Hey Everyone,

So here we go.  A lot of info for a busy week ahead.  Please read over carefully.  I will be delayed on my blog write up as a result of planning this along with workouts for the men this week (and trick or treating with the niece! :) ).

We want to stress continued focus on sleep and good nutrition this week.  8 hours minimum and 9-9.5 preferred especially post-workout days.  We want to perform well at state so we will continue to be process focused.  Oh, and DRESS WARM THIS WEEK!!!! HATS GLOVES LONG SLEEVES. 

I'd like all men at our Monday meeting, and feel free to stay and run we will be doing a broken tempo.  Men who contribute positively are welcome to run with the guys this week.  Our next team dates will be the team banquet on November 12th.  I'll meet with the guys for 1x1's and a short team meeting for winter running and will communicate with them on that starting next week.

1.  The men will race at 2:35 p.m. this Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids at the Ridges Golf Course.  Please see the linked parking info, you must take a shuttle from the high school and it costs 8 dollars per person.  These are efficient and run all day.

There's a lot of info in this link actually, probably more than you need.

https://www.wiaawi.org/Portals/0/PDF/Sports/Cross_Country/2019/State%20Meet%20Info.pdf?ver=2019-10-24-155250-707  

2.  We are staying at the Country Inn and Suites Hotel at Stevens Point.  The phone number is 715-345-7000.

Please see the linked itinerary.  We are taking 10 men up and all meals expenses paid for them. However, they should bring cash for miscellaneous expenses and maybe snacks etc. along the way.  

Team Itinerary 

3.  Please pack normal breakfast/lunch for Saturday race.  We will keep things normal as we race at 2:35 p.m.  Eat smart.  There's a breakfast at the hotel we can have but then a small sandwich or lunch would be smart, whatever you have usually.  I will buy any guys specific items they need to keep it normal, I will ask them what they need and can help out with anything with team funds.  This week, I will hand out a form to the guys to fill out on any needs to keep it normal.

4.  STATE GEAR!  I know parents and kids love this.  The gear can be ordered ONLINE and easily picked up the day of the race.   The hats are pretty sick.  Here's the direct link so you don't have to type it in.

https://wiaastateccmeet.itemorder.com/sale  

Click here for more information on picking up and costs of gear if you need the info.

5.  No pets.  Sorry Yeli :(

6.  Fan Transportation to Rapids:
Below is a document if those driving up Saturday could share if they'd be willing to drive any men up to watch the team compete.  This will give me an idea of who can help, and I'd reach out once I find out how many guys are interested if you'd be needed.

Team fan bus drivers:

Click Here if you can drive 

Weekly Recap

Full photos from James Kees here!  GMC Conference
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We came off a nice performance at Viking and carried that momentum into this last week.  The culture at practices has been great, with every guy pursuing excellence and growing our front pack.  Some great character being shown.  The evolution of selflessness and running for each other has been the theme since the start of summer, and it continues to build and help our team run well.  

We trust and believe every guy on our team can be the best man out there every race day.  We're all progressing and have no limits.  Last week, one of our men who had a big breakthrough at Viking got sick and thus we decided it was best to rest him at conference and have him ready for sectionals.  For some teams, this may have been a setback, but for our men we know it's a team effort.  We have had many meets this season where different guys have scored or had to fill scoring roles with someone or multiple people being out of the lineup.  Those experiences help build every man's confidence that they can step up and score.  And even if not scoring, they know the power of racing to their best and how that raises the level of everyone on the team.  It's about US and not ME.  Soft roads create soft people.  While we don't want obstacles, we need them to become our best.  These men have been incredible in the ways they have used each one this season as fuel to improvement.  We let nothing limit us and continue to control only what we can.  Every man on this team is capable of greatness.

Men in the first race got out very well and put themselves in a position to compete well.  Alex White had a great performance, attacking, racing fearless and racing to win.  He got out to the lead early and stayed up front most the way.  At about 2.5 miles, a pack of 5 passed him, but he responded short after (and upon seeing his teammates cheering him on) by immediately passing that entire group and getting back into 2nd place in his pursuit of first!  He ended up 3rd overall against great competition.  He set an example of responding and making a move (although it may not feel great!) to pass the guys right ahead of him.  We have to be willing to take that chance, create some discomfort to pass guys and you'll always get momentum and strength from it!  Last note on this one here is Alex ran 5:38 in the 1600 this spring, and held 5:45 pace in his 5k this past weekend!  In running careers, it's not about where you start.

Brennan and Carson formed a solid 2/3 combo with Brennan running a career best as well and Carson with another consistent performance.  Three men under 18:20 in the first race showed the continued improvement of depth and the team concept.  Frank Bevsek stepped up to be our 4th man and had his personal best race as well on a day where a couple of our past scorers were a bit further back than last week.  Nick Burgess rounded out the scoring.  11 of our 15 men in the first race ran career bests!  I was especially pumped with Tyler Koney getting more out of his comfort zone and helping pull his teammate's Jordan and Kyle to some great performances as well!  

The varsity men were up next.  6 men toed the line with the confidence that all 6 were all conference level runners whether it showed on the day or not.  Liam got out like he does and cleared himself well of the pack.  He did his job well, ending up 16th for 2nd team all conference honors for the second straight year.  Our other 5 got out a bit too calmly and got caught up behind early on the narrow course.  Two guys from other teams broke away early and Joshua was way back even at the mile.  We know he would have been neck and neck with the leader with a better start, but we are more preparing for next week and to watch him make up the ground he did in the last two miles is a testament to his strength and ability.  He's ready to roll and just keep improving.  Our pack was able to move up a lot as well and got us in a better position as a team.  Collin raced a lot more aggressive and helped our 4 and 5 continue to get closer to our top 3.  We look for continued aggressiveness from all 7 of our guys who will go out smart and set the tone from the gun next Saturday.  If you look at the team standings, it was very close.  We were in a position to take 3rd overall with just some slight adjustments early, so we know we're in a good spot and are glad we have more to go after.  We learn each race and are fueled for much more this coming week!

I'm incredibly proud of the team culture and this group.  I love watching them and seeing them every day!  A huge shout out to the top 3 men at conference all running under 15:32 and the top 3 times in the state.  The old conference record was 15:30.  It was so fun to watch all of them and see other competition push each other to new heights!

Much love for all the men, a lot more write ups to come as I continue to work on our season book.  Keep supporting and loving each other, it's been so much fun to see this group of men grow.

We look to be full strength and have another great week this week.  We will continue our focus on building and loving one another.  Total selflessness as we hit the line the next two weeks.  Business as usual, always just improving, learning and growing.  There are no limits.

This Week

Be sure to read over the sectional info on parking and some rules they don't enforce all year but now they do.  Big things are no electronics on the course (including use of cell phones) and no dogs.  We can obviously take photos and all that at awards but we will just be respectful of the rules as they ask per the WIAA.  

Sectionals  Meet Info

Lineups are tough this time of year as we have said, a lot of guys are contributing.  We believe in all the guys and the 7 we have going to the line this Saturday.   The 3 alternates are very important as are ALL members of the team.  We will all be at both meets this week to support some huge performances.  Guys not racing Saturday will do a run together and then be out on the course and well behaved for positive performances from the guys racing.  Together we will make history in the program.

Hale Meet Info for both meets

Friday's practice I'm currently planning to have at 11:30 a.m. and is only required for the 7 guys competing and the 3 alternates.   Others are welcome to come and bring positive energy, just as all men will be welcome next week to train the entire week with the team.  Only be there to live the standards and max effort if you plan to join.

Pasta Dinners

Wednesday's pasta party will be for guy's racing on Thursday only.  Guy's racing Saturday should be using that extra day for sleep and homework.  Guys racing too it's a school night so plan ahead and take care of business to finish on a huge performance Thursday.  Thanks to Jaylon for hosting!

Jaylon's address is, 4151 S 104th St, Greenfield, WI 

Friday's pasta party will be open invite to all guys since it is Friday.  It will be a low key probably watching a movie together.   It's an off day at school so plan for 5:00 p.m.!  Thanks Joshua for hosting!

Joshua's address is, 2113 S. 98th St., West Allis

I want to be a bit smarter at these.  Have fun but let's be sure to not be running around too much.

Team Banquet Reminder

As emailed last week, a reminder our team banquet is Tuesday, November 12th at 6:00 p.m.  We plan to do a potluck again, don't feel obligated to bring anything and a big thank you to all of you for your support of the program in many ways.  

Potluck Sign up

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Weekly Recap

Monday was a gorgeous day, and we were able to get the entire squad out to a 2 mile gravel loop in Wauwatosa for our tempo workout.  The guys brought some solid intensity, especially the group up front.  That day created a good energy among the men.  The runs the following two days were very up tempo pace, and guys are starting to feed off one another's energy.  Our selfless development is really coming to fruition and it's creating some powerful moments and very fun practices and races!

That team energy carried into the invitational on Thursday at Mccarty Park.  On a beautiful day to race, the first race kicked us off in a big way.  As a team, we look to learn and improve each day, and with each race.  We many times have intentional focus for each race as we build toward a complete race during the end of the season.  The men executed this week's race plan very well.

Alex White ran patient early with Carson, and really hit the pedal at the mile to finish in a huge personal best time of 18:12 en route to a 13th place finish.  Carson fueled by his teammate, was close behind in 18th place.  In our post race meeting on Friday, the men got to share about their teammates and how they fueled each other, and many referenced the effect these two had on raising the level of the varsity guys in the second race.  This is why I say it so often, every man makes such an impact on the whole.  So all those days you avoid excuses, and bring max effort, and many times overcome pains or illness, those are the days that your teammates improve.  That's why our individual efforts are so important, because no matter what kind of day you have, if you're following our team standards and driving with every ounce of energy you have to suffer for your teammates, you are providing a huge impact to the success.

Joey Elliott finally shakes off an old personal best set at the (short course) Chocolate City a few years back.  He now has a legit 5k personal best that crushed his old Chocolate City time.  He looked phenomenal finishing as our 4th man, and it was the the last time he will cross the finish in the Hale uniform.  Joey brings maximum effort and a positive quiet leadership to the group.  He's also one of the best musicians in the state, playing as a co-principal violist in the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and is part of the WSMA all-state orchestra.  He's also the student leader of the school orchestra.  His music career is sure to be fun to watch and he's done a great job committing to our role.  With his amazing talents, he will unfortunately miss his last invitational due to state competition, but he will be with the team the rest of the way helping other men step up and fill his scoring role!  

We had a nice run of all time bests for the rest of that crew.  I told Robert Petrovick he'd break 20 minutes this week, and he did that with plenty of room to spare.  Starting points in this sport, whether you are running 17, 20, 23, or 26 minutes your first year, really mean nothing.  All of the most successful runners build off wherever they start and commit to getting better.  Robert is beginning that phase with a nice breakout season, and if he commits to some daily off season work, he can be a big contributor!  Nathan Bentti earned blood and guts honors for stepping it up all week and coming away with a huge breakthrough race.  He asked me if he could move up a group, and by the way the answer to that is always - YES!  He came in Saturday morning and ran with our top group.  Confidence is contagious, keep believing and remember you all have no limits.

Chase Witty had another personal best and has shown flashes of even a bigger breakthrough these last two weeks.  He can definitely join the guys in the teens and also is a guy that can be a big contributor as he grows in mental confidence.  Tucker Sander is starting to figure out racing more and more and will keep moving up, along with Kyle Steele who was close on his heels.  It was great to have Kyle finish smiling with a personal best after having to drop out of the Lourdes Invite with a foot issue.  

The second race showed our patient progress as well.  Joshua Truchon has been a joy to watch and shows amazing intuition and knowledge when racing.  He understands his body well and ran a very smooth race finishing in 15:41 well ahead of 2nd.  The coolest moment was when I saw him after the race.  He came jumping up and down to greet me saying how awesome it was to have his teammates coming in right after him.  That gave me goosebumps as it reinforced the power of the team.  It was great to see Liam back racing up front along with his teammate Cole Orlowski, finishing in a solid 10th and 11th in a tightly packed group.  Those 3 are really fun to watch.

Also fun to watch will be that whole group we have that can fill scoring roles.  Joseph Hertel had a solid race as our 4th man, and with improving health and back to his old self, we know he has the ability to really move up these next 3 weeks.  Cole Konczal had a rough first mile that affected his placing, and will improve on that in the coming week being out more confident and racing fearless.  Keesy and Raschka have the firepower and are gaining confidence in their ability to really produce.  Brennan is fit as can be and will overcome some calf issues to a big finish as well.  Having a group of 10 men up front, all with untapped ability, makes these last few weeks very fun.  I expect to see all of them helping one another, suffering together and living a selfless lifestyle.  Together, this whole group is amazing. 

They understand that how we progress works, but none are settled or content.  We preach no limits and mean it.  We run loose and get after it daily.  The men will keep having fun, taking care of each day and surrendering the results.  We are fearless and running with love.

One last note, we had the pleasure of having Thomas Breitbach join us for practice Saturday morning!  He coaches Coach Dewitt along with 19 other professional individuals.  Along with that, he's now the assistant women's coach at UW Madison.  He shared some amazing life advice that I hope many guys took inspiration from.  Thank you Thomas for joining us!!

This week

Our team banquet will be on Tuesday, November 12th at 6:00 p.m.  All guys should be there!  Family and friends should come celebrate and keep progressing the program.  

We will do a potluck again, thanks for anyone willing to contribute.  Don't feel obligated!
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Potluck Sign up


​The week is mostly normal for practices.  I will again post the workouts in the locker room.  We expect every guy in the program to live our standards and commit to being great.  The coaches don't settle for average, this group of teenagers is way too powerful to settle for anything less than our best.  Each day is an absolute joy, I never take for granted this group and neither should any of you guys.  What a special sport and special collection of young men.  Make the best of each day!

The pasta dinner this week is at Braeden's on Friday!  His address 12021 W. Ohio Avenue.  Thank you to all the parents who have hosted and to those that will host.  Also thank you to helping support us and our high standards for this program and these men.  It's what sets us apart and is creating one of the best team's in the state, both in running and environment.

Saturday is the GMC Meet.  I flippin' love this conference.  I love going against great athletes and competing with the best.  Our men are ready to compete at a very high level and will focus on our builds and standards.  The link to the meet info sent by the host is in our dates link click below.  There's also info for the JV meet, sectionals and state.  

Meet Info 

Team Info/Bus Time

Continue to bundle up, and have dry clothes in case of rain.  Eat healthy and get consistent sleep, both will help a ton these next couple weeks.  Trust in our training, let loose and know all we need to do is give our best.  The rest will take care of itself.
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Make it an amazing day!