"Common men go nowhere.  You have to be uncommon."

As we look to hit our stride heading into October, the progressions and workouts have been leading the group toward a great finish to the season.   We look to stay focused on US, and make each day important.  We can't rely on past success, or dwell on past failures.  Instead we need to recognize that both are necessary for our growth as men.  Down the stretch, the team needs to fight for each other, doing what is uncommon.  We must embrace the role of underdog, and fight for every last guy, putting focus into every drill, every run and every insightful words a coach or teammate shares. 

Together, or not at all.  Talent won't win in October, it will take the power of a loving team, guts and a desire to make it happen.  We have the opportunity, but it won't be easy, and nor should it be.  What are you guys willing to risk, to sacrifice, or endure in order to make this five weeks a historic 5 weeks for the Hale Program?

Stepping Up!

Starting things off, it was great to have 7 middle school boys competing!  Many of them future Huskies, it was exciting to see them get an opportunity to run on a fantastic course on a beautiful sunny day.  They represented well, many brand new to the sport.  Just build that love and excitement for THE best sport on the planet.

Some guys took on new roles and embraced the opportunity on Saturday. 

Brennan Kompas has had some incredible workouts and his fitness is at another level.  He had struggled to put things together the past couple of weeks in races, but this week he started putting those frustrations behind him.  Breaking out as our 3rd man and coming home with an all time best on a wet sloppy course showed more light on where Brennan truly is with his training and progression.  He expects to keep moving up, and so do his coaches.  With a nice confidence week with great workouts and a solid race, we look forward to seeing Brennan have a breakout October.

Our 3-6 guys definitely were a light tighter with a 20 second spread between them.  It's cool to see the packs emerging from practice into racing, and it goes to show that the way we practice, whether it be positive or negative, DOES translate to races.  This pack, along with Cole who was out ahead as our 2 man Saturday, can really move up if they can come together and believe and trust in their work.  If we find a way to go into the final races with complete selflessness and a for the team attitude, we WILL have success.  Again, that's a decision you guys must make.

Frank Bevsek blew the doors off the first mile and helped get the boys out in the JV race.  Following close behind were Nick Burgess and Ethan Fisher through the mile, and both thanked Frank for helping them get out more aggressive, ultimately helping them finish higher.  SELFLESSNESS!

Frank held on nice, with Ethan Fisher, Alex White, and Nick Burgess progressing nicely to finish as our top 3.  Our scoring 5 on the JV side had a 1:02 spread which is a nice improvement.  Our 5th man Tony Rodriguez had a huge day moving up throughout the race!  This was his first time scoring as a high school athlete, and definitely not his last time!  He's been a great leader, and showed it Saturday, responding mid race by moving up and carrying the pack of Robert and Jack along with him.  We love guys running together, but it's important also for someone to step up and PUSH that pack forward once past the mile and definitely past halfway.  If everyone has that thought process, that pack will roll and pass tons of guys by the finish!  No limits with these packs, but again, huge step in the right direction.  Now let's see them move up in the next 5 weeks!

Joey Elliott got an opportunity to run varsity and we are glad he did.  He unfortunately went down early in the race and had to work most of the way to get back in a good position.  I was happy though that he took the opportunity with excitement, and he will definitely bounce back in a huge way at Viking in a couple of weeks!

Jaylon Alexander bounced back nice from last week.  He's had some killer workouts and will keep growing confidence and have a huge breakthrough by the end of this season.  Chase Witty was rolling close behind our 5 and 6 guys and is another guy that has huge breakthrough potential.  It's been great to see both of these guys improve so much over this season and compared to last season big time!

Three Straight Victories

We can't take for granted what's happening up front and the fantastic season Joshua is putting together.  He had a phenomenal race putting 20 seconds on 2nd place within the last 1k alone.  The second place runner is a fantastic runner from Hortonville, and both him and Joshua (along with a great Illinois runner) really put on an impressive battle.  Coming through the mile in 4:50, and the 2 mile under 10 minutes and continuing to push shows the strength and power Joshua continues to build through consistency and purpose, along with a great trust.  He will continue to enjoy each day and keep a team focus as we head into October with this great group of guys.  He and this team have some much bigger moments coming.

Article
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/sports/high-school/2019/09/29/hortonville-freedom-stevens-point-runners-lead-way-lourdes-academy-invitational/3809504002/

Video
https://twitter.com/jordanjacob91/status/1178339672726134785

Selflessness + Drive > Selfish + Talent

We are excited to have the full and healthy squad competing at Viking and we are prepared to fire as a team at the right time.  We are very dangerous, and can make this a special finish.  But as I said earlier, it's up to each guy to decide what they're willing to do for the team.  We must collectively have the same mindset, same determination, and the willingness to embrace discomfort for a bigger purpose than ourselves.  Hard work is fun and rewarding.  Be the counterculture, be loving, be the best teammates.  With that, you'll be the best team.

Week 7

It's homecoming week, and with it will bring distractions.  Be smart with not getting caught up in what is easy, and always ask yourself, "Is this good for me?  Is this going to affect my team?".  Have fun, but take care of sleep, homework and bring great focus to practice this week!

Bring warm and dry clothes for keeping in your locker!!  Monday will be warm, but after that, it appears the cooler air and off and on autumn rains are here.  This is what autumn should be, and we love any weather.  But we have to be prepared for running in any weather!  Even 50's can be quite cold, especially if it's raining.  We practice outside, so be prepared AHEAD OF TIME!  I say it a lot, but I know someone will not be ready that first really cold/wet day.  I'm talking, pack hats, gloves, long sleeves, pants etc.  Trust me on it!  

There is no meet this week.  We will put in a great week of training, starting with a bang on Monday!! 

There will not be a formal meetup this weekend, however, about 10-14 guys will be expected to meet up for a Saturday morning run.  Even with no meet, we have something exciting the guys have been looking forward to.  Monday is our annual LAKEFRONT RUN!  Below here is the official roster of guys running to the lakefront, along with a map.  We will drive them to 124th and Howard for the start, and take Howard this year.  Some will be staggered, starting a little further up.  Guys not on the lakefront list will still practice, but they will be done earlier (around 4:45).  Guys going to the lakefront and ON the list, please expect a bit later day for driving back etc.  Usually 6:15ish.

Lakefront Run Roster

​Lakefront Route (Some will start closer)

This is always a great run, and we will look to make it a nice progressive and powerful run.  We will do a nice workout then Wednesday or Thursday this week and mix in some quick work and strength as usual.  Prepare for a great week, and bring good intensity.  
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Everything that happens to us is in our best interest...

Our focus this prior week was to put in a huge week of training, as we are at the mid point of the season and preparing for later championship racing.  We had a great team workout Wednesday, bringing a lot of focus and intensity.  With that, we brought more of a workout focus to the Angel Invitational, focusing on trying to progress the 2nd half of the race and pack up early.  

Early on, things didn't go quite as planned.  Carson Shane rolled his ankle badly in the first 800 meters.  Our secondary pack was also not together in the position we planned.  One of those was in our control, while the other was not.  We will learn from not packing up early and how that negatively affected our ability to progress.  It's EASIER to race fast and keep the pedal down when our teammates are around us.  We will look to bring better positive affirmations, and not let courses or conditions be a factor that limits the skills that we build in practice.  Our guys are prepared for the hard courses, and need to be confident that the course doesn't dictate how we finish in a race.  Don't mentally disarm yourself of the skills you have built!  Trust where we are headed and where you are.

With the non-controllable of a man rolling an ankle or not racing because of sickness, we look to the team to step up.   This is selflessness, and our reason that every man is so important!  Carson Shane is the definition of the type of athlete we want in the program.  He could have pulled off and not finished, but he had a team only mindset and ran the rest of the 5k on a bad ankle.  After the race, he was more upset that he thought he let his team down.  He definitely did NOT let his team down, but it was amazing to see his thoughts go to his team rather than himself.   His gutsy finish also pushes other team's possible 4th or 5th scoring runners back, increasing their score.  A truly selfless run. That's the attitude that brings out our best races, when we give up our own egos for the better of our team.  The other 6 guys must pick up for the team when these things happen.  I'm proud of our guys stepping up!

With those learning lessons, our team is definitely in a fantastic position.  We're on pace or ahead of where we were last year in our progression.  We will come into this Saturday more fresh and feeling fast, and the guys will bring a lot of positive affirmation and self talk.  We have to embrace no limits and love one another as we look to turn our amazing fitness into some memorable races.  None of our guys have even scratched the surface of what they are capable of this fall.  We have to ask ourselves, "why not us?".  We have the guys, now we need to come in with the belief that we are the best team in the race and look to race fearless!

Our top 5 varsity average was almost a minute better than last year at this meet.  The shorthanded JV team also finished 3 places higher than last year. 

Robert Petrovick followed our race plan to a tea, moving up in the 2nd and 3rd miles and scoring for JV.  He stepped up for Joseph Hertel who we gave off to get healthy from his bronchitis, and Alex White who had a slight off day but will definitely crush next week.  Joey Elliott really stepped up nicely along with Jack Hutter as well, finishing as our 2nd and 4th men respectively!

In the varsity race, Joshua ran a more controlled effort, focusing on the 3rd mile as we look to make that a strong suit as we enter championship season.  He looked good cruising to his 3rd victory of the season after having one of the best workouts I've ever coached on Wednesday and a monster long run Monday.  This was Hale's first individual champion at this large invite since 2002.  Liam Kelley held on as our 3rd man but is going to break through in the coming weeks.  His workout Wednesday was the best of his career, and it takes more than just one good workout or week in this sport to have things come together.  He's turning up the heat and will be dangerous down the stretch.  Our large crew 2-7 all have front runner capability.  I look forward to watching them run beyond their belief this next weekend at Oshkosh.  They will need to run selfless and FEARLESS.

Most of our frosh guys ran at Arrowhead on Thursday.  I was invited the week prior and thought it was a good opportunity for our developing group this fall.  Tony led the crew to a 20th place finish.  He also has been fantastic helping lead our standards and no limit beliefs.  He was great working with kids at our youth camp last week as well! Tyler Koney raced his best race and ran more aggressive than he has been.  The frosh group is learning to face more discomfort and that they can race faster, and practices will help translate to this!  Take risks and put yourself out there!

As we move into fast racing, we are not focused on winning or what other teams are doing.  We're focusing on each moment and our 'builds'.  Love, selflessness, embracing pain, and having no limits.  With those builds, love will be our driving force as we look to race fast this next week and enter the off weekend on a high note.  Being the best teammates, showing character, and putting in our max effort for another is what winning looks like.  We are ambassadors for others, showing what it means to be a fun and loving team that inhibits no limitations on human capability.  What are you going to do for a teammate this week to make them better?  How will you exhibit selflessness and no limits?  Let love lead us, and come in confident and relaxed as it's the daily habits that produce the amazing moments!

p.s. - thanks as well to Liam and Max for also helping at our youth camp and being great with the kids!  And Matthew, Jack, and Chase for helping at the youth race Thursday.  Also thanks to Brennan and Joshua for going to Lane to speak and run with the team.  We love building excitement and happiness with our great sport!
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Week 6 Information

Monday's practice will be at normal 3:15 p.m.!  Lockerroom is available, we will plan to meet in Dewitt's room to start.

We're really excited for the Lourdes Invitational.  We will have a team tempo run and some quick wheels work one day this week, and put in another purposeful week.  We're coming into this invitational ready to unleash.

The pasta party this week is at Joseph Hertel's house! 9814 W. Montana Ave.

Please be sure to be focusing on OUR game days which are usually Saturdays, and not staying late at football games or forgoing sleep and nutrition because you see your non CC friends doing so.  A lot will be going on with homecoming week approaching.  Remind yourself that the work you put into this sport and the rewards of that are much more valuable than the instant gratification and non effort needed to have fun at Homecoming.  I am definitely encouraging you to get involved with the events in a positive way, but do not sacrifice your positive habits by doing what is easy or not taking care of your sleep and nutrition in a vain effort to please others.  Live the counterculture and do what is right for you and your team.  Sacrifice the short term gratification, you'll thank me some day.  

This weekend we also have 8 middle school boys traveling with us to compete in the middle school race prior to ours!  We are taking a bus this year, and are planning it showing up! HA!  (Those from last year remember our debacle)  We will have the middle school boys with us, so we be willing to share our culture and standards and make them feel welcomed in.  Many could be future teammates or if you're a senior, future members of a team you will forever look at as a strong program!

Important information for parents coming this Saturday!  You must park at the high school and take the shuttle, there's a cost as well and the shuttles are really quick.  Read through the information sent to the coaches below,

Meet Information from the hosts

Here's our transportation information below.  Our varsity guys, due to full bus with middle school boys, will take the school van with Dewitt or myself.   I'll communicate with them as the day approaches.  We will all be there for every race together. 

Hale Meet Info as of Monday

^Again, do not think varsity vs. JV, think ONE team.  Both races will be amazing opportunities this week and heading into October!!  We have a deeper roster and some guys getting healthy on the JV side.  Please be mindful of lineup changes based on how the week goes as usual.  

Looking ahead a bit for planning...
The weekend of October 5th we will be off of racing!  This is an opportunity for a mental and physical break as we head into some fun races.  Some of our guys may be given a run assignment, but there will be no formal meet up on that Saturday.  The rest of the week will be normal practices, including our Lakefront Run on Monday the 30th!  We will plan to have 14 guys run to the lake as an annual tradition.  Earn that right to be one of them!  Our other guys will be following same route as an out and back effort.

Break On Through To The Other Side

An incredible group of young men from Nathan Hale High School continue to forge on in their journey of selflessness and counter cultural ideals.  They are the rare high school students that understand the privilege of testing one's perceived limits.  Seeking discomfort, but not alone in their adventure, these boys are building themselves and one another to be better each day.  They are becoming self governing, holding one another accountable not only to be great runners, but to be kind men of character.  There is no ultimate outcome goal, but rather a focus and appreciation for the current moment.  Through increased purpose and building selflessness these past few weeks, these men are starting to break through.

Week 4 Recap

Built upon our selflessness theme this season, our training has emphasized pack running.  Our workouts have been built around guys in each pack not letting down their teammates by falling off.  It's understanding that discomfort will exist with each runner when pushing yourself to the edge.  It's taking that discomfort, understanding it, and embracing it because your teammates depend on you overcoming it.  This group has an unbelievable potential, and our patient approach will bring out these guys bests at the right times.  

After two solid weeks of team training, we have seen good progress.  And also with two weeks of being back in school, that brought on some sickness and a new stimulus for the guys.  It's all part of the journey, and we had some guys that stepped up in training and racing to make sure we didn't have a let down at the Rocket Invitational.

The JV guys set a good tone early.  Matthew Kees ran up front and shook some rust off of a tough sickness he battled for almost four straight weeks.  He finished 3rd, and after being a strong 4th man for us last fall, we believe he will regain his intensity and form these coming weeks and be a solid producer for us.  Nick Burgess continues to get out and help guys with him, including Alex White who in his first season of cross country has shown signs of being a top tier high school runner, and probably sooner rather than later with the effort he has been showing in practices.  Losing a shoe in the final part of the race, Alex finished as a solid 2nd man for the team and has moved into our top 8.  No limits.

The entire group on JV definitely improved from Betz in terms of getting out and holding on.  We are looking to improve however in the middle lonely miles, where most teams let it be too hard and slow down.  We want to be at our strongest the second half of the race, so our training will focus on good starts and being able to close better.  The JV guys ended up 5th overall, and as our depth improves, we expect the JV to keep moving up and pushing our varsity to be better as well.

​With our pack behind Joshua being as large as it is, we have seen some fluctuations in our finishing order.  The coaches love this group and believe in it's firepower.  A lot of these guys are new to the scene and are now starting to settle into the roles of being big dogs.  Behind Joshua's dominant win, Liam Kelley held on to finish right ahead of teammate Cole Konczal who stepped up as our 3rd guys.  Cole Orlowski had an off day, but an amazing week of training which will pay off huge.  Finishing as our 4th guy Saturday is exciting because it shows how solid our team is this year to have a guy of his ability in that position.  He's a great runner and as he breaks through, he's going to bring this group with him.  The 5th and final scorer was newcomer Carson Shane, in just his 3rd cross country meet.  Coming over from soccer this fall, he definitely made an excellent decision.  He's enjoyed the sport, and put in great training this first season.  Close behind him was Collin Raschka finishing as a strong 6th man.  On a wet and sloppy day, those guys made some big jumps, and are just scratching the surface of where they will be soon with continued consistency and purpose.

Collin had a fantastic long run last Sunday and improved a lot on trying to be with the pack.  As a coach, we get to see all of these guys and their growth as runners and people.  On my run this morning, I talked with Coach Chase about how cool it is to see guys improve so much within just one year.  When parents, the fans and the state see guys starting to break through, they are amazed.  But us coaches and within the team, we are not in awe.  We see the ups and downs.  We see the process and the daily work put in by the guys that make the successes possible.  We see the setbacks and the disappointments along the way.  And throughout each guy's journey, we keep the constant state of belief and allow for no limitations to be set.  This team is just getting started.

Finishing 3rd overall, we take away some good positives but are nowhere near complacent.  We move on to week 5 and are excited to get back to work on Monday.  Our guys that were sick will get better, the guys that missed a practice have learned to be more accountable, and the couple of guys that got a bit banged up on Thursday will be back to full power this week.

We live in the journey, so it's important to enjoy it.  As we enter our 5th week with this amazing group, we remind ourselves to love each day.  The special moments we look back on will be our impacts we make on each other, and the moments we share every day.  If it's any wonder, this week's focus message will be on the journey and the process.  

Week 5

The freshmen will compete on THURSDAY this week!  I was invited to this meet last week and think it's a great opportunity for our group.  Coach Dewitt will take them to Arrowhead, and the race will be on campus at 4:30 p.m.  It's a freshmen only boys race on a faster course.  It's a good opportunity for their development.

The rest of the squad will travel to UW-Parkside on Saturday.  I will get meet information up by Tuesday.  The blog and results have taken many hours today to gather, along with getting ready for our youth camp this week!  Also have been working intently on our workouts and continuing our progression for each guy which is a big priority.

Some guys will be helping at our youth camp from 6:00-7:15 p.m. Mon-Wed. at Hale.  On Thursday, I will have a FREE youth race for any 1st through 6th grade boys and girls at Greenfield Parks starting at 6:20 p.m.  Feel free to share and get all youth involved.  The race will be one mile with a half mile option, and will be low key and very fun!

Parents have been awesome out on the course!!  We do want to remind you as well that the boys have a job to take care of prior to and after races with warming up and then cooling down.  We have still taken a bit too long on starting our cooldowns so we want boys to finish the job before talking with parents, and prior to races we want them to be together and on their tasks so thanks for understanding the big picture.  Please continue to be loud out on the course and being with us when all is wrapped up.  I no doubt have the most amazing group of parents and families in any sport at the school.  Very thankful for you guys and the support you give!

This meet and the WIAA also request that dogs are not allowed at meets.  I love dogs, but please help with this rule as it is shown in the meet information.

Next week's Monday practice (the 23rd) will be at normal 3:15 p.m. time at Hale.  No school this day.

This week's pasta party will be at Gavin Graham's!  His address is 9306 W Mitchell st

Again, please check back later for Hale meet information.  Remember our lineup depends on things that happen throughout the week and can change.  

There is a 5 dollar fee for parents/fans at the Angel Invitational this Saturday.

Here's a tentative information, the lineup may change.

​Hale Meet Info

Here's our week's focus message,

Pound The Stone

Here's meet info from the hosts Saturday,

Meet Information

Here's our season results,
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Season Results