Saturday was a beautiful day, and the weather was nice too! Our Hawks had some great racing - and that is so much fun - but they also had the chance to learn and get the feel for the track, which was priceless. First, we had our team time trial at McClatchy, which had some great performances! Most of our Hawks ran the 800m, with some returners beating or coming close to breaking their PRs (personal records). Others got the feel of their first race on a track, and learned a little about the importance of pacing. Here are the 800m times in alphabetical order): Tyler - 3:27 Isaac - 3:59 Harper - 3:31 Hadley - 3:19 Gyan - 4:23 Jai - 3:19 Evan - 3:47 Makayla - 3:47 Mateo - 4:04 Natalia - 3:52 Cameron - 4:37 Paloma - 3:31 Henry - 3:09 Mac - 4:06 Several Hawks did the 1500m in the time trial, showing some great toughness and focus! Here are their times: Dylan - 6:00 Cal - 6:43 Mackenna - 7:11 Mason - 7:07 Jack - 6:22 Maddi - 6:52 Josie - 6:32 We will get to see all of these Hawks improve and it will be awesome to compare their times at the end of the season to these times! Later in the day, some Hawks competed in the 1600m at the Halden Invitational in Davis. It was a great race for all of them! The girls went first, and were led by Norah as she took out the pace quickly over the first 400m. It took the other runners until the end of the third lap to catch her, but she held on for second overall! Adeleine battled down the home stretch to claim third place. Annie was not far behind, followed by Audrey and then Sonia - both of whom ran PRs! In the boys race, Matthew took the lead early and he, Elias, and Lucas Alberts from Sutter made a strong lead pack through the entire race. Ultimately Lucas took the title, but Matthew and Elias fought all the way to the end taking second and third. Ollie came in just behind them, with Lou, Carlos, and David all running great races as well. The results for this meet can be found here. This week, we have a meet on Friday afternoon. We need everyone to arrive by 3pm to Sheldon High School in Elk Grove - the first race is at 4pm. (If your Hawk is only running the 800m, then you can arrive at 6pm). Almost every Hawk is going to be signed up for both the 1600m (which is first) and the 800m (which is about 3 hours later). Please plan for food between races. I believe there will be a concession stand, but who knows what they'll be selling. This is a very fun meet with music and lots of races and the kids should have a fun time! As for our practice schedule this week, details are below. PLEASE NOTE: we are meeting at the River City High School Track on Monday and will be there most Mondays going forward. Monday: 5:30pm at River City High School 10 min warm up, drills Group 1 - 10 min warm up, drills 4 mile Linden Loop with 10xHS at Locke Hills 10 min cool down, strength Group 2 - 10 min warm up, drills 4x60m/140m jog, 2x150m on the track 10 min cool down, strength Tuesday: rest and stretch Wednesday: Easy 3-4 mile run on your own Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse 20 min warm up, drills 3-person 200m relay x3-4 at the Swamp 15 min cool down, strength Friday: Race Day! Glen Rogers (Sheldon) Invitational - 3pm Sheldon High School, Elk Grove Saturday or Sunday: 3-6 mile long run If you have any questions, contact us any time! Run with Heart, Coach Eric
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The Hawks are really rolling, going into our third week! This Saturday we will get to see where we are all at now that we have our running legs under us. Most Hawks will be racing each other in a time trial at 9am at the McClatchy High School Track. Parking in the neighborhood nearby is best, coaches will describe during practice this week. A few of the older kids are going to compete in the Halden Invitational at Davis High School Saturday evening. At this time, those Hawks running at Halden need to be there at 4pm, ready to warm up (If that time changes, coaches will let you know). Next weekend's events will be a great way to measure our overall improvement by comparing our times at the beginning of the season against our times at the end.
For this week, here is the schedule: Monday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse 10 min warm up, drills Group 1 - 20 min warm up, drills 4x100m/200m jog, 2x150m at the Swamp 15 min cool down, strength Group 2 - 15 min warm up, drills 10 min crisscross cone run in the grass field 10 min cool down, strength Tuesday: rest and stretch Wednesday: Easy 3-4 mile run on your own* (*Ask the coaches if you are unsure about whether you should do this extra run) Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse Group 1 - 20 min warm up, drills 20 min Lake Loop Fartlek, 30 sec hard/60 sec float 15 min cool down, strength Group 2 - 15 min warm up, drills 10 min Swamp Loop Fartlek, 15 sec hard/45 sec float 10 min cool down, strength Friday: rest and stretch Saturday: Race Day! Time Trials - 9am - 10:30am, McClatchy High School Track or Halden Invitational - 4pm, Davis High School Sunday: 3-6 mile long run If you have any questions, contact us any time! Run with Heart, Coach Eric Welcome back Hawks! This week we continue our early development work, meeting at the Boathouse again to run out at Marshall Hills on Monday and the Lake/Swamp on Thursday. We are still working to secure access to a track, but expect to be on the track Monday April 17th. Its ok, we have time and this work out on the trails will help us grow stronger before we begin to hone our bodies with trackwork.
Most of our athletes are half way through their trial period. Let's keep up the good work and see where we end up. Parents: just a reminder that if your child is under ten years old we need you to stay with the team while we practice so the coaches can focus on coaching. For most Hawks, your first race of the season will be a time trial against the rest of the team on Saturday April 15th. Some of the older kids will instead run in the Halden Invitational later that day. The coaches will talk to you about which way you'll go that week. The following Friday, the 21st, will be the first meet for everyone. It is called the Glen Rogers Distance Carnival and it is held at Sheldon High School in Elk Grove. We will talk more about that meet in the coming weeks. For this week, here is the schedule: Monday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse 10 min warm up, drills 30 min out and back, 8-10 Hill Strides 10 min cool down, strength Tuesday: rest and stretch Wednesday: Easy 2-3 mile run on your own* (*Ask the coaches if you are unsure about whether you should do this extra run) Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse Group 2 - 15 min warm up, drills 20 min Lake Loop Fartlek, 15 sec hard/45 sec float 15 min cool down, strength Group 1 - 20 min warm up, drills 3-person 200m relay x2 at the Swamp 15 min cool down, strength Friday: rest and stretch Saturday: Long run on your own 3-6 miles, depending on fitness level Sunday: rest and stretch If you have any questions, contact us any time! Run with Heart, Coach Eric Ok Hawks, its about that time… time to start a new season! Monday, March 27th is the first day of the 2023 track season for the Delta Hawks, and the coaches cannot be more excited – we have missed our Hawks! For the first practice, we will meet at the Bridgeway Lakes Boathouse near the intersection of Marshall and Southport Parkway at 5:30pm. Practice will be until about 7pm.
Our regular practice schedule will be Monday and Thursday evenings, and we will either meet at the Boathouse or at the River City High School track (most likely, as long as we can get access). The weekly schedule will be posted on this Coaches’ Blog each week. The coaches have spent a lot of time in the off-season reading about training fast track runners, and we think we have a training schedule that will bring our Hawks a lot of success! As a reminder, we always start each season with a two-week trial – a time for the coaches to get to know our runners and also for the athletes to decide if they are ready to commit to this team. The Delta Hawks Racing Team’s mission is to develop the next generation of confident and competitive elite distance runners in the Sacramento Region. That confidence is derived from effort, and the effort is only put in when there is commitment. What we mean by commitment is two-fold: (1) showing up to practice ready to do the work, and (2) doing the runs on non-practice days when the coaches aren’t there to encourage you. Without real commitment, there is increased risk of injury and the potential to be left behind by more dedicated teammates in practice and races. So everyone gets to try out the Hawks and see if this is what they want to do, hassle-free; if it doesn’t feel like a good fit, no worries. If you are ready to commit to our system, then we’d love to have you be part of this awesome team and community. And a little about community - the Delta Hawks work hard and race hard, but we also support each other and seek first to be a team and then to be champions. Because without each other, we are all just free agents traveling in a stream of other runners. Together, we are a community of athletes and families who look out for each other, work hard for each other, and believe in each other. For those of you interested, next week's practice schedule is as follows: Monday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse 10 min warm up, drills 30 min out and back, 6-8 Hill Strides 10 min cool down, strength Tuesday: rest and stretch Wednesday: Easy 2-3 mile run on your own* (*Ask the coaches if you are unsure about whether you should do this extra run) Thursday: 5:30pm at the Boathouse Group 1 - 15 min warm up, drills 20 min Lake Loop Fartlek, 15 sec hard/45 sec float 15 min cool down, strength Group 2 - 20 min warm up, drills 3-person 200m relay x2 at the Swamp 15 min cool down, strength Friday: rest and stretch Saturday: Long run on your own 3-6 miles, depending on fitness level Sunday: rest and stretch We are really looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday, March 27th! Bring your running shoes, water bottle, and positive mental attitude, and be ready to get to work. We’ll post more information on the coming season in the next few days, but if you have any questions, contact us any time! Run with Heart, Coach Eric 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 |
AuthorDelta Hawks Coaches Archives
April 2024
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