I hope everyone is enjoying the break from track. Now our season starts drawing to a close.
Practice this week, Tuesday and Thursday
MDUSD is on break this week, which means that we should have the College Park track and field largely to ourselves. The main parking lot will be gated shut, so please use the loop in front of the high school for dropoff and pickup, or to park if you're staying.
Drive slowly as athletes and adults adjust to the temporary change.
- Tuesday meet in the bleachers at the track
- Thursday meet in the bleachers at the track
The start of the championships begins this Saturday. Due to an afternoon soccer game scheduled at YVH, we are going to have to run a super-efficient meet. I'll need everyone's cooperation to get us done on time.
Please arrive at YVH no later than 8:30 on the 26th. We are trying for a 9:15am start time.
Although we cannot take the track before 9:00am, we can still use the blacktop, the quad area by the gym, and the grassy field for warmups. Have your athletes check in with the coaches when you arrive so they can get their stickers and start stretching.
We're going to try to get all first-shift volunteers to sign in outside the track, while we are setting up. I'm going to try to get all the mile runners from all parishes registered in advance, too.
Once the gates open, we will have very little time to get going. All volunteers need to get into position quickly, and everyone else must head into the stands. There's no camping out on the field at this meet.
If you're able to pitch in and work, especially in a job you're experienced with, please let us know. Even registering in advance as a "fill in" for a specific position will help, and veteran clerks, timers, and judges will keep us on track.
The volunteer list will come out as soon as possible. Watch for a notice on Twitter and the web site.
All official diocese events need to get done in the time allotted. This may force us to run the final relays out of order, to ensure the fastest 4x400 teams will compete. Please listen for the calls. As time allows, we'll run the Medley and 4x400s in the elementary grades.
Qualifying results: be careful!
As you are working this weekend, take extra care to print neatly, to record accurately, and to ask questions if you don't understand how to do something. All stations have a two-way radio: don't be afraid to use it! I love to come visit.
A small snag in record-keeping this weekend may cause an athlete to be penalized because we can't read a distance, or a time was copied down incorrectly. All the coordinators will gather together for a seeding meeting to sort out who will be in the Sectional championships next week. Confusing or illegible results cause untold drama.
Results will be posted after the seeding meeting, and will take a few days for final corrections and cancellations to trickle in. We'll be working hard behind the scenes to get our final list of qualifiers settled.
Missing a meet?
Starting with Qualifying, missing a meet means your Saturdays just freed up for the rest of season. (I'll let you decide if this is a good or bad thing.) We'll hope to see your athlete at practice, but missing the Qualifying for any reason ends their participation in the championship meets.
If your athlete runs on a winning relay team but will miss a later meet, let their coaches know at once so they can find an alternate for the team. Coach contact details are on the team web site:
http://ctktrack.org/coaches.shtml
Meets after qualifying
The Sectional championship meet is May 2nd and 3rd, and the Oakland Diocese championship meet is May 9th and 10th. Athletes need to place highly in their events to compete in these meets.
Distance events are run on Friday night for both of these meets. If you have a distance runner making championship plans, make sure you set aside Friday evenings.
Team picnic: something's missing...
We have the site, we have the date, we have lots of lost and found to give back, but what we're missing is YOU. Please plan to bring your family to the end-of-season potluck picnic and awards extravaganza.
- What: CTK/SC/SS track team picnic
- Where: Pleasant Hill Park, site #3 (next to the teen center): see map
- When: Saturday May 31, 11:30-3:30ish
Coaches will have a chance to offer some parting words of advise to their groups and pass out any leftover ribbons from the season. We'll gather for special team awards and recognition, including the Super-Helpful Volunteer Families Prize Drawing. Lost and found will make an appearance in its entirety before I make our annual donation to Goodwill.
Lots of food, lots of fun -- please come share it with us.
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