Happy Holidays Hawks Family!

I hope you're feeling well and enjoying the holiday break. I also hope you're staying active, doing some fun activities, and letting your bodies grow and heal after a hard cross country season.

January, my friends, is right around the corner. And you all worked too hard all Fall to let that fitness and strength just slip away.  Sitting around and doing nothing active all Winter will force you to start all over again in March when track season rolls around - and you don't want to go through that again!

They say that "champions are made in the off season." With respect to running, the truth is closer to "champions are  people who train easy through the off season to maintain fitness, enabling them to build from a higher foundation the next season." In other words, we only want you to stay active and do some easy running until we start building into track. The hard stuff can wait.  But you DO need to do something over the next couple of months. The work you've done so far is a base from which you can build to higher heights and faster times in the next season, if you don't let it slip away.

Starting in January, try to get 2 to 3 easy runs in per week. We will make it easy on you, as we plan to do weekly team meet-ups each Saturday morning at 9am at McKinley Park in East Sac.  Come run with teammates and coaches and knock out one of the runs you need to fit in. That means you just have to do another jog or two sometime during the week to maintain your fitness - take your dog, or meet up with a friend, or run away from your brother - whatever it takes to get a few miles on your legs.

In the first week in February, coaches will start up a second weekly team meet-up on Mondays at the Boathouse. That means, if you also join us on Saturday, you'll have at least two runs a week with us and only have to run once or twice on your own.

Finally, we plan to do team meet-ups for easy runs three days a week starting in March.  Monday and Thursday evenings at the Boathouse, and Saturday morning at McKinley. These aren't actual practices, we will just do some easy miles together and maybe some strength and stretching afterwards.

We are also running as a team in the Shamrock'n 5K on Saturday, March 11th, Coach Erin sent out a discount code on the team app. This may be another way to motivate you to keep running - sometimes having a 5K in your future keeps you going!

If anyone wants personalized workout schedules, let me know. I can email you a spreadsheet with a weekly proposed workout that you can print to keep track of your runs by the week.

We want you all to be fit and healthy when we start track practice on Monday, March 27th. But that means you have to be active this off season.  We are counting on you to get out there and keep some of that fitness that all your incredible work developed during cross country.  I'm looking forward to a successful, fast track season for you all!

Who Flies!

Coach Eric

The Hawks’ cross country season comes to a close, and they crushed it at USATF Junior Olympic Nationals in Texas!  The athletes peaked right on schedule, many of them running their best races of the season and others gaining the critical experience of running in high-stakes meets against elite competition.  The weather was MUCH better than the past few XC Nationals, and there was a great time had by all who traveled.

Hadley showed up early Saturday morning to be ready to run in the first race of the day.  Competing against the best runners from all over the country, Hadley pushed herself to a great time and a 90th place finish out of 189 finishers, one of three Hawks to finish in the top 100!

Next, we had four Hawks toe the line for the 9-10 girls 3k race.  A light sprinkle and some scattered clouds kept the temperature down and spurred our girls to brave, strong races.  Josie ran out of her mind, finishing the season as the top Hawk on her team and placing 128th out of 283 runners in the race. She took 1:20 off her regional qualifying time and beat her nemesis (friend) from the Solano Thunderhawks for the first time all season! Sonia finished as the second Hawk in the race, lowering her race pace by 30 seconds from her regional race pace and earning 181st place. Harper, fighting through an upset stomach and a fall at the start, was still able to take 33 seconds off her regionals time to finish just behind Sonia in 196th place.  Finally, Maddi rocked her race by running 8-minute pace overall, PRing by 44 seconds, and placing 251st with her perennial smile on her face!  Overall, every 9-10 girl crushed the day and represented the Hawks with grit and aplomb.

Next up, David stepped up to represent the Hawks in the 9-10 boys race in his first nationals experience.  He went out strong and pushed all the way through the race to finish in 202nd place out of 308 young runners.  David ran 36 seconds faster than his regionals time, finishing the season with one of his best races!

Simply put: Elias had another race of his life.  Going in, Elias had one of the fastest times in the country and was focused on one thing – beating the runner who ran him down in both races at track nationals last summer. He was sure, if he could beat his friend Quenton from the Barron Park Striders, he could finally secure a national championship. Despite successfully battling Quenton all race to finish ahead of him, and running a 3k time of 9:39 (just 4 seconds slower than his national record-breaking time of 9:35 on a track in July), Elias’ hopes for a title were dashed by another runner. Elias fought all the way to the finish to place 2nd in the 11-12 boys race – an incredible end to an incredible season and year for the Hawk. Of course his Coach/Dad couldn’t be more proud of him, knowing he gave everything he had in his final 11-12 age group race.

Following Elias was one of our newest Hawks, Annie, making her nationals’ debut.  The weather was getting warmer by the time she hit the course, but Annie pushed her way to a great finish.  Out of the 333 girls in her race, Annie finished 231st, and learned what it was like to really compete at the national level.  Her work all season culminated in a great effort!

Finally, the Hawks’ 13-14 boys team lined up to compete in the largest field of the day with 416 runners on the starting line.  The humidity didn’t seem to bother the boys as they were all business getting ready for their race. When the gun went off, the team did their best to get out fast but were quickly absorbed into the mass of runners.  They all fought their way through the course, improving their positions over the race.  Matthew came across the line first for the Hawks, placing 66th overall, passing 64 competitors, with fire in his eyes he ran his fastest pace for 4k all season. Oliver had another amazing race as he has improved all season. Finishing 132nd overall and second for the Hawks, reliable Oliver put all his heart into the race the way he always does. Ryko, returning from his victorious freshman season to run a solid third for the team, finished 210th overall.  Charlie passed a number of competitors through the race to finish 301st out of the 416 runners in the race, while Lou rounded out the team with a great effort on his part.  The team scored 611 points and beat 15 other teams to finish 23rd in the entire country.  These boys handled their business and led our Hawks to the best finish in the club’s history – they crushed it as a team!

Overall, it was another successful end to another successful season for the Hawks family.  Success begets success, we are building a program of excellence on the backs of these athletes and we could not be prouder of every Hawk on the team this season.  Our success stems from the effort of EVERY runner on the team – we don’t complain, we trust the system, we work hard, and we have a positive mental attitude.  With our three Ts, our team is getting better all the time and that is all we can ever ask.  We are looking forward to the end of season party on Thursday, continuing our success in track season next spring, and growing a continual string of confident and competitive runners through our team.  Geaux Hawks!

Another great performance by our Hawks at the Region 14 Cross Country Championships in Folsom! We had one individual champion (Elias finished the regular season undefeated), and one team championship (CONGRATS 9-10 girls!).  Our 13-14 boys ran tough but were edged out by Diablo Valley this week.  ​ In addition, we qualified 16 athletes for the USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country National Championships, with 13 runners planning to travel to Texas for the meet.  That is more Hawks at Nationals than ever before - it is amazing!

While everyone did great today, I want to just call out some impressive performances.  First, Annie ran a gutsy race, taking the lead early and pushing herself to a 39 second improvement over her time last week, making her way to her first National qualification!  Oliver had the biggest improvement on the boys side with a 26 second PR over last week while moving from 19th place at Associations to 11th overall at Regionals.  Hanah had a huge race, improving her time by 29 seconds over last week.  Finally, Josie had a whopper of a race, improving her time by 48 seconds!  Seeing times improve on the same course is the best part of being a coach, and our kids do it every week!

Special shout out to Maddi - the toughest Hawk of all.  Having been crushed by the flu all week, she still managed to show up for the race and finish strong in order to ensure her team could qualify for nationals.  That took courage and heart, and embodies what we want out of all our Hawks - sacrifice that lifts us all up as a team!

This week, we are beginning to wrap up the season.  Our swords have been hammered into shape and honed with a razor sharp edge.  Now we fine tune, and get ready to peak at Nationals.  Here's the schedule:

Monday:  5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
5x500m starts and finishes
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: 
3-4 mile easy run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse​
10 min warm up, drills
20 min tempo, Rock/Paper/Scissors
4-5 Hill Repeats
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday or Sunday: On Your Own
Long Run - 5-7 miles

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Coach Eric

What a great job by the Delta Hawks today at the Pacific Association Championships!  Everyone ran their best, and that’s all we can ever ask.  We finished the day with two team championships and an individual championship, as well as qualified 19 runners for next week’s Regional Championship Meet! 

First, our 9-10 girls team battled their way to a championship in a two-way team race, then Elias cruised to victory in the 11-12 boys race, maintaining his unbeaten season.  Finally, to close out the competition for the day, our 13-14 boys finished victorious over seven other teams, eking out the win by 2 points over the Diablo Valley club.  Like the coaches always say, “every point counts!”

Our regional qualifiers include:
Hadley (7-8 girls)
Jai and Xol (7-8 boys)
9-10 girl's team (Harper, Sonia, Josie, Hanah, Maddi, Charlotte, and Sophie)
David (9-10 boys) 
Elias (11-12 boys)
Annie (13-14 girls)
13-14 boy's team (Matthew, Ryko, Oliver, Charlie, Lou, and Carlos)

As a side note, I want to give Reagan Wagner a huge shout out as she had a monster race but fell just short of qualifying, finishing 32nd in her race (top 30 get to move on). Despite the course being twice as long as the last time she ran at Willow Hill (was 2k and today was 4k) Reagan still ran the same mile pace!  That is amazing effort, great job Reagan!

Those Hawks who didn’t qualify, you still had a great season and we are so proud of you all.  Your competitive season ends today, but you are welcome to still train with us over the next couple of weeks as we prepare for Nationals. If you do not continue to join us for practice, then you should take some time off to get your body healthy, and then start up with the easy runs again through the off season. We don’t want to lose everything we’ve gained this fall – instead we want to leverage our strength into a successful track season next year!  The (running) fun never ends!

For those who are running next weekend, be prepared for another race just like today.  It is in the same location, will likely be the same schedule, and most of the same runners in each race. It looks like the Central California Association did not have a lot of kids at their championship meet, so there will likely not be a lot of additional kids or teams.  I will share more details when I know them.

This week’s practice schedule is a little thrown off because of Thanksgiving on Thursday.  I want all the advancing Hawks at practice on Monday, but then the rest of the runs this week will be on your own.  MAKE SURE YOU DO YOUR RUNS.  We want to peak for Nationals, that means we can’t let it slip now.

This week's schedule is as follows:

Monday:  5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
200/400/600/800/600/400/200
Marshall Hills
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: Gray and Black Group
3-4 mile easy run on your own

Thursday: On Your Own
10 min warm up, drills
20 min tempo
4-5 Hill Repeats
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: Long run
4-6 miles easy

Saturday: rest and stretch

Sunday: USATF Region 14 Championship Meet
Willow Hill Reservoir, Folsom
Kids 10 and Under arrive by 9:30 am
​All other kids arrive by 11:00 am

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Coach Eric

It is finally here; we have been working toward the next few races all season.  This coming Sunday is the Pacific Association Championship meet in Folsom at Willow Hill Reservoir.   Arrival times and more info can be found on the event page in the Team App.  Delta Hawks are coming to compete!

For many of our athletes, this will be the last meet of the season.  Those who qualify for Regionals will be able to race the following weekend on the 27th (also at Willow Hill Reservoir).  However, all Hawks are welcome to continue to train with the team for the rest of the season even if they are no longer racing.

Since this week's meet may be each athlete's last - be ready to get after it!  Eat well, get lots of sleep, stretch and don't do anything crazy for the rest of the week.  Focus on being mentally tough - every Hawk has trained hard and is ready to run an amazing race!  Let's show it this coming weekend.  

Especially for those Hawks on full teams (9-10 girls, 11-12 girls, and 13-14 boys), remember that you have teammates counting on you. When you face that hill and want to slow down, know that there are other Hawks facing that same feeling and fighting through it for you so you can do it too!

This week's schedule is as follows:

Monday:  5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
8-12 x 200m intervals, Swamp
10 min cool down, strength

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: Gray and Black Group
3-4 mile easy run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
15-20 min tempo cut down
Marshall Loop
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday: rest and stretch

Sunday: Pacific Association Championship Meet
Willow Hill Reservoir, Folsom
Kids 10 and Under arrive by 9:30 am
​All other kids arrive by 11:00 am

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Coach Eric

Championship Season is upon us, but what does that actually mean?  I think some of us familiar with USATF take for granted what we understand about this sport, and therefore struggle to effectively communicate how it works and what is expected of our athletes.  So here I will try to explain as much as I can about what the next month holds for the Delta Hawks.

First, in USATF-sanctioned meets, athletes compete in age group races, which for our purposes are 8 and under, 9-10, 11-12, and 13-14. What race an athlete competes in is not based on an athlete's current age but what their age is on December 31st of the current year. (So, for example, Adeleine has been competing in the 13-14 age group all of 2022 even though she is 12 and doesn't turn 13 until December 31st of this year - tough luck!)

Second, we have a qualification process to move forward through what we call "Championship Season."  Every area in the US is covered by a USATF Association (we are in what is called the Pacific Association which encompasses the Bay Area, Northern California, and much of Nevada). Our next meet is the Pacific Association Championship Meet in Folsom.  The top 30 individuals and top 5 teams in each age group at that meet will advance to the next level of competition, the USATF Region 14 Championship Meet (which will also be in Folsom on Sunday, November 27th).  Region 14 is the combination of the Pacific and Central California Associations.  Similar to the Association Meet, the top 30 individuals and top 5 teams in each age group will advance to the next level of competition - the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships in College Station Texas on December 10th.  More information about Nationals can be found here.

Finally, cross country is a team sport, and in order to be a full team we need at least 5 (and up to 8) boys or girls in an age group in a race.  If we have fewer than 5 kids in a race, then we do not score as a team and each athlete is competing only as an individual. For example, the Hawks only have 4 boys in the 11-12 age group and therefore we cannot advance as a team and each boy in that age group will have to finish in the top 30 of each upcoming race to advance individually.  Alternatively, the 11-12 girl's team has 6 girls potentially competing in our next meet (the Association Championship) and if at least 5 of them show up then we will have enough athletes to score as a team and potentially advance as a team if they finish as one of the top 5 teams in the race.

We want to see every Hawk we can qualify for the Regional Championship Meet - and that means we need to field full teams at the Association Championship Meet.  Specifically, we have a good chance to qualify a boys team in the 13-14 age group and girls teams in both the 9-10 and 11-12 age group races; we need all our Hawks to participate in our next meet in order to do that.  In addition, we expect to qualify a number of individuals in the other age group races where we don't have enough Hawks to field a full team.

Once we qualify for Regionals, we hope to advance a number of teams and individuals to the Junior Olympics in Texas.  The opportunity to compete at a national level in any sport is something special, and I would strongly encourage any athlete to take advantage of it if it arises.  However, if one of our teams qualify for Nationals, any or all of the runners on that team can travel and compete even if all of them are not able to go.  We want to have teams compete at Nationals, but understand that travel to Texas in December may not be for everyone.

I hope that this helps answer some questions. Both Coach Galen and I are happy to have conversations with anyone on this (or anything else), please reach out and ask. 

Every Hawk has put in so much work this season - now is the time for that work to pay off. Let's get out there and make this Championship Season count!

​Coach Eric

The Hawks had a great chance this weekend to run against some good competition in their age group races, and rose to the challenge!

At the Rancho Cordova meet, all of our athletes participated in age group races instead of as a group, with nearly every Hawk on the team competing.  While many of our runners performed well, a few Hawks really brought the heat.  Presley Strickland posted a monster improvement, running her 3k race in 7:42 pace - her previous best was 9:09 pace at the first SRA meet!  Both Jack and Callan had major improvements in their per mile paces, and Hanah ran a significantly faster pace in her 3k debut as well!

This coming weekend is the Clarksburg Country Run, good luck to all of you who are participating!  If you are not running in the 5k, please be sure and get your long run in.  This is the last few weeks of the season, let's finish strong.

Here is the schedule for the coming week:

Monday:  5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
6-12 x 400m intervals, Marshall Loop
10 min cool down

Tuesday: rest and stretch

Wednesday: Gray and Black Group
3-4 mile easy run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
Deck of Cards Fartlek, Marshall Loop
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday or Sunday: Long Run
White/Yellow 3-5 miles
Gray/Black 5-7 miles

Sunday: OPTIONAL - Clarksburg Country Run
Click here for more information

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Coach Eric

Championship season is nearly here!  With all the great work our athletes have put in so far this season, I wanted to highlight a few "little things" that can really affect how a race goes.   
What to eat before a race?  The night before, try to stick with carb heavy foods that are easy on the stomach.  There are lots of things that work well--pasta or rice with a protein are classics--but it's probably not the best time to try something new (or those super spicy hot wings your friend dared you to eat).  On race day, it is best not to eat a bunch of food right before the race.  Your food needs time to digest or you might feel sick or get a stomach ache when you run.  But it is important to eat!  For a morning race, if you have three hours or more until the race, a full, normal breakfast is fine.  Things like bagels or toast with nut butter or oatmeal or cereal with milk or yogurt are great.  If you only have 1-2 hours until race time, something a little bit smaller is better (granola bar or crackers/toast with peanut butter or oatmeal are again great).  If your athlete says they're too nervous to eat race morning, try to get them to nibble on some snacks that are tolerable and drink some sports drink with calories (like Gatorade or the equivalent).   For afternoon races, it is similar--a normal (but preferably easy on the stomach) lunch 3+ hours out from the race is good.  Just don't eat too much right before the race.   Also, we want to make sure to stay well hydrated.
It's getting colder, what to wear?  Dress in layers!  That way, your athlete can warm up in sweats and then take them off right before the race so they don't get too cold waiting for the race to start.  If it is especially cold, a warm hat and gloves are a must.  
How to manage race-day nervousness?  First off, race-day jitters are totally normal.  That sense of pre-race excitement, nervousness, and butterflies in the stomach.   These feelings should be embraced--they mean the athlete is excited to race and amped up and the athlete should welcome the added adrenaline and then race with confidence!  But for some athletes, they can feel scared, anxious, or sick to their stomach before a race.  This is tough and can sabotage performance.  And it varies hugely athlete to athlete.  An athlete might be too focused on outcome, on what others might think, or on a fear of failure.  Or it could be something else entirely.  It is important to talk to your athlete to try and unpack what might be causing this sort of anxiety or worry.   Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions on this topic!  

Go Hawks!

--Coach Galen

It is hard to believe, but the end of the season is already rapidly approaching!  Our athletes have been working hard and are primed to finish strong.

This coming Sunday the 6th, we have our last regular season cross country race in Rancho Cordova. It is a USATF-sanctioned meet which means the athletes will run in their age groups (as opposed to other races that combined 8th grade and under).  The Rancho Meet is in a flat grassy park and will be a great opportunity for our Hawks to run some PRs.

The following weekend, many of the Hawks will be participating in the Clarksburg Country Run 5K (Sunday Nov 13th). More information and registration is available here.

The USATF Pacific Association Youth XC Championship Meet in on Sunday, November 20th, at the Willow Hill Reservoir course in Folsom.  This meet is the qualifier meet for regionals the weekend following and is critical for all our Hawks to attend.  Especially those in the age groups trying to qualify a team for Nationals. (For more information about Nationals, be sure to check out our page here.)

While the Association Championships may be the last race for some of our Hawks, those who qualify will compete at Regionals and Nationals in the following weeks.  We will include more details on those in coming blog posts, but if you have any questions please stop a coach and let us know.

For this week, we WILL NOT be meeting for practice on Monday (it is Halloween).  There is, however, a mandatory workout all Hawks will need to do on their own either Monday or Tuesday.  The schedule is as follows:

Monday or Tuesday:  On Your Own
10 min warm up, drills
20 minute tempo run
10 min cool down

Wednesday: Gray and Black Group
3-4 mile easy run on your own

Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse
10 min warm up, drills
6-10 x 500m intervals, Marshall Loop
10 min cool down, strength

Friday: rest and stretch

Saturday: Long Run
White/Yellow 3-5 miles
Gray/Black 5-7 miles

Sunday: RCTC Youth XC Meet
Dave Roberts Park, Rancho Cordova
Kids 10 and Under arrive by 9am
​All other kids arrive by 10:30am

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know!

Coach Eric

Links to gear:

• The Garmin Forerunner 35 is a simple, reliable option for a GPS watch.
• A headlamp can be worn on the head or waist. Or use a clip-on light.

• Reflective armbands are also an option for being seen, but won’t do much to light your way

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