A Double Shot of Raiders, Please!

Coaches Corner

Raider(s) Of The Meet

The Raider(s) Of The Meet award will be given to those athletes that through their performances, caught the attention of the Coaches. This week, the Coaches have selected Ciara Jackson, Kelsey Breen, Sophie Nelson, Katie Kibbey, Gabby Reese, & Joslyn Hibbler as our Raiders Of The Meet. Congratulations!

Dist 87 JV Invite & Raider Quad

I always look forward to the Dist. 87 Meet. It's an opportunity for our young kids to compete, and for some of our other kids to get in shape. Good things were happening all over as our huge PR list demonstrates. 19 PR's were established at Glenbard East. That's an incredible amount. Our Raider of the Meet Katie Kibbey had 3 PR's! Another Raider of the Meet Ciara Jackson had a monster throw of 31-09.5! Gabby Reese jumped a PR 3-10 in the high jump! Overall, it was an evening of great performances. The Raider Quad continued the trend. I only wish I could have watched more of it. In total, an addition 19 PR's where recorded. Sophie Nelson recorded a Career Best in the 800 Run and it;s very early in the season. Maiya Todd was equally impressive as she strives to surpass all of her previous bests. Joslyn Hibbler had a huge night with 3 career PR's (TJ, 55, 200), with Sarah Nardella (PV), Krista Kreshpanji (55), and Marissa Ray (200) also chipping in with career indoor bests!

Tacch-Preuss- Sprinters-Jumpers-Hurdlers

I like what I saw at East, and even what I didn't get to see on Saturday. Overall, the sprint-jump-vault group had 33 PR's. While it's early, it's encouraging. If I want to emphasize anything, it's take advantage of the opportunities given you! We put you in events for a reason. We are looking to assemble our Invitational Teams. By not competing in a race, you effectively limit your chances. We need 200 times. We need 400 times. Don't bail on your chances because Indoors we don't have many. Sometimes people get caught up in where we finished, what place, and how many points we scored. I'll continue to say that none of that matters right now. What matters is where we are in May. When considering that, I really like our chances. Continue to work hard and good things will come.    

O’s No’s - Dist 87 JV Meet at GE 2-18-16 - We are doing a good job of getting the rust out from a long winter. In the 800m Ava Child 2:51.1 blazed to the victory while Courtney Knight 2:57.2 almost paced Eric Mote 2:57.8 to an indoor PR.   In the 400m we had three first timers, Katie King 74.8, Sophie Nelson 79.9 and Mikayla Jacoby 86.2. Another New comer Grace Gibson 6:42.7 tore up the track in her first 1600m.   Then everyone had a nice come back in the 4x400m with Courtney 74.5, Ava 76.3, Katie 78.3, Sophie 81.2,Erica 82.22 and Mikayla 91.4

Raider Quad 2-20-16 The distance team is doing a great job of working to get into shape.   Courtney Knight 13:45.8 attacked the 3200m working her way to a 3rd place finish. In the 800m Katie King 2:54.94, Sophie Nelson 3:07.31 and Mikayla Jacoby 3:34.32 all did a fantastic job of competing. Katie just missed taking home the victory and Sophie set a 7 second PR with her awesome kick. Emma Johnson 71.4 set a PR by placing second in the JV 400m and Ava Childs 73.46 also set a PR racing Varsity.   Erica Mote pushed herself to a nice base time of 6:19.55 in the 1600m. In the 200m Emma Johnson 31.06 did a great job of competing in an event she had never run before. The distance team had more quality performances in the 4x400m with Ava 75.18, Katie 75.1, Courtney 74.38 and Sophie 80.9 taking 5th place.  

Crissey Speaks -. What a difference a week makes. Last week, it looked like the world was crashing down for the throwers. However, with another week of strength training and technique work, the throwers put together two strong performances this week at GBE and on Saturday. CeCe Jackson is on an abolute tear. At GBE, CeCe tossed a very impressive PR of 31-09.5. Kelsey Breen has put together the best week of throwing she has every had for Shot Put. Kelsey is now throwing consistently over 25-feet with good technique. The best part is that Kelsey looks confident and she is having fun. Taylor Pickens continues to improve each meet. On Saturday, Taylor had four toss, all of which were over 17-feet. She set a new PR with a throw of 18-1. Nikki Newman, who I know was not happy with her performance on Saturday, continues to work very hard to improve. Nikki had a solid mark, and a PR, of 22-10. Nice work, throwers.  

Points To Ponder -

"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time." - Malcolm X

"If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit." - William J. Clinton