Banquet Info

You are invited to the 2009 TC West Boys Cross Country Banquet on Friday, November 13, from 6-9:30 pm at Twin Lakes Camp in the Lodge.

The menu will be a potluck. Cake, rolls, drinks, and table service will be provided, including bowls.

Each senior is asked to bring a side dish to serve 12.
Each junior is asked to bring a fruit, vegetable, or salad to serve 12.
Each sophomore is asked to bring a main dish to serve 12.
Each freshmen is asked to bring a main dish to serve 12.

Please bring a serving utensil for your dish.

Set-up for the evening will be at 12:30 pm on Friday, November 13. Anyone that is available to help is welcome.

Freshmen and sophomores are assigned the duty of helping to clean up after the banquet.

The cost for the evening is $5 per person, with a maximum of $20 per family. Please send your money and the number attending to Dana Laursen. If you have any questions, please contact Dana at 922-1681.

Come join in the celebration of another season of cross country running!

Regional wrap up

Well, the end of this season just didn’t play out as we had hoped, obviously. We’ve waded our way through quite a bit of adversity this year. I know that our team is certainly much better than what we have been able to show. Still you are only as good as what you perform.

So the show roles on, and one person did manage to qualify this year, which in itself is a rebound. Sebby makes it thru with a 14th place finish, and Sam was oh-so-close, diving to the line and coming up just a couple of inches short. He finished in 16th in a race where the top 15 medal, and it left him just one place short of a race at MIS. A heartbreak, yet it still made for an accomplished season for someone who is new to the sport.

Matt Laylin got out and after the competition early, positioning himself very well. Then holding on as best he could, he capped off his season with a strong finish to the high school career. Hunter was the 4th man running another good race as he has done so much of in the second half of the season. He has been mister consistency coming down the stretch. Drew was catching up late in the race, but was one of those who had been sick during the week. Jonah had an off day. Dylan had been sick as well. It’s likely that I should be surprised that we were able to field the full varsity squad at all given the school being shut down. 4 of the varsity were sick as of Tuesday. I don’t think that everyone was recovered by Saturday, and it’s entirely possible that the  others may have been fighting off something by that time.

So ends the season for all but one. Still given the abrupt finish for so many, I want to make sure that the seniors know that there is an annual seniors race at Ella Sharp park in Jackson. It is for seniors only, and it is a qualifier race for the mid-east meet of champions. Many of all abilities run it, I believe that the first 8 finishers then go on to race in Dayton Ohio the following weekend against teams from 5 or 6 other states. That race is on Saturday the 14th, always one week after the state championship. Let’s talk if you have an interest. It might be nice for some of you who have the desire and want to continue on for a couple of weeks to have one last big race.

Results:

1) Rockford 41

2) Okemos 79

3) Kenowa Hills 89

4) Muskegon- Mona Shores 137

5) Grand Ledge  146

6) TCW   150

7) TCC    184

++ (15 schools)

14- Sebby Kucera 16:50

16- Sam Kosinski  16:53

29- Matt Laylin  17:19

37- Hunter Swogger  17:34

54- Jonah Laursen  18:07

57- Drew Van Drie   18:14

68- Dylan Snider   18:40

******* State championship **********

I am still trying to figure out what we will be doing and how for the state meet. I currently have 2 minivans rented for the trip. As long as I have another driver we could fill them up, and it would be good for many of you to experience this meet, especially the younger guys. We WILL be taking teams to the state meet in the future.

So if you are truly interested, let me know. I’ve received one call so far.     z

Saturday

This is now lat due to my internet being down earlier:

I will be at Veterans’ park Saturday morning by 9:40. I want to head out by 9:45. Just letting you know – for anyone who may want to carpool along. There are no seats available in my van, it’s all varsity, coaches & tent. So look below if you need to find a ride. Many of the parents are driving down a little later. Be sure to bring some money to get in, ($5) and to eat after. Also it would be good to offer to help with gas money, perhaps.  See you there!    Z

Flu – Season Finale (ck below for regional)

It was a beautiful day and the racing was hot. 5 competitors toed the line in the final race of the season for the JV team members.

With plenty of dogs about to add to the interest, the runners set off amidst the autumn glory that is the west side of TC. Very competitive and fairly close in the end, the racers hammered their way to the finish, now remembering just how tough their home course really is compared to other courses that they race on during the season.

Max Verellen finished first in the short course event, finishing 3 miles in 18:57.

Kieran Hall won the 5k in a tactical battle of the last mile in 19:35.

Matt Kulka followed him closely with a fight to the finish in 19:39.

John Troost  led through the 2 mile and pushed the pace in the 3rd lap, finishing 3rd in 20:03.

Forrest Verellen ran steadily, and closing in the final mile to bring it home in 21:25.

Dan Cholger, getting into the spirit of the event, showing up unsure of his current health battled though regardless, as he brought it home in 22:12.

Great job guys! I hope you had fun, and I think it was a good thing to do. Good for you for putting it together.   Z

Saturday – Regional Championship

Our race is at 3:00 pm. The girls race at 2:00. We have plenty of time to make it down there. I plan to leave at 9:45, that’ll give us time to stop on the way, and time our arrival with whatever the conditions are.

It appears that the team is thinking of staying at my place on Friday night. We also have a dinner at the Laylins for the varsity and alternates after the short practice. After the dinner, if plans don’t change, we’ll head for my place and have a nice sedate evening. Breakfast in the morning, and we’ll be off and on our way.

Some of the parents may wish to head for the race at a later time, which is fine. Some sounded like they may want to caravan with the team, that’s fine as well. The only thing is that for JV guys to hitch a ride with someone they will need to make the contact, and find their seat themselves. The last I knew, we had more seats available than we needed. That means that some of the parents may be able to carpool as well, so keep that in mind, it’s a long drive.

Here is what I have for who is driving and the number of seats that they have available:

Kucera’s – 2   (929-0694 / 632-1991)

Kosinski’s – 6  (946-5547)

Van Drie’s – 4  (922-0259)

Laylin – 5   (275-6925)

I believe that 2 other sets of parents are going as well, the Laursen’s & the Swogger’s. I’m not certain if there are Snider cars going down, I stopped calling when I had enough seats available. So there you go, come and get’em, make a call or two and secure a ride to the races.

Info. for spectators: Carson City – Crystal High School has a good website with links to the Don Baese Invite and to the Regional site, where you can get course maps, directions and a lot of other info.        www.carsoncity.k12.mi.us

Things you need to know:

- There is an admission charge of $5.00 per person & $1.00 per vehicle.

- No pets allowed

- No music devices (broadcasting)

- As before, stay off of the berms, etc. as well as staying on the sportsmens’ club property and not the adjoining private property.

Though we are one of the better teams in this regional, this is going to be a tough race. As I see it there are 4 teams that will be the likely top competitors for the top 3 places that qualify for the state championship. 3 of them are very close in ability, and it will be a matter of who shows up ready to do their best, and has a full team performance.

Tuesday – back in Gaylord again

I’ve just been going over the results from yesterday trying to figure out whether I can tell if the course was long or not. Nothing glaring stands out from the splits that I have, but yet it doesn’t seem right either. I still feel that everyones times were too slow for the course and conditions. It’s just hard to figure.

It doesn’t look like I’ll get the results on here tonight either, you can find them at: hickmanraceservices.com

Meanwhile I’ll get the info. out about the race on Tuesday. We’ll be back at the Gaylord country club again for the Gaylord Rotary Invite. Runners #8 – 14 will run varsity for us that day as we usually do. The varsity stays home, warm & dry.

The race format is the same as last Tuesday. We will be getting out of class by 1:15 and plan to leave the school by 1:30. This time we are going to share a bus with the girls team and save some money. Afterward we will stop at BC pizza on the west side of Gaylord to eat so I’m asking that each guy bring $6. (I’m expecting that they’ll eat more than the girls will)

1:30 depart school

4:00 girls varsity

4:30 boys varsity

5:00  combined jv race

8:45 – 9:00 arrive back at school

REMEMBER ******  you will be turning in your uniforms after the races are done! It would be good if you would remember your green singlets tomorrow / Monday. Have clothing to wear after the meet, other than the uniform for underneath.

DIRECTIONS

Same as last week. please look back to the post for the conference meet.

Gaylord results / Elk Rapids info.

Well that was fun. Not as fun as I had hoped, but I can’ be down about the outcome. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like to lose, and I know what the odds were of our winning today. I can recognize and appreciate a flawless performance though, and that is basically what Gaylord had. That’s what it took for them to defeat us today, and they did just what their coach laid out as a plan.

So congratulations to them, and to the many on our team who had fine performances of their own. Only two more races for sure for anyone on the team. It’s time to lay it all on the line, and listen to the plan.

Varsity Race:

3-  Sebby Kucera 17:01

7- Sam Kucera   17:13

9- Jonah Laursen   17:21

12-  Matt Laylin   17:33

15- Hunter Swogger  17:53

17- Drew Van Drie  17:57

26- Matt Kulka   18:29

The JV’s swarmed, and with the new uniform; looked like a line of yellow coming through the course.

1- Dylan Snider  17:54

4- Russell Carter   18:09

5- Ray Innis       18:10

6- Chris Chargo  18:13

7- Brock Downer  18:13

8- John Troost    18:25

9- Kieran Hall   18:31

10- Trevor Painter  18:32

11- Alex Hawke   18:36

12- Max Verellen  18:39

16- Aaron Mahoney  18:46

17- Joe Yancho     18:50

21- Landon Meggison  18:54

30- Dan Schmidt    19:20

31- Forrest Verellen  19:25

33- Dan Cholger   19:28

46- Matt Zenner    20:03

49- Kasey Goss     20:15

59- Joey Vanderbosch  20:30

66- Brad Clark    20:54

68- Scott Ringwelski   20:58

71- Devin Wennersten  21:32

93- Ethan Poirier     23:15

Good work to all. Another lesson learned. One day soon we need to cash in all of these lessons that have been accumulated, and put it all together. All there is to do now is rest, recover and race

________________________________________________________

Thursday we will be carpooling down to the middle school to practice with the yunguns’. We should be back to the HS by 5, and practice is unlikely to go much beyond that. Friday will be short as well, done by 5 I imagine.

For everyone that isn’t running at the regional, the last practice is Monday. When the meet is over on Tuesday; we will be collecting uniforms right away – on the spot.

___________________________________________________________

ELK RAPIDS INVITE

Saturday is Elk Rapids, and afterward – the annual potluck! (at my home) We carpool to the meet and as always we need several parents to help us out with driving JV runners to the meet in the earlier morning. Then it takes just 2 or 3 parents to get the varsity guys to the meet a little later.

Schedule:

9:00 – girls JV

9:45 – boys JV

10:30 – girls middle school

11:00 – boys middle school

11:30 – girls Varsity

12:15 – boys Varsity

~ 1:00 awards – in the middle school gym

There is admission charged: $5 – adults, $3 students.

So whether you are going early or late, you may bring your dish for the meal here and leave it in the kitchen. (use the door thru the garage) Plug it in if needed. The dog is trustworthy, BUT THE CATS ARE NOT! They stay outside, if they ask – or crowd to come in push’em out of the way. They’re barn cats don’t worry about it. IF you let them in it’s up to you to get them out, because no one will be here to watch over the food while we’re gone. So please keep them out.

Riley –  the airedale will be very excited. Don’t worry about coming in the door. Just be careful that he doesn’t wrap around your legs like a cat and knock you off balance. He loves company, and is extremely well socialized.

We need everyone for the JV race to be at my place by 7:30 am. We need to leave here by 7:45, so that we can be at the course and setting up by 8:15 or a touch earlier.

The Varsity need to meet at my place by 10:00. Leave here by 10:15 and get to the meet no later than 10:45.

This scheduling cuts it a bit close – in case of cold or rain, the guys won’t have to be out there too long before their races. If we have something hold us up – it compromises the schedule and the preparation. For everyone. It’s a team. So please be on time.

DIRECTIONS TO MY HOUSE:

find Garfield and Front st. intersection, turn north (left for most of you)

This becomes Penninsula Dr., – follow that thru the first stoplight,

at the second stoplight – it’s the split with Penninsula and Center Rd.

bear right on Center, after that – look for the 3rd street on the right.

turn right on Edmar Dr., 6128 Edmar Dr. – first house on the left.

nearly across the street from the 1st congregational church.

Park along the street, or in my yard. Or at the church across Center.

DIRECTIONS TO THE COURSE:

31 north to Elk Rapids, – go to the stoplight on 31 and turn right onto Ames St.,

go 4 blocks and turn right  on  S. Brand St.,

goto stop, turn left on E. 3rd St.

-> straight to the schools – park on right at HS, course is on left behind the middle school.

See you there! (and here)

Conference Championship, and Pot Luck!

After recovering from the Portage meet & bringing home a lesson, and weathering thru homecoming week; we should be ready to move on. This week we take on the conference competition for all of the marbles.

Tuesday we travel to Gaylord and the Gaylord Country Club, where the championship is held from year to year. This is a very nice course and we are fortunate to be able to use it. So please stay off of greens, and watch out for the tees while you’re at it! It isn’t too often we have the chance to run on a golf course these days. Many of the team members really enjoy this course.

We will be excusing from school at 12:45, and departing the school at 1:00

Girls varsity races at 4:00

Boys varsity race at 4:30

All JV race at 5:00

Awards are presented at about 5:30. The top 2 performances for each runner of the 3 over-all score toward 1st & 2nd team all-conference. The first and second meets score as 25% each toward the final tally & the championship race scores as 50% for the overall championship. That’s how the team scores are figured for the championship, and the individual is about that.

Excitement will rise, remember to stay calm, the training is done, and all we need to do now is follow through and execute the plan. -> I’m talking to you parents, here. That applies to the guys, of course, but that is for you as well. Just wish them well and send them on their way. There isn’t anything that can be done beyond that. They’ll take care of their business, they just need to know of your confidence and support. AND THAT’S IT.

Hope to see you there!

Directions:

Goto Kalkaska, turn left (north) on 131,

drive thru Mancelona, north of Mancelona- maybe 10 miles, find Alba

Don’t blink, – at the blinker light in Alba turn right onto C-42

follow that thru all of the right angle turns at least 15-20 miles to C-32,

42 ends at 32, then turn left onto 32, and go about half a mile,

turn left into Gaylord Country Club.

Clubhouse is off limits, except for coaches & officials, parking & porta-johns are to the left.

_________________________________________________________

>>>>>  Remember about the Pot Luck after Elk Rapids!  <<<<<<<<<<<

For those that haven’t been a part of the team before, we have our annual pot luck gathering at my home after we are all done in Elk Rapids Saturday. We used to do it there, but got tired of weathering the weather many of the years. So now we do it at my place instead. We leave this one up in the air as to what to bring. If you have the time, consider bringing a main course – type dish, or a substantial side dish. Salads of all sorts are great, and warm foods are really welcome after being out there all day. All dishes should be able to feed quite a few, as we commonly have between 65 – 100 people here. So bring it on! We will have lots of hunger, and it always turns out great! -> -> One request is that we don’t have a lot of people bring deserts. I know it’s the easy way out, but hey if you don’t have time, consider deli food! We’re feeding athletes here! We don’t want a counter top full of sugar.

There will be paper plates, and plastic utensils, cups as well – all supplied. I will go out and buy some milk, and much more juice. Yes I attempt to exert my influence right to the end!

I will post more about Saturday after Tuesday. Including directions to my place and the race. Also remember that we carpool to ER, and the guys can’t drive. We always need parents to tough it out while helping us out with the transportation. More later. Think Tuesday!

Portage Results

Varsity

62    Sam Kosinski            16:52.3
81    Sebby Kucera           17:05.9
95      Matt Laylin               17:12.1
112    Jonah Laursen          17:20.5
134    Hunter Swogger       17:29.6
165    Brad Clark               17:48.8
195    Ray Innis                 18:10.3

JV

36      Matt Kulka              17:47.5
38      Drew Van Drie        17:48.2
53      Kieran Hall             17:57.0
59      Chris Chargo          17:59.4
61      Russell Carter         18:01.4
63      Brock Downer         18:05.3
71      Alex Hawke            18:11.6
75      Trevor Painter        18:15.7
77     John Troost             18:16.3
80     Aaron Mahoney       18:17.1
84     Landon Meggison    18:20.8
92     Joe Yancho             18:26.5
109   Dan Cholger           18:36.3
117   Dan Schmidt           18:43.7
147   Forrest Verellen      19:01.8
198   Matt Zenner           19:26.0
265   Kasey Goss            20:07.1
283   Scott Ringwelski      20:17.9
315   Devin Wennersten   21:02.0
          Dylan Snider – did not finish – injured

           Jack Lyon –  did not run – injured

Petoskey -thoughts, & Portage info.

It was a dark and stormy night. Their bus, inticrately  scheduled, arrived nearly on time, but being gentlemen they allowed the girls team to use their bus as theirs was running late…

So began the adventure. In the end we all made it in time to be able to warm up satisfactorily and prep for the race. It was a challenging race scenario! The course itself is challenging, and not known to be fast. Add standing water, strong winds and driving rain. Then you have a recipe for slow times. Instead nearly everyone on the team had a reasonable time and when you subtract what it might have been on a nice and dry day it looks very good.

There was a plan for the day, and it was followed quite well. It worked, not perfectly, yet, but the team showed what they are capable of this year. It’s getting better, stronger, and the difference from 2 weeks before at BNC #1 was huge.

So enjoy, and now let’s get back to work.

This Saturday is the Portage Invite, easily the largest meet of the season. I believe that there are 42 teams in our race. Did I say huge?

The Cholgers have asked to have a team dinner at their home on Friday after practice. We will plan to car pool over there as soon as practice is over as we did last week.

Frosh-bring drinks

Sophs- & -Juniors- bring vegetable dishes / side dishes

Seniors- bring a dish if you like (or not)

Melissa & Gerry Cholger (& Dan)

2816 Old Farm Lane    (off of East Long Lake Rd)

941-0445

Now about the meet itself: we are taking a charter bus, and as mentioned before it will cost $30 per team member. If paying by check, please make it out to TC West athletic boosters. (charters show up on time and get us there on time, except when going to Rochester)

We need to have all team members plan to be at the athletic wing awning at 8:15 am Saturday.

We leave the school at 8:30 am

arrive at the meet ~ 12:30

Varsity runs at 2:30

JV run at 4:30

We will likely be home between 10 & 10:30

There are a number of booths with running gear for sale, T-shirts, & a concession stand. I will plan to have a stop on the way home, probably at Cedar Springs again for dinner on the way home. Each guy will need to pack a pre & post race snack so that they can be prepped on a rather long day.

This is a meet that the team looks forward to year to year. Top notch competition and we are just rising to it. A good course that allows for fast times, it’s a good mix.

DIRECTIONS:

Take your favorite way to 131 south and follow it thru GR, south to Kalamazoo,

Travel on 131 south of I-94

take the Centre Ave. exit – (1st exit S of I-94) and turn left over the highway, onto Centre Ave.

follow that thru 2 stoplights, I believe it is at the 3rd light that Moorsbridge Rd. will have a light and you turn left onto that.

follow Moorsbridge all the way back thru the neighborhoods, past the golf course, and the middle school will be obvious with the mob scene on the right.

There is a parking fee, if you are lucky enough to find a spot at the school lot. More than likely you will need to park along neighborhood streets in the area. We will likely set up the tent in the area of the start, and there are many of them, but ours does stand out now days.

There is mapping available on the website:      portageinvite.com