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