Week 20 (State) and Region Recap

We are finally here... State!  It has been a long journey and we have been through some ups and some downs, but you've been a remarkable team.  We are so proud of all that you have accomplished and how much you've grown as a team and each of you individually.  Before we get into our announcements for the week, let's recap the Region 9 Championships.

Youngsters: What an amazing season we've had with our middle school club.  A HUGE thanks to our coaches Bethany Price and Katie Widdison, and to everyone else that helped out as well.  They brought an amazing energy and excitement to the program and we are so grateful for them.  Our last day of club will be tomorrow (Monday).  This is our ice cream run to Arctic Circle.  So bring enough money for an ice cream cone and let your rides know that you will get done a little later than usual.  We love having all our Youngsters come out and run.  We hope that you are developing a love for running and will keep coming out with us all the way through high school.

Region was a bit of a mixed bag this year.  When you have set the bar as high as our program has, and have the level of goals that we have set, it is a bit of a let down when things don't go perfectly.  In life, though, things rarely go perfectly; and what really matters is how you respond to those situations... and I have no doubt we will all continue to grow in a positive way and be even stronger - whether that be at State this coming week, in later races we run, or in life in general.  And that is one of the great things about running - there are so many life lessons to learn.
So the JV Girls got us off to a great start.  We placed all 5 scorers in the top 10 (Sylvia 3rd, Gracie 4th, Jenessa 5th, Jada 9th, and Addi 10th) and ran away with the team title scoring 31 points to DH's 47 and Cedar's 49.
The JV Boys then took to the course.  The race played out a little different than our usual JV races; a few of our runners didn't have great runs, but a few others stepped up.  And in the end we placed 2nd to DH.  Leading the way were Mikey (3rd) and Scottie (4th).  Also placing in the top 10 was JD with a very strong race to 10th.
The Varsity Girls race was a very tight battle between DH, Cedar, and us.  Jessica ran strong and placed 3rd after leading much of the race.  Jacey then battled to 8th, just 2 seconds out of 6th.  We then finished out our scoring with Alli Baker (10th), Caroline (11th), and Rylee (12th) within 6 seconds of each other.  We also got help in the scoring from Ellie (14th) as she bumped down every teams points.  However, it wasn't quite enough to bring home the trophy as DH out leaned us 43 to 44, with Cedar at 60.
The Varsity Boys race saw somewhat of an upset, as Hurricane took the team title over DH and PV by a score of 45, 52, 63.  Carson led the way for us with a 5th place finish, while Nathan also medaled with his 10th place finish.  Julien (12th), Logan (17th), and Alex (19th) rounded out our scoring.

For our season-long minutes totals, we only have last week (Week 19) and up until State left.  So please go in and enter your minutes for this past week and keep track of everything up until this Wednesday.  Enter your Week 19 Minutes here.

State Info: For State, we will be leaving right at the end of lunch on Tuesday.  9th graders will be picked up from PVMS at approx. noon and brought to the HS.  We will be staying overnight in Sandy, racing at 1:30p (Girls) and 3:00p (Boys) on Wednesday at SugarHouse Park in SLC and then returning home late on Wednesday evening.  An itinerary will be sent home on Monday with those invited to attend the meet.  Along with our 14 team members racing at State, we will take about 30-35 others who have shown dedication throughout the season by attending nearly every practice and keeping up in logging most of their minutes.  A finalized list of those invited to go to State will be posted tomorrow (Monday) in Coach Holt's room and announced at the team meeting.  For those not racing, there will be a $25 hotel fee that needs to be paid to PVHS Finance Office (cash only, no checks).  This fee is waived if you have any remaining money from your Run-a-Thon Fundraiser.  Those who haven't paid for your Murray hotels ($25) of Bob Firman trip ($50) need to get that taken care of ASAP and bring the receipt to Coach Holt.

Banquet: The date isn't set yet (look for an announcement this week about the date and time), but we are thinking early November.  A committee is forming to organize and plan the banquet.  Please send Coach Holt a message if you haven't been contacted and would like to help... we need help!

Practice after State: After State, our school XC season is over.  We would highly encourage everyone to continue to be active whether it is with a winter sport (wrestling, swim, basketball) or with our club running team.  Those planning on coming to Nike in November need to continue to come out to practice with the club.  We really couldn't stress enough the importance of continuing to run during the "off-season" to have continued growth in running.  Although we will take a couple weeks off in December, the winter between XC and track is basically like the summer is for track... If you want to see continued growth and improvement and have a healthy and successful track season, it is really important to be running with the club in the winter (it isn't required though).  We hope that all of you have really enjoyed this season as much as we coaches have.  We want to see you continue to reap the benefits of running in your life, and we want you to be around as much as possible.  Come out to run with us in the winter.  Come out to track in the spring (if your hesitant, you'll be surprised at how much fun it really is).  Come and continue to be part of this awesome team!

This Week's Schedule:
Monday - morning practice 6:15a (racing at State required, all others optional); wear white/bright shirt. Afternoon practice 3:00p, team meeting and short run (everyone).
Tuesday - morning practice 6:30a short run (racing at State required, all others optional).  Afternoon practice in SLC.
Wednesday - morning practice shake-out at the hotel (everyone on State trip required); Afternoon race at STATE!
Thursday - no morning practice.  Afternoon medium run (everyone who is going to Nike or continuing to train with the club).
Friday - no morning practice.  Afternoon medium run (everyone who is going to Nike or continuing to train with the club)
Saturday - run on own or form own group.