hard work had finally paid off.

These are some awesome team accomplishments. Credit for these results goes to each one of you on this team. No matter where you finished in the region meet, or how well you feel that you performed, if you showed up to practice each day with a good attitude and ready to work hard, then you were a huge contribution to what was done on Friday. Team accomplishments are exactly that: a team accomplishment. Meaning, members of the team both past and present are a part of that success. When you graduate and move on we hope you still feel connected to this team at Bountiful high. For example, Amelia and Elizabeth Tew graduated last year but I hope that they still feel a sense of pride for the success of the team because of the foundation that they helped create, and that Abby continues to build. Long time Bountiful coach, teacher, and one of the best people that I know, Mitch Wiley, contacted me on Friday to congratulate the team for its success, both boys and girls. Any success that this team has, or will have, is due to the foundation he helped form and the lives that he impacted, and continues to impact. We are all indebted to his years of sacrifice for his students and athletes. I run in to people all the time who tell me they ran for Mitch, and they always speak happily of their experiences on the team and with Coach. And to each of you, any success the team has moving forward is in part due to your efforts in building a tradition of excellence. We thank you for all of your hard work, as it impacts many more than just yourselves.

Championships are won on a single day in October, but they are earned throughout the course of the season, and the years. This girls team won it on Friday and the boys team over achieved on Friday (on paper they were projected 4^th place), but you earned it back in July when we did 20 800s in one day. You earned it at camp running the trails (and many getting lost). You earned it during the long runs in the hot weather in the summer and early fall. You earned it in each race leading up to Friday as they battled through the ups and downs of the season. This was earned over a long time and a lot of miles, and I couldn’t be happier for what you accomplished.

Coach Jacobson

10/1 update

Braves,

The time has finally come, after months of anticipation and preparation. On Friday we will head back to the weber county fairgrounds for the region championships. We have been building up and working to be at our best for this part of the season since we first met as a team back in May, then beginning our summer training in June, culminating with our camp in Huntsville in August. This team has been through a lot this season together: 20x800m repeats, miles at the rec center field, running to Lewis park for 400s, countless laps around the facility, 800s at north canyon park, to Friday team runs around town or up Elephant Rock trail with chocolate milk after. How many times did you hear, “this is your life now…” after doing repeat 400s, 800s, or miles? Now is the time to enjoy the fruit of your labor, and really show how much you have improved over the course of the past few months. You’ve had good days and bad days, good workouts where you felt great and bad ones where for some reason it just wasn’t your day; each of you have had great races, tough races, and perhaps some bad races. All of these experiences will serve to help you in these final few races of the season. Each experience has made you a better runner, whether by making you explicitly faster/stronger or by making you stronger mentally.

We have a special team and group this season, one that works to get better each day, has fun, supports, and runs for each other. If we just keep doing that, the same thing we have done all year long, then good things will happen. Our team goals are within reach. This week leading up to region will be the same as all the others: let’s have fun and keep getting better every day, the rest will take care of itself.

The region meet is Friday, and everyone on the team is eligible to race. JV girls begin the day at 3:30, followed by JV boys at 4, Varsity girls at 4:30, Varsity boys at 5. Awards will be given at the end of the meet. Top 10 finishers in the JV and Varsity races will get a medal. If you have any questions, please let me know.

We have an awesome and exciting week ahead. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Braves.

Coach Jacobson

9/24 update

Braves,

We have less than two weeks to go until region, and 4 until state. With only one race left before region, and only 8 practices, we have few opportunities to get better, so we need to take advantage of each opportunity. We are extremely pleased with the work you have been putting in. Our energy level, commitment, and attitude has been outstanding over the past month of the season, so we are excited to see you reap the benefits of all the work that you have been putting in. In general, our team has been improving with each race, and that is seen quite clearly in the breakdown of your paces in each race. You can see your season pace breakdown for each of your races on our team website by following the “season pace breakdown” link on the right side of the page. Based on this trend of improvement and the last few weeks of practice, we can confidently say that, for each of you, the best is yet to come.  

With these final few weeks of the season let’s continue to improve as athletes, teammates, and as a team. Continue to run for each other, be positive, and work hard. We need to be assertive and make good things happen each day, as opposed to hoping good things just happen to us. If we can do that then we will put ourselves in position to reach our team goals, which are absolutely achievable.

This week we will race on Wednesday at the “Bountiful Pond.” Girls at 3:30 and boys at 4. We were not allotted a bus for this meet, so you will need to transport yourself to the meet, preferably with a parent. We would like to meet as a team at Bountiful pond at 2:30 so we have time to set up, understand the course, and warm up. You will be excused at 2 PM.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, looking forward to a great day tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions.

Coach Jacobson

9/17 update

Braves,

I can’t believe that we are moving into late September already. I’m always surprised how quickly the season goes once we get in to the thick of racing season. With the majority of the races behind us, we only have two meets left before the region meet on Oct. 6^th – just under three weeks from now.

We know that the homecoming dance/game is coming up this weekend. Those of you who are going, make sure to plan your activities for Friday evening, after practice has concluded. With only a few races/practices left, we cannot afford to take unneeded days off. We have a fun few weeks ahead of us. We have done a good job of taking advantage of each day, but there is always room for improvement.

At this point in the season each team deals with its own set of challenges. Each team faces injury, illness, etc., and we are not immune from such tests. Over the final three weeks our focus of having fun and getting better each day needs to remain the same, but we also need to run for each other, not just in races, but in practices as well. If we run for each other and support each other every day then we can make up the difference of what is lost due to injury/illness. Ideally we will all get healthier over these final three weeks – and that is something we will focus on – but inevitably something will come up to test our team. We truly believe that we can successfully overcome these tests and challenges by working for each other, and ultimately reach our team goals. Working/running for each other means each individual is giving a bit more each set, running harder, with more determination, and doing more than they otherwise would so that they help their team and teammates have a better chance of being successful. Being hurt or sick can be extremely discouraging. Support your teammates who are dealing with such challenges both in word and in action each day.

We will race this coming Wednesday at Box Elder, and the following Wednesday at Viewmont. The week after that is the region meet. It is an exciting time in the season. We are really enjoying this team and feel lucky to have such a good group. We have a fun mix of personalities and we are lucky to be part of such a great group of kids. We hope you are enjoying it too. Take advantage of each day, not only to get better for yourselves and team, but also enjoy it, because before long the season will be finished. Enjoy your time together, work for each other, and let’s keep getting better.

If you have questions or concerns feel free to come talk to us. See you tomorrow for a great workout.

Coach Jacobson

9/10 update

Braves,

Another successful week is in the books. It was our first time at the Murray invitational and we loved how well the team did. It seemed like nearly everyone had their best race of the year. We compared the paces from the races at Utah State last week to the paces at the Murray invitational. Of the people who ran both races (20 people), they were a combined 6 minutes and 7 seconds faster per mile, which averages out to a 18.7 second per mile improvement, per person. Utah state is a fast course, being run mostly on packed gravel, and Murray is also very fast with a lot of the race being on sidewalks, but with some more hills and grass than Utah state. The two courses are fairly comparable which is why it is incredible to see how much faster the team ran. Naomi Campbell lead the way with 58 seconds per mile faster, and Cole Steenblik was next with a 39s/mile improvement. Our girls varsity team, which came away with the win last week, actually ran better as a team this week than last.

I am in the process of compiling a list of paces from each race, and those will be up on the website sometime later this week. Those stats are great because it shows how much we are improving over the course of the season. The good news is, the best is yet to come. Stay positive, determined, and enjoy each practice and race and good things will happen. We have loved seeing the support you have for your teammates during the race. Many of you were running around the park cheering for teammates shortly after finishing your own race. That is the kind of stuff that makes teams successful: enjoying the success of your teammates. Let’s keep it going.

For the coming week we will be racing Wednesday at Layton City Park against all the high schools in Davis County. The meet beings with the JV races followed by Varsity. There is also a “fun run” after the varsity races, before the awards, so if any parents or siblings want to run, feel free (and it is free).

We will not be going to BYU on Saturday. We were very interested in racing there this year, but made the decision that we needed the training rather than another race. The training over the next few weeks is going to be fast and fun. We are really looking forward to it. See you tomorrow for a great workout!

Coach Jacobson

9/3 update

Braves,

What a week we just had. We had some tough workouts that culminated in some tough races and we ended the week as better runners, and a better team than when we began the week. The practices this week and the races on Friday were probably the most fun of the year. Let’s keep having fun, working hard, and getting better each day. If we can do that then the results will take care of themselves.

Friday afternoon we drove up to Utah State for the Aggie invitational. Once again the effort from each one of you was outstanding. There wasn’t a single runner who looked like they were taking it easy. There were a lot of highlights on the day so I won’t be able to mention them all, but I will talk about a few. Our freshman had an outstanding day: Olivia Harrison improved by over three minutes from the pre-region race, Naomi improved by nearly a minute, and both Ethan and Trisha were the 3^rd overall fastest freshmen at the meet. After the varsity boys race one of the kids simply said “Nate is a beast.” That is one way to describe a kid who started the race 20 seconds behind everyone due to a bib mishap, but was still able to pass nearly 30 kids, in a varsity race. He showed a lot of heart that will be crucial for our team down the stretch of the season.

The girls varsity race was one of the best races we have seen since coming to Bountiful High. Our top two girls, Anna Sophia and Laurie, both medaled by finishing in the top 15. Anna Sophia was in 15^th through the first mile, and continued to run consistently the rest of the way and just kept passing people and ended up in 5^th place, after finishing in 29^th the year before, and ran almost 1:30 faster as well. Laurie showed the same persistence that we have gotten used to seeing every day and made some good things happen in the race. She had a goal going in and was able to reach that goal of being top 15, which isn’t easy in a field of nearly 150 girls. In Sophia’s first full-length (3+ miles) cross country race, she had a monster finish after a great race to finish 21^st. Belle mentioned that she had a bad race on this course last season, but on Friday she had an awesome race, and showed some great determination and resiliency. Trisha just keeps impressing us and running great races. Finishing as the 3^rd freshman at the meet is a huge accomplishment and 31^st overall in the varsity race (143 runners) is extremely impressive. Each runner finished high enough that the team was 2^nd overall, and the 1^st Utah team of all classifications. In a field of 21 teams that is an enormous accomplishment. Though it was 5 girls who scored points for the team, it is a TEAM accomplishment, and every member of the team plays a vital role in every team accomplishment. Contributions made in practice and to our team culture cannot be measured, but truly pave the way for a successful team. Friday was another step down that path, and it was an extremely fun day/trip, but there is much work yet to be done.

We are excited about how the team performed Friday because it comes as a result of great team work and some hard running that we have put in all summer. The bulk of the season is still ahead, so let’s use the momentum of this past week to get better this week and continue to see improvements. I commend each of you for making this week of practice fun for each other, having a positive attitude each day, and running hard. This sport is fun when we are working hard, staying positive, and enjoying the process. Doing that leads to great team results. Let’s just keep it rolling.

For the coming week, we will not be holding an official practice on Monday (Labor day) but we will be practicing hard when we resume to school on Tuesday. We recommend getting together with your teammates and going for a 60 minute run together. If you are out of town, do that run on your own. On Wednesday we will be hosting a meet at Mueller Park JH. We will be racing, but won’t be going 100%, and will go for a longer run after the race. We will need all of your help to set up and manage the meet. Because of the difficulty in hosting a meet we expect each athlete to be there until they are dismissed. With all your help we won’t be there beyond 6 PM, but plan accordingly. We could use some parent volunteers to be at a few spots on the course to direct traffic. We would only need you from 3-4:45. Let me know if you are available to help.

On Friday we will be heading to the Murray Invitational, which is one of the biggest races of the year. It is a great opportunity to race against elite competition and get ourselves better as a result.

We appreciate your hard work. The season is beginning to go really fast, so enjoy each moment; it will be over before we know it. Enjoy your day off of school and we will see you Tuesday. If you have any questions or need anything, please let me know.

Coach Jacobson

8/27 update

Braves,

I hope you are excited to be back in school and to be in season for XC. We had a couple good days of racing at the Weber fairgrounds and the Westlake relays. Photos of the races, as well as results can be found on our website. We learned some things about our team and can see that we are improving. We will race the course from Wednesday at our region meet in October, and our goal as coaches is that each one of you improves on your time. That goal is very attainable; the real question is by how much can we each improve. We hope you all over achieve and do better than you thought you could. For the remainder of the season overachieving really has to be our motto if we want to give ourselves a shot at region. If we can be overachieve in each practice and race for the rest of the season, our girls will have a chance to do something at region never before done in our school's history, and our boys can finish higher than they have since 2011. 

This week has a slight change to the schedule. We will not be going to Roy to race, but will instead have practice as usual. We will be going to Utah state on Friday. That course is where the NCAA west regional championships will be held in November, meaning it is a fast and competitive course. We are looking forward to a fun race there.

Also on Wednesday night, all Bountiful High athletes and their parents are encouraged to attend a meeting put on by an organization called Especially for Athletes. This organization aims to raise social responsibility in high schools by encouraging athletes to be aware of others. Honestly it is an admirable cause and something that I am excited about. It aims to increase inclusion and community and to decrease depression, bullying, and suicide, among other things. This meeting will be at 7:30 PM in the auditorium. Each of you are invited and encouraged to attend. This organization has done some amazing things in other local high schools so when our admin heard about it they were quick to join. To learn more please visit https://especiallyforathletes.org

Lastly, we were approached by another school and invited to join them (in order to reduce cost) in going to the footlocker cross country championships in California. This race takes place the first weekend in December. We would spend time at the beach and Disneyland before returning. Official dates and costs will be rolled out asap, but will most likely be Thursday through Sunday, the first week of December. If this is something you might be interested in doing, please respond so we can get an idea if this trip is worth planning. Space is limited but we will discuss that another time. 

Let us know if you have any questions. Let's have a great week.

Coach Jacobson 

8/20 update

Braves,

Our first meet is in the books with 9 more remaining before the region meet on October 6^th. There were some awesome races on Thursday, but unfortunately I cannot highlight all of them. Nearly everyone who raced here last year saw their times get faster this year, many by more than a minute. That is a testament to the hard work that they have been putting in. On the boys side, Justin pointed out that the top JV runner on our team last season ran around a 20:40, but this year we had 4 JV boys go faster than that. Our team effort so far this season has been awesome, and that stat shows that. Justin was one of those that was two minutes faster than last season. With a few of our top runners out of town some of our young runners really stepped up. Our freshman and sophomore groups really impressed us and made up 2 of the top 3 finishers on both the boys and girls teams. On the girls side, every single runner from last year was faster than the year before, like Belle and Anna Sophia, who were nearly two minutes faster than last year when they eventually qualified for state as individuals. Ultimately our goal was to get better as individuals and as a team by the end of the day Thursday, and I can confidently say that is what we did. Based on the effort and results we felt better about both teams on Thursday night than we did on Thursday morning. If we can continue to build on Thursday’s results then we will be on our way to achieving our team goals.

To see the pictures from the meet, and to add any that you took, check out the “2017 Pictures” link on the right side of the page on our website www.bravesxc.blogspot.com

This week is pre-region, which means we race the entire region on the same course that we will race at region. That meet is on Wednesday, and you will be excused early from your final period. I will let you know at practice what time that is. As with every meet, you are expected to be at practice on both Monday and Tuesday in order to be entered into the meet on Wednesday. I know many of you are out of town for the final days of summer and/or for the solar eclipse. If you are out of town, and you’ve made that known to us before tomorrow, we will still allow you to race on Wednesday. This race is extremely important as a team, not in where we place (because each team approaches the race differently) but in that we gain racing experience and experience on the course, and once again take a step forward as individuals and as a team. Furthermore, by racing on this course twice it gives you the chance to see how much you improve by the end of the season.  

On Saturday morning we will be at the Westlake relays. That race is a bit unique in that it is a relay race and there are obstacles, namely hay bales that you have to hurdle. We have never gone to this race, but the coaches and athletes that I have talked to about it say their teams have loved the race, and they wouldn’t miss it. We wanted to mix up the races a bit this year and are hopeful we can have a positive experience at this meet. We won’t have a bus going down, and will only enter those who let me know that they want to go. Please respond to this email if you are wanting to go to that meet.

As a reminder, you won’t be racing until you have completed register my athlete at www.registermyathlete.com

Looking forward to getting back to practice Monday at 2:30. We have to make good things happen if we are going to reach our team goals, so use each day as an opportunity to get a better, stronger, and faster.

Coach Jacobson

8/13 update

Braves,

We had an awesome time at camp this past week, and I was sad to see it come to an end. It was a blast. I woke up this morning and wished that we had had more days. Thank you for all your help in making it go smoothly, and for your hard work over those three days. I hope you had as much fun as we did. We really got better over those three days. We ended camp with 800m repeats and it was possibly the best workout that we have had all summer long – even after a few days of tough running. There were a lot of great performances making us extremely excited for the upcoming season. Both the girls and boys teams showed us that no matter the obstacles that we have and will face throughout the season, if we keep working like that we will give ourselves a shot to reach our team goals – and that is all we can ask for: giving our best day in and day out.

To see pictures of the camp and summer conditioning please visit our website at http://bravesxc.blogspot.com/p/2017-pictures.html I will post pictures after each race on a new link, and you are welcome to add pictures to the album as well. The pictures from past years will also be on the website for when you want to go down memory lane in ten years.

Moving forward, the regular season is upon us with our first race on Thursday. I will enter everyone who is at each practice starting Monday and has completed register my athlete. If you have yet to finish it, please see www.registermyathlete.com Starting Monday, we will be practice every day at 2:30. We have a great core on our team who is committed to getting themselves and their teammates better, and we have seen the improvement over the course of the summer. We are lucky to have such a fun team, who help each other get better, and have fun with the sport, and at practice. As we see our team culture improving, thanks to you as athletes, teammates, your work ethic, and commitment, we will be doing somethings slightly different than in years passed. Individuals who miss practice or leave practice early, for whatever reason, will be ineligible to compete that week. In past years we had too many people missing practices or leaving early for one reason or another. Doing this weakens not only the individual, but the team as a whole. Cross country is not fun if you are only partially committed; championship teams are not somewhat committed. For you to have a positive experience you have to commit yourself long term to the sport. You have to jump in with both feet to be successful and to have fun (successful meaning becoming a better athlete, teammate, and person). For our team both to be successful and reach our goals we have to be committed as a team.

There are a number of you still on this email list that we haven’t seen for a while. In the event you have chosen not to continue with XC, please let me know so I can remove you from the email list and the roster. If a part of you still is interested in XC, we would love for you to join us on Monday at practice. It is not too late to join the team.

If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to familiarize yourself with our schedule on the team website (linked above). If you have any questions about anything concerning the upcoming season, don’t hesitate to contact me. We appreciate all you do and are anxious for the season to begin. Thursday is going to be a great day.

Coach Jacobson

8/6 update

Braves,

Our summer conditioning as an entire team will conclude on Monday, after that we are in to our regular season. As you know, we are going to Huntsville from Wednesday through Friday for our XC camp. We still have room at the camp if you would like to come. We want to give each of you every opportunity to join us. We leave Wednesday morning, so as long as you let me know by Tuesday evening that won’t be a problem.

For perspective, we race in less than two weeks. We have this coming week with camp, then we race the next Thursday. Region is only two months away, and the time is going to fly by once school begins. Once again, in order to be eligible to race, you will need to come to each practice starting the Monday following camp (8/14) and have completed registermyathlete, including the physical. www.registermyathlete.com Many of you have begun and finished that process, and I thank you for doing that – it makes my life easier.

If you haven’t yet, now would be a good time to look at our race schedule at www.bravesxc.blogspot.com If you didn’t realize it yet, pre-region is the first day of school, meaning you will be excused slightly before the end of the school day. Your teachers will be aware of that and allow you to go. As student-athletes it is your challenge and responsibility to balance your life to be successful in xc and the classroom. Your teachers will help you do this so long as you communicate with them before or after class, or via email. I tell my students to email me what days they will miss, and most of them look at me like, “email? How old are you?” like they would prefer to “snap a chat” (is that how you say it?) saying what days they would miss. For athletics, all absences are “school-excused absences,” meaning you are excused from class for a school activity, in this case, XC. When you miss class for a school excused absence teachers are required to allow you to fully, and without penalty, make up any work that you missed that day, so long as you have talked to them about it. If you don’t talk to your teachers, however, they won’t know to get you any make up work. Frankly, missing some time at school for athletics can be challenging, but you can still get the grades you want with planning ahead, communicating with your teachers, and managing your time wisely. We will talk more about this as the season goes on.

With the summer coming to a close we are getting excited to begin racing and see what you can do. We are proud of the group that consistently came all summer, and we have seen some great improvements. Even if you missed most of summer, for whatever reason, we hope to have you join with us again during the regular season. We have some big things ahead. Let’s take advantage of it.

Coach Jacobson

7/30 update

Braves, 

This is our last week of normal summer practices. Next week we will have camp from Wednesday through Friday, and the following week is our first race. Summer is about over and as a team we have put in some great work. Let's end it on a high note and put ourselves in position for a great season. We are excited about this group and what is to come.

Many of you on this email list have been unable to attend many practices this summer due to any number of reasons. We still hope and want each of you to be on the team. Even if you couldn't come often for summer conditioning we still want you with us. the official fall season begins Monday 8/13. Anyone who is at practice each day that week will be allowed to race on Thursday (so long as you comply with the other eligibility guidelines). After 8/13, do not expect to compete any given week if you miss a practice. Some of you will be out of town up until school starts, and that isn't a problem either, you are welcome to join us as soon as you are able.

Camp- 

The official cost for camp will be $50 per athlete; please pay that in the office to bountiful High, and tell the secretaries it is for summer conditioning. If the cost is the one thing keeping you from going, let me know and we can make it work. I have heard back from many of you about camp, but there are still a lot who haven't responded. Please let me know if you can or cannot come. The more the merrier. If you are hoping to come but can't definitively say at this point, tell me that so we can have an estimated count. 

Parents, many of you have offered to drive and/or stay a few nights. Thank you for your willingness to help with our team. I have been working on finalizing plans and will let you know on Tuesday this week what our plan is exactly. If your plans have changed since you first emailed me, let me know. 

Register my athlete- 

Please go register asap. Thank you to those who have begun that process. I was a little surprised how many of you did not do it yet. I know you may be thinking that you have several weeks to get it done, but the time is running out. www.registermyathlete.com remember that you need the paperwork from this website before you get your physical from the doctor.

Coach Jacobson

7/16 update

Braves,

There is a lot to cover in the email this week so please read it carefully.

Practices

We are excited about the hard work that many of you have been putting in day after day. With only one month until our first race (see the schedule here) now is not the time to lose motivation. The work that you put in now cannot be replaced later. If we take days off all we are doing is limiting what we can do as a team later in the season. It is easy to lose motivation, especially during a long summer when we don’t have official races, so talk to your teammates and encourage them to get to practice and to run with you on “off” days. We have to work together if we are to be successful. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we have an awesome group of people. Not just talent-wise but also in terms of who you are. Get to know each other and encourage each other, because we are one team. We either succeed together or fail together. We have talked about success before, and it is not measured by how much faster you are than everyone else or by championships, but by your work ethic, your determination, your attitude, and the kind of teammate you are. I don’t preach about this because we feel like you aren’t doing these things, in fact we know that most of you are doing those things daily. But we have a lot of room to improve if we are going to be successful and reach our team goals. Let’s make this final month of summer training a successful one.

Cross Country Camp

Our camp will be 8/9-8/11, going up the morning of the 9^th and returning the afternoon of the 11^th. We will be staying at the Tidwell’s place in Huntsville for those days. The days will be spent with 1-2 runs per day – one of which will be on the trails at Snowbasin, games, time at the lake, and other activities. Our goal is to get better as a team, and to have fun for a few days before school starts.

There are large spaces indoors and outdoors for sleeping so we will need a few people to bring tents for the boys to sleep outside. There will be a cost associated with the camp which will be around $70 per athlete. That number will decrease with the more athletes who come up, so I will give the official cost as soon as I can. In the event the cost is the only thing keeping you from attending, let me know and we can work with you.

Please let me know if you are planning to attend the camp. Even if your plans may change between now and then, I just need an updated ballpark number of how many of you can go.

Clothing order

I have attached the new form for clothing orders. If you didn’t order anything before, but would like to do so, please print out the order form (page 2) and put it in my box with the receipt attached to it, or you can give it directly to me. This form is due on Wednesday (7/19). The prices have mostly stayed the same, except the Nike pants are more expensive than were the Adidas version.

I know some of you are out of town and unable to pay in the office or bring me a form, so I ask you to simply email me what you would like to order and pay when you get back, I will enter it as a fine in August if you haven’t paid by then (please pay before I have to enter fines, which is a headache). Please don’t email me if you are in town and can bring the order form in; it is much simpler and more organized if you just bring me the form.

Those of you who paid for items in June have the option to order the alternate item (it was Adidas, now is Nike), request a complete refund, or have your payment be applied to a different item. Please let me know what you would like to happen. If you ordered the t shirt or hat, those remain the same as they were and will be ordered as previously requested. Even if you ordered something before, you can make adjustments to that order at this time.

Register my athlete

Lastly, everyone who does high school sports must create an account at https://registermyathlete.com/schools/ Choose your state/school, and login, or create an account. Once that is done you must choose the sport that you are going to compete in and then fill out the information that it asks for. If you already have an account, it is very easy all you need to do is select the sport.

EVERYONE doing high school sports must get a physical. Physicals are valid for 1 year, so if you got one in March, you won’t need another one until March. There is a form on the register my athlete site that you can print and take to the doctor’s office. If you know you are in need of a physical, you should get that scheduled ASAP. Often, athletes tell me that they recently got a physical for scout camp or something. The only issue with that is that the form from the website must be filled out by the doctor, so I have had some kids go back in with this form and have the doctor fill it out again. I know it is kind of a pain, but that is the state of high school athletics at the moment.

Please go on and get this process started as soon as you can. It will save you and me a world of trouble if you do it now rather than later, because you cannot race or travel without it being completed. I can see a list of how far along everyone is, so it is quite simple for me.

Let me know if you have any questions about anything discussed herein.

Coach Jacobson

7/17 clarification

Parents,

If any of you would be willing to drive to or from the xc camp on 8/9 (morning) or 8/11 (afternoon) please let me know. The camp will be in Huntsville. If there are any of you who are interested in staying 1 night, or both nights, as a chaperone, we could use your help. Let me know if you are interested. We promise to feed you well and not make you run with the kids.

Parents and Athletes,

In the email this week I asked you to do a few things. 1) get me the clothing order if you are interested, and let me know if you still want the same items that you ordered before, or if there should be any adjustment made. 2) Let me know if you are planning on attending camp. We need to know ASAP. 3) Please go to https://registermyathlete.com/schools/ and register for xc, the sooner you can get this done, the better.

Athletes,

Today at practice I mentioned the possibility of not being able to take 2 buses to the xc meets. I may have miscommunicated that, and I want to make it clear that we will be able to take everyone to every meet, up until state, who is eligible based on grades, registermyathlete, attendance at practice, and other general conduct. Every meet, except state, is open to all varsity and jv runners. In short, if you are doing what you what you are supposed to, eligible, and coming to practice every day, you’ll be able to race at every meet, no matter if you are the first or last runner. We hope to have each of you who are involved with summer xc stay with us in the fall, and we hope to add some more faces as well. We would love to have enough of you eligible to compete at every race that we fill two buses full, and show the rest of the region and state that we are ready to work.

Let me know if you have any questions.

7/9 update

Braves,

I hope you all enjoyed the week off of official practices, and we are looking forward to getting after it again on Monday. As we enter the second half of our summer training, rededicate yourselves to getting better each day, not just on practice days. Commit to doing what it takes to be your best, no matter where you are on the team in terms of placing. Let’s start fresh this week and be the best team we can be. We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us, but we have a lot of work to put in between now and the start of the season if we are going to be able to reach our team goals.

On the topic of goals, each of you should have specific goals for yourselves, in addition to what we have as a team. Goals should not only need to be about the times and places you hope to hit, but also how you plan to achieve those goals. A good place to start is saying that you will be on time, warm up and cool down properly, and give your best for the entire workout. Weekly mileage goals and nutritional goals are also recommended. Setting goals is fundamental to improvement.

The 24^th of July lands on a Monday this year so we will not be holding a formal practice. Obviously we would like each of you to get up and run that day – just like every day.

The remainder of the email pertains to the Deseret News 10K on the 24^th of July:

If you are interested, the Deseret News 10K is giving high school athletes a promo code to compete at a discounted price. I share this with you because I know many of you have already been planning on racing somewhere that morning, and with this promo it is one of the more reasonably priced races. It is a commercial race, not exclusive to high school athletes, so the school will not cover the cost. This course is one of the fastest courses in the country, because it is mostly downhill, starting near the University of Utah and ending at Liberty Park. It follows the parade route so I’m told that there are tons of people lining the streets in anticipation of the parade. If you were to register now, the cost would be $45 per person. However, they are trying to grow the popularity of the high school team race, so by using the promo code DLHS17 the cost is reduced to $25 ($26.74 after a “service charge”), which is a great deal for a 10K of this popularity. They always give the top 3 runners a prize, but new this year they are also making it a “team” competition. The winning boys and girls teams will be given medals and special bags from their shoe sponsor.  The "teams" will be comprised of 3-4 athletes, but we can have multiple teams, so if a bunch of you register, we could have a bunch of teams.

If you decide you’d like to enter, simply go to this link http://www.deseretnews.com/marathon and scroll down to events, click register on the 10K, and enter your information. On the right side of the screen is where it asks for the promo code, which again is DLHS17. You do not need to register as a team at this time, the race manager asked that I let him know who is on what team, so simply let me know if you enter and I will pass the information along. Let me know if you have any questions.

I spent a few minutes advertising so I wish the Deseret News would give me a cut of their profits, unfortunately I only advertised it to you to give you the opportunity if you are interested. Obviously, if you choose not to race there that is not a problem at all.

Looking forward to a great week of practices.

Coach Jacobson

6/25 update

Braves, 

We have been having so much fun coaching this group this year that I have lost track of time. I can't believe we have one week until our summer moratorium - meaning we won't be practicing the week of July 2nd to the 8th. Practices will resume as usual on July 10th. 

It feels like summer is almost over, but it also feels like it just started. In a sense both are correct. Summer training is about two months long, which is an extremely short amount of time when you consider your 36-48 months of high school athletics. For you seniors, your time to take advantage of the training is running out; use this time wisely so you leave with no regrets. For you younger athletes, working hard while you're still young will allow you to reach new heights both this year and in years to come. As I type this we are watching the USATF championships in Sacramento (my claim to fame is that I raced at that facility my sophomore year at Weber). The top runners in the NCAA and professionally only got there from turning days of hard work into weeks, months, and years. Your potential as a runner does not show instantly, so stay patient with yourselves, but continue working hard each day. No matter where you are in age or ability, find a way to take the next month of training to the next level, push yourself to truly reach your potential. As we have said before, your contribution to the team has nothing to do with how fast you are, and has everything to do with your dedication, your work ethic day in and day out, and your attitude. You can't always be the best runner, but you can be your best each day, and that's what matters. 

The schedule for this week will be the same as the others. We will let you know where we are meeting for Friday's practice. Thank you to those who have been out of town and let me know beforehand. We know there will be times when you are out of town, just make sure you keep putting in miles. This week we want to get 4-5 more miles than we got last week, so keep that in mind during your runs on non-practice days.

Looking forward to another fun week. On Friday we will mix in something fun for the workout (ultimate frisbee is one idea) as a kick off to the moratorium.

Coach Jacobson 

6/18 update

Braves,

It’s crazy to think that we are already half way through the month of June. We have a lot of work to do to continue to improve this summer. Focus on improving yourself one day at a time. If we can get better day after day, then we are going to see some great results this fall. We are very impressed with how hard you have been working, especially those who are new to the sport. Jumping in to xc can be very challenging, but you have stepped up to that challenge. On Friday we ran to elephant rock, and though a few came back with scraped knees or knocked some bikers off the trail, we really saw some great improvement as a team. We as coaches consider ourselves very lucky to be surrounded by some great kids who are willing and want to work hard day in and day out.

It is important that you keep increasing your weekly milage. Use the app/website “strava” and join our club “braves xc” so that we can see how many miles you are putting in on days that we don’t meet together. It really only takes a moment after each run to update it.

If you haven’t yet, check out our website www.bravesxc.blogspot.com where you can find the race schedule and further information about our team and history.

There are several announcements this week and I need you to reply to this email to give me an answer on some of them.

We will be meeting as usual M/W/F this week at 7:30. We will be meeting at the track each day, except Friday may have a different location that I will update you with sometime during the week.

The summer t shirt order has been placed, but it will take a few weeks for them to get to us due to the printing. Thank you to those who paid on time and got your sizes to me; it made my life easier. There are a handful of you who haven’t yet paid for summer conditioning, so please do so ASAP. The office is open every day from 7:30-3. I ordered a few extra shirts knowing a few of you were out of town and weren’t able to pay yet.

We are going to be having a Cross Country Camp from Wednesday, August 9^th to Friday, August 11^th. The Tidwells have graciously offered to let us use their Cabin in Hunstville where we have great access to some excellent trail running, and other activities that will make for a fun camp, and enable us to get some excellent work in before the official beginning of the xc season. The logistics of the camp will be explained as they become finalized, but essentially we will go up Wednesday and return on Friday. There will be a cost associated with the camp for each person, but I anticipate that being $100 or less. We will do what we can to make those costs as low as possible to provide a great camp, but make it as affordable as can be. This camp is completely optional and we realize the dates may not work with all of you.

We would like to get a rough estimate of how many are able to attend on those days, so will you look at your calendars, and athletes, talk to your parents/guardians, and respond to this email to let me know if you anticipate being able to go, if you definitely cannot, or if you possibly/probably can/cannot attend. This is by no means a binding response, if you say you can’t, but then you are able to later, that’s totally fine. If you say you can now, but then find out you can’t, that is fine too. Just let me know where you think you are at this time so I can have an idea about our numbers.   

This last and final announcement regards the clothing order (NOT INCLUDING THE SUMMER T SHIRT – WHICH IS UNAFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE)

There has been a change to the clothing order that many of you ordered. The company that I go through to order our clothing, and gives us a pretty great discount, was bought out by a larger company the weekend before I placed the clothing order. You all had paid and I was ready to move forward before I was made aware of the change. As a result they no longer offer Adidas products, so the jackets we were going to order are no longer available. The new company now offers Nike and Under Armor, which weren’t available before. I will be sitting down with the rep to discuss our new options, as well as meeting with a few other companies to see if we will still go with the Adidas products I listed. The problem is that the prices may change, potentially significantly with these other companies, as the rep I usually go through has one of the best prices, so there are a few things for me to consider.

Basically what this means, is for those of you who ordered an Adidas item, like the jacket, the bag, or the pants, will either be refunded what you paid, or you can choose to have that money applied to the new items once we decide on what those will be. I will keep you apprised. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this change. I certainly wasn’t anticipating the change, and it sounds like neither was the rep whom I have worked with.

Looking forward to another great week.

Coach Jacobson

6/11 update

Braves,

Our first week of practices was a huge success. We had over 60 kids come out, with nearly 40 each day. Even better than the numbers was the outstanding effort put forth by the team. If we continue on this path we will have an excellent season. Though off to a good start, we have a long way to go to reach our goals of region titles.

This week will be slightly different with practices only Monday and Wednesday. We will also be having a team trail run on Friday at mueller park canyon (elephant rock) with chocolate milk afterwards. There may be some rain this week, but don't let that deter you from practice or running on your own.

Even though we will only meet three times, you should still get out and run six days. We need to continue to increase our weekly milage, so don't hesitate to go on long runs. Reasonably, for our experienced runners you should be shooting for 40+ miles this week. For some of our new runners 20-30 is more reasonable. Make sure you take care of any aches and pains, typically with ice, and communicate any concerns with the coaches and we can give you some advice.

We definitely recommend running in groups even on days without organized practices. Feel free to use the strava app to communicate any plans, like trails, or any other ideas. Speaking of strava, please download the app, or make an account on a computer at strava.com and join the club "Braves XC" then be sure to log your miles so you can be accountable for what you have done.

Lastly, the fees for summer conditioning are due tomorrow ($25 in the main office). Please indicate the shirt size you want as well, as I am making that order tomorrow. About 20 of you paid but didn't tell me what size shirt you want. Please respond to this email with your desired size. In the event you can't get the fee paid by tomorrow, let me know and I can enter it as a fine, which would still be $25. It will be unlikely that you get a shirt unless you pay by tomorrow. The clothing order is also due tomorrow, so if you choose to order any additional items please pay in the office and leave the order form in my box there in the office.

Let's keep getting better and make this an awesome week.

Coach Jacobson

6/5 update

Braves,

Tomorrow is our first practice of the summer. We will be starting at 7:30 AM at the track, please be on time, so we can begin on time to try and help those that have jobs or other responsibilities get finished with the workout before needing to leave.

We are very excited for this upcoming season and the opportunities that are ahead of us. We have an awesome group returning from last season, and some great kids joining us. I have talked to many of the new kids joining us, and you all will be an awesome addition to our team and will make the team better, and the experience of the season better. We look forward to a fun summer filled with tough training and fun experiences/memories with your teammates. Cross country is a sport unlike any other in part because of how hard you work with and for each other over the course of a long season. Our season is one of the longest, spanning from the beginning of summer to late fall. It is such a fun season that we are lucky to be a part of.

There are a few things to know heading in to this week, so take a few minutes to read through it and let me know if you have any questions about anything.

We will be practicing every day this week only. After this week it will be Monday/Wednesday/some Fridays. Several people have communicated with us that they will be missing certain day(s) this week, and we appreciate that. We realize people are vacationing, so if you know you are going to miss, let us know, and make sure you are still running even while you’re gone.

There is a $25 fee for summer conditioning, that fee includes a t shirt, chocolate milk, Gatorade, and coach’s pay. I just ordered a mountain of Gatorade mix through Gatorade that should last the summer (I will order more if needed). Please have that fee paid by Friday. The office is open all week, and you can pay any of the secretaries, just tell them it is for summer cross country. Make checks out to bountiful high, and don’t bring them to the coaches, because we cannot take them.

Each of you participating this summer will be getting a t shirt. Those shirts will be light weight, red, with our logo printed on the left chest corner, and another logo on the back. These shirts come in men’s and women’s cut, so I will need your preferred sizes.

I will order those t shirts on Monday 6/12 (I am waiting a week to order them so that those who are out of town have a chance to pay/get their sizes in). Along with the t shirt, there is an OPTIONAL clothing order form that I have attached here. You can order nothing, one thing, or multiple things, and that is not a problem at all. Nobody is required to purchase anything, but for those who are interested this is an option. I will send the first round of orders in on Monday 6/12. We will do another round of orders at the end of the summer to accommodate those who missed the summer training. There is a t shirt on the order form that is 50/50 cotton/poly that is different in design and material from the one you all will receive for the summer program, so be aware of that. Even if you don’t order anything, but are doing summer training, please bring me the order form with your size for the summer t shirt. Let me know if you have any questions about any of the items.

I know this is a lot, and we haven’t quite yet started, I am just getting too anxious to wait. We are excited for tomorrow and look forward to a great first day.

Clothing Order

Coach Jacobson

First practice

Braves,

We have an extremely promising season ahead of us. If we put in the work then we will have a chance at the region titles in October. That seems like a long time from now, but when it comes to preparing ourselves and our team to be able to run the times that we will need, every single day counts.

Our first practice will be Monday, June 5th, at 7:30. We will be meeting at the track. This week only, we will be meeting everyday at that time, Monday-Friday to practice. We will begin going Monday/Wednesday/some Fridays the remainder of the season.

The following link is the hand out from our first meeting. If you have any questions feel free to contact Coach Caitlin or Coach Jacobson.

XC meeting

First Cross County Meeting

Braves,

I have had a lot of people contacting me about the upcoming cross country season. We are extremely excited and anxious to get going with our season. We have some great kids returning and have a bunch of new faces joining our team which will really add to our team's success and the overall enjoyment of the season.

We will be holding our first meeting on Thursday, 5/25, @ 4:30. The meeting will be at the amphitheater, behind the field house, near the track.

Coach Jacobson