Titan XC Update - Sept 30, 2012

1 ½ WEEKS UNTIL REGION
    Last week was probably the best week of the season for Titan Cross Country.  The Open Region meet we hosted Wednesday had the most healthy Titans of the year competing.  And the Saturday morning workout was the best of the year.  Hopefully, things are beginning to fall into place for both TEAMS to make a solid showing at the Region Championships.

OPEN REGION @ SYRACUSE
    All of the Region One schools fielded teams at our only home meet of the year.  However, Davis held out many of their top runners and Weber was saving a little for the Park City meet.  Nevertheless, the Titans ran very well as the Boys finished 2nd and the Girls 3rd.  Davis was first in both races and Weber Girls also finished ahead of the Lady Titans.
    Individually, Sharlie Dimick ran a tough race sharing the lead for much of the 3.0 miles before fading a little to finish 3rd in 20:05.  Bella Williams was right behind placing 5th in 20:14.  Erin Kibler also ran very well finishing in 21:04 to place 14th.  Katrina Dunlap (24th, 22:24) and Maddy Neyts (26th, 22:39) were our other scoring athletes.  Adriana McFarland (27th, 22:39) and Mallory Ashby (28th, 22:45) rounded out the top seven.  Jessica Howes, Katelyn Davidson and Becca Jacobsen also ran tough in the Varsity race.
    In the Boys race, Landon Greenhalgh took the lead early and was never threatened as he finished 1st in 16:35.  That time was only 13-seconds off of the course record held by Austin Costley.  It was great to see Tom Hill (11th, 17:36) and Parker Greenhalgh (12th, 17:37) coming back from injuries to run near the front of the pack.  Cody Kelley (16th, 17:47) and Carson Andreason (29th, 18:26) were our other scoring runners.  Ryan Andreason (32nd, 18:45) and Tyler Fessler (37th, 19:07) rounded out the top seven. 
    In the Girls’ J.V., Lauren Busby ran her best race of the year to place 3rd 24:18.  Jared Seffker was our top placer in the Boys’ J.V. finishing 8th in 19:29.
    Complete results can be found at: http://regiononetrack.blogspot.com/
    While there were many outstanding performances in the meet, there were also a few things evident that we need to improve on if we are going to be successful at the Region Championships.  We need better top-five and top-seven splits.  Our current gaps will allow too many competitors between our one and five to give us a “comfort zone” to make it to State.  We will work on that at the Davis Open Region meet Wednesday.

GREAT WORKOUT SATURDAY
    There were some incredible efforts turned in Saturday morning.  It was perfect running weather and the Titans responded with some very good performances.  I usually don’t highlight workouts, but I think this did more to prepare us for Region and State (hopefully) than any previous workout or race we have had this year.  The workout consisted of 10 x 1 minutes, and 10 x 30-seconds for 15 minutes of total running time.  The top totals in meters covered for the Boys were: Landon Greenhalgh (5550), Tom Hill (5345), Cody Kelley (5305), Parker Greenhalgh (5295) and Cameron Andreason (5190).   Top totals for the Girls were: Bella Williams (4680), Sharlie Dimick (4645), Mallory Ashby (4550), Katrina Dunlap (4545), Erin Kibler (4545) and Maddy Neyts (4540).  Outstanding efforts by some tough Titans.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
    Selected as the Athletes of the Week were Katrina Dunlap, Mallory Ashby, Tom Hill and Parker Greenhalgh.  All four have been battling injuries all year and have done whatever possible to re-hab and get into racing shape to help the TEAM.  Having them at full strength at Region will be huge. 

ALUMNI UPDATE
    Hannah Williams had her best race of the year as she was USU’s 4th runner at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota.  She covered the 6000 meter course in 23:24.  Jared Ward led #3-ranked BYU to victory at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Oregon.  He finished 2nd overall running 23:40 for the 8000 meter course.      

OPEN REGION @ DAVIS
    Our only meet this week will be the Open Region meet hosted by Davis High.  It will be held at Barnes Park in Kaysville.  The park is located at 950 West, 200 North, about ½ mile west of the I-15 Kaysville exit.
    The race schedule will be as follows: 3:45- Boys JV, 4:15- all Girls, 4:45- Varsity Boys (18:30 and under for 3-miles).  This will be our final tuneup for Region.

SATURDAY WORKOUT
    We will work out Saturday at Layton Commons Park.  This is an important “final tuneup” for Region.   Our workout will begin at 9:30- we’ll let Davis have the early time. 

FOOTLOCKER INFORMATION
    It is important that you return the Foot Locker commitment and permission slip by Tuesday if you plan on going on the trip.  I need to figure out if we have enough Titans committed to go before I reserve a bus, hotel rooms, and let other schools know if we will have spots for them.  I’ve attached the handout in case you lost yours. 

UPCOMING DATES
Oct 3 - Open Region @ Davis - 3:45 pm
Oct 10 - Region Championships @ Layton Park - 3:00 pm
Oct 17 - State @ Sugarhouse Park - 2:00 pm

REMINDER: Check out Kevin Hansen’s great pictures at: http://2012titanxcphotos.blogspot.com THANKS, KEVIN!!