Track news for the week of May 12

• Diocese meet complete

Another successful CYO season is on the books. Congratulations to the athletes who made it all the way to competition on Friday or Saturday. Just getting that far is a big accomplishment. If you happened to place well in your event, so much the better. No matter what, I hope you'll remember the time spent with your friends more than your finish in an event.

I hear that the races on Friday went very well, and Saturday's events were exciting, despite the heat and being buzzed by the Goodyear blimp (no, really.) It's the best of the best at Diocese, and every mark is earned with a lot of effort. I'm looking forward to checking for personal bests.

I should have all the unclaimed awards from Saturday's field events, and we'll try to reunite them with the athletes at the picnic.

Results will come in whenever the results come in, and I'll post them on the web site as soon as they do. Keep your eye on the web site front page or on Twitter.

• Team picnic, Saturday June 1, 11:30 at Pleasant Hill Park

The really, truly final team activity this season is our annual potluck picnic and awards ceremony. We'd love to have your athletes and your whole family there, no matter how your season worked out. Bring something to share and something to grill for yourself. The team provides drinks and we will have the charcoal grills going.

We're back at Pleasant Hill park on Gregory Lane, picnic area #3, next to the new teen center:

http://ctktrack.org/picnic_site.png

Setup is around 11am if you want to help. Athletes will break into groups around 1:00pm and we'll start the awards around 1:30.

• Other end-of-season business

Volunteer deposits

Families who worked less than the minimum number of jobs this season should expect an email soon alerting you about your deposit check. We asked for five shifts plus the mini-meet at signups, though the actual required number worked out a bit lower. I never know the exact figure until the season is complete. Everyone else's checks will go into a large industrial shredder and turned into a fine, colorful confetti.

Coach gifts

A few people have asked about thank-you gifts for the coaches. You're welcome to contribute to the common fund if you like. The easiest thing to do is pay me at the picnic: checks should be made out to "CTK CYO Track" and I'll add it into the team account. This is not mandatory.

Photos

Thanks to the steady hand and fast reflexes of Paul Nuti, photos from this season are available on Shutterfly.com. All the email addresses that this newsletter goes to should have access to our team's albums:

http://ctktrackandfield.shutterfly.com/pictures

You might need to register fully on the site for access. It's free, and you're under no obligation to purchase anything. Due to the logistics of having a large team, we don't do any official photo day, so we don't make you buy a fridge magnet just to get a 5x7 for the family room.

If you have an email address you'd like us to add, let me know and we'll get it configured.

• Other upcoming events

CTK Parish Festival, May 17-19 (this coming weekend)

Fun, food, games, prizes, and the most holy of all sacraments: BINGO. Christ the King throws a big festival every year, with carnival games, carnival food, and a carnival atmosphere. All are welcome, regardless of affiliation. You'll see a lot of familiar faces there.

Parking is tight, so arrive early if you can, or find street parking that doesn't block a driveway.

Festival times are: Friday May 17, 6-10pm; Saturday May 18, 2-10pm; Sunday May 19, 10am-2pm

De La Salle summer track & field camp, June 10-13

Last time I looked, there were still a few openings for the day camp at De La Salle high school in Concord from June 10-13. It's available to next year's 4th-9th graders.

http://www.dlshs.org/athletics/summer/index.aspx

In years past, the kids have gotten to try some events that we don't have in CYO like pole vault and discus and (very low) hurdles. Cool!

Pleasant Hill Firecracker 5K Fun Run, July 4th

Have any plans for July 4th? Come on down to the 5K fun run held first thing in the morning. The course is a three lap walk/run around the downtown area. You'll see more than a few CYO athletes and coaches out that day.

http://www.phjuly4.com/5k-run/

Proceeds raised go to help local schools, and the parade starts right after the race concludes.

• CYO cross country

CYO has a cross-country program starting in August, and runs through early autumn. I'll mention this again at the picnic, and send email as the season approaches.

If your athletes enjoy distance running, and would running with a mixed group in a low-key setting, consider joining cross-country this fall. Practices are at a local park, and meets are on Friday evenings at parks around the East Bay.

• Next season

Track and field has lower visibility than other springtime sports, so good word-of-mouth can go a long way. Feel free to talk up the program to friends and classmates and direct them towards the web site or send me an email. I'll be in coordinator-withdrawal for a while and need to get my fix.

info@ctktrack.org

We'll get a preview of the 2014 schedule soon, but expect more of the same: signups in late January, practices start in February, meets start in March, with the Diocese meet around Mother's Day.

Team placement depends on parish school or RE program, or the athlete's home address.

I'm on the lookout for volunteers for next year, too, as we're losing many of our behind-the-scenes people as their kids go to high school. Returning families with complicated schedules get first priority for jobs like volunteer reminders, uniform organizing and distribution, ribbon assembly and sorting, and personal best ribbons.

Expect overlong emails as we get closer to signups for next season.

• Thank you!

I'll end on a note of gratitude:

Thank you to all the volunteers who gave their time to help the meets: we simply could not hold them without all 150+ jobs filled each weekend.

Thank you to all the behind-the-scenes volunteers who ensured we had uniforms and ribbons and who reminded everybody else where and when to show up.

Thank you to the coaches who put in so much work and time to guide each of the kids on our team to reach their own personal bests.

Thank you to the athletes, for trying hard, running fast, jumping far, and throwing well. You're the reason the coaches and I do all this, and we've had a lot of fun working with you this season. I hope you'll take away some good memories and will come back to us or join your high school track program next spring.

That's it, everyone -- see you at the picnic!