Lindbergh Cross Country

We had a great weekend in Bellingham and Silver Lake! We had fun team bonding and created some good memories. Everyone ran very well–our best team effort of the season so far. The girls varsity once again had the race of the day. They finished 4th with Thuong ending up 12th and Cindy 20th. The boys finished 5th (with Omeylan it would have been 4th). Mohamud took 6th place.

Some notable performances: Joey improved over 2:00 from a year ago, while Ismael, Titus, Evan, and David each improved around 1:30. Stassney knocked off almost 2:30, while Thuong took off over a minute and Cindy just under a minute.

Great job everyone.

Here is the info for our road trip this weekend to Bellingham for the Mt. Baker Invitational.

We are staying at the Bellingham Travelodge (360 733-8280).

The meet takes place Saturday at Silver Lake, which is about 45 minutes away the hotel.

Directions to Silver Lake
I-5 North
Exit at Sunset Dr. / Mt. Baker Highway East
Drive 26 miles
Left on Silver Lake Road
Drive 4 miles to the park

Friday
2:45 Leave Lindbergh
5:00 Arrive at the Travelodge
5:30 Drive to Lake Padden for a run
6:30 Back at hotel—dinner and free time
8:30 Everyone must be in the hotel
10:00 In your rooms
11:00 Lights-out

Saturday
7:30 Wake-up, breakfast, pack
9:00 Pack up the vans, leave for the meet
9:45 Arrive at Silver Lake, set up camp
11:00 JV girls warm-up
11:45 JV Girls
11:45 JV boys warm-up
12:30 JV Boys
12:30 Varsity girls warm-up
1:15 Varsity Girls
1:15 Varsity boys warm-up
2:00 Varsity Boys
3:00 Awards
3:30 Leave Meet
4:30 Dinner in Bellingham
5:30 Leave for home
7:30 Arrive at Lindbergh

The majority of our team members ran either a life-time PR or their very first 5K race ever last Saturday at Fort Steilacoom Invite. We had great weather, a competitive race, and a fun day. Mohamud Abdi moved up to #4 on our All-Time List, and Thuong Nguyen moved up to #18 on the girls All-Time List. The girl’s team finished third in the Small Schools division (2A and smaller), while the boys finished second place.

We have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be as a team, but we off to a great start.

Pictures will be posted soon.

Complete meet results can be found at: http://www.fortsteilacoominvite.com/ftstresults.html

Fort Steilacoom Invitational Saturday, Sept. 15th

Meet Location: At Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, WA
Park Address: 9601 Steilacoom Boulevard, Lakewood, WA 98498 (look it up in googlemaps)

This is a very long day, so be prepared. Bring healthy snacks, water, and a lunch (or money for lunch). They will sell race t-shirts if you want to buy one. Bring plenty of clothes to stay warm and dry.

There will be about 50 schools at this meet.

7:30 Leave Lindbergh
8:30 Arrive at Fort Steilacoom
9:20 Open Race (coaches, family members, team members who don’t have 10 practices)
9:55 Youth Race (2 kilometers for runners up to 8th grade)
10:15 Boys JV “team” (Top 5 JV).
10:40 Girls JV “team” (Top 5 JV)
11:15 Boys Flight 1 (Varsity #’s 5, 6, 7, & 8
11:20 Girls Flight 1 (Varsity #’s 5, 6, 7, & 8
11:50 Boys Flight 2 (Varsity #’s 1, 2, 3, & 4)
11:55 Girls Flight 2 (Varsity # 1, 2, 3, & 4)
12:30 Boys Junior Varsity #2 race (all remaining JV)
1:05 Girls Junior Varsity Race (all remaining JV)
1:45 Awards
2:30 Leave Fort Steilacoom
3:30 Arrive at Lindbergh

We had a great time at the Coed Relays today. Though we did not place a relay team in the top 10 at the meet, our relay teams did beat Coach Cowart’s teams! (which means that he owes me dinner).

Thanks to the parents for sending so much great food and for coming to watch and interact.

Pictures will be posted on this site shortly.

The first race of the season is now in the books! For some team members, this was their first cross country season of their lives. For the seniors this was the last Class Meet they will ever run. Overall we had lots of positives to celebrate. Six girls finished in the top ten of their races. Nine boys finished in the top ten in their races. Mohumud had the fastest time of the day on the boy’s side, and Ariel had the second fastest time of the day in the girl’s races.

Everyone made huge improvements in their times over last year. Giselle had the most improvement, dropping her time 4:18 over the 2 mile course! Ashley P improved 2:35, Cindy improved 1:34, and Titus improved 1:03. Most others improved closer to :45.

If the meet would have been scored, Lindbergh would have easily won both the boys and the girls races. We have lots of work to do, however, to continue to improve.

For complete results, go to http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/School.aspx?SchoolID=433

Monday is a holiday, but we are going to practice anyway. We will practice at the regular time on Monday–2:30 – 4:30.

This meet is a fun one to begin the season with. There will be lots of teams (about 40 schools). The course is about 1.5 miles (although it always varies a little from year to year). You run on stretches of single-track trail where it is hard to pass people, and you run waist-deep for about 100 meters through Lake Wilderness. Some people will run in the open race, and some people will run as part of a 5-person coed relay.

We would like to invite all parents and family members to not only come to watch the races, but to join in on a potluck afterwards. This is a chance for parents and coaches to meet one another, and for parents to meet other parents as well. There will also be a short informational meeting while we are eating.

It takes place at Lake Wilderness in Maple Valley.

Here is the schedule:
6:45 Team arrives at Lindbergh and loads bus
7:00 Bus leaves
7:20 Arrive at the park/unload
8:30 Boys Open Race
8:40 Girls Open Race
9:15 Relay
10:45ish Awards
11:15 Team and Family Potluck
12:30ish Leave park to return to Lindbergh

What to Bring to the Potluck:
Freshmen: Sweets (cookies, brownies, etc)
Sophomores: Salads/sides
Juniors: Main Dish type thing
Seniors: drinks

This Thursday, Sept. 6th is the Seamount League Class Meet. There are eight teams in the Seamount League. At this meet all of the freshmen race each other, followed by the sophomores, juniors and seniors. The race is a 2-mile race. Boys and girls run in the same race.

Location: Evergreen High School (starts behind the school near the track)

Map and directions: http://www.bing.com/local/details.aspx?lid=YN926x196041604&qt=yp&what=Evergreen+High+School&where=Seattle%2c+Washington&s_cid=ansPhBkYp02&mkt=en-us&q=Evergreen+High+School+Seattle&FORM=LARE

Race Times: 9th race: 3:30, 10th grade race: 4:00, 11th grade race: 4:30, 12th grade race: 5:00, Awards: 5:30

Back at Lindbergh: about 6:30ish.

Click on the “Schedule” link on the right to see the 2012 Cross Country Schedule.