Laser Relays Recap

On our most challenging course yet, the men finish 5th overall out of 29 teams at the Laser Relays.  On our 5th consecutive weekend of competing, we had some imperfection but the team still was able to show a high standard of competing with another top 5 finish.

A great example of how a change in perspective can help in running, Eric Harvey was able to start the day off with an individual victory.  This was our third individual this year to win a race!  It was one of the biggest fields of athletes this year as well, with some tight spots in the woods made for some fun racing for the guys and great experience headed into championship season.   The loading up of eight men on the varsity level and without a couple potential scorers, the team still did a great job nabbing a 10th place finish thanks to the first place finish and some of our best races from the 3-5 guys.

The next two races were combined for a team score, both by time and place but of course I look at the real scoring of places!  Three scorers in the top 34 helped the team secure a 5th place finish.  It is also promising to see the top 8 scorers tightening as a pack as we move into the most important races of the season.  The biggest factor into how the team performs will be how much they can love one another and support each other to have no limits.  Let's go!

This coming week is a much needed mental/physical break from racing.  Even going into the last meet, we took a much more relaxed mental approach, focusing on a good three weeks of just training and building some more strength headed into the championship season!  

2023 Results Workbook

This week

Monday's practice is the annual lakefront run!  This is a run that guys earn a spot to run and practice will be at 1:30 p.m. at Hale for those that are making the run.  For those not listed, they will have off today and should not report to practice.  They are free to go on a run of course.  The following thirteen men should report for practice tomorrow,

Brody Kaminski
Damien Sheridan
Eli Sayeg
Eric Harvey
Ethan Plier
Iker Robles
Joel Galarza
John Gruichich
Joseph Ventura
Kai Bruner
Koda Bruner
Nate Hutter
Preston Plier

The team will run from Hale to Lake Michigan using Oklahoma Avenue.  Upon finishing at the Lake, we will do some strides, hang by the lake a bit and then head back in the school vans to Hale for pick up.  I would estimate around 4:30 p.m. for return but please give some variability here, a lot depends on how quickly we get the run going, rush hour traffic on return and other factors.

The team will then have normal after school practices Tuesday through Friday.  There will be NO formal meet up on this coming weekend.  Some men may be assigned a run to do with teammates or on their own.  We will pick things back up again next Monday then.

The following week - Thursday meet at Mccarty!

Here's the lineups and times of the meet, I will link meet information when I get it from hosts,

Meet Information for Viking

Pasta Party for Wednesday, October 4th will be at the Sayegs, 3054 s 96th street


​

Muskego Invite Recap (Birth of the Spirit Chair?!)

Another great team weekend!  In and already strong and now improved Muskego Invitational including the addition of two additional state ranked teams, the men took 4th overall knocking off 16th ranked Slinger and finishing with in striking distance of 15th ranked Wisco and a very good should be ranked Pewaukee team.   It was another good performance at what will be our sectional course in a bit over a month's time from now.

The Youth Boost
The emerging varsity race started the day off with a 5th place team finish, led again by a strong trio of Koda, Preston and Brody.  We call it emerging varsity for a reason, everyone's mission is to contribute to our team's success and we will see two of those guys racing at the varsity level next Saturday as well.  Whether on varsity level or not, every guy impacts how the day will play out!  Damien was the 4th man, while stepping up to score for the first time after a fantastic week of practice was freshman Joel Galarza!  It is fun to see on the results workbook for this week, I put the times that Eli, Bronko and Kai ran on this same course as freshmen two years ago, should be a big motivator for a few of our freshmen squad to see that they are all near where those guys were!  In addition, we had two other freshmen again finish in our top 8 scorers for the day.  This is a HUGE boost to the team to have frosh making an immediate impact, and has provided great energy to make our entire program better. 

Another frosh, Henry Roemer had a wicked first mile this week!  That's that fire we love.  It was awesome to see him show some of that awesome ability we know he has and he will continue to connect with the guys and really grow into a great runner.  Shout out to Preston Vahovick for the minute personal best and passing five guys that last mile!  Shout out to Gavin Goldsmith on his first ever 5k race.  Much love to Sam who rolled an ankle during the race and gutted it out to finish, we will look to take care of him this week along with Will who will take a week off of racing and regroup for a strong finish!  We hope for it to be the Lincoln and Michael show this week as we look for them to go out and crush it at practice and have a great finish to their seasons.

Closing in!
​Patient progress in this sport, that's what leads to bigger performances.  Coming off a big team win at Grant Park, the team finished 4th, knocking off 16th ranked Slinger, and in striking distance of 2nd.  Coaches will talk more to the dudes at the Monday meeting, but families can check out the results workbook notes too for some other high level team notes.  The guys get the guts of the information!  We love the build of our squad and are in an awesome spot.

Elijah battled a bit on Saturday and held on to finish 6th for the team.  It was a good display of racing where you are at!  He wanted to be up a bit further but still battled to finish high up in the race for the team.  True long term studs take time to develop, and he's done a great job finishing top 10 in every race so far.  Following close behind were some more developing studs.  John Gruichich who passed 19 guys the second mile then held on great the third mile finished as the second man this week.  Ethan Plier was next up passing 7 guys and a net positive 3 spots up through the race as well.  The last two weeks we have been developing Ethan and John's racing strategies and it has been awesome to see them learning and executing, we know there's a lot more there too just with current fitness alone, which is extremely exciting for them and the team. 

Kai Bruner in his second varsity race back battled really well and is determined, telling coaches he knows he can be a sub 17 contributor.  We know that as well and that will be quite the nice scoring five to have.  Joseph battled through being sick and ran a personal best to finish as our number 5 scorer.  Let's get him healthy and feeling good and he has potential to run with those guys as well as he continues to learn.  Nate Hutter continues to rebound from Betz and will next develop speed over the next six weeks to sustain the fast early paces we set out to have!  Eric Harvey is ready to bounce back after this week and will be super motivated to accel up front in practices and take some more chances with our top group.

Our medalists Eijah, and John from the varsity Race.  Koda Bruner from the emerging varsity race with three straight top 7 finishes.  He will get his first varsity opportunity Saturday.

​2023 Results Workbook

Laser Invitational Information

The men have the early races this weekend!

See the information below for bus information, race times and lineups.  Also this week, please click on the information from the hosts!  This meet is at Naga-Waukee Park which is a Waukesha County Park and charges a parking fee if you park in the park area.  

Team Information and Lineups

This is a unique meet with a split varsity race.  We will be racing 8 on varsity this week, with 4 in each race.  

The Vahovick's are hosting pasta this Friday!  12465 W Euclid Ave

Looking Ahead to the week after

Monday, September 25th - Lakefront Run -
There is no school on this day and we are going to practice for EVERYONE at 1:30 p.m. at Hale.  This is our annual lakefront run so it will be a bit longer practice, expect to be done around 4:00/4:30 p.m.  We will have staggered starts (some will run whole length to lake, while others will be dropped off closer) and run as packs down to Lake Michigan.  We will drive them back after, some like to get ice cream/food at Oscar's after the run as optional thing so bring some money if you are interested in doing so after the run.

New families - how the season rolls from here-
The team has an off weekend of racing on the week of the 25th, and will have off Saturday/Sunday the 29th and 30th, for anyone making plans!  The next competition will then be Thursday, October 5th at Mccarty Park.  Anyone not making the sectional roster as competitors or alternates, the last competition this year for those guys will be at the Conference meet.  We will not be attending the Grant Park JV meet.  We want our young guys to have their best performances at conference!  Then seven guys plus an additional three alternates or so will continue on to race at sectionals and state the following two weeks after conference.

Druckery Recap

The varsity team won the invitational in convincing fashion, while the emerging varsity finished runner up!  A great weekend for the team.

For the past week's focus, we looked to execute some better racing strategy and we did really well being patient earlier and focusing on racing and passing guys.  Pack running and moving up in races will continue to be an emphasis toward progress and success for the squad.  

The first race set a great tone, with our guys moving up spots the whole race!  Koda Bruner took the lead at about the 1.5 mile mark and never looked back en route to his first career high school cross country victory!  That's three out of our last four meets where a Bruner has claimed an individual title.  Preston Plier moved from 4th at the 2 mile mark up to 2nd by the finish to help the men go 1st and 2nd.  Brody Kaminski moved up steadily throughout the 5k to finish 7th overall.  Our four through seven men improved, closing the gap as well with many moving up and running their best race of the season.  Iker and Joel got out much faster, helping them run some great races!

The varsity race set up really well, with the team staying patient and together at the mile and through the 2 mile mark.  Putting five scorers in the top 22 helped us secure our first win at this invitational since the year 2000!  It is great having some young guys make an impact in their first seasons, with Joseph Ventura scoring as the fifth man.  These young men will certainly give a boost to the team and help us in championship season.  On an individual level, it's important to use the team as strength to keep it fun and know that the guys are family.  So if it wasn't a perfect race, it was definitely a great day and it would be boring if there was nothing to improve on from here!

This was by far our best race as a team so far, and this week it will be important focus on competing as we head to our sectional course!  Let's keep progressing and focusing on each other, everything else is distraction.  There's no rush to anything, just get better each day.  Where we are is where we are supposed to be, exciting times!

​2023 Results Workbook

Muskego Invite

We will have a sectional preview this weekend on one of our favorite courses.  For those new to the team, the sectional is the state qualifying meet held in late October where the top two teams and next five individuals not on those teams advance to the state meet in Wisconsin Rapids!  

Click here for the meet information this week.

The Stullers are hosting pasta this Friday after practice!  Thank you,
Address: 12765 W. Brentwood Dr.

Quick Note
As a note for families, the guys are expected to take the bus to and from the meets.  I know this week we had a lot of guys looking to leave from the meet.  Taking the bus is not just a school rule, but also important for keeping the team together.  If there is an emergency or important reason that they have to leave from the meet please communicate in advance and they need to fill out a release form, but this should be a very rare occurrence.  Athletes in the program are always expected to be at the entire meet, all races, and the awards.  We missed a few guys in the team photo too when they didn't stick by the team, so it is very important!