Track & Field Announcements (2-27-2012)

REVIEW:  We shared a most beautiful day as a team at our time-trials meets on Saturday.  We felt that we had a great follow through by our athletes, the enthusiasm and support for each other was high, the efforts were honest and strong and the results were very impressive.  A huge thank you to the parent helpers for doing such a terrific job with the timing and the breakfast. 

We felt that the performances were very encouraging!  We registered some pretty outstanding results and in some cases even better than we expected at this time of the season!  We have begun the process of setting up the athletes in events that we feel these athletes can contribute points in our league meets (4 weeks away).  What remains now is to use the next three weeks of practice, dual meets and invitationals to continue to improve our fitness, strength and speed, to sharpen up our mechanics and skills, and to develop the younger/new athletes into varsity performers.   

Congratulations to all of you on your performances at the time trials.  You can all look at yourselves in the mirror and be proud of what you did on Fri/Sat.  We want to wish all of you a most successful (improvement defines success in our program), meaningful, worthwhile and enjoyable season.  Lets all move forward in a positive way by taking advantage of our individual talents and the expertise of your coaches to reach your potential.    Please check your results on our web page (http://www.gvarvas.com/) and let us know if we might have mistyped your results. 

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Mai Craver ( sub 60 in the 400 and 12.5 in the 100) and Michael Maylish (excellent hurlde debut) are the sprint/hurdle athletes of the meet;   Morgan Johnson (32'5" shot put start) and Shailen Naik (19'6") and Scott Patton (19'5") are the filed event athletes; Molly Babcock and Dragan Simic were the distance athletes of the meet    Congratulations to all for being a wonderful example for the rest of the team.  Your efforts and marks should inspire all of the other athletes to match your achievements.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

1.     Track Meet on Thursday against Tesoro H. S. (1 Tesoro Creek Road  

        Las Flores, CA 92688 - Directions:  WHS è 405 S è 5 S to Oso Pkwy and left è Felipe Rd 

        and left. Take the 1st left onto Aprico Dr and then right onto Fieldcrest Dr.Take the 2nd right onto 

        Rosings and finally 1st right onto Tesoro)

           

a.     The buses will leave at 12:50 sharp.  You will be dismissed from 5^th period.  Dress at home and bring a lunch as you will not have time to get it at school.

b.     Warm up as a team (all events) at 1:40

c.     Dress at lunch (or come to school in your track uniform and sweats) so that you will not be late.  Do not go on the Tesoro campus once we get there.  They have school in session.

d.     Entries are posted on our web page and on the shed!

e.      Even though this is not our home meet, we all help during the meet so we can have it in such a nice facility.  Runners will need to help with the hurdles

f.        Order of events will be posted on the shed and can be found on our web page.

2.     Earl Engman Relays (Running and field events) on Saturday.

a.       Earl Engman will take place at Kelly Field at El Modena H.S. (3920 E Spring St
Orange, CA 92869).  WHS è 405 N è 55 N è Chapman East è N. Prospect and left è Spring and right. 

b.      This meet runs the shuttle hurdles relay (4 athletes), the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400,4x800, 8x100, 8x200 and the distance medley relays for the running events.  The HJ. LJ, Discus and shot put for the field events.  Many frosh/soph athletes will have a chance to participate in this varsity event.  Additionally, we will be having second teams in the hurdles, distance medley and the 4 x 800 so that our younger athletes will get some experience in these types of meets.

c.       Entries will be posted on Friday (we will use the results of Thursday’s meet to make the final selections for the relays.

3.     Weather notes.

A  At this time of the year, weather can change the schedule of all that is planned.  Be flexible!  Don’t be naïve about a little rain or cold and windy conditions.  It is something very common at this time of the year.  Dress appropriately. 

b.      In case rain comes our way during the day and our track is too muddy to workout, our workouts will be on the bike path for the majority of the athletes

c.       All athletes are expected to come to school with their workout clothes and be ready for training.  At minimum, we will be working out in the weight room,

d.      The coaches will determine if the workout will be altered.

4.     T-Shirts 

a. We have 6 XL shirts left.  E 202 if you or your parents would like one

5.     Uniforms 

a.       The few of you that have not picked up the uniforms yet, be sure you do so before Thursday during snack or lunch.  Pick up the permission to get your uniforms from the equipment room.

6. Missed Time Trials

a. A few individuals did not attend Saturday’s activity.  Very disappointing!  All of you that did not attend the meet on Saturday (and were not excused from the meet by the Coaches) will need to speak with Coach Craver to clear this absence and be eligible to compete at our next meet.

8. Laguna Hills  (Thursday at LHS) and the Irvine Invitational (Sat.) are the meets next week.  More info will follow.

Have a great and productive week of training and racing. 

Coach Craver and Coach Varvas

Track & Field News and announcements (2-19-2012)

Our athletes are making outstanding progress towards the start of the 2012 season.  Each day, we are getting a clearer picture of where each athlete will fit into the scheme of things for the 2012 squad.  That picture will become even clearer with our Time Trial Activity this coming Friday & Saturday.  We are very excited to find out what the Time Trials will unveil and what is in store for the season!  We hope you also share in this excitement!

On Saturday, a number of out athletes participated in the Marina H. S. all-comers meet. A number of Prs and impressive performances were recorded. Hannah O'Connor (5'0") and Maddy Bradford (barely missing 5'0") matched or surpassed last year's best efforts, Dragan Simic ran 4:23 1600 and 51.0 400, Brandon Ferguson ran 2:01 (PR for him) 800, Jared Klopfer matched his best ever in the 800 with his 2:06, Josh Thatcher ran 5:03 ( PR by about 15 seconds), Molly Babcock ran 2:29 800 and 63.3 in the 400, Coco Evans ran 5:34 as she is getting back into running, Alexis Abad ran well in the 800 as did Ana-Paola Laveaga and Olivia Rodgriquez. These were only some of the our better marks. Our younger athletes showed nice improvement from the last all-comers meet we attended two weeks ago.

We want to thank all of you that have made a donation to secure the funds for the extra coaching stipends and the entry fees needed for our teams to be able to participate in the planned invitationals.  We are making progress towards this goal but we are still a long way off.   If your family can make a donation for this, it will be greatly appreciated.     

Please review the following announcements:

1. Time Trials on Friday and Saturday:  Athletes will need to be in team uniform in order to participate.  All athletes (in good health) are expected to participate in order to be included in meet against Tesoro
1.  Field Events (HJ, Discus and either the LJ or TJ) on Friday starting at 3:00 pm at WHS
2. Field Events (SP and either the LJ or TJ) and running events (300 H, 1600, 100, 800, HH, 400) on Saturday starting at 9:00 am at Irvine Stadium.  Athletes are to report at 7:45 am with team warm up at 8:00 sharp.
2. Uniforms:  Team uniforms will be issued this week (Tuesday for the varsity athletes, WED, Thur for the frosh/soph and JV athletes and Friday for anyone who did not pick up the uniforms on the previous days.  Each athlete needs to take the uniform slip issued by the coaches to the school equipment room.  To secure this uniform slip, each athlete needs to have the personal information and signature forms found in our Track Guide book brought to the coaches.  The Track Guide book can be found on our web page (http://www.gvarvas.com/ in the track & field link)
3. Team T-Shirts:  We will have the remaining team T-Shirts at our time trials on Saturday.  Any parent or athlete that would like one of these T-Shirts, they can be purchased for $10.00.  As we have mentioned previously, we would love to have all of our athletes in one of these shirts when we go to the meets.
4. Team Night at Road Runner Sports:  On Monday, February 20, 2012 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm, Road Runner Sports (
   1835 Newport Blvd, Costa Mesa
   , 92627) will host a special evening for the WHS Track & Field team.  They will have food, drinks, shoe education, shoe raffle, 10-20% discount on purchases and will make a donation to the WHS Track & Field program based on attendance.  This will be a great opportunity to find out get information of track shoes and maybe save some money.   If possible, please plan to attend.
5. Track & Field Meet Help: 
1. For the time trials, we will need at least 8 Timers (Saturday) and 3 field event judges (Friday) and 2 field event judges on Saturday.  Please let us know if we can count on your help.
2. For each of our dual meets (check our schedule on our web page) we will need 4 Timers and 4 field event judges.  We hope to fill these posts with volunteers so that we do not have to assign families for these needs.

6.  Practices on Monday are as follows:  distance (8:00 am) at Shady Canyon, all others at WHS at 10:00 am

Thank you for your support and assistance with our team!

Coach Craver and Coach Varvas       

Track & Field Season Just around the corner:

Our team is building momentum towards the start of the season.  The coaches feel the excitement in our athletes with the way they are getting sharper and stronger in our work outs.  Our roster is just about set as we have more and more of the winter sports athletes join the rest of the team in our workouts.  It won't be too long before the coaches come up with the entries for each event in the different team divisions. 

We want to thank all of you for taking the time to attend our team meeting and hear the coaches' goals and expectations for the season. 

Also, we want to thank all of you that have made donations to cover the costs of the extra coaches working with the athletes on the team and to cover the entry fee for the invitationals we would like to have our athletes attend this season.  We are about 1/5 of the way there already.  We appreciate your help with these two special, special projects aimed to help our athletes achieve their best during the season.

Please review the following:

1.  Monday, February 13, 2012 workouts as as follows:
      a.  Distance:  8:00 am at Shady Canyon (WHS to Alton and left to Sand Canyon and right.  Go past the turn-around and make the first left into the parking lot.)
      b.  Throwers:  11:00 am at WHS
      c.  Sprints/hurdles/jumps:  11:00 am at WHS

2.  Woodbridge Track Team night at Road runner Sports in CM (1835 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA 92627)will be on Monday, February 20, 2012  from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. 

      a. Road Runner Sports will  donate up to $500 to our program based on athlete/parent attendance

      b.  They will have a Shoe clinic and 1-on-1 running analysis for everyone

      c.  They also will have free Pizza,  Shopping discount (10-20%) and shoe raffle

3.  All Comers meet:  The last all-comers meet for the year will be at Marina H. S. in Huntington Beach on Saturday, February 18, 2012 (15871 Springdale Street Huntington Beach, CA 92649).  $5 per athlete, field events at 8:30 am and running events at 9:00 am

4.  T-Shirts:  Our team T-Shirts for our athletes and parents can still be purchased for $10.  We have about 40 left.  Bring the money to room E-202 to pick up the shirt(s).  We would like to have our parents and our athletes in these t-shirts when we do to our meets.

5.  Uniforms will be issued on Tuesday (2-21-12 for the varsity athletes), Wed (2-22-12) and Thur (2-23-12) for the frosh/soph and JV athletes and Fri (2-24-12) for anyone that did not pick up the uniforms on the other days.  Pick up the uniforms during lunch time and before practice on 6th period .  You will need the permission slip issued by the coaches in order to be give this uniform.

Thank you for your help, support and efforts on behalf of our team.

Coach Craver

Track & Field Making News

Important Notes on what is going on this week


1.  Molly Babcock has chosen to attend U. C.  Berkeley on an athletic scholarship.  She has been considering Cal Poly SLO and University of Washington as well.  She signed her letter of intend  on Friday (2-3-12).  She plans to complete in cross country and track & field for the Golden Bears of U. C. Berkeley.  She visited the Berkeley campus and met with head coach Tony Sandoval the previous week.

2.  A number of the track athletes participated in all comers meets this past week end.  Some of the athletes traveled to West LA College to participate in the 5x8x200 relays and did a great job.  Others attended the individual event all-comers meet at Huntington Beach H. S. where a number of impressive performances were registered.  Brandon Ferguson won the varsity 1600 m race with a most impressive 4:25.7 time.  Jackson Marshall ran 4:57 and Jake Suiste ran 5:01.  On the girls' side, Molly Babcocok won the girls' varsity race with Maddie Bradford, Alyssa Gutcher &Alexis Abad taking 2-4.  Maddie Bradford (4'10") and Hanna O'Connor (4' 6") placed well in the High Jump.

3.  A reminder that the Parent Sprint Sports meeting will be help at WHS Gym from 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm

4.  Also the Athlete/Parent Track & Field meeting will take place in the WHS Theater from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm.  All athletes and at least one parent are expected to attend this meeting. 

5.  Team T-shirts will be available to be picked up at the Athlete/Parent meeting.

6.  Uniform slips will also be available at the Athlete/Parent meeting for the athletes that have completed all team expectations.  Athletes are asked to download the forms from this web page and bring them to the meeting.

7.  The last all-comers meet will take place on Saturday 2-11

8.  All our athletes are expected to be present in the practices on Monday 1-13 and 1-20 even though these are school holidays.

We will see all of you at our meeting.

Coach Craver