Greetings.
I do not usually send out messages to everyone in this manner and you all KNOW I don't ever post pictures of myself. I thought I would change the pace a bit and add a personal touch.
Much like ultimate frisbee, it won't likely happen again.
I wanted to thank all the members of this season's Cross Country team. You all made it one of the most enjoyable seasons I ever had. Also, one of the easiest ones to direct.
Unfortunately, the season was way too short and the rules of engagement were slightly uncomfortable.
BUT, we had a season. This makes up a bit for our lost Spring season.
We are not having a banquet, so therefore I cannot say the things I would have in a gathering, so I suppose I will "bore" you all here. Try real hard to stay awake. Snoring, however, IS permitted.
The thing I appreciated most about this season was that it seemed as if everyone said "thank you, Budd" after every practice and meet. I do not think that has ever happened before. Or at least I never noticed.
While I never had the time to secure awards for anyone, I would like to say a few things about each person. The problem is that I had hoped to go on until 11/20, but the health and school departments felt it wiser to end earlier. I will not argue their points, as they are concerned about all of our safety.
We had a rookie join us this year in Emily "Gov'na" Baker. She was outstanding in practices as well as in meets. Also,she also is a product of my summer camps. I foresee her being a multi-event athlete. Clearly, she was our outstanding newcomer.
Abby" Hot Table" Devoie decided to stop playing soccer and was invited to join us. Mr. Gerry made that suggestion and she proved the change was a great choice. turns out two years ago, we called her "Bambi" because of her stride. Now I have the difficulty of which nickname to use. I still think she would also be a tremendous hurdler - doing cross country would improve her skills in the lows as well as the 100 highs. Now if we can just get her away from basketball...
I used to think that Brooke "Mismatch" Vaccaro simply bought her shoes in "twos" and would wear one of each of them every day...who thought she actually BUYS them that way? Brooke shall become a great leader. She is hard working and has improved tremendously during the course of the season. She is still a better athlete than her brother.
Elyse "Alpine Shoosh" Donaghue left us after two meets to go North...not to find Superman's fortress, but to ski. We missed her, but understand her passion to climb up hills only to slide down. This is going to be HER team next season. I believe she shall return in time for Outdoor Track and Field. She might become one of those "Pole Vaulting Distance Runners".
Mackenzie "Jo Jo Dancer" Richards is the most unpredictable person on the team. We never really know which Jo Jo will show up each day. Will it be the one that complains about a Mercedes, or the one that unconsciously runs like the world class dancer that she is? Every day with her is a fun adventure.
We all know that Erin" Dilly Dilly" Lavelle is by far the fastest girl in the school. Doing XC gave her a perspective on how distance is run, but also gave her the opportunity to improve her stamina. I believe she is now going to be an awesome 400 runner to go with her record setting 300's. This experience has kept her in condition regardless of whatever happens indoors.
Angelina "Rajon Rondo" Carando was our best performer in contests during the season. She has only scratched the surface of her talent. Everything she accomplishes seems to be so effortless. Good speed, good endurance, good form, She was likely one of our more valuable players during the entire season. Every week she got better and better.
Margaret "Ryan Express" Ryan ran more miles than anyone this year and always seemed to excel during practice. It seems as though, the longer the race and the longer the run, the more effective she is. The steadiest performer of all on the team from start to finish. I believe "The Express" can take this further and have a stellar career. She is durable and extremely coachable.
One person fully organized the team and lead it from start to finish: Elizabeth "Impact" Laughlin. Despite injuries, she always showed up and produced quite well on meet day. The team voted her the Pat Manley award for Team Spirit.she had her hand on the pulse of the team and was always the perfect spokesperson...despite her lousy jokes. Seriously, she understood the workouts to the point in which I could briefly say what we were doing and she would lead the team as if she were coaching it.
Coach Besser was available for us every weekend to run with. He spent time with everyone when he could and would be a part of composing workouts. I could not ask for a better distance coach to help the cause. He is so well respected by the runners themselves and still willing to run some courses with folks at almost any time. It really helps that he is still competing and helping to train others.
I recommend that while the weather is still pretty good, you get in touch with him for weekend morning long runs. Upon request, I can continue to post workouts for each week on the Ladyspartan web site.
A few others that helped push us in the right direction included: The trainer Diane Savacool,, Coach Gorman, Mr. Cassidy,and Athletic Director Mr. Magee. Each added significant value to the program.
I would like to thank you all for your support this season, as well as your enthusiasm. I think we did really good. The task at hand is now to rebuild the team as we have only 4 returners. This year, being smaller was good, so I would not want to get much bigger than 12 (we had 9 this season). This makes practices more manageable and if we split into groups, there are not so many.
Let's get on it! It really seems as if you all had a great deal of fun. We need to expand upon that. It's the fun that we need to emphasize, because the program is designed to give positive feedback often so you can gauge your improvement and I can calculate the range of your future training.
A lot of you were on point with training time predictions. We also got our work done on each day well within 2 hours.
"DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE HORSE BEING BLIND - JUST LOAD UP THE WAGON!"
REAL SUPERHEROES WEAR MASKS!
