1/29 update

Braves,

We had a fantastic few days at the Olympic Oval. There were numerous indoor school records set, and most of the team saw a PR in one event or another. We are impressed with how hard we have been able to work week in and week out, and feel we are laying a solid foundation for the rest of this season. I came away from the weekend with raised expectations for our team and what we can accomplish moving forward. We have a lot of work to be done before we can accomplish any of our team goals, which include region titles, but we are closer to them today than we were at the beginning of the week. As I have said previously I appreciate what each of you adds to our team in terms of work ethic, attitude, and dedication.

There is quite a bit to cover in the email so please read the information carefully. I will cover the plan for this week and Simplot, among other things.

We do not have a meet this week. As a result we will be able to do some things in practice that we haven’t been able to in a while. Come prepared to work hard and step up the intensity of our training. We only have three more weeks of training during the indoor season so now is the time to take advantage of what we have. On Friday of this week, 2/3, we will have a team party in my classroom after school. We will get some pizza and some other snacks, play games, we’ll do a super smash brothers tournament using my projector and screen, and just kind of hang out for a couple hours instead of practice. Though we aren’t at the end of the season by any means, this is the last off weekend we have before our outdoor practices begin so this is a good opportunity to have our team party.

Random note- I have been wanting to get some 10 gallon buckets (or bigger) so we can have our athletes ice their shins in them after practice when they have shin splint pain. We have an ice machine and can put water in them and it would be great to treat some of these aches and pains. If any of you have an extra bucket or two lying around and have no need for it and would like to donate it to our cause, we would be very grateful. I know that is a unconventional request but I think it would really benefit our athletes.

Simplot – I have attached a document to this email with some of the information about Simplot. Please read it and talk about it and see if it would be something that interests you (as either an athlete or a parent). I will try to explain here what the Simplot games are, and what the trip will be like, and why we think it is an awesome experience. The dates are 2/16-2/18.

The Simplot games are a nationally renowned meet competed at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. They have an indoor track that is banked on the turns inside of Holt Arena, which is their football stadium which triples as a basketball arena and track facility. I went three times when I was in high school, and it was one of the most fun events that I did. We went up last year with a small group of kids and I believe feel like it was a large reason for our team’s success at region and state later in the season. The meet is an excellent opportunity to compete against and see some of the fastest runners in the country and spend a fun few days with your teammates. Essentially we head up on Thursday after school then return home on Saturday evening. Some distance races are competed Thursday, along with the trials in the sprint and mid distance events on Friday. Saturday is an all final day and is an awesome day to spend at the track watching some of the fastest kids in the country. Qualifying for finals is a difficult task, but one that I am confident that several of our athletes could do, including multiple relays.

We have reserved some rooms near the arena and want to take as many athletes as we can so that we can build this tradition at BHS. The spaces are limited however so we need to get an idea of who is interested, but we will have to be selective as we fill out our relays. Priority will be given to athletes who have consistently been at practice and the meets.

Athletes – please respond print, fill out, and return the form that I have attached here by Wednesday if you are interested in attending the Simplot games.

We are hoping to save a few rooms for parents who are interested in going and helping shuttle athletes to and from the meet. (Unfortunately the cost of rooms would not be covered completely for parents, but we can talk about that if you have questions. We would try and compensate one way or another). We will also need a few parents who are willing to drive athletes up to Pocatello on Thursday, and some to return on Saturday to bring them home. Coach Caitlin, Munk, and myself will be driving, but we anticipate needing more parents to shuttle.

Parents – if you are interested in driving athletes to or from the meet, please email me and I can answer further questions. If you are interested in staying in Pocatello, I will see if we have some rooms left over for you to use, I do anticipate having a few available.

After we have the official count of athletes who are interested, we will send out official invitations this weekend. We will have a meeting for all athletes going to Simplot, and parents who are transporting (if they can make the meeting) one day after practice the following week (meaning at least 10 days before the trip). I will be sending out follow up requests for parents later this week as we determine how many athletes we will be taking.

This is a track trip, not a trip to go party or get in to trouble. Our number one priority will be safety, followed by our competitions. Athletes will be expected to be in their assigned rooms at lights out and be courteous to their teammates who are also wanting to compete. I will get phone numbers for the parents/guardians of each athlete attending. Because of the complexity of the meet as well we will only take athletes in whom we have trust to do what they are supposed to do. What makes this trip fun is competing at an incredible meet with top athletes, and spending time with and supporting your teammates.

I realize that this is a lot of information, and I probably have not conveyed my vision to you perfectly, so if you have questions please ask. I totally understand that this is new for many of you, and the information is not always super clear.

Thanks for all that you do; I look forward to your questions regarding simplot.

Coach Jacobson

1/22 update

Braves,

Even with the crazy snow storm and the terribly plowed roads in Ogden we still had a great turn out to the meet. I realize many of you were not able to make it to the meet because of the weather, and we completely understand. I appreciate those of you who were able to let me know that you weren’t going to make it. Week after week we are impressed with the improvements that we see, but even more so by the effort. As long as you compete with maximum effort, you are going to get better, and that is the purpose of indoor. I know some of you are disappointed that you had a slower time or shorter mark that you wanted, but even in the bad performances you can get better and learn from the experience. Furthermore, it is not realistic to expect to PR every race. It is more realistic to run similar times for several weeks before making a big improvement. If you are improving, or even seeing your times be similar each week, then you are probably doing something right. I have no doubt that with the work we are putting in as a team, that we will continue to see improvements over the last month of the indoor season.

It is crazy to think that we are halfway through our indoor season. We officially have 3 meets left. This week, 2/10, and Simplot. This week is the last of the “typical” meets. After this one then we have a Friday night meet and Simplot. I’m honestly sad to see it going to quickly because we have been having a ton of fun coaching this group. It’s fun to have kids who are dedicated and have enough vision and determination to get better to run several races throughout the day and then still be willing to run a relay at the end of the meet. I think Abby can tell you that it is not easy to go PR in the mile and then turn around and run a 4x800 a few minutes later, but that is what it takes to make ourselves and our team better. Hunter and Dodds had spent Friday night and all Saturday at the track, and would have ran the relay if we had needed a spot. It’s that willingness that makes our team better as well. Honestly, you can look at any number of our athletes and find examples of making themselves and our team better; from our seniors all the way down to our freshmen (and 8^th grader, shout out to Ethan).

Few things make your coaches prouder than seeing you support your teammates when they are racing, and being happy for their success. One person’s success is all of our success. On this team we are invested in each other and want to support, encourage, and push each other. I love seeing that concept in action at practices and at the meets. With only a few weeks left in the season I hope we can continue to build on that.

This week we will be competing at the Olympic Oval in Kearns this meet is considered the Indoor State Championships, even though it is not the final meet of the year. They call it that because it is the only indoor meet that is actually scored, and a trophy is given to the team winner. There will also be medals for the top six finishers. Registration will be done online similar to the BYU meet. Check it is also very similar with a bull pen near the finish line. Registration closes on WEDNESDAY so it is imperative that you have that completed by then or you will not be racing. On Tuesday we will establish who will be running in the relays. We will pay for and register the relay entries, but each individual will pay for and register their own individual events. Registration for the meet, as well as the schedule of events is at this website http://www.runnercard.com/e/runner.Main?meet=1000947

When you register for the meet make sure that you click the team box, and type in “Bountiful Braves”

This meet is done on Friday night and Saturday. The field events, 1600m, 400m, and 4x800 are all competed on FRIDAY night. The rest of the events are done on Saturday. We want as many sprinters/hurdlers as possible to run the 400 on Friday, and distance runners to do the 1600 and/or 4x800. Night meets are a blast, especially when we get a good group out competing hard and supporting each other.

A few bits of information regarding the meet: allegedly, only 3/16^th pyramid spikes are allowed, but in the past they haven’t checked individual shoes. In the event they are cracking down on that this year, I will go buy a bunch of the correct spikes for you to use this week. Parking is on the south side of the building. Our group spot will be near the finish line at the top of the turn. Once again, registration is done online.

See our website for pictures from yesterday’s meet www.bravestrack.blogspot.com I may not have the link made available until tomorrow due to ongoing internet struggles on account of the move.

We have been putting in great work over the month of January, let’s finish this month right with another great meet. We will be trying to break some school records in relays this week so let’s prepare well enough this week that we are sharp and ready to run on Friday and Saturday. I will send another email on Tuesday with further details for the meet.

Coach Jacobson

1/15

Braves,

In the update from last week I talked about how successful our week was, and I asked each of you to do it again this week so we can stack good weeks on top of each other. This week of practice was as good or better than last week, as was the meet. Our challenge will be to do the same thing this week, even with a short week.

As I said in the email that I sent out on Friday, Thursday’s practice was one of the best that I have been around at Bountiful High. There was intensity and support, drive and excellent effort. For the most part, that carried over to the meet on Saturday which had some great performances, PRs and seasonal bests, and most of our team got better. There were many kids that came up and did more than the 3 events we asked, some even did five. That effort now is going to help you be successful this May. At the end of the day we had 4 relay teams. Almost every other relay team at the meet was from out of state, and had hotel rooms in town so they were going to be stuck until the end anyway. Our group of kids chose to stay until the end of a long day so they could run with each other and get better.

It is that type of energy and commitment that we need to bring each day and week so we can create the culture and program that will be successful this year and over time. The difference from this indoor season from last (our first official indoor team at BHS) is enormous. We are floored with how much better the commitment has been, how much better the energy is, the support from teammates is, and the list could continue. Each of you has a part in making our team better. Ultimately when our team improves, you will also be better; when you become better, then our team improves. The term “better” in this context doesn’t just mean in time, height, or distance, but as a person, friend, teammate, student, and even the experience that your teammates have. The question that is left to be asked by each of us is, are we adding to the positivity, energy, and commitment of this team? Are we part of the solution, or part of the problem? There is no middle ground, either we are making the team better (again, in terms of the experience of our teammates have, and our culture) or are we inhibiting our improvement. Being part of the solution has nothing to do with your physical abilities. You can be the slowest runner but still be contributing to our team in huge ways, or a state champion athlete and still be hurting our team if you don’t contribute to building the culture.

Again, we want each of you to be contributing members. We need each of you. So this week, let’s ask ourselves what we can do to help our team. We are lucky to have a great group of kids, but none of us are perfect. No matter where we are or what we have done we can all find at least one thing we can do better to help our team and culture continue to grow. The growth from last year is enormous, which shows us that this group is special, and capable of even more. Let’s be better this week, and stack another successful week on top of the last two.

This week we will not practice on Monday as there is no school. Get a run in and ice any nagging injuries you may have. There is no school Tuesday, but we have received permission to practice at 8 AM on Tuesday morning. We will meet on the third floor. Throwers will meet at 9. We will make it a good practice that will be worth your time, but it won’t be super long, so you can have the day to spend as you wish.

The meet this week is at Weber State. The field events are done on Friday night, with everything else done on Saturday. The registration and organization is similar to USU, except the bull pen is more like BYU. Pay at the meet at but check in the bull pen like BYU. Weber hires legitimate officials to run the meet so they shouldn’t take as long as USU, who couldn’t figure out how to efficiently start the races. I don’t know how long the meet will go, but it couldn’t be longer than USU right? J More information will be given on this meet during the week.

The pictures from USU meet are online so you can go look at them.

Thank you for all you are doing. We are lucky to have such a solid group of young women and men to work with. Let’s continue to get better.

Coach Jacobson 

1/8 update

Braves,

I don’t exactly know where to start. We are incredibly excited about this team because of the group that we have right now. I want to highlight a few things from yesterday.

·         We had more relay teams at the meet than every other team, combined. That tells me that we have a dedicated group who is willing to work hard for each other. That is a huge component to a successful team

·         Many of you were at the arena for 8+ hours, and through it all I never once heard someone complain about the time, the difficulty of the races, or anything else. Thank you for your positivity. As a coach we love seeing that because positivity is a precursor to improvement, and as a human being I appreciate it because complaining is exhausting. You helped make my life easier, and you made the experiences of your teammates better as well.

·         We had over 50 kids compete in over 120 events, and most of you did at least 3. We had the second biggest group of athletes, which had nearly 1000 athletes registered.  That is something for each of you to be proud of, because it is a manifestation of your commitment and support of your teammates.  

·         We also appreciate how smoothly you made everything go. You arrived early to the meet to prepare yourselves and support your teammates. For the most part you helped each other and figured out how to manage warming up and checking in the bull pen. BYU’s system with the bullpen is more complex than the others but you navigated it well.

·         BYU is a very competitive meet, with schools from all classifications from Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming participating. It is rare to make it on to the podium where only the top 6 finishers of each event place in a field typically ranging from 50-200.

·         Nainoa in the weight throw and Rachel in the 60 hurdles both finished in the top 6.

Obviously the relays at the end of the meet were a huge highlight for me because of what it says about you and our team, but one moment in particular stood out and epitomizes what this team should be about. Dodds ran the anchor leg of his Senior team relay and had a lead over the Sophomore team. Nafus took his hand off to anchor it for his team. Both of whom had already run a 400 and a 200 so they may have had reason to be tired and give a half effort, but they laid it on the line and went to work. Nafus closed the gap on Dodds who was fighting like crazy to preserve the win. They both ran hard through the line. They ran hard for their teammates and got better as athletes. That is what we expect from you each practice and race: pushing yourself and your teammates to be better, day in and day out. Ultimately Dodds hung on to win by .3 of a second.

Looking ahead to next week we will have a typical week of practice followed by a meet up at Utah State on Saturday. ALL events will be competed on Saturday, including field events. Registration for this meet is done at the meet, so you won’t have to do anything online to get into this one. Registration closes at 9 AM there, so make sure you arrive plenty early to register. The nice thing about USU is that they charge 5 per athlete, and then you can race in as many events as you want. Again, we recommend at least two events plus a 4x400 at the end. USU typically ends much earlier than the BYU meet, but it also has a rolling schedule so it is tough to give a time estimate. There is no open 200, but there is a 4x8 and the beginning of a day, a 4x200 in the middle, and a 4x400 at the end. You are welcome to compete in multiple relays, but we still want you in individual events as well so you can see your personal improvements. We will give more information on this meet during the week. As usual, directions to this meet can be found on our schedule on the website www.bravestrack.blogspot.com  Contact me with any questions.

We took a ton of pictures at BYU and you can view those on our website by clicking the pictures link on the side of the main page and then following the links. You can also add pictures to that page by dragging and dropping them from your computer or using your phone.

Check out our Instagram @bravestrackandxc to see some other photos from the meet.

After each meet I update the performance lists and the Bountiful all-time performance lists. You can also find those on the website, though admittedly I haven’t finished them quite yet. I hope to by tomorrow morning at the latest.

Keep up the great work Braves, we are off to a good start, and there is a lot more we need to accomplish.

Coach Jacobson