9/26 update

Redhawks,

There were some phenomenal races on Friday afternoon/evening - it was great to see the effort put out there. I say that about every week, but seriously the hard work is paying off. With now just over a week until region that is encouraging.

The results to the races can be found here

This week we head to Layton City Park (yes the same place we had pre-region and where region will be next week) on Wednesday for the Davis District Championships, with all the schools from Davis County. The vast majority of you will be racing hard, but some of you who have some nagging injuries or illnesses or are otherwise in need of a lightened load may not be racing full blast. We'll talk to you individually about these cases. Our main objective is to be at our best for the region championships, so what we do this week, including how you approach the race, will be designed to help you be at your best for that race. There is no time to waste, let's make the most of each day between now and then.

If you cannot attend the meet please reply today so we don't pay for wasted bibs. I have to have entries in tomorrow before practice.

The bus will be leaving at 2 PM. The schedule for the races can be found below. Apparently there is a fun run for any family or friends who would like to run after the races but before the awards (although it isn't built into the schedule, they did say it was going to happen - there are usually 10-20 people who do it).

I am in need of a few parents to help direct traffic during the races. Ideally we would have several parents who can work in shifts so that you don't have to help during your child's race. If you're available to help please let me know. 

We will be having a team dinner on Tuesday night at 6 PM at the Stewarts (address given out Tuesday at practice). Please bring a side to share or $2 to help offset costs.

If you have any questions for me please let me know.

Coach Jacobson

                3:10 – Coaches Mtg

                3:25 pm - Fr/So Girls

                3:55 pm - Fr/ So Boys

                4:20 pm - Jr/Sr Girls

                4:45 pm - Jr/Sr Boys

                5:10 pm - Varsity Girls

                5:35 pm - Varsity Boys

                6:00 pm - Team Awards

9/19 update

Redhawks,

The info at the end will be a repeat of what I sent out at the end of last week. If you haven't replied to me yet about going to the meet, I need you to do so today - I'm going to be done with entries on Monday night so don't delay otherwise you will not be going.

As many of you know we had a scare at practice on Friday. During their run on Friday, a driver, who wasn't looking in the direction the car was going, hit in to Bennett, knocking him to the ground, resulting in two broken vertebrae. He is able to walk but won't be able to run for a while. I am tremendously grateful that it wasn't more serious, it could have been much more damaging or even life threatening. And yet, I feel terribly for Bennett as he has worked as hard and consistently as anyone to both overcome injury and put himself in a position to run at his best through the final weeks of the season. The day before he was in the middle of a tempo run at the meet and with less than a mile to go you should have seen the smile on his face when he asked me if he could pick up the pace a little bit and I said yes. He tightened the screws a bit, showcasing his fitness and what was to come.  

Fortunately, this isn't the end of his story or his running career. The best is yet to come and I look forward to seeing what he'll make of it. I'm already excited to share his story with future runners who find themselves in the midst of an unexpected setback. 

All that being said, to all of you, I implore you to do all you can to not have something like this happen again. If something like this should happen in the future, call 911 so you can be checked out before continuing to run.

As anyone who has been injured knows, being injured is very emotionally challenging for a variety of reasons. Between Eden and Bennett we now have two people who've had their season cut short due to apparently random events. Eden has been a great support at practices and at races and Bennett will do the same. They continue to support the team, so my question for the rest of the team is, what can you do to support them (Eden, Bennett, and anyone else who has experienced injury, like Sarah Wilkinson with her ACL, Lily Guzman with her foot, to name a few more) through their injury? Ponder on that and then act on your ideas. We are all in this together and we need each other. How can you help your teammates?

We are two and a half weeks out from region, meaning the season is wrapping up. We have no time to waste, so I'm looking forward to a great week of practices and then the race on Friday. 

Our meet next week will be on Friday at Sugarhouse park. The course map and schedule can be found at www.borderwarsxc.com and I’ve included the schedule below.

Our varsity teams will be racing in the varsity races, not the championship sections.

The bus will be leaving during lunch time.

The price for this meet is per athlete, and it is quite expensive. Therefore, I’m asking you to please respond to this email if you would like to go. And actually, will you do me a favor and reply to tell me if you can’t go so I don’t take time trying to track you down? I’m only going to enter those who reply in the affirmative, because, well, yesterday I had about 20 unused bibs (luckily, we paid by team not by individual for that race). Next week, however, I’d like to avoid wasting $200. I need to know by Monday so I can meet the registration deadline. The sooner you reply, the more appreciative I will be.

Let me know if you have any questions.

2:00pm – Senior Girls

2:20pm – Senior Boys

2:40pm – Junior Girls

3:00pm – Junior Boys

3:20pm – Varsity Girls

3:40pm – Varsity Boys

4:00pm – Championship Girls

4:20pm – Championship Boys

4:40pm – Varsity & Championship Awards 

           (Presented by Olympian Jared Ward & REP)

5:00pm – Sophomore Girls

5:20pm – Sophomore Boys

5:40pm – Freshman Girls

6:00pm – Freshman Boys

9/12 update

Redhawks,

Here are the results from the races on Friday afternoon. It was another day of excellent effort, with some hot races, and will serve as an excellent learning opportunity for us. We've got a lot of work to do in order to reach our full potential. Over the next 3 weeks it will be easy to let off the gas and get complacent - we cannot let that happen to us if we are going to reach our team and individual goals.

The meet this week is on Thursday morning at the Regional Athletic Complex in Rose Park (2280 Rose Park Ln, Salt Lake City, UT 84116). This meet is being held at the state course as a preview for the state meet.

There will not be a varsity and JV race, but rather a freshman/sophomore and junior/senior race. This is the states attempt to spread our the race field and not have a million JV runners in one race - which would happen with the amount of teams in attendance. 

Here is the meet info - we will be Thursday morning section 1. Please read through the spectator information on the second page - due to the cost of the facility, they will be charging for spectators, and tickets must be purchased ahead of time using the link in the info page (this is also how it will work at state).

(1) 8:00am Freshmen/Sophomore Girls 

(2) 8:30am Freshmen/Sophomore Boys 

(3) 9:00am Junior/Senior Girls 

(4) 9:30am Junior/Senior Boys

Transportation update: we will not be taking a bus to the meet. Athletes who drive themselves or other athletes won't have to pay to enter. Parents who are driving will still have to pay for themselves but not those competing. The meet director has our roster, and will check your names off as you enter - YOU WILL NEED YOUR STUDENT ID. 

Lastly, you will be excused from periods 5 and 6, and the first half of 7.

Looking forward to a quality week.

Coach Jacobson

9/5 update

 Redhawks,

We had a great couple of weeks leading up to this race, and it showed on the course on Friday when both teams came away with the win in the 5A race, and in the overall race we finished ahead of a bunch of 6A schools as well. The boys won by 20 and the girls won by 43. Moments like these are a lot of fun, and it is great to see improvements, but it won't mean a whole lot if we let our foot off the gas and show up to future practices lethargic or over confident. We have to find ways to improve every single day. This is won piece to the puzzle of the season, let's not get satisfied now - because the best is still ahead of us.

Last week I sent out the clothing order and asked you to have payments in by Monday, but I completely forgot about Labor Day, so you can have them in on Tuesday and I'll get them ordered. Once the order is submitted there won't be late orders, so if you want something don't forget. Here is the order form.

Tomorrow I recommend each of you get a run in. If anyone has a hankering for a trail run, we'll have an unofficial meet-up at the Mueller Park Canyon trail at 7 AM to run elephant rock if you're interested. For less experienced runners I don't recommend making it all the way to the rock, but rather just doing 40 minutes on the trail. We won't have coaches there monitoring your safety (I'll be on the trail but have to leave around 8:30). Parents and friends are welcome to come because it is unofficial. If you'd rather run later/on the roads, feel free, this is just an option if you're interested.

The meet this week will be at Murray Park on Friday. The bus is scheduled to leave a bit later than I'd like, so I'll update this with the time after I see if I can adjust it. Here is the schedule:

3:30pm Boys Varsity 

3:50-4:00pm Girls Varsity 

4:30-4:35pm Junior high/Elementary Race (2 Miles) 

5:00-5:05pm JV Girls 

5:25-5:30pm JV Boys

If you have a younger sibling who would like to do the Junior high/Elementary Race all they need to do is show up ready to run, and I'll have stickers I can give them to put their name on, and they can race.

Please look over the information listed here from the meet for spectator parking and course map information (pages 3-5). meet info

Looking forward to a quality week of work and another fun race.

Coach Jacobson