Raiders - Searchin' For Identity at PLN

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 Bianca Montenegro & Lamya Pulliam as our Raider(s) Of The Meet. Congratulations!Congratulations!

Plainfield North Invitational

I kinda like where we are going. However, before we get there we have some work to do. I loved the fact that Bianca Montenegro and Lamya Pulliam entered the Open 800! I had no idea what to expect but both Bianca and Lamya did not disappoint! Lamya went out with the leaders and Bianca set herself in the middle of the pack. Bianca kept passing and moving up while Lamya battled to stay up front. The bottom line? They competed. They weren't there to go through the motion of "running" an 800, and they weren't afraid. I think we can all learn something from Bianca and Lamya. Be fearless and compete. Go for it! Physically, we are not there yet. Mentally, we need to cut down on mistakes. Every time we don't finish a race at the end, miss our marks, keep to our form, or mess up a hand-off, we hurt ourselves. Let's clean those up and we can become something special.

Tacchi/Crenshaw/Preuss: Sprinters, Jumper's Hurdlers....

If you ever wondered what that look on my face is, it's confusion. I'm confused as to "who we are?" By that, I mean, what will be our strengths? Who will be our varsity? I noticed some newcomers who really like to compete. I see some "veterans" who appear uncertain. Sometime, internal competition does that. It allows some to shine and some to be hesitant. Reagardless, all you can do is truly give it your best. I heard someone say after their race that they had more left....enough said! The highlights were many. The High Jump and Long/Triple Jump Relays both placed! The 55 Dash and 55 Hurdle teams scored, and both 4 X 200 Teams took home ribbons! In all those events, we were ahead of last years times and distances! Two newcomers (Lily Taylor & Ania Gnaitczyk) had great performances in the open 400, and Ania came back and ran well in the 200. We fell a little short in the "Pride of the Raider Sprinters", the 4 X 400. Last year we ran 4:32.63. This year, 4:37.18. If you want my opinion, sometimes we are a bit too tentative. We need to find out a little more about where our heads are at. I also don't think we are in great shape......Yet! We will get there and when we do, the sky's the limit! I'm asking all of you to recommit to your training. I'm asking all of you to give a little bit more and work on cutting down on the mental errors!

"To be number one, you have to train like you're number two." - Maurice Greene

Orlow Know's Best - Distance team, we love the way you competed. The 4x800m Relay did a fine job. Nice first race of the season for Julia Clingen. Sophie Nelson held the relay together so Makayla Jacoby could hand off to another first timer Justine Drake. Emma Johnson 3:03.8 started the DMR off with her first 800m of the year handing off to Skylar Moloney 74.7 and then to Grace Gibson 4:43.3.who ran an impressive ¾ of a mile. Erica Mote anchored the team. The 4x1600m had a great showing by Abby Schlenker 5:40.6, Ava Child 5:47.7 with her first 1600m of her life, Erica Mote 6:15.6 running the double and Katie King pulling through when she didn’t think she had the touch. With all but a few who have run many events, we now have a base line down. It’s time to get in great shape!   Practices are going to start changing in length and toughness.   We are going after those PR’s now, getting team points and having fun competing.  

Crissey- Following a strong week of practice our performances on Friday night were not what we expected or wanted. That's okay, though. I believe all of the throwers improved with their technique this week. One thing we all must remember is that the track season is a long journey. It's not like running the 55 dash. It's more like running the 3200. You have to be willing to push through the ups and downs. Not all of your performances will be PRs. It's okay to be disappointed in your performance but do not let it dominate your thought process, especially during meets.

Points To Ponder - “The only time hard work beats talent is when talent doesn't work hard."

This Weeks Focus -   "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Confucius

Team Building - Leaders! We need to have some fun! Team dinner? Build a Bear? Community Service? Who's got an idea?