Track news for the week of May 5

• Sectional meet complete

Those of you with qualifying athletes got to experience either the mellow low-key Friday night 1600m, or the sun-drenched events on Saturday. Some lucky families got to do both, and some really lucky families got to work as well. We'll see who gets to be equally lucky later in the week.

The Sectional meet is like the greatest hits of the practice season: all the teams you remember from March and April, gathered together again in one, danceable package.

But wait, there's more!

• Diocese Championships May 10 and 11

Remember all those really fast kids you saw this weekend? Remember all those amazing jumpers and throwers? You'll get to see them again at the very last meet of the year, the diocese-wide championship. This past week was just the section one teams -- that's our section.

Coming up this week, the top athletes from sections one, two, and three all get together to compete. You'll see parishes that you've probably never heard of before, from all over the East Bay region.

• 800m and 1600m events,  Friday May 10 with 6:30pm start, James Logan High

If your athlete placed in one of these events, they will run again on Friday night at James Logan High School in Union City. The first 1600m starts at 6:30pm sharp. Please allow for traffic if you're going.

If your athlete placed in both the 800m and the 1600m, he or she needs to choose one of these events to compete in before Friday. They may have already been asked at Saturday's finish if the league was prepared. Expect a call or email if they weren't.

• All other events, Saturday May 11 with 8:30am parade, Granada High

On Saturday, we have the remainder of the events back at Granada High in Livermore. Starting at 8:30am, there's a parade of teams from all three sections. All athletes on the team may be in the parade regardless of qualifying status.

Since we're in section one and the first team alphabetically, we lead the parade on to the track.  Come get some great pictures and video for grandma. I know it's a drive, but if you're willing, we're glad to have you there.

We especially want eighth graders so they can lead our team around the track one last time before they go off to high school. Awwww. I'm getting a little misty just thinking about it.

After the parade and the obligatory speech-making midfield, the meet will begin in earnest with the 4x100m relays. The meet schedule is on our site:

http://ctktrack.org/2013_diocese_info.pdf

Like the Sectional meet, some events go out of order from what we're used to. Please allow for that when making arrival plans. By the end of the day at Sectionals, we were almost an hour ahead of the published times. Be early, be flexible, and listen for the calls!

There will be an admission fee again on Saturday, and there are usually souvenir t-shirts available for sale just as you come in to the stadium, typically at a table near the main stands. These sell out fast. Seating and parking fill up incredibly fast at this meet, too.

The layout at Granada is the same as at Sectionals:

http://ctktrack.org/granada_layout.jpg

Sections two and three compete in an fifth field event event called the "tetherball toss," which is just exactly like what it sounds like. It's a kinder, gentler hammer throw. Section one does not practice this event, so we don't put any athletes forth to compete.

We do, however, have the Medley Relay. For the first time ever (?) it's on the program, albeit with the equivalent of the Barry Bonds asterisk. "Diablo Valley Medley Relay" is the Sprint Medley that you know and love.

• Ribbons and awards

I have about 200 ribbons from the qualifying meet on the 27th, and I just sent out the personal best list on Saturday evening. The Sectional awards should show up at my house in the next day or two.

In short, there's a ton of ribbons to hand out, with more to follow. Please plan to send your athlete to the final practices and come to the picnic if only to relieve me of the burden of addressing and mailing eight gazillion envelopes over the summer.

Awards at the Diocese meet are prepared and handed out at the track. If your athlete places in their event, you can stick around to gather the award. At the end of the day, one of the coaches or I will get the remaining ones and bring them to the picnic.

• Final practices this week

We're down to the last two, this Tuesday and Thursday, College Park Track, 5-6:30pm. Everybody on the team is welcome to come to practice. Running's more fun with a buddy, after all. I hope we'll see you there.