Raiders Start to Emerge

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 Julia Clingen, Sarah Nardella, & Joslynn Hibbler  as our Raiders Of The Meet.  Congratulations!

Batavia Invitational
Determination is a little something that goes a long way. Gianna Anderson showed it when running her first ever race at Batavia.  Not just any race.  THE 400!  Most kids shy away from that challenge. At least initially. What Gianna did was amazing to me. She decided to get out and run hard from the beginning. I think we all can learn something from her approach. No fear. Just do it! Thanks Nike.  As far as how the rest of the meet went, I thought we did well.  Over 20 PR's were established in all phases - Distance, field events, & sprints!  However, I think the most exciting thing was seeing some internal competition blossom.  When one kid runs well, another wants to do the same.  No one wants to lose a spot.  Many of you rose to the occassion while a few took a step back.  The good news is, it's a season long competition.  If you want something bad enough, it takes work.  That starts with how you practice.  We may not out talent some people, but we certainly can out work them - that's totally up to you as individuals, and collectively as a team. "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." ~Sam Ewing  I want you all to remember something.  None of this is personal. Don't make internal competition personal.  The competition continues Monday night for our Varsity Relays, Thursday at home with a JV Open, and Friday at Plainfield South.  The following week brings another JV opportunity at Glenbard West and the the Varsity Indoor Championships a week from Friday.

 
Tacchi/Crenshaw/Preuss - Sometimes I think we are just plodding along and I'm waiting for something to happen.  Things started to happen at Batavia.  Sarah Nardella was outstanding and just missed clearing 9-00! She's way ahead of where she was last year.  Joslyn Hibbler seems to get better every meet. Emily Weigand, Claire Hill, Maggie Bair, and Gianna Anderson made their debut and turned in some outstanding performances.  Overall, the sprint-jump-hurdle crew turned in some great efforts on a fast track.  Keep up the great work you do.  This get faster and faster as the season progresses!

O's No's- The distance team did a great job of competing on a great track.   Our 3200m relay started things off with a fourth place JV finish.  Justine Drake 3:10.39 matched her indoor 800m PR. Kendall Arlasky 2:24.36 was headed for a season best until an official mistake,  Bianca Montenegro's 3:23.31 third leg kept us close and CassidyShirley found her race with a 3:04.7 anchor.  All the Raiders ran great 3200 races by placing and earning team points. Ava Childs 12:40.15 first experience with the race was an awesome one.  Erica Mote 13:03.38 was only two seconds off her PR.  Abby Schlenker 12:11.95 gave herself a chance to win by competing with some girls who earned 3A CC State medals. In the 800m Julia Clingen - 2:44.34 crushed her old PR by over 10 seconds heading to a fourth place finish. PR Queen Grace Gibson 2:57.02 pushed herself to another one.  Katie King 2:48.09 did an awesome job of taking it to the field. In the1600m both Courtney Knight, 6:18.26 and Sophie Nelson, 6:57.72 attacked the race. With the effort Sophie earned a six second PR.  Great job of racing today girls!  Keep up the great racing and great things will come this year.
 
Rap Master Crissey - Another strong performance for the throwers. On Saturday at Batavia it was a PR party for Taylor Pickens and Nikki Newman. Taylor finally broke 19-feet and Nikki hit the 24-foot mark. Ciara Jackson continues to show great consistency by throwing another 30-foot plus throw. CeCe has thrown over 30-feet in the four meets this season. Kelsey Breen has been impressive all season with her leadership and athletic maturity. She has thrown 26-feet plus several times this season.  The challenge I have for the throwers is to work harder in practice. How you practice is how you will compete!  Get after it this week!

Points To Ponder-
"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard"


This Weeks Focus -
Our indoor season is rapidlly coming to a close. We finish fast and furious with 5 meets over the next 2 weeks.  Now is the time to try something you haven't done before.  Before you know it, the season will be over and we'll look at each other and say, "Where did the season go?"