You would think after dedicating hundreds, if not thousands of hours to a track season that I anxiously await the end of the season. Quite the opposite though, because I wish it could keep going. I actually go into a small "depression" that takes a little while to get over (the first few days off at the beginning of summer break are a great antidote). I liken the feeling to a really good vacation coming to an end. One thing that cheers me up is the thought that I get this way because I love what I do.
Our state meet wrapped up yesterday, and these are my highlights / lowlights.
Lowlights
- Having only one female competitor
- Boys 4x200m. This group is way too talented, and put in way too many hours for this end result. Goes to show that the three most important parts of any relay are the first handoff, second handoff, and third handoff.
- If anyone from CHSAA is reading this, please please please put the kibosh on the past champions celebration on Saturday! This is awful, and it drags the meet to a halt that is hard to boot back up from. Put it at the end of the day on Friday if necessary, just remove it from that Saturday. I understand that it is a promotion of T&F, which I am all for, but change it up. I wouldn't mind a short speech or discussion with a prior winner (or 2, or even 3). Please just spare us the torture of the past champion parade. I'll be the one to say it: NO ONE CARES!
- Chris Ganem in the 800m (Absolutely no offense to Chris here) This race is an obvious low, because he was running hard, he made a move when he had to in order to compete for the win, and he ended up snakebitten. Those of you that were there know the end result, and probably won't soon forget it. Chris, this race does not reflect your running career fairly, yet it does reflect that you are a smart and talented runner. You attempted a move that most would not have tried despite it being essential for the win. The end result is unfortunate, but I admire the move.
- Athletes and coaches not present to support events. Simply stated, if we have an athlete in an event all coaches and all state-qualified athletes should be there for the events. Jumpers should be there for distance crew. Throwers should support the sprinters. Spinters should support the jumps. Distance crew should support the throwers. Any and all combinations and permutations of these groups apply. This will change in the future!
- Having to remove pizza from the hands of 2 of our 4x400 athletes 1-hour before the race.
- Rain. It tainted a great day at the high jump. It postponed the meet. It soaked many of us. It filled up the team tent. It sucked.
Highlights
- First and foremost, Ryan Tomlinson in the high jump. This was the first event of the meet on Thursday, and it couldn't have started much better. Ryan ended up with a jump of 6'7"--a 3" PR--and ended up in 2nd place. Ryan and I talked all weak about beating his rank, and that he did--he went in the 14th of 20 jumpers and ended up 2nd. That is an improvement of 4 spots. Had another athlete not been equally on fire, Ryan might have pulled down a state championship. Check out the video (Ryan's highest successful jump at 6'7". B-E-A-U-TIFUL)
- Natasha Jones in the high jump. I am still not certain how Natasha thinks she did, but I think she did awesome. Just the fact that she was our one female competitor is reason enough to celebrate. Natasha finished at 5'1. She was open-minded to her coaches possible misguided strategy, but it resulted in a quality attempt for a PR at 5'3". Again, check the video
- Natasha Jones, Cary Dinkel, and Christie Albers out in full support for the team. Natasha and Caryn made it to the majority of all three days, and Christie almost all of the last two. This effort and level of support was highly appreciated. (wish I had a picture...oh wait I have video, thanks Caryn and Christie).
- Finishing 7th overall on the boys side
- Tanner Townsend in the open 400m. Awesome. Talk about raw speed, and budding talent. Tanner dropped his time from the realm of the 50-flats to the 49's. When you reach that level you know some good things are happening. Pretty good considering he originally was not supposed to go to state. When the entries for state were initially posted to Varvee, Tanner was on the outside at around position 23. Only after some scratches did tanner make it. Proving that he belonged, Tanner entered as a #16 seed, and ended on the podium in 4th place. Tanner's final time was a 49.2 proving the quote "when the race is on, all bets are off".
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- Our boys 4x400 making it to, and placing fifth in the finals. This is one of the toughest races in track and frequently leads to all four athletes barfing on the infield--an unfortunate sign that the race has been run correctly. Don't know if this happened to our boys, but nevertheless nice job boys, nice job.
- Tanner Dalgardno's exchange with Andy Schultz in the 4x400. This is a lowlight turned highlight because of the above mentioned success, but without this success this would not have been a highlight. Now it is just funny, if not hilarious. Andy did not move an inch prior to the exchange.
- I also had some highlights that did not involve CV (sorry guys), but were exciting for track in general or for old athletes and friends of mine. These are...(in no particular order)
- Watching Dior Hall of GW running a 13.84 in the 100 hurdles. For a frame of reference how many people do you know that can run a sub-14 100m without the hurdles?
- Watching Anna Holland of Regis take the 100m, 400m, and darn near the 200m (2nd by 1/1000th of a second!) championship. A triple crown in the sprints would have been amazing. I was certainly pulling for her. (This is the first and last time I will ever root for Regis--I just really wanted Holland to get all three)
- Watching Connor Winter win another 3 state championships in the 800, 1600, and 3200. This might not be popular amongst our team, because one of our own competes against him, but nevertheless Winter is a great athlete, and from my limited experiences a great young man. You don't see many like him, so I decided to enjoy it while I could.
- Chaparral's 4x800 team (both mens and ladies) are filled with some of the toughest Sons-'O-guns around. They showed their toughness once again with a first place finish in this event. Congrats to Justin Bills, Nate Purdue, John "Bacon" Bacovcin, and Keagan Vargo for winning and surving the H-E-double toothpicks that I know Sep put you through. This is Sep's 4th 4x800 title (Sepp'll correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure) all of them well fought by determined, dedicated young men.
- Outside of the stuff on our team, I loved seeing Brendon Austin (Chaparral) throw the shot the most. Brendon is one of my favorite track athletes, because he had all the opportunity and temptation to solely pursue another sport (football), but did not. I honestly have no idea why. It's never come up in any conversation. I like to think it's because he likes to compete, and he'll take competition in any form, whether it be on the field or in the ring. I would also hope it's because of moments like he had on Saturday. Brendon started the day as a #13 seed, but ended in 4th because of a 4ft 8 3/4in PR throw. That is insane! He basically had a 10% improvement in the span of one throw. That might not sound like much, so for some perspective that is like a 100m runner slicing off 1.1 seconds in a race, a miler cutting off :27 seconds from there already fantastic 4:30, a high jumper reaching a height of 6 to 8in higher than they have previously seen, a 3 to 4ft PR in the triple jump, or a 1.5ft improvement in the boys pole vault. Simply amazing! As a former thrower I wish I had video, because the PR throw was a thing of beauty. Oh, and by the way, despite being a multi-sport athlete Brendon is still going to college to play football. He will be playing at an obscure little place called Stanford. Glad he could still put the pieces back together to slide in there.
- I enjoyed (yet did not enjoy) getting to see some of my favorite coaches do their thing in their final state championship:
- Coach Mark Stenbeck is a great distance coach that will not return to his team or any other next year, which I think is a great loss for his school, the distance community, and for CO track in general.
- Coach Matt Burns of Rock Canyon fame, Minnesota Golden Gopher T&F fame, and "Burns-tini" fame is calling it a career, but hopefully only temporarily (best high jump coach around, if you ask me).
- Coach Cory Hawk from Chaparral is also letting the sun set on this part of his track career. Hawk was the one that reluctantly hired me 5 years ago, and I am very grateful he did (I hope it's mutual). I learned a ton about managing a team from Hawk that prepared me for this year, and was a great resource for me throughout. The kids are going to miss you Hawk, but I guarantee that there is at least one coach who will also. Thank you for everything.
- And finally...Coach John Lancett. Where to begin...? Well, I think a good amount of credit is due to coach Lancett for creating what is likely CV's most successful athletic program. The track team, though young, has regularly finished at or near the top in league and state meets. You can debate the superior quality of the other sports in the school all you want, but the fact remains that the only state champions have come from track and field. The names of those champions are there for you to view in CV's gym everyday. Coach Lancett is at the center of those championships and deserves recognition. Most people know at this point that Lancett and I went to college together and were neighbors in the dorm freshman year, so for 14 years now I've considered Lancett a friend, and I don't like to see him leave. However, I believe that dramatic life changes are an important part of being an adult and I'm excited for him. Some people have kids, some get married, some get married again (and again, and again, and again), some seek gender re-assignment, and some move to distant lands like Bali to fulfill their drastic change. John, I admire you, and wish you the best of luck, and thank you for trusting me with this program you have built.
Nackfortrack will continue to post throughout the year, although sporadically. I am always open for requests and suggestions for posts. Thanks to my readers, our athletes, our parents, our staff, and all others that help make Sabercat T&F a success.
Nack
