Sunday, October 23, 2011

End of season thoughts and other info.

Golden Eagles --
Wednesday brought the end of our third cross country season as a school. Since that time I have had time to look back at not just this season but at the past three seasons and our program as a whole. I am so very pleased with the direction that our program is headed and so proud of all of you. It was three years ago that we started as a school and had our first meetings, first practices, and set our first goals. Now with our "original" class of Golden Eagles finishing their last season I am amazed at what all of you have done. I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done for our program. Thank you. You have really helped to elevate our program and our school. Let us continue to elevate our program even higher. The past three years have been amazing and the sky is the limit for the future.   

This year we had our best finish ever with our girls TEAM finishing 5th and our boys finishing 7th. Also having Isaac Faux earning 2nd TEAM All-State honors with his 8th place finish, setting our school record, and making the all time list for the state course. Along with Steele Rassmuson earning a spot on that all time list. We also had Autumn Gibson, Lindsay Schuring, and Sarah Hash all earn spots on that all time list. Autumn just fell short of our school record by 1 second. We also had four Academic All-State Athletes in Cat McQueen, Bobbe Graham, Jacob Carter, and Nathan Vance. Way to go all of you!  Let us also not forget the girls 4th place at the grass relays & 2nd place finishes at Wasatch Invite and Nebo Invite, and winning the Park City Invite. Great Job Ladies! We can also never forget all of the PR's and personal progress all of you made this whole season. We are so proud of all of you.

This year we set our goals and we were able to accomplish them. Never forget that you CAN accomplish goals! We set out with our theme of Invictus this year, that of being unconquerable. Now I have tried to help all of you see that you are the masters of your fate and the captains of your own souls. I know that you all can be unconquerable in every aspect of your lives, not just your running. When you are always giving your best and never settling for anything less than you best, than you are living that Invictus attitude we have talked about all season.

I will never forget all the good and bad times, the ups and the downs, the laughs and the tears of this season. It has been a lot of fun to see how you all have become friends with everyone on your TEAM. The friendships you made this season will last a lifetime. I will never forget the magic power of a otter pops. Who can ever forget the laughs and dedication also shared in our two cross country themed songs of "Cross Country Runner" and "RUN MAN" shared by Katie and Amberlee? The memories made at Shadow Mountain, the Karaoke up there, the games, and the campfires will never leave me. 

It has also been awesome to see how you all have supported the other sports teams at our school. I have loved your upbeat personalities, and your willingness to help and support each other. It has truly been inspiring to me. I have been very touched and will never forget how much you all tried to live that "Invictus" attitude with all the physical, mental, and emotional challenges of this season. I have seen many of you overcome much this season and, having known many of you for a long time now, seen you overcome lots of things through the years. I am very proud of all of you and the progress you have made this season. I am so proud of our TEAM. I am always amazed and inspired everyday by all of you. Thank you.

I thank all of our parents for all of their support this whole season. Also the TEAM dinners have been just a fun time to be with each other and get to know each other better. Thank you to all who were a part of that and who put up with all 80+ of us invading your homes. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for raising such amazing young men and young women. 

Thank you to Coach Melanie Barker without who this program would never be where it is today. Coach Barker I can't thank you enough for all that you do for all of these kids, for the time, the coaching, the advice, the laughs, and the support you give to all of these kids. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are amazing.

 I will never forget the "lunch bunch" who always makes my lunch time so entertaining, thanks for the fun lunches, thanks for the games, the pictures, the movies, the running, and for the good example you all have set for my son. Thank you for your trust and your friendship. I will never forget all the talks that I have had with so many of you about not just running, but about life. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life. It has truly been a great third season for Maple Mountain Cross Country. Now as we start our post season and start to turn toward indoor and outdoor track never forget what you can accomplish when you put your whole mind and body into it. Keep living with that "Invictus" attitude and you will be amazed at what the future will bring to you.  Thank You Golden Eagles, Thank You!  I feel honored to be one of your coaches. Thanks again -- Coach Wyatt
  
With the completion of the state meet our cross country season is over and thus starts our post season. Our TEAM will be traveling to the Footlocker Western Regional Cross Country Meet in California on December 1st -4th. We thank all of you who have gotten all of your money in for this amazing trip. For the few of you who have not, get the money in ASAP! Monday October 24th being the deadline. Also thanks to all of you who have registered for footlocker already and again for the very few who have not, get it done yesterday! With our post season we will be holding practices as a TEAM on Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday and you will need to run on your own on Wednesday & Fridays. Also don't forget our required pre-footlocker race on Saturday November 5th at AF High School. 


A few other items for all of you: This Thursday Night We encourage you all to go to the school dance. From 8:00pm -- 11:00pm with no school on this Friday. This dance is sponsored by the cross country/ track & field TEAM. It is only $4 and all proceeds go to our Cross Country/ Track & Field program. So get all of your friends to attend the dance and have fun! 

This Friday Night we also have a home football playoff game and we again set up and clean up these games as part of a fundraiser as well for our program. So please come and help set up and take down and also cheer on our football team as they take on Highland in the state playoffs this Friday at 5:00pm.

Our end of season honor banquet will be on Wednesday November 2nd at 6:00pm at the MMHS cafeteria. This is our night to honor all of you. We encourage you all to attend along with your folks. This is a best dress event. We will be having a dinner in your honor and give out our awards, senior blankets, letters, and other honors that night. Please make every effort to be to this banquet. More info will be coming your way at practice. 
 
Thank you all and Happy Running!
--The Coaches 
MMHS XC 2011

5th Place TEAM at State

7th Place TEAM at State
Academic All State Cat & Bobbe
Academic All State Nathan Vance & Teron and Micah

Monday, October 17, 2011

State Cross Country Info

Golden Eagles --
Below is the info for the State Meet. The buses will be leaving MMHS at 11:30am, Students will be out of class at 11:05am from the junior highs and 11:15 from MMHS. Also Footlocker info will be given at practice on Tuesday.

2011 UHSAA State Cross Country Championships

The 2011 UHSAA State Cross Country Championships will be held Wednesday, October 19 at Sugarhouse Park and Highland High School. 

Schedule
Races will be run consecutively in the following order. Times listed are approximate:
1A Girls...11:30 am 4A Girls...2:00 pm
2A Girls...12:00 noon 5A Girls...2:30 pm
1A Boys...12:30 pm 3A Boys...3:00 pm
2A Boys...1:00 pm 4A Boys...3:30 pm
3A Girls...1:30 pm 5A Boys...4:00 pm


Good Luck & Happy Running!
--The Coaches

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Park City Invite

Golden Eagles --
Here is the info about Park City
The buses will leave MMHS at 7:00 AM. Athletes must ride on the bus to participate, but parents can take their athlete home, if they first tell a coach.


Park City Invitational

Utah High Altitude Cross Country (U-HACC)
Date : Saturday October 1st
Race Times: Public, Parent and Coaches Race 8:15 am
Girls JV Race 9:00 am
Boys JV Race 9:45 am
Girls TOP 10 Race 10:15
Boys TOP 10 Race 10:45

Course: The course is a wide open grass start and then proceeding onto a very wide trail network. There is plenty of room to pass the entire way. The surface is 15% grass and 85% dirt. Moderate rolling hills are on most of the course.


Location : The course is at Quinn’s Junction athletic fields and the National Ability Center.

Directions: If coming on I-80 take the silver creek junction exit onto Hwy 40 East
Go 2-3 Miles on Hwy 40 to the Park City exit (Hwy 248)
Turn Right on 248 to Park City. Then immediate right again at the first light.
Start line and finish is the Athletic field in front of the ice arena.
If coming from Heber on 40, just take the 248 exit (1st Park City Exit) and turn left, then follow the rest.

Coaches and public race entry fee is a donation please.


Awards: There will be Awards for the top 10 individuals and 3 teams.
There is an award for the top coach, male and female, in the coaches race.

Scoring : We will run 10 in the varsity race together so you can use this to determine your top 7 from an equal race. However we will only county 7 runners for displacement in scoring.
Parking: Due to the number of teams we have been asked to have busses drop off teams and then go park at the high school. It is only 1.5 miles away. Please call your driver after the races to come pick you up.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Murray Invite Results & Nebo Invite Info

Golden Eagles --
Wow what a race Murray was. That will be a race you will be talking about for years to come. With the rain, the mud, the running people over, and running it with 500+ of your fellow runners you will never have another race experience like what you had on Friday at Murray. This meet provided our TEAM with another great chance to improve and work toward our goals.


Highlights of this meet include but are not limited to: Medalist (top 20 overall) Freshman Daniel Quintana placing 7th in the Rookie race, Freshman Maddie Ball & Sophomore Regan Pond both finishing 8th & 9th and Brenda Quintana finished 19th respectively in the Rookie race. Our girls Rookie TEAM of the above three and Kylie Thompson, Chloe Harlan, Allysa Jones, and Cheyanne Bushman earned a 2nd place finish.  Terron Hanyie running a great race and just missing out of the top 20 placing 21st in the JV Boys race. Aleina Robertson, Bobbe Graham, and Olivia Garrido all just missed out of the medals running good races and placing 23rd, 24th, and 26th respectively. In the Varsity Boys race Junior Paxton Patey & Sophomore Isaac Faux both earned medals placing 13th & 15th overall in this race. They were joined by Kevin Muirbrook, Jonah Hadlock, Steele Rasmussen, Nate Vance & Micah Sanders who as a TEAM finished 8th (4th in 4A) out of 45 schools in a race that showed how important ALL 7 runners are with four teams having places decided by tie breakers. On the girls side our TEAM of Hayley Knapp, Lindsay Schuring, Autumn Gibson, Sarah Hash, Brette Bennett, Brigett Harris, and Rachel Warnick were able to close their spread to 45 seconds also placed 8th overall and (4th in 4A). Full race results can be found here: www.runnercard.com


This was a good meet for our TEAM at this point of the season. Now with only two meets until region and 3 until State let us stay focused on our goals. Despite all the distractions going on stay focused and be patient and good things will come. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Stay Focused.


Now this Friday we are hosting 18+ schools with the Nebo Invite at Maple Mountain. This is a great meet for us and it is a very fast course. Due to a BYU game on Friday night the schedule for the invite is
JV Girls Race Start Time:               3:00pm
JV Boys Race Start Time:               3:30pm
Varsity Girls Race Start Time:       4:00pm
Varsity Boys Race Start Time:       4:30pm  



We are in need of help with the finish line. If any parents want to volunteer for this please contact Coach Wyatt.


Reminder that peach fundraising money is due this Tuesday. Practice on Wednesday will be at Eagle Rock Park like it has been all season & TEAM night will be Thursday Night at 6:00pm. Thank you to all of our wonderful parents for their support and all that they do for our program.
Thanks & Happy Running!
--The Coaches