News for the Week of April 16th

Hope everyone had a good Easter. We're back to our normal practice schedule, weather permitting.

Mary Chatterton Memorial Relay Meet, Saturday at DVC

Athletes and Coaches should arrive: 8:00 am.

The relay meet is special. We have four events only this week, and they're all relays, with no individual races and no field events.

Event order is:

• 4x100m - the same relay we know and love from practice meets
• Medley - double our normal sprint medley, the distances are 200m, 200m, 400m, and 800m
• 4x200m - another doubling, every athlete runs 1/2 lap
• 4x400m - our usual and the final event of the day

Despite there being only four events, the overall meet length is about the same, owing to the general chaos of staging.

We will still run girls in an event first, and then boys, with an eye toward filling all lanes in the track for each race.

There are no limits to the number of races an athlete may be in this week. Opportunists might even be able to run in the same event twice.

Free Agency

At this meet, there is usually a special "Free Agent" loitering area set up for athletes in search of a relay team. Coaches are urged to look there to round out relay teams.

This means we'll see multi-age and -parish teams this Saturday. It's all good, and it's all for fun. The only two rules for relay teams are:

• Girls teams must be all girls: co-ed teams count as a boys team
• Teams run as the grade of their oldest athlete

See you at the track!

News for the Week of April 2nd

Meet #4 April 8th at College Park
Our team is hosting this meet. Mike Moore is our Meet Director. We still need to fill some key volunteer positions to make this meet run smoothly: Head Timer, Finish Line Coordinator, Away side Head Timer, and Away Side Finish Line Coordinator. If you have any experience at the finish line or as a timer, please consider signing up for one of these positions!

Meet #4 is the last "regular season" meet. Remember that athletes must compete in two out of the four regular season meets to be eligible to advance past the Qualifying Meet. Everyone is allowed to compete in the Qualifying Meet, but to advance to the Sectional Meet, you must place in the top 3 of your age group at the Qualifying Meet and must have competed in at least 2 regular season meets. (For the 800m, 1600m, and field events, usually the top 4 advance.)

Seven-Up Club
Remember also that we award a handsome patch to every athlete who has competed in at least 7 different individual events over the course of the 4 practice meets and the Qualifying meet. This is to encourage kids to try new events, even ones they might not excel at.

Important: Relay Meet Location Changed
I have just learned that the Relay Meet on April 22nd has been moved to DVC instead of Freedom High in Brentwood. That's much more convenient for us as long as everyone gets the word!

Easter Break
There is no meet the weekend of April 15th and there is no practice on Thursday April 13th. Enjoy the holiday!

News for the Week of March 28th

Happy Easter everyone! If you're in town, we have practice this week and a meet on Saturday.

• Tuesday practice at Pleasant Hill Middle School, 5-6:30pm
• Thursday practice at College Park, 5-6:30pm
• Relay meet at Ygnacio Valley High on Saturday

Mary Chatterton Memorial Relay Meet, Saturday at YVHS

• Athletes and Coaches should arrive: 9:00am

Remember if you are signed up to volunteer at the meet and you intend to hire a YVHS student to sub for you, you need to bring me a check for $50 at practice this week. Make it out to Ygnacio Valley High School Athletic Boosters.

The relay meet is special. We have four events only this week, and they're all relays, with no individual races and no field events.

Event order is:

• 4x100m - the same relay we know and love from practice meets
• Medley - double our normal sprint medley, the distances are 200m, 200m, 400m, and 800m
• 4x200m - another doubling, every athlete runs 1/2 lap
• 4x400m - our usual and the final event of the day

Despite there being only four events, the overall meet length is about the same, owing to the general chaos of staging.

We will still run girls in an event first, and then boys, with an eye toward filling all lanes in the track for each race.

There are no limits to the number of races an athlete may be in this week. Opportunists might even be able to run in the same event twice.

Free Agency

At this meet, there is usually a special "Free Agent" loitering area set up for athletes in search of a relay team. Coaches are urged to look there to round out relay teams.

This means we'll see multi-age and -parish teams this Saturday. It's all good, and it's all for fun. The only two rules for relay teams are:

• Girls' teams must be all girls: co-ed teams count as a boys' team
• Teams run as the grade of their oldest athlete

If it happens that we have four kids in the Free Agent area, they will be instantly transformed into an impromptu relay team and put out on the track. This is always quite a spectacle.

Awards and Results

I have ribbons from meet 2 ready to hand out at practice this week. Personal best results from the first two meets have been assembled and will be converted to ribbons soon. This year, to make the result compilation more automated, I've made the executive decision that, contrary to past practice, the first time an athlete does an event, that constitutes a personal best and gets a ribbon!

See you on the track!

News for the week of March 21st

That's 2 practice meets down and only 2 to go! Be aware that to advance beyond the Qualifying meet, an athlete must have competed in at least 2 of the 4 practice meets. The Warpath meet and the Relay meet do not count.

Practice this week on Tuesday only (5:00-6:30 at PHMS). Enjoy the long Easter weekend. (And make your athletes do a little running!)

Our next meet is the Mary Chatterton Relays at YVHS on 4/2. You can hire a YVHS student to take your place volunteering at the meet for $50. If you'd like to take that option:

1. First sign up for a job on Sign-up Genius, then
2. Email Gina (volunteers@ctktrack.org) and me (info@ctktrack.org) of your desire to hire, and
3. Give me a check for $50 made out to "Ygnacio Valley High School Athletic Boosters" no later than practice on the Thursday before the meet.

You must get the check to me by Thursday at the latest: we have to get our numbers to YVH so they can find a helper to give up their Saturday for you. Emailing Friday night is too late.

Results and awards

The results from meet #1 are up at Athletic.net. I should be faster for meets 2-4 now that I've done it once. Ribbons from that meet will be handed out tomorrow at practice (and subsequent practices). Personal best ribbons will be a little delayed, but they're coming!

Please keep in mind that all the marks are hand-timed and hand-measured by you, our fabulous volunteers. The quality of the results lies literally in your hands. No pressure!

There are some rough spots as we all learn the mechanics of timely button-pushing, tape-reading, and popsicle-stick-dispensing. The key goal is fun for the athletes, not a drawer full of ribbons. Keep perspective, and enjoy the meets.

See you on the track!

Track news for the week of April 5

Events this week

Happy Easter everyone! If you're in town, we have practice this week and a meet on Saturday.

• Tuesday practice at College Park, 5-6:30pm
• Thursday practice at College Park, 5-6:30pm
• Relay meet at DVC on Saturday

Groups will be small this week. If stormy weather threatens, check @ctktrack on Twitter by 4pm on practice days for status.

Mary Chatterton Memorial Relay Meet, Saturday at DVC

• Setup: 8:00am
• First shift: 8:30am
• First race: 9:00am

Remember to use Signup Genius to claim volunteer positions for this meet. Registration will close as we get close to meet day. Our team is currently short on our obligations for this meet.

The relay meet is special. We have four events only this week, and they're all relays, with no individual races and no field events.

Event order is:

• 4x100m - the same relay we know and love from practice meets
• Medley - double our normal sprint medley, the distances are 200m, 200m, 400m, and 800m
• 4x200m - another doubling, every athlete runs 1/2 lap
• 4x400m - our usual and the final event of the day

Despite there being only four events, the overall meet length is about the same, owing to the general chaos of staging and your meet director trying to remember how all the events work.

We will still run girls in an event first, and then boys, with an eye toward filling all lanes in the track for each race.

There are no limits to the number of races an athlete may be in this week. Opportunists might even be able to run in the same event twice.

Free Agency

This week, we'll have a special "Free Agent" loitering area set up for athletes in search of a relay team. Coaches are urged to look there to round out relay teams.

This means we'll see multi-age and -parish teams this Saturday. It's all good, and it's all for fun. The only two rules for relay teams are:

• Girls' teams must be all girls: co-ed teams count as a boys' team
• Team run as the grade of their oldest athlete

If it happens that we have four kids in the Free Agent area, they will be instantly transformed into an impromptu relay team and put out on the track. This is always quite a spectacle.

Awards and Results

I just picked up the ribbons from Meet #3 this past weekend, so those will go out for sorting soon. I also will be gathering up the personal bests, and getting out our first round of "Seven Up Club" patches. Awards are handed out at the end of practice.

All team results are linked from our team's page on Athletic.net:

http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/School.aspx?SchoolID=28336

If you notice a mistake, please let me know and I'll try to correct it. I have caught some cases where an athlete has been keyed in under the wrong parish, or a result is assigned to the wrong athlete.

Future Events

• Practice resumes: April 7 & 9 at College Park (weather permitting)
• Relay Meet: April 11 at DVC
• Meet #4: April 18 at DVC
• Qualifying Meet: April 25 at DVC
• Sectional Meet: May 1-2 for Qualifiers
• Diocese Meet: May 8-9 for Sectional qualifiers
• Team potluck picnic & awards: May 31

Volunteer signups for relay meet now open

Relay meet scheduling is up

You should have received an email from Signup Genius about our signup schedule for the Mary Chatterton relay meet on Satuday April 11th. Please dig around your spam folder if it didn't appear.

Here's a direct link to the event:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b49aeab2aa3f94-20152/26424140

This is our first use of online scheduling, so Gina and I thank you in advance for your patience as we sort out the details. We'll be getting the remaining meets for the season up as soon as we can.


If you requested a specific position at signup night, we'll fill your name in on that job. Otherwise, please re-signup for a job on that weekend. We know that schedules change, and don't want to tie your commitments to your calendar from back in January.

Families with upcoming First Communions

You will very likely miss one or both of the last meets in April. Hopefully you have enjoyed track and your athlete wants to return next season. Missing the Qualifying Meet on the 25th means that your meet season ends (and you get your weekends back.)

Make sure you're figuring in First Communion retreats and ceremonies when you are scheduling your shifts. They're far more important than a track meet, honest.

Track news for the week of March 30

Relay meet: the aftermath

We survived our first combined track meet/swim meet of the season. The athletes will remember Saturday for quite a while. I'm sure the volunteers will, too, and I hope you find forgiveness in your hearts.

There was no shortage of offers of help before and during the meet, and we had many hands to strike the tent and haul all the soggy equipment out to the curb. Everyone embodied the CYO spirit on Saturday, and I appreciate it tremendously. We had many new people in key jobs, and it all ran smoothly. Thanks to everyone for pitching in.

I have to confess that despite the wind, cold and rain, this is still my favorite meet... though I won't be sad to see the sun again next time.

Practice this week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

No fooling, we have a bonus practice this week. Check Twitter or the web site if rain is likely, but otherwise the plan is:

• Tuesday: lacrosse game in the stadium, so meet on blacktop promptly at 5pm.
• Wednesday: bonus practice, meet in the stands at the track at 5pm
• Thursday: normal practice, meet in the stands at the track at 5pm

Meet #3 at Ygnacio Valley on Saturday, April 5

Same place, same time... hopefully better weather!

• Setup at 8:30, done quietly to be nice to the neighbors
• Athlete check-in and first shift start at 9:00
• First event start at 9:30

We're midway through the season now. We have two practice meets left before championships begin with the qualifying meet on April 26.

For an athlete to be eligible to compete at qualifying:

• They need to have participated in at least two "practice" meets on 3/8, 3/15, 4/5, 4/12 (the relay meet doesn't count, alas)
• Their families need to be finishing up or have completed their volunteer time by the qualifying meet

If you haven't been able to attend the meets or work shifts, please make sure you're getting those done in the weeks we have left.

Hire a student this Saturday

We're at YVH again, and high school students should be available to help out:

• Inform Gina Marks of your intent to hire a student helper no later than Wednesday
• Pay me $25 per shift no later than Thursday: exact change or a check to CTK CYO Track

If you want to carry over an unused check from the relay meet, let me know that, too.

Meet results & being careful

As we approach the end of the season, make sure you're trying your best at your volunteer jobs, especially those involving recording and verifying the results.

• Print neatly on the sheets and relay cards
• Measure and mark each heat, jump and throw consistently and correctly
• Carry the best marks into the result columns for final placement
• Rank the athletes according to their best mark when the event closes
• Ask for help to resolve ties if we have one

Meet hosts are told regularly that the league's data-entry team makes no corrections to the sheets. I don't get a chance to go through the results before turning them in, so the quality of the data ultimately comes down to you, the noble volunteers.

If you have any questions about how to mark something down or conduct an event, these final few meets are your chance to ask. Each event's clipboard has a sheet of directions laminated to the back, and I'm always happy to go through it with you.

Relay DQs

Starting with this week's meet, we'll be watching relay handoffs more carefully. If you are working as a corner judge, please confirm that baton exchanges happen inside the marked zone on the track (the big triangles.) Passes outside the zone or athletes that interfere with another team cause the offending team to be disqualified.

Dropped batons, sloppy or comically bad handoffs are not grounds for a DQ, as long as they are in the zone and don't impede other runners. (Impeding being stepping out of the lane, causing someone to trip, etc.)

This can be tough for all athletes -- and parents and coaches, too -- and we want to have a couple of weeks to practice before qualifying.

Lost and Found

I'm hearing several reports of sweatshirts lost or picked up by the wrong person after meets. At least two are missing as I write this, and I have two others in the collection...

Please put your name on water bottles and in all your clothing. A clever idea that I stole from another family is to use a laundry marker to write your name in huge letters on the inside of the elastic band at the bottom of the sweatshirt. This makes it easy to find your own, and to know when you've grabbed someone else's by mistake. Tiny initials on the tag get ignored. No name or initials is a lost sweatshirt, guaranteed.

The current collection is huge, and into its third Hefty bag now:

http://ctktrack.org/lost.shtml

A small, soggy pile of things wound up in my car yesterday after the meet. I'll document those and get them on the web site soon.

Relay meet status: the waiting game...

My hope of the storms arriving today didn't come true, so now we move into contingency mode. The forecast right now isn't looking optimistic as I type this, but I'm not surrendering yet.

I'll be up early to check the forecast, and will be out at YVH by 8am to check in person.

Please check Twitter or the team web site for status updates.

We're @ctktrack on Twitter, and messages show up on the main page of http://ctktrack.org

There's three ways this can go:

Hold the meet

If these rains somehow blow through tonight, we'll hold the meet. Even if it's a little drizzly, we'll run. I promise that the athletes will not melt, and that they will remember running in the wet for years to come. Parents and coaches will remember it too, for different reasons...

Delay the start

If the tail end of the storm is passing, we can start an hour or two later. I know this means that your carefully-laid plans for Saturday may be upended, and that volunteer shifts will be confused. We'll be grateful for your help and patience.

Cancel the meet

Not my preferred option, of course. If this happens, families that are scheduled to work or have planned for a student helper will not have it counted against them. I have not yet cashed the student hire checks, and we can decide what to do with them next week (shred, return, or apply to a future YVH meet.)

* * *

No matter what happens, this storm is supposed to bring cooler temperatures behind it. If we're running at all tomorrow, all the coaches expect to see their athletes in warm clothes. Sweatshirts or jackets, track pants or sweat pants! Our uniforms are colorful, but not very warm -- we would rather you be warm.

Check the site tomorrow morning for updates.

Mary Chatterton Relay Meet information

About the Mary Chatterton Relay Meet

Our meet this week is a special relay-only meet. We'll run the following events:

• 4x100m - everyone runs 1/4 lap, just like a regular meet
• Medley - double the distance of our usual medley, the legs are 200m, 200m, 400m, and 800m
• 4x200m - everyone runs 1/2 lap
• 4x400m - everyone runs 1 lap, just like a regular meet

Like a typical meet, we go through the girls' grades youngest to oldest, then the boys' grades.

I like this meet both for its simplicity, and because we form teams out of any idle-looking athletes, including across parishes. These hybrid teams are my favorite ones to watch. St. Mix-and-Match and Our Lady of Hodgepodge will be well-represented this Saturday.

This week, we will have a big, red "Free Agent" sign on the field for athletes without a relay team. Anyone waiting there may be added to a team that's a person short, or may become part of an improvised team. A volunteer or I will be stationed there to help out.

All coaches are encouraged to make liberal use of the Free Agent section when assembling teams. The point of this meet is participation and sportsmanship, no matter what shirt an athlete happens to be wearing. The more teams we can form, the more fun everyone has in the end.

Coaches: there will extra relay cards at the finish line tables. Use a 4x100 card for the 4x200 event.
A girls team may only contain girls, so co-ed teams run as boys. The highest grade on a relay team determines the overall grade of the team.

Start times at Ygnacio Valley High

Neighborhood rules limit use of our PA system until after 9am, so we shift our start times to be accommodating:

• Setup crew will start work at 8:30am
• First shift volunteers start at 9:00am
• First event starts at 9:30am

Athletes may warm up prior to 9am, but it must be done quietly. No shouting or whistles until 9 o'clock. Warm-up laps and stretching before then are fine.

Forecast

Rain looks like it's blowing in this week. Always check the front page of the team web site or the @ctktrack Twitter account for weather updates. If necessary, we can rain-delay the start of the meet, but I hope we'll have a nice day.

Clearing the field

Relays are complex to stage since we have four times the number of athletes to manage on the field. Teams should be on the field only when their event is called, and extra volunteers and coaches without a team need to stay clear of the sign-in area.

It is the responsibility of each team to get their relay cards to the clerk, and to stay in the staging area once signed in. Don't wander off to practice handoffs or use the restroom.

Track news for the week of March 23

Meet #2, the aftermath

Another meet is on the books. I hope everyone is getting used to the way things work, athletes and adults alike. We had even better weather, lots of volunteer turnout, and dedicated high school helpers from College Park.

There were, however, two problems with Saturday's meet that I want to bring to everyone's attention because I need your help to correct them.

1) Food and drink on the track and field - it's not allowed except plain, boring, unadulterated water. This applies to athletes, volunteers, coaches, and coordinators alike. Drink spills and dropped food ruin the very expensive track and football field surfaces, and is a sure way to infuriate the facility and their athletic booster's club.

I saw coffee, chips, fruit, sandwiches, and other things being eaten on the field yesterday. I know it's  a picnic atmosphere, but you have eat in the stands, and keep all drinks outside the track fence. This may mean eating a big breakfast before your all-day volunteer job, and grabbing a quick protein bar off-track during a slow event.

2) Unsupervised athletes - More than once I had to use my Dad Voice to usher kids off the DVC football equipment and high jump pits. Athletes were wrestling near the track while races were going on, and crossing in the middle of the track. Our insurance and first aid kit is not good enough for the kinds of disasters I was visualizing.

None of the coaches or team coordinators are able to babysit during meets. Keep athletes with you in the stands between their events. If you're working a job, use your own Mom and Dad Voices before  the meet and explain the rules. It will help keep them safe.

Happily, a solution to both of these issues is easy...

Make a home base in the stands

Everyone forgets about the away-side stands, but they are wide open at most meets. Since your athletes are only competing for about 10-20 minutes in total, why not encamp in the other bleachers and then come around the track to watch their finish?

Children, like cockroaches, prefer darkness and a regular food source. Setting up an umbrella or tent in the stands with a cooler of snacks can lure them away from trackside Wrestlemania and give them a place to call home during the meet.

Thanks in advance for your help. Starting at the next meet, we'll be more actively encouraging athletes and non-volunteer adults off the field, since we'll need the space for this special event.

Hey! Cleanup crew! Where did you go?

Nobody wants to close the meet more than I do, but if you're on cleanup, you need to stay until we're actually all cleaned up. Only two scheduled crew members and myself stuck around on Saturday to wrestle all the tents back in their bags, get all the equipment back in the boxes, gather up the lost and found, and pile it next to my car. Like setup, cleanup takes about 1/2 hour on the other side of the meet.

Starting next week, cleanup volunteers need to sign out as well as sign in to get credit.

Practice this week on Tuesday and Thursday

No bonus practice this week, we're on the usual two-day plan:

• Tuesday meet on the blacktop by 5pm, due to a scheduled lacrosse game
• Thursday meet in the stands by the track at 5pm

A number of athletes have been showing up late to Tuesday practices, and then give me lost-puppy expressions when they realize that their groups have already left.  

Please make sure you're arriving on time, as the coaches are eager to get the kids out on a run. For safety, no athletes may leave unsupervised in search of their practice groups. They are usually stuck with me for a rousing game of "endless laps around the grassy field." I'm the only one who thinks this is a fun game, alas.

Meet Awards

Personal best ribbons from the first meet were handed out at practice, and place ribbons (first, second, third) should arrive this week at practice. Coaches distribute these at the end of practices.

When results are available from Saturday, I'll post them on the team web site and Athletic.net.
Ribbons will be printed up after the results are posted, and handed out at practice.

Mary Chatterton Memorial Relay meet, Saturday, March 29 at Ygnacio Valley, 9:30am

This is my favorite meet of the whole season. There are no field events this week, and no individual running events. We only run four relay events, though the meet takes about the same time to conduct.

We will form as many teams as possible this week, including mixed-parish groups, so it's extra important that idle athletes are listening for calls so we can find them. Many teams will be formed last-minute this week.

This meet is so special that it gets its own email, so stay tuned.

Meet times at YVH

Because of neighborhood rules about noise, we cannot use the PA system until 9:00am at Ygnacio Valley. As a result, we shift all our times about 1/2 later.

• Setup crew starts at 8:30am - this is a quick setup this week
• Athlete check-in and first shift starts at 9:00am
• First event starts at 9:30am

I don't know the state of the construction work in their stadium, so be aware that the field entrance may have changed places since the last time you were there, either last season or at the War Path.

Students for hire at YVH

High school students are usually available to cover your volunteer shifts at YVH. The process is:

• Contact Gina Marks no later than Wednesday of your intent so she can reserve a student
• Get payment to me no later than Thursday in an envelope with your name and the meet date on it (March 29)

Cost is $25 per shift, paid in cash or a check made out to CTK CYO Track. I will reimburse YVH from the team funds.

Gina's contact details are on the Volunteers page of the web site:

http://ctktrack.org/volunteers.shtml

I can be found at practice in the stands, usually looking amused. I love it when people pass me money.

Track news for the week of March 31

Happy Easter, everyone. Hope your kids haven't consumed as much sugar as mine have.

• Meet awards and results

The coaches handed out the first batch of awards at practice on the 26th, giving out ribbons for those who placed in their events or set personal bests at Meet #1 on the 16th.

Ribbons from the next meet are in and off to the sorter, and the next round of personal bests are, too. We usually get all caught up by the end of the season.

Results are linked from our Schedule page after I get them from the league:

http://ctktrack.org/schedule.shtml

• Practice on Thursday only this week: no practice on Tuesday

There's no practice on Tuesday, April 2. Enjoy your break from the bleachers.

Practice will resume this Thursday, April 4 at the usual time, 5:00-6:30pm, weather permitting.

Because College Park is on spring break, there's a very good chance that the gates to the large student lot will be closed and locked. You should still be able to pull into the loop in front of the school, and maybe even wrangle a parking space.

Please drive extra carefully and watch for athletes moving between parked cars no matter where you're driving.

• Relay meet Saturday, April 6, 9:00am at YVHS

This is my favorite meet of the season, though it's often banished to the end of spring break. There are neither field events nor individual running events at this meet: just relays.

The event order is:

4x100m
Medley (200m, 200m, 400m, 800m)
4x200m
4x400m

You would think that with only four events on the schedule, we'd be in and out quickly. You would be wrong! This meet typically lasts just as long as a regular practice meet, thanks to the added complexity of staging and running relays. If you're working, you will be kept plenty busy. If you're spectating, prepare for some down time between heats.

Distance runners take note! This week's medley relay is twice as long as our usual sprint medley event.

• Relay team rules

There are a couple of rules that we follow when we assemble relay teams for practice meets:

- A team runs as the grade of its oldest athlete (the "run up" rule)

A group of third-graders with a fifth-grade bonus athlete on the team runs as a fifth-grade team and should line up with the fifth-graders.

- Girls' teams may only contain girls; co-ed teams run as boys

Self-explanatory, I think. As soon as a boy joins a team, the entire team runs with the boys' races.

So, here's your track brain-teaser: If you have a team of three seventh-grade girls and one third-grade boy, how should they run?

If you answered "as a seventh-grade boys' team" then you are wise indeed and should volunteer as a clerk!

Coaches are always the final authority on the members of a team, and are free to arrange runners and teams as they see fit. Please trust their judgement and respect their decisions -- it's always hard for the fifth runner without a team, or that group of three that can't find a fourth, but the kids will bounce back quickly.

There are no limits to the number of relays an athlete may participate in at this meet. All grades may run all events, and some athletes learn that they can game the system and run the same event twice...

• St. Mix-and-Match of Hodgepodge, patron saint of free agency

A little math will tell you that it's very hard to form relay teams when many of your athletes are on vacation. Enter the magic of the "free agent" zone.

For this meet only, athletes not assigned to a relay team may come to a special location on the field to be placed, subject to the above rules but regardless of parish. This often results in at least one ad-hoc team per race made from four totally disconnected parishes, formed seconds before the athletes were sent off to their start positions. Baton handoffs in these improvised teams are a wonder to behold.

We'll make announcements about this special area on the field and I'm going to invent a couple of volunteer positions to help out here. If we have four otherwise unattached athletes hanging around, we'll transform them into a team and get them running.

• Volunteers this week, and YVH students-for-hire

There are fewer positions this week, but we still need volunteers, and if you signed up this week, expect a notice from our tireless reminders. If you signed up but are unavailable, please reply back so we're not surprised Saturday morning.

Since we're back at Ygnacio Valley, you may opt to hire a YVH student for your shift for $25, paid in cash or a check made out to CTK CYO Track. Hand your payment to me in an envelope with your name and the meet date on it. Since we only have one practice this week, you can email your intent-to-hire to me now so I can pass it along to YVH:

info@ctktrack.org

Please reserve early. YVH is also on break this week, and student helpers are limited. Do not wait until the morning of the meet to hire a student.

• Special jobs this week

Since this meet is so different, there are a couple of volunteer positions that I'm opening up/inventing for Saturday:

- Extra shepherds

There's a lot of walking and guiding this week, so we'll toss a couple more shepherd/runner positions in the mix to give folks a break

- Dedicated corner judges

You'll stand at the corners during the events and watch the handoffs, and help usher athletes on and off the track between races

- 4x200m handoff coordinator

This relay is unusual enough to warrant an extra person out on the far corner to help the final baton pass in the 4x200 (probably a coach)

- Free agent advocate

Athletes in the free-agent waiting area don't always speak up, and coaches can forget they are there: adult supervision can help get these athletes placed on teams and on the track

=====

That's all for today: please reply if you intend to hire a student for this Saturday -- the sooner I can get a count in to YVH, the more likely it is we'll have extra help. Have a good Easter, and I'll see you Thursday at the track.