REVIEW: League Finals 2011 were certainly an adventure and a big challenge for our team. Weather conditions varied from race to race (light rain to heavy rain to no rain). At the end of the day though, our athletes enjoyed tremendous success: Four team league championships (F/S boys, JV girls, Varsity boys, varsity girls), two second place team finishes (JV boys, F/S girls), two individual league championships and (Dragan Simic for the varsity boys and Molly Babcock for the varsity girls) and three individual second palce finishers (BenCrellin in boys JV, Erin Oefelein in girls JV and Justin Park in boys F/S), 73 athletes registered new PR times, 9 boys ran varsity times, 16 girls ran varsity times (including 9th graders Katie Peterson and Emilie Birchler), and two varsity team-time school records. The double varsity team titles were only the second ever in Woodbridge history.

Our varsity boys ran 76:03 (broke the previous record by about 1 minute) compared to 78:00 last year and 77:20 the first PCL meet this year. Our boys turned in the #2, 3 and 8 all time fastest individual times.

Our girls' varsity ran 86:28 (breaking the school record by about 50 seconds) compared to 89:56 (league champions) last year and 88:51 the first PCL this year. Our girls turned in the # 2, 3 and 10 all time fastest individual times.

Even though we fell short of winning all six team titles, it was a great meet for our team. It was a fitting end to such an outstanding season. When you look at the times our athletes achieved (even under these conditions) and the improvement from last year to this year (for our returning athletes) or from the start of the season to the end (for our beginning athletes) we all get be proud of these young adults for their work ethic, their courage to try scary things and their mental toughness in pressure meets. This season ranks as one of the best, if not the best, in our long history of successful teams at Woodbridge.

ATHLETES OF THE MEET: Dragan Simic and Molly Babcock (both league champions, both # 2 all-time at WHS). Katie Peterson and Jonah Bonner (missed varsity letter by 3 seconds) turned in “rookie of the meet” efforts. Adar Karny, Justin Larios, Erin Oefelein, Paco Gilbert, Darius Chriss, James Harcastle, Avash Monajemi, Tyler Cowls, Bryant Nguyen, Ben Robinson, Bobby King we some of the most notable “most improved” runners for the meet.

WEEK’S SCHEDULE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. CIF – SS Prelims on Saturday at Mt. Sac College in Walnut (WHS to 5 north to 57 north and exit at Grant (where the 60 and the 57 meet). Turns left on Grant and go to Temple and turn right. Park in one of the lots (there is a parking fee) and walk down to the stadium. Bring your school ID to save on the entry.

2. The bus will leave at 10:50.

3. The boys will run at 12:59 in D 2 Heat 2. Top 4 teams from the heat advance to the CIF finals.

4. The girls run at 3:55 in D 2 heat 4. Top 4 teams from that heat advance to the finals

5. Uniforms are to be turned in on Monday and Tuesday. If the family wants to wash them, please keep in mind they need to be washed in cold water without bleach and dried at very cool temperatures.

6. Be sure that you reserve December 5, 2011 for our awards banquet. The banquet is always a very fun affair and a most memorable way to bring our season to a close.

7. If you will be joining other sports teams for the winter quarter, be sure that you give me a note from the coach of the sport. Stay in shape by joining us whenever you have the chance and we will see you in track.

8. Our next team race will be the 5K on January 7, 2012 at our Half Marathon event. This is a very fun way to start the preparation for the track season and to also help raise funds for our team and the athletic department for our school. We will need the families to help out in the following ways:

a. Each family recruits 3-5 neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, etc to walk or run this race.

b. We will need to provide 10 adults to supervise volunteers from other high schools that help with our race.

c. Our sport needs to identify businesses that would purchase a mile marker sponsorship for the race. We prepare a great looking sign with the company name, logo and graphics and we place it on the course where 6,000+ runners will see it. It is a great way for companies to promote themselves while giving to the community.


Congratulations on your season and thanks again for the thrills.


Coach Varvas

Cross Country Newsletter (10-28-2011)

REVIEW: Pacific Coast League Cluster # 2 was a most exciting and successful meet for the Warrior Harrier Squad. 73 of our athletes ran season best times. Both the boys and the girls ran school record times. Woodbridge finished first in 5 of the 6 team races (we took 2nd in the G F/S). For the team league championship competition, Woodbridge is in the lead in 5 of the 6 divisions (we are still 1 pt behind in the boys JV).

Our boys ran a school record 77:06 (school record) compared to 77:07 in ’10. The boys are in first place in the league standing as we head ot the league finals. This pretty much assures Woodbridge a share of the league title. Something very tragic has to happen for us not to have part of the title. Sharing league title though is like “kissing your sister” Yuk!!!! 

Our girls ran 87:15 (school record) compared to 89:07 in ‘10. The girls are in the same position as the boys in terms of the league title.

Our Lower Level Teams performed very well also.
a. Our JV boys moved from 4th to 2nd in the league standing (1 point behind Irvine) with their win,
b. Our JV girls moved from 2nd to tie for first with their defeat of CDM, The league title will be decided at the league finals.
c. Our frosh/soph boys’ team is leading the league and are in the same situation as the boys’ varsity for the league title.
d. Our frosh/soph girls are tied with CDM so the league title will be decide in the league meet.

Individually, we had Ben Crellin win the JV boys race, Ana-Paola Lavaega win the girl’s JV race, Dragan Simic win the Varsity boys’ race and Molly Babcock win the girls’ varsity race.

ATHLETES OF THE MEET: Daniel Toberty had a super strong finish to move into the 4th scoring position for our team while also pulling Chris past Uni’s 5th runner. Ana Paola Laveaga ran a super 19:28 varsity time to 1st in the JV race and help WHS pull off the upset of CDM and move our team into first place tie. Justin Larios and Adar Karny (both improved to under 17:00) and Katie Peterson (barely over the varsity letter time) and Lauren Chen (varsity letter) were the improved standouts. Jessica Lester and Neil Mendlekern headed the rookie honors.
WEEK’S SCHEDULE

Saturday Practice as announced at our practice.

LEAGUE FINALS MEET at Irvine Regional Park on Friday. WHS to Jamboree and right. This road dead ends at the Irvine Regional Park entrance. Just be careful what lane you are in as you cross Chapman(stay on the right lane after Chapman). It will cost to park.
a. RACE SCHEDULE: JV Boys 1:00 p.m. JV Girls 1:30 p.m.
Frosh/ Soph Boys 2:00 p.m. Frosh/Soph Girls 2:30 p.m.
Varsity Boys 3:00 p.m. Varsity Girls 3:30 p.m.
b. The buses will leave at 11:30 and you will be dismissed at the end of 3rd. This means that you need to be dressed for the meet at home as you will miss 4th and 5th period classes. Be sure that you have all assignments in these classes prepared and that you turn in any assignments that will be collected from the other students in your class. Eat lunch at snack.

c. Our teams have a lot at stake at this meet. We can pull off a sweep of the league titles. Only once in the history of our school has Cross Country won all six league title in the same year. We have the chance to be the second ever to do that. Each of our six teams has the talent and the heart to go into the league finals and win their respected races. I am pretty sure we have the winning character as a team to accomplish this rare goal.

d. This course is as fast as the WHS Invitational and the Mason Park courses and with focused and determined efforts we should run our fastest times of the year. Good luck to all!

e. Uniforms (except for the CIF athletes) must be brought to school on Monday and turned in at that time in the equipment room during 6th period. Remember to place them in a bag with your name on the outside. Lost uniforms must be paid for in order to receive and grade and credits in the class for the quarter grades coming up.

I cannot believe that our season is over this week for the majority of our athletes. I have enjoyed watching each of you mature in cross country. The sport is very tough and you have demonstrated the toughness and character needed to conquer this tough sport. I hope that each of you enjoyed and valued your participation on our team and that you want to help our teams do well in the future years, maintain good fitness and improve as runners. Many of you will compete on the varsity teams in future years. Remember that it takes time to develop the endurance and strength to run at your potential. One year is too short to realize your total potential.
I will expect all of you to join us for track in the spring and if you do not have a winter sport, you will remain in 6th period off-season track. Track will offer another great opportunity for improving your speed, competing in meets, improving as distance runners and enjoy new teammates in high school sports.
Now is the time to also do some recruiting for new distance and track & field athletes. We will have about 3 months to have these athletes ready for competition. Some athletes wanted to join our distance team when cross country started but that was not enough time to get them ready for racing. However, these next few months will give us enough time to introduce new athletes to distance running and slowly build up their miles (as we did with all of you in the summer months). Please help your distance team grow and progress to higher and higher levels by encouraging your friends that are not in sports or do not have a sport in the spring to join our distance team and participate in track in the spring.
It has been a fun year for Woodbridge Cross Country. We have accomplished a lot. Both the boys and the girls have competed well and have improved over the season. All of our teams have the chance to be league champions. We have excellent varsity athletes on the varsity teams and are stock-piling many more athletes that can be on the varsity teams in the near future (like next year). Our returning athletes have shown tremendous improvement from last year, our new athletes have progressed excellently and they have registered some impressive marks, we enjoyed a wonderful Mammoth trip and we had fun in Hawaii (even if it is a dump  ). I am looking forward to a more competitive team next year as well as another special Mammoth Camp. It should be a very special and fun 2012 season for you.
As our varsity teams progress through the post season competitions (CIF-SS and CA State Championships), check our web page for news and results and plan to attend these meets to cheer the teams on. We will be training as usual during 6th period in our preparation for the January 7 5K run that our school puts on.
For the 5K and Half Marathon race in January, we will ask that each family recruits 3-5 neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc, to participate in the event. They can walk, jog or race the 5K. This is a great Woodbridge event that puts Woodbridge on the map and raises lots of money for the school’s athletic programs. Each family can help in this venture by recruiting people to walk, jog or race the 5K or the half marathon or by securing food sponsors, mile marker sponsors or cash sponsors. Let us know if a family has contacts in any of the areas mentioned. Our race committee will do the rest.
Thanks again for a most enjoyable season and best wishes for a great league Finals Meet.

Cross Country Newsletter (10-23-11)

REVIEW: We competed in the Jaguar Invitational in the SD County against some of the best programs in the San Diego section ( Mt Carmel, University City , Clairemont, etc.), and we came away with some pretty good results. This is another indication of the strength of our program when you compare us against the whole State. We must keep in mind though that we do not just want to be better than the majority of the other programs, we want to be the very best. We attend this meet to prepare for the hills that is traditional at the league finals and especially at the CIF championship meets. We were not disappointed. The hills were challenging. The boys’ course was longer than the standard Cross Country course (3.1 miles), and the girls’ course was shorter than a regular cross country course (2.6 miles).

The boys varsity, lead by Dragan Simic, finished 2nd in their race (Mt Carmel beat us this year again but we defeated Mater Dei again). The boys JV team (led by Ben Crellin) took second in the race, the boys’ Frosh/Soph team (led by Rafael Lara) took first in the race, the Varsity girls team (led by Molly Babcock) finished 1st in their race (2nd year in-a-row at this meet) and the girls’ frosh/soph JV combo led by Hannah O’Connor) finished 1st in the race .

The boys ran 85:02 compared to 84:09 (cool weather though) in ’10 and 87:21 in ’09, 86:16 in ’08, 87:51 in ’07 and 89:24 in ’06. Dragan Simic placed first in the race and had the best time of all the boys in the meet.

The girls ran 80:26 compare to 81:23 (again cool weather) in ’10 and 87:21 in ’09, 85:44 in ’08, 85:27 in ’07 and 83:19 in ’06. Molly Babcock placed first in the race and posted the fastest time of any girl in the meet.

Our lower level athletes performed well also. It is very exciting to project what these athletes will be running in future years. We have so many talented frosh and soph runners that deciding the varsity team will be extremely difficult down the line. It is tough now but it will get tougher in future years. Keep up the great improvement.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Ben Crellin turned some heads as he turned in the 6th best time for the obys team. We hope that Ben is regaining his drive and varsity form from last year to help strengthen the important back end of our boys’ team. Hannah O’Connor had a strong finish to lead our girls f/s to another first place finish. She can play a huge role on our varsity team if she can continue to stay strong at the end of her races. Lauren Chen and Darius Chriss turned in the most improved performances and Rafael Lara and Kaatie Peterson turned in excellent “rookies of the meet” performances.

Week’s Schedule

I. SECOND LEAGUE MEET on THURSDAY AT MASON PARK (WHS è Culver and left turn è University Drive and right turn. Make the first left turn into the park.

a. The bus leaves at 1:30 and you will be dismissed from your 5th period class. Please dress at lunch time so that you can get to the bus on time. Tell your 5th period teacher that you will be leaving for the meet before then. Get your assignment for the day ahead of time.

b. The schedule of races is : JV boys (3:00), JV girls (3:30), Varsity Boys (4:00) , Var Girls (4:30), frosh/soph boys (5:00) and frosh/soph girls (5:30).


c. For the boys: Uni will be running on their own course and will have their team at full strength for the first time in 3 weeks. Beckman and CDM, will be pushing to get in the CIF qualifying position. Our boys are capable of coming up with strong performances from our 4-7 runners to secure the league title for the 2011 season. They have not all run outstanding races in the same meet. We simply need to do that. All of these boys have unbelievable talent. We just need to run mentally tough and not bail out in the middle of the race.

d. For the girls: CDM and Northwood will be very strong again. Both of these teams ran well at Mt Sac. We are a better team than both of these squads. However, we need to keep improving each time we get on the course. We are a better team now than we were at the last league meet. If the other teams improved more than we did, then it will be even closer this time around. We simply need to keep getting stronger and stronger in our races and we need the 3-7 runners to close the gap between them selves. Potentially, we can have our scoring 5 athletes in the top 9 in the race. This will assure us of highest finish in the meet and secure the league title for 2011.

e. Practice on Saturday will be at 9:00 a.m. An unexcused miss of this practice will result in not participating in the league finals.

II. Bring sweats to all of our practices at this time of the season (the sun goes down earlier and the temperature drops quickly at the end of our practices), keep following the nutrition suggestions we have made, do not share your water/drink bottles (sick-season is upon us), keep hydrating, do homework at lunch and tutorial so that you do not go to bed early, keep up with your 50 push ups a day and 150 sit ups a day.


a. League Finals are on Friday, November 4, 2011 starting at 1:00 p.m.

Enjoy these last weeks of the regular season!

“The race does not go to the swift but to those that persevere”

Cross Country Newsletter (10 – 16 – 11)

REVIEW: First off, I would like to express my appreciation to our athletes (for the hard work they have put in for the season thus far and for believing in the things our coaches have asked them to do), to our coaches (for the tireless commitment to each athlete on the team) and to our parents (for all the help with the extras associated with our program) and for the successful season we are enjoying thus far. It is a privilege to be associated with such a special group of people. Saturday was a perfect example of how all these elements were at their best. Our athletes keep up performing well (even if not at 100%), our coaches ran all over the place to help our athletes and our parents did a terrific job encouraging our athletes and with our picnic (and of course our softball game which ended in a tie and the adults won on the tie-breaker). :-)

O. C. is a very strong cross country area and our teams performed well once again at the meet. Our teams earned trophies in 5 of the 7 races: frosh boys- first, f/s girls 2nd, JV girls 2nd, JV boys 2nd and Var girls 3rd.

Our boys finished 6th in the sweeps race (we were 10th in ’10, 6th in ’09, 7th in ‘08 and 10th in ’07 and ’06; 19th in ’05, 22nd in ’04 and 31st in ‘03). We ran 78:51 (our fastest time ever at the O. C. meet) and we finished ahead of all the other league schools. We ran 79:23 in ’10, 80:22 in ’09, 79:26 in ’08, 80:37 in ’06 82:24 in ‘05, 82:23 in ’04, 85:57 in ’03 and 83:54 in ’02;.

Our girls finished 3rd in the sweepstakes race and ran 90:44 (our fastest time ever at OC, 4 seconds off the fastest team time of the day and 13 points off first place). With a little more luck (all our runners healthy), we win the County easily. We ran 92:06 in ’10 and 97:51 in ’09, 97:29 in ’08, 91:27 in ’06, 93:08 in ’05, 95:14 in ’04, 96:12 in ’03, 94:55 ’02, 93:53 ’01, 95:16 ’00 and 92:49 ’99.

Individually, Molly Babcock was the 3rd fastest girl in the County and Coco Evans was the 8th fastest. (both were first team All county) while Annie Chan 23rd and Alyssa Gutcher was 34th. Dragan Simic was 13th in the County, Brandon Ferguson was 32nd and Jackson Marshall was 40th (3rd best sophomore in the County also).

A meet of this level can obscure a team’s performance and maybe minimize our accomplishments. The results were among the best we have enjoyed in the County meet. On top of that, the meet was so valuable in our preparation for the future championship meets (League meets, CIF, State). We can talk about how to handle the crowded race conditions and how to focus mentally during the race but until we actually experience these conditions, it is difficult to get used to them. I was pleased with how most of our athletes performed on the second half of the races. Even though we got stuck behind a lot of runners with our slow starts, we gained a lot of ground during the second part of the race. I saw a lot of courage and determination in our athletes at the last part of the races.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Jackson Marshall ran his best race ever (even if he did get caught behind a bunch of runners at the start of the race) to help the boys finish in the number six spot in the County. Alyssa Gutcher ran a terrific second part of the race (improved by about 1 minute from last year) as she and Annie Chan charged from way back. Most improved were: Neil Mandelkern registered a nice PR as he approaches the sub 20 time and Kyle Oefelein who improved by over 1:30 from last year. Rookie of the meet performances were turned in by Katie Peterson and Kevin Pinera among others.

WEEK’S SCHEDULE

1. Jacquar Invitational at Kit Carson in Escondido on Friday, October 21, 2011 (WHS to 405 South to 5 S to Vista Way Exit (# 51B) and merge onto 78 E to 15 S to Via Rancho Parkway exit. Turn right on W. Via Rancho Pkwy. This street becomes Bear Valley Pkwy South. You should see the Park on the left)

2. We will have a bus for this meet. It will leave at 11:00 a.m. You will be dismissed at 11:00 Come dressed for the meet from home and hurry out to the bus. Bring your lunch and drink to have on the bus. Be sure to go to your 5th period class tutorial on Thursday to get what you will miss on Friday.

3. Schedule 2:00 Large School Division JV Boys 11-12
2:25 Large School Division JV Girls
2:50 Large School Division F/S Boys 9-10
3:15 Large School Division Varsity Girls
3:40 Large School Division Varsity Boys

4. We will have the opportunity to compete on a hilly course against schools mainly from the San Diego County (Mater Dei will be there again this year I would think). The hills on this course will help us prepare for the CIF prelims at Mt Sac. It should turn out to be a fun meet. We should be back around 7:30 or so.

5. Future dates to remember

· League Meet # 2 next Thursday (10-27) at Mason Park
· Saturday (10-29) workout for the League Finals at 7:00 a.m.
· League Finals are on Friday, November 4, at Irvine Park at 1:00 p.m.

6. I hesitate to bring the bus donation up again but for us to have buses, we still need a little more help. Thanks for understanding.

*** You have to risk failing in order to accomplish great successes.
*** “To give anything less than your best is to waste the gift”

Cross country Newsletter (10-6 - 11)

SUMMARY: What a terrific performance for our team at the First League Meet for 2011. Both the teams as well as the individuals enjoyed one of those memorable days. 77 of our athletes achieved season best marks.

Some of the high lights included:

1. Dragan Simic turned in the 2nd best time ever by a Warrior runner (14:43), Brandon Ferguson turned in the 7th best time ever by a Woodbridge athlete (15:10), Jackson Marshall (15:22) turned in the 10th best time ever by a Warrior runners and the #2 all-Time Sophomore time Jake Suiste (15:55) turned in the #7 All-Time Sophomore time as he broke 16 for the first time.

2. Molly Babcock (17:12), Coco Evans (17:21) finished 1 and 2 in the race with great times, Madeline Bradford (17:51) and Annie Chan (17:51) finished 5 and 6 to give Woodbridge 4 girls under 18:00 in the meet.

3. Our boy’s team finished first in the race and ran 77:20 which is faster than the 78:00 we ran last year in the league finals.

4. Our girls’ team finished first and ran 88:51 compared to the 89:56 championship run we ran last year at the league finals.

5. Our Girls’ frosh/soph team (lead by race champion Hannah O’Connors 19:11 finished first in the meet

6. Our boys’ frosh/soph team (led by Justin Park’s 16:48 (first time under 17:00) also finished first in the meet.

7. Our JV girls (led by Ana-Paola Laveaga and Erin Oefelein) tied for first but lost on the tie breaker.

Our teams are at a very good place right now. We are improving nicely and our league standing is right where we want it to be. However, as we progress towards the end of the season, it is important that everyone understands that we have a long way to go towards achieving our goals. There is a lot of running to be done between now and the end of the season. Our team will need to continue improving our strength and speed if we are going to stay on the top. I know that our opponents will continue to improve and if we do not, we can be left with a big disappointment. I am confident that we will continue the success we are enjoying up to this point and we will continue to improve.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: Jake Suiste ran a huge PR and finished with a devastating kick to nose out Uni’s # 4 runer. Coco Evans had a terrific last 800 to catch and pass CDM’s to runner and finish 2nd in the race. Rookies of the meet were Kevin Pineda and Brandon Ferencik had huge improvements and are making great progress to the 17 minute barrier for the boys. Caroline Vu had a huge PR and is developing towards the 20:00 minute barrier.
Kyle Arguelles, Ana Takushi, Lauren Chen, Cory Cheser and Jessica Durant turned impressive most improved performances.


WEEKLY SCHEDULE

I. Orange County Championships on Saturday at Irvine Park (WHS to Jamboree and right turn. Jamboree dead-ends into the park. Make sure that you are on the extreme right lane when you approach Chapman. It will cost to park ($5.00)??. Park in the zoo parking lot if possible. Parking spaces go real fast. If you come late, park at the college lot and there will be a shuttle to the meet. Do not park at the shopping center as they will ticket and tow cars away.

a. No bus for this meet at this time. If we get enough donations to cover these buses as well as the ones to Cajon, then we will let everyone know. We need to be at the meet at 6:30. We will leave Woodbridge at 6:00 am from the front parking lot.

b. We should leave Irvine Park at about 2:00 (after the baseball game). The exact schedule of races will not be available until Tuesday evening. The schedule below is a tentative.

c. Probable Schedule:

1. FROSH/SOPH GIRLS -- 8:12
2. FROSH Boys -- 8:48
3. VARSITY GIRLS—9:27
4. VARSITY BOYS—10:06
5. JV GIRLS – 10:42
6. SOPH BOYS – 11:18
7. JV BOYS – 12:00

** (The top seven athletes in each grade will be honored as First Team All Orange County AT 1:00

d. We will be having our annual bar-b-que and softball game after the last race. Bring your gloves and make sure your family attends this event. We need to have the parents bring their gloves for the game. As usual, I will be keeping an honest and accurate score for this game!

e. For the Bar-B-Que, the following items are needed from each group:
1. Freshman athletes – salads such as green salad, potatoes salads, fruit salads or pasta salads. Katie Peterson and Ralph Lara will make a sign up list and assignments. Check with your parents and let us know which salad you will bring.

2. Sophomore athletes – desserts. Sign up with Jackson Marshall and Madeline Bradford

3. Junior Athletes - appetizers such as veggie trays, cheese/crackers, or salsa/dip and chips; Sign up with Alyssa Gutcher and Josh Thatcher

4. Senior athletes - BBQ supplies such as charcoal (we need 30 lbs), charcoal lighter, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayo, mustard, catsup, etc. Sign up with Annie Chan and Daniel Toberty

This meet gives our teams a great opportunity to make progress towards being on the podium for both the CIF-SS and the State Championships. The course is challenging and the competition will be strong. We need to seize the opportunity to come up with a great performance and assure a high ranking for our teams in the County. Our girls have a chance to win the County Championship for the 2nd time in the school history.

We still have some 20 shirts that we need to sell to recoup the cost of printing them. If you can purchase one more shirt at $7.00 it would be great

PSAT test is on ?Saturday. I hope those interested in taking this test have signed up already with Ms. Taylor. Please try to if you have not yet. They might be able to secure a spot for you.

Saturday's practice is at 8:00 at WHS for now.

*****Remember that pain is temporary and pride is forever.