Track news for the week of April 19

Meet #4 recap

Saturday's meet was the end of our practice meets. It was certainly a nice day, and I hope everyone enjoyed DVC again. I appreciate everyone helping out to keep the meet going, especially families who had completed their commitment but worked extra anyway. You'll be in the prize drawing at the end of the season.

Remember that all the helping out is really to benefit the kids and to keep the meets safe and fun. Trust me when I say that track meets feel much longer when you're sitting in the stands. (Wait until high school.)

Events this week

Practices as usual on Tuesday at PH Middle and Thursday at College Park. Cross your fingers that we have no more lacrosse surprises this season.

The Qualifying Meet is Saturday the 25th at DVC, and I'll have a special email out about this soon.

If you're missing the meet on Saturday due to other commitments like first communion or soccer, then your meets are probably done for the season. Attendance at the Qualifying meet is mandatory for individual events. As a diocese-based organization, CYO especially encourages you to prioritize holy sacraments over short sprints!

There's a chance that some athletes could be called on as substitutes for qualifying relay teams, so please don't block track entirely from your mind and schedule.

We need volunteer help this weekend, too. Please consider picking up a bonus shift or two so we can run the meet and get everyone home on time.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b49aeab2aa3f94-2015

Practice

Regardless of qualifying status, all athletes on the team are welcome and encouraged to come to practices as usual. Our last practice is Thursday, May 7.

Also regardless of qualifying status, you'll keep getting peppered with these emails until the end of the season. Consider it a free gift to you from the team.

Championships

Starting with this weekend's meet, we're into the final championship weekends. All the practice that the athletes have done over the season gets put into play on these weekends.

All the practice you've done as volunteers gets called upon, too. These are the weekends when we're especially careful with how the meets are run and results are recorded.

The top three finishers overall place at the championship meets, which is a change from our normal "fastest in the heat" finishes at practice meets. This can be a hard concept to grasp for athletes, especially rookies. ("But I got the #2 popsicle stick. How come I came in fifth?") In track, we always stress the importance of setting personal bests over crossing the finish line first.

After Qualifying

The first weekend in May is the Sectional meet, and the following weekend is the Diocese championship. Some events are held on Friday night in the interest of time, so look at your calendar and the team schedule page:

http://ctktrack.org/schedule.html#sectional

Sectional Meet:

• Friday, May 1: 1600m event at DVC
• Saturday, May 2: remaining events at Granada High, Livermore

http://ctktrack.org/schedule.html#diocese

Diocese Meet:

• Friday, May 8: 800m and 1600m at Moreau High School, Hayward (new location this year)
• Saturday, May 9: parade and remaining events at Granada High, Livermore

If you find yourself in Livermore on May 9, there's an Olympics-style parade of athletes at the start of the meet that's a fine photo op. All team athletes are welcome to participate in the parade whether or not they are competing in the meet.

Picnic, Sunday May 31

We started our on a Sunday and we're going to finish on a Sunday. The Team Picnic is at Pleasant Hill Park in our usual spot. RSVP online so we can get a general sense of how many drinks to purchase:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B49AEAB2AA3F94-20151


This is open to the entire team and team families, and is truly a the-more-the-merrier activity. Plus, it helps the Lost and Found pile get thinned out before its annual trip to Goodwill.

Next season team jobs

Remember that we have a number of team positions that need to be filled next season, while I'm still available for training:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b49aeab2aa3f94-2016

If you can help out, I strongly encourage you to sign up.

I know that managing uniforms or balancing the team checkbook doesn't have the glamour of scooping up softballs or raking out long jump pits all day in the hot sun. I'm sorry that every team position can't offer that kind of excitement!

They're very necessary, though, and I'd like to entrust them to families that have been around the track at least once, so to speak. Take a look and let me know if you have questions.