4/30 update

Braves,

There were some pretty awesome performances at the meets on Thursday and Saturday. I won’t be able to highlight each one because it seems like nearly everyone had PR at some point this week. Updating the performance lists and all-time lists is going to take me longer than usual this week, which is what we love seeing. Given the performances, brace yourselves for along post. There are important announcements to be had at the end so please read them carefully.

We entered most of the team on Thursday, but a bunch of you couldn’t make it due to orchestra competitions, but many missed for unexplainable reasons. That is unfortunate given that there are only one or two meets left for those who do not qualify for region or state. There are two weeks before region, and three before state, and the end of the season. I have tried to convey a sense of urgency throughout the season, and if you haven’t felt it yet, now is the time to get it. The time for killer workouts is passed, and the time for fine tuning our speed and fitness is here. In general we have put in the work, but we can’t let up now. I have to work just as hard these three weeks, but we have to work smart as well.

With all the absences on Thursday I was pleased to see a number of you step up and ask to race in other events for people who weren’t there. For example Leslie threw the javelin and ran the 300H in addition to her normal events. We even had Isaac Bills run a 4x400 at the end of the day, and honestly he dominated it. The 400m has bested many men and women, but Isaac powered right through it. Our distance runners ran a 4x100 right after running a grueling mile. Andrew stepped in and ran a 400 in addition to his distance races. It is that kind of attitude that makes our team better. These kids who volunteered to do more are the ones who are working hard each day in practice, so it wasn’t really a surprise by any means. Essentially they epitomized what our team needs to be about to be successful. We cannot be a team of common people; we have to be uncommon. Their desire and work ethic makes them uncommon.

Saturday was an awesome day for track & field. Adam and Hunter both made the podium in the 300H after posting BIG PRs. Those two are poised to do some serious damage at the region meet in that race. Adam came back in the 110H in the afternoon and had another PR. He has improved 3 out of the last 4 times he has done that race, and cut off nearly a second. Ashley and Julia also PR’d in the 300H, with Ashley cutting off nearly a second, very close to the state qualifying mark, and finishing 3^rd overall for her second consecutive meet. In the boys mile Dallin decided to beast by some people over the final lap finishing in 3^rd with a 5 second PR. Blake did the same thing in the 800m, passing (or rather charging through) a group of people over the last ten meters to finish 4^th, but less than a second out of 1^st. Laurie ran yet another gutsy 800m race. With 200 to go a group was coming alongside her ready to pass her when I looked away so I could navigate to a better spot to see the finish. I totally thought I was going to look back and see her in 3^rd or 4^th, but I couldn’t see her there and for a split second I thought maybe she had been tripped or something. Then I saw Angry Laurie coming off the turn in the lead and flat out leaving the girls that had the audacity to try and pass her. I said/shouted in that moment, “oh man, Angry Laurie!” much to the confusion of the random kids around me. I say “angry Laurie” but a more accurate term would be “determined” or “driven”. I’m not entirely sure that she even has the capacity to be angry because she is always so nice and polite, but man, on the track when she is determined to compete, her expression is legitimately terrifying. Of course she finishes the race and is as kind to her competitors as ever, but for a moment in that race, her determination manifests itself as fury.

Rachel had 3 events in the invited section in the afternoon, but she ran the 4x400 in the morning. That team of Ashley, Kiwi, Laurie, and Rachel ran the second fastest time out of the relay teams I’ve coached here at Bountiful. If you haven’t seen Rachel race, you have missed out, and you need to pay attention the next time she steps on the track. She got the baton in 6th, 50m behind the lead runner (not an exaggeration), and proceeded to blow by 3 girls in the first 100m. Typically, running that aggressively that early in the race is a recipe for disaster, but when I saw her go by that first group I had no doubt that she was going to make this into an awesome race. She always finishes her races strong so I knew it was going to be interesting. She moved into second with little resistance and came up next to the lead runner with 100m to go. They ran side by side until about 15m left when Rachel couldn’t quite hold on and she nearly collapsed before the line, running herself into exhaustion. When I looked at the clock to see that she ran a 58.11, I was slightly surprised because she had never before run sub-60s in the 400. She had an enormous PR and coach of the team that took first looked at her and said, “wow, that was an incredible run.” I’m not sure Rachel heard that as she laid on the ground in agony. When you run the 400, pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional (that is Coach Caitlin’s mantra). I can tell you there was no suffering amidst the pain after running that hard for her team. I highlight Rachel’s effort in that race because it was exceptional, but her teammates ran hard and smart to even get Rachel into that position. If they hadn’t ran as hard as they had the team could have easily ended in 6^th as opposed to 2^nd. Great team performances are comprised of awesome individual effort; it takes the entire team.

On that note, it is going to take the ENTIRE team giving awesome individual effort for us to have a chance at winning region. I’ve said it before, we are not the favorites to win it, so we have to do something uncommon to come away with the win. Having coached this team long enough we can see that you all have the ability to do just that. The opportunity is there, but you have to embrace it. Each individual needs to battle and move up just a place or two. Obviously not everything will go our way, but if we have just enough people moving up instead of back, we can win this thing. We need people sneaking in to the top 8 when they weren’t projected to be there. We need encouragement from teammates when they are warming up or racing or about to throw. Whatever it takes, we just have to find points that we weren’t “projected” to get. That is one thing I love about this sport: it take innumerable individual efforts to make the team great. We have standout athletes on our team, but standout athletes cannot win a team title in track & field on their own. Everyone is needed. We need 8^th place finishes that were supposed to be 10^th. We need two people to go 1^st and 3^rd when they were projected 1^st and 4^th. We have to overachieve. And you know what? This team can do it; this team has what it takes; this team can overachieve. That is why we have made you run all the 400s at the meets. That’s why we make you run an extra set even when you’re not feeling it. That’s why we practice in the rain or even the snow. That’s why you come to practice each day ready to work even when you know you have loads of homework waiting for you. That’s why we did 20 short rest 200s inside. That is why Dallin ran a 1600, 800, and 2 400s yesterday.  That’s why Leslie ran an extra race or why Andrew volunteered for an extra 400 or why Isaac was willing to run a 400 when the team was a man short. That’s why Rachel nearly passed out at the end of the 4x400. That’s why Kohle snuck away from a wedding to get in a couple races yesterday. That’s why Losee and Amelia came back and forth from choir/orchestra competitions to compete in the discus and medley relay. That’s why Adam stays late to hurdle and improve his trail leg. That’s why Dodds ran hundreds of 400s to try and break 60, and when he finally did he raised his sites to 56. That’s why Stobbe asked me what he can do to get on the 4x100 team. That’s why coach Caitlin carries the baby all over the field while yelling splits and encouraging the distance runners. That’s why Dave goes back and forth across the field for hours with the Javelin throwers. That’s why Coach Magalei meticulously works with the discus throwers and finds time to communicate with his throwers even while trying to fulfill his familial obligations right now, and calls me nearly every day so we can talk about each of you and figure out how to give us the best shot at region. That is why the discus throwers get to practice early to get in some reps before the baseball team has yet another game to make up from the rain. That’s why our distance runners go for 50 minute runs or do seemingly hundreds of sets around the track. It’s why our sprinters do never ending 200s or 150s. That’s why our hurdlers are constantly setting up and taking down loads of hurdles. Everything we have done thus far was to make each team member better, and to give us a shot at overachieving. You’ve embraced what we have asked of you, now another opportunity awaits. Whatever the outcome, I’m confident that you will look back with positive memories of what we have done as a TEAM this year, because ultimately, while we work for a specific goal, it’s in the journey from day to day that we really find the joy in what we do. How lucky we are to still have 3 more weeks of the season.

We have a meet on Thursday at East High. Friday and Saturday will be the BYU invitational. This is a highly selective meet so only a few athletes will be going. We can only enter 25 events per team, meaning very few will be able to go. We will give more information about BYU over the course of the week, but most of the races, excluding relays, and competed on Friday, with finals and relays on Saturday. Everyone can compete on Thursday so I hope you all plan accordingly. Because of the difficulty of BYU, the meet on Thursday becomes even more important. Everyone can compete there so I hope you plan your schedules accordingly. Region is on Wednesday and Thursday of next week, meaning less than 14 days away. We have 5 – repeat FIVE – days of practice before region. Workouts will become more specific this week so please be on time and have your spikes and other necessary items so you are ready to roll.

Looking forward to a final 3 weeks of the season. Thanks for all you do.

Coach Jacobson

4/23 update

Braves,

We saw some great performances at the meet on Friday. We had a few more state qualifiers and some more PRs. Tashena threw 99’9” in the javelin for a big PR at the end of a long meet. She had to go throw and long jump in finals well after the track events concluded. Max Dodds had an enormous PR in the 400. All season long he has been aching to break 60, and on Friday he ran 58.9 to reach his goal. It was awesome to see his hard work paying off. Even better was when we needed him for the 4x400 at the end of the day and he was willing to step in. We only have a few weeks until region and I can tell you that those other teams are out there working each day trying to win it. We have to be the team that works even harder. We have to be mentally tougher, especially as the season gets closer to ending. Now is the time to step it up, not to step back. Challenge yourselves mentally each day, not just physically. When you have thoughts that are not moving you forward, change them. Be positive, and be willing. If you can do that you will get better, and we will have a shot in May for the region title. But it is going to take the entire team being stronger mentally and physically. Each day we have to leave the track better than the day before, both physically and mentally.

Thank you for the help this week during the junior high meet. We are going to need your help once again this Wednesday as we host some more schools. I believe Millcreek and Mueller Park are both coming, so it will be fun to host two of our feeder schools. Assignments will be sent out tomorrow or Tuesday.

I know that this time of year is extremely busy for everyone. You have AP tests and other things coming due as the school year comes to a close. We understand the demands that you have by being student athletes, so we ask you to use your time wisely. Don’t procrastinate, plan ahead, avoid wasting time instead of doing your work. Put your phones away when you need to focus. How often do your check your phone in a 30 minute period when you should be doing homework? Rhetorical question, obviously, but the point is that with all the demands on your time, including track, you must use your time wisely. Plan on the junior high meet running until 7 or 8 PM (earlier if we have everyone there helping). If you have homework, bring it and do it up on the hill by the finish line, so when your help is needed for a few minutes we can ask for it, then you can go back to doing it.

Thursday there is a JV meet at Box Elder. All those not competing at the Davis invite on Saturday will be able to race there. (Bring homework for the hour long bus ride, both ways). That is a good opportunity to compete in 4 events and set some personal records. Saturday is the Davis invitational. It is one of the premier meets in the state with an excellent facility and great competition. Entries will be finalized by Wednesday and we will let you know who was able to get in. There is a strict standard and only the fastest 48 or so in the state, in each event, make it into the meet. They follow a time schedule very closely.

Plan on rain this week. Don’t just miss practice because of poor weather. Again, if you miss practice don’t plan on racing. Make sure you mark the roll each day.

Thanks for your hard work. We appreciate and recognize your hard work to make the team better. We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us. Let’s get better this week.

Coach Jacobson

2017 State Qualifiers by athlete 

Rachel Whipple 

100H 

300H

High Jump

Tashena Ashby

                Discus

Girl’s Medley Relay

Norris Tukuafu

                Shot Put

Nathan Losee

                Discus

Boy’s Medley Relay

Adam Amott

                110H

                300H

Julia Miller

                Long Jump

Kohle Newbold

                400m

Boy’s 4x100m

4/16 update

Braves,

When I went to type the subject line of 4/16, I first typed “3/” before I realized that it is April. It’s crazy how fast this season is going, and kind of sad that there is only a month left. I say sad because of how much fun we are having coaching this team. We have a special group of kids that I am extremely proud of. This team is full of good people who want to do what is best for the team. One of the most difficult things to do as a track coach is getting kids to buy into doing what is best for the team, because there is an egregious misconception that track is an “individual sport.” This belief comes from the fact that each event, excluding relays, is done by yourself. What people spreading this belief fail to realize is that each individual event is a part of a larger whole, the team.

One person cannot win a region title or state championship alone. You have to have teammates contributing as well. Obviously track is different from team sports that use a ball, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t about the team, because it is. You can hear coaches everywhere complain about kids missing practice or not wanting to work hard. To me this is a symptom of the kid not understanding that their actions affect their teammates.

It is easy to not understand how missing practices, or failing to give your best effort, might limit how high you can place at a meet – especially when that meet is a month away. So, as teammates and individuals we have to help each other understand that there is no time to be missing practice, or to give anything less than maximum effort in the remaining practices. The season is just too short to not finish what we have started. Through the first month and a half of the season we have put ourselves in excellent position. But we cannot become complacent or mentally fatigued. Let’s start fresh on Monday, get back to the drawing board, and focus on the week ahead of us. Then we will do the same over the next 4 weeks.

A small group went down to Taylorsville yesterday at competed. Of the 16 kids that competed, 15 had a PR or seasonal best in one or more of their events, and the 1 who didn’t ran the 2^nd fastest time in their life. That is a pretty awesome accomplishment. Anna Sophia started us off in the freezing temperatures with a sweet 5 second PR in the 3200m (12:11), moving her the 10^th all-time at Bountiful. Laurie quickly followed that up with a 5 second PR in the 1600m (5:30), moving her the 7^th all-time. Laurie came back and had another 3 second PR in the 800m (2:25), making her 9^th all-time in that event. (Did I mention they are both sophomores?) Laurie lead the 800m wire to wire and beat the closest runner by 2 seconds. Before her races she is shaking her hands in nervousness, during the race she is gritting her teeth in fury, and after the race you see someone who not only ran hard in the race, but has been running hard day in and day out. The PRs from these two girls didn’t just happen. PRs don’t just happen because you run a race over and over, they happen when you put in the work at practice when you could be doing something else.

Adam Amott won the 110H with a new PR (15.69) making him 11^th all time. He came back in the 300H with an enormous 2 second PR (41.51) putting him 12^th all-time, and 3^rd at the meet. Kohle ran a sweet new PR in the 400m (50.77) out in lane 8, to place 4^th, qualify for state, and to move himself into 17^th all time. The boys 4x100 managed to qualify for state by .04s., moving our total state qualifier number by time for the season up to 8 individuals and 3 relays – with many more to come. I’ve included a list of qualifiers at the end of the email.

This week is a busy one. We host a junior high meet on Wednesday, a tri meet on Thursday, and the WX invitational is Friday. Those of you not competing Friday will run hard on Thursday. Those of you competing Friday will help us run the meet on Thursday. EVERYONE is needed to help run the JH meet on Wednesday. I am in the process of giving each of you an assignment to help this thing run smoothly. It is a pain to run a meet without proper help. It is a piece of cake, and fun, if everyone does their jobs. I will send out the jobs list asap, but it will probably be Monday before practice. You’ll have fun with it, working with your teammates and watching the JH kids learn the sport. We’ll talk more about this at practice this week.

We appreciate what you are doing to contribute to our team. Let’s keep making progress towards our goal. If you feel mentally fatigued, frustrated with lack of improvement in your times/marks, talk to your coaches, rely on your teammates, keep a long term perspective. PRs don’t happen every race, even though you rightfully expect them to. More accurately you run a PR, then you run similar times 2-3 times before having another sizeable PR. That’s just how it goes, so if you are in this boat, know that you are the norm. Let it bother you just enough to make you step up your game even more in practice each day, but don’t let it nag you or hold you back.

Coach Jacobson

2017 State Qualifiers by event

100H/110H

                Rachel Whipple

                Adam Amott

300H

                Rachel Whipple

400m

                Kohle Newbold

High Jump

                Rachel Whipple

Long Jump

                Julia Miller

Shot Put

                Norris Tukuafu

Discus

                Nate Losee

                Tashena Ashby

Boy’s Medley Relay

Girl’s Medley Relay

Boy’s 4x100m

4/9 update

Braves,

We officially have 4 full weeks until the region meet. I hope you all feel renewed after this long break we’ve had and are ready to get after it starting tomorrow at practice. Thanks to those who were able to come to practice this week. We had a good group each day ready to work hard and get better, and that is exactly what we need going forward.

No matter your talent level or whether you were lazy over spring break, or if you weren’t super dedicated before spring break, we want you all to be back at practice with a new determination to get yourself and the team better.

A few things to know for the week:

    1.       We are hosting a meet on Thursday and we will need all of your help to run it. You will be competing in it, but we will need all of your help to make it run smoothly. We need each of you to stay until the end to help clean up as well. This should be a pretty fast meet with only a couple schools coming, so I do not anticipate it running late.

    2.       We will be taking the team picture for the yearbook on Wednesday at practice (if that changes I will let you know), so bring your uniform. Several people will forget the uniform and feel sheepish, don’t let that be you.

    3.       The Taylorsville invitational is on Saturday (it was not on our schedule) but we have decided to take a small group to that meet. We won’t be able to take everyone, in part because it is a qualifying meet, so we will talk to individuals on Monday. If that is something you are interested in, let your coaches know.

Every week from here on out we have an invitational: Taylorsville, woods cross, davis, then BYU. After that it is region and state. Time is going fast so let’s enjoy it while we have it. Be positive at practice, encourage your teammates, trust your coaches, go beyond the minimum, and just enjoy the journey of the season. This is when it gets fun.

Coach Jacobson

4/2 update

Braves,

These emails are increasingly more difficult to send because if I try and do it while Jack is awake he just has to be on my lap banging on the keyboard. Somehow he made all the icons on the desktop super tiny. Another time he highlighted all the text in an email and deleted it in quick succession. Luckily I could hit the undo button and it all came back.

With that in mind I am going to try and keep this short and quick. This week we raced at the district championships and a jv meet. The boys finished 3^rd, which is their highest placing since at least 2012, which is as far back as runnercard.com goes. The girls were 4^th even though they outscored the boys team.  Our teams had a great showing highlighted by some spectacular effort from each person who competed. There wasn’t a single race where it looked like you weren’t ready to compete. Some of the greatest effort races came at the JV meet. It was awesome to see some of the hard work that Kaitlyn and Emmalyn have been putting in pay off as they both PR’d by around 10 seconds in the mile. Likewise with Jared, who had a huge 4 second PR in the 400m. We loved watching them improve and show off in a race how hard they have been working all season. They epitomized what our team is about: working hard day in and day out, then seeing the pay off in the race. It isn’t realistic to have a PR after every race, but you have to put in the work to give yourself a chance to PR in every race. This week really gave us hope for our upcoming region meet, which is only a month away. We really need to take advantage of every day between now and then to give ourselves a chance to bring home the region titles.

On that note, we will be holding practice over spring break for everyone who is in town. These practices are not mandatory, obviously, with many of you being out of town. We have heard that many of you will be around one or two days during the week, and others one or two other days. For that reason we will hold a practice every day this week, Monday-Friday at 10 AM. If you are in town for any or all of those days we hope you can make it out. I know a lot of you are on vacation or out of town. To you, we encourage running every day, even if it is just a distance run, or on a hotel treadmill. Some of you will be at a place with a pool, where you can do laps or “pool running”. Where every you are during the break, be active and be careful; the last thing we want is for someone to get injured over the break.

The clothing order came in on Friday literally as I was driving to the JV meet, so I’m sorry I couldn’t get it out to you before the break. I was pretty irritated that it didn’t come earlier in the day. However, the hoodies still have not come in. I will be in my classroom tomorrow at 9:30 before practice to give out some of the clothes if you can make it. The outside door by my room will be open.

I encourage you to visit our website if you haven’t yet. There is a lot of good information there. www.bravestrack.blogspot.com

Though the season is still very young, only 4 meets in, and the bulk of the races are ahead of us, we have had 7 all-time marks for the boys, and 12 for the girls – the girls team last year has 15 marks, they are at 12 already this year. Those are some impressive numbers. If our girls continue how they are going they are going to re-write the list. We love seeing that.

Whatever you do this week, have fun, get some of those nagging injuries to heal up, and let’s return to normal practices next week ready to make a run at the region title.

Coach Jacobson