3/21 update

 

Braves,

 

We had another great week at the races up at Box Elder, and by a few who went down to St. George. We had new school records and all-time list marks. If you would like to see the performance list, or the seasonal best of each person on the team, which I try to update each week, please visit www.bravestrack.blogspot.com, where you can also see the all-time lists.

 

With two meets under our belt, we have had a ton of PRs, which is exciting because we have the heart of the season waiting for us after spring break. This is our final week prior to spring break, so make sure that you are there each day to get yourself ready for a strong month of April, which will set us up for region and State. On the note of state, we have been informed, due to the complexity of using the BYU facility for the state meet, and BYU’s own uncertainty on what May will hold, the UHSAA has decided to move the state meet to Davis High School. The days have also changed and will be on 5/18 and 5/19. How this changes the rest of our schedule remains to be seen, and I will update you when I know. If you have an AP test on one of those days, you would benefit by looking in to taking it on a later date (every test has back up test dates for this very reason). The same goes for all meets in May.

 

This week we are headed to Syracuse for the Davis District Championships. The meet will be on both Wednesday and Thursday, and the order of events is attached here. Because this is a state qualifying meet, we are limited on the number of entries that we can make, so not everyone will be able to compete. However, even if you aren’t entered into the meet, as a member of the team I would like everyone to come support their teammates while they compete and help make it fun for everyone.

 

When it comes to limited entries, and relays in the future, we will make sure that we put our TEAM in the best possible position, and sometimes that means that people are left out of certain events that they were hoping for and working hard to be in. I understand that that can be difficult, and I know from personal experience as an athlete how tough that can be. I, and our coaching staff, will make these decisions in good faith to best help the team. Please remember that your value and worth to the team is not measured in how fast you run, how high you jump, how far you throw, how many events you’re in, or how many state titles you win, but rather in how great of a teammate you are and how committed you are to being the best you can. As the great Pat Summit said, “Winning isn’t the point... Never giving up is the point… The secret of the game is in doing your best, to persist and endure.” Winning, or reaching goals, is a byproduct of doing your best, persisting, and enduring. If you fall short of a goal that doesn’t mean you failed, and it isn’t even the point. If you did the best you know how, that is what is rewarding about this whole thing. I agree with Pat when she says that winning isn’t the goal, and I believe that the outcome rarely is the point, but rather the point is in the process you take to reach whatever goal you set. If you do your best to reach whatever that goal is, then you’ve succeeded, regardless of the outcome. Can you honestly say that you did the best you knew how? If so, then you were successful; if not, then learn from it and do the best you can in the next thing you do.

 

Lastly, a reminder that if you would like to order a shirt, hoodie, or mask, to please pay and submit your form in the office by tomorrow before practice. Parents/guardians are of course welcome to order things as well. I’ve attached a form here if you need one.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Coach Jacobson

2021 Outdoor Track Meeting

 

Outdoor Track Meeting

Braves (Student-Athletes and Parents/Guardians),

 

If you are receiving this email it is because you student has signed up to participate in outdoor track this season. I was excited to see so many at our first day of practice yesterday and look forward to a great season with some great kids. If you are receiving this in error, please let me know and I can remove you from the list. I will use this email list to send out updates and reminders.

 

Please view our website for information from the initial meeting, the meet schedule, and the link to register my athlete. www.bravestrack.blogspot.com

 

Here are a few things you need to know in the short term as we get started.

 

We will have a time trial on Friday at 1 PM to get our season started. Our first meet is on March 11^th at Box Elder, (bus departure time tbd). In order to compete in that meet (and all the others) there are several things you MUST do to be allowed on the bus.

• Be covid tested on Thursday at 1 PM in the fieldhouse.
• The state mandates that all participating in extracurricular activities must be tested once every two weeks. These tests will be offered at the school. Those who miss the tests cannot participate in afterschool activities, including practices and meets, until after they are tested again. There are options to do a “make-up” test, which I can send out as needed, but again, in the meantime you will not be able to participate in after school activities.
• If you have not been tested at the school before, then you need to fill out the parent permission form and bring it to testing. This only needs to be done once. I have attached that form here.
• Complete register my athlete https://www.registermyathlete.com/login/ for track and field. If you participated in a sport earlier this school year, then you should log in using the account you made previously and you just need to go click on track and field and complete the process. If you have an account but this is your first sport this year, just log in and complete the registration process. If this is your first time, create a new account and complete the registration process.
• In order to complete registration, you need a physical. You CANNOT compete until this is done. Other sports won’t even allow kids to try-out without first having a physical, but because we don’t have try-outs our date is extended to the first meet.
• If you are unable to get an appointment with your own physician to get the physical, there are a number of places that typically have allowed walk ins, so you can look those up if needed. They do however incur a cost greater than going through your own insurance.

 

On Fridays, when we do not have school, we will practice at 1 PM. Make sure you have all your work done with your teachers before coming to practice. Do not tell a teacher that you can’t meet with them or come in due to track practice. That isn’t true.

 

That is it for now, but I’m sure there will be something that I missed. Feel free to email me with any questions.

 

Coach Jacobson

1.             Coaches

a.       Coach Stevens – Jumps

b.       Coach Lake - Sprints

c.        Coach Berntson – Sprints/Hurdles

d.       Coach Munk – Throws

e.       Coach Jacobson – Distance/Hurdles 

3.       Team Philosophy

a.       TEAM

i.   Your value to the team will be measured by how good of a teammate you are, not how great of an athlete you are.

ii. A great teammate is reliable, dependable, supportive, encouraging, driven, positive, consistent etc.

A great teammate finds joy in others’ success, pushes their teammates to work harder by encouraging and challenging them, and constantly seeks to improve themselves as a teammate and athlete.

 

b.       Enjoy the journey

i.   The season looks like it won’t be over for a long time (it ends two weeks before school does), but it will end quicker than it seems.

4.       Expectations

a.       Be here ready to get better every day; missing practices = missing meets

b.       Multi-sport athletes

i.   If you participate in multiple sports and have organized team activities in those sports, come talk to me ASAP and we will see how we can work with your schedule so you can participate in both.

5.       Logistics 

a.       PRACTICE

i.   Monday/Wednesday at 2:40 in the South West Bleachers

ii. Tuesday/Thursday:

1.       Those with the class 1:10 in the South West Bleachers

2.       Those without the class: ASAP after school so you can hop in the workout (2:30s)

iii.  In case of a snow covered track then we will meet in the commons

iv.  Come dressed to work out – prepare for bad weather

1.       If you have injuries come to practice and we will have you talk to the trainer/cross train

b.       Meets

i.   If you miss practice, or leave early, don’t expect to compete at the meets; meets are the reward of hard work

ii.  Event changes

1.       Utah has decided to do away with the medley relay, and instead has opted for the 4x200m AND 4x800m relays.

c.       School Fees

i.   $90 in the office for track fees (These are fees the district mandates).

6.       Questions?

a.       bjacobson@dsdmail.net

1/4 update

 Braves,

 

If you are receiving this email it is because your student-athlete signed up for indoor track at Bountiful High. We are looking forward to a great couple of months, and rest of the school year. We have had two practices thus far and I am excited about the group of kids that we have, who seem eager to work hard and bring a positive attitude. Can’t wait to see what the season holds.

 

There is a lot of information here, so please read it through.

 

As could be predicted, all of the indoor track meets have been cancelled. What this means for us is that we will be practicing and training with an eye towards the outdoor season, which begins at the end of February. We will also try to schedule a few days for time-trials to gauge and measure progress. The cost for the off-season training is $50 and can be paid in the office for indoor track. We will do a clothing order in the coming days.

 

With the strange year we are having, we are adjusting our training schedule – which will only be on Mondays/Wednesdays until outdoor track begins. We will meet both of those days at 2:40 in the commons area. Please bring a mask, which you will be required to wear except while running.

 

Although we are only practicing 2 days after school, we will have a track class during 8^th period starting second semester, which is two weeks from now. That class begins at 1 PM, and will give you an opportunity to train another two days a week with the team. Once the outdoor season starts, it will give you two days to get home earlier to get to everything else you need to do. It will also allow you to miss less school once track meets begin, which will commonly be on Thursdays (B-Days). I highly encourage all who can to get into the track class. Email your counselor and they will help you arrange your schedule – do that ASAP.

 

Lastly, it was previously understood that because we are not in season that we would not have to be tested for COVID-19 every two weeks. However, new guidance instructs all student-athletes who are training during the off season to get tested as well. This means that if you wish to participate during this off-season conditioning that you must get tested. At the end of this email you will see the testing dates. I’ve also attached a consent form to be tested. Those who do not consent cannot participate in practices. We will be taking roll each day, as directed. Bring the filled-out and signed form to the testing on either January 7^th. Testing is done in the balcony of the fieldhouse. Beginning at noon, but more directions will be given for that.

 

If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

Coach Jacobson

 

Bountiful High Test Dates
	Jan. 7
	Jan. 14
	Feb. 4
	Feb. 18
	Mar. 4
	Mar. 18
	Mar. 25
	April 15
	April 29
	May 13
	May 27

Covid testing consent form

Track & Field Meeting

We will be meeting for the first time on Monday 2/24.

First, please fill out the sign up form at the top of this page. Second,follow the register my athlete link to register for the sport.

If you missed the meeting you can find the meeting agenda here: agenda

If you need a copy of the clothing order form please follow this link: Clothing order Form     


“How do you flip the internal switch that changes us all back into the Natural Born Runners we once were? Not just in history, but in our own lifetimes. Remember? Back when you were a kid and you had to be yelled at to slow down? Every game you played, you played at top speed, sprinting like crazy as you kicked cans, freed all, and attacked jungle outposts in your neighbors’ backyards. Half the fun of doing anything was doing it at record pace, making it probably the last time in your life you’d ever be hassled for going too fast. That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they’d never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind’s first fine art, our original act of inspired creation. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain. And when our ancestors finally did make their first cave paintings, what were the first designs? A downward slash, lightning bolts through the bottom and middle—behold, the Running Man. Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet. You ran deals, to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn’t live to love anything else. And like everything else we love—everything we sentimentally call our “passions” and “desires”—it’s really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run. We’re all Running People, as the Tarahumara have always known. But the American approach—ugh. Rotten at its core. It was too artificial and grabby, Vigil believed, too much about getting stuff and getting it now: medals, Nike deals, a cute butt. It wasn’t art; it was business, a hard-nosed quid pro quo. No wonder so many people hated running; if you thought it was only a means to an end—an investment in becoming faster, skinnier, richer—then why stick with it if you weren’t getting enough quo for your quid?”  - Christopher McDougall, Born to Run

1/26 update

Braves,

I didn’t get an update sent out this past weekend due to a variety of reasons; I apologize for it being so late.

This weekend the track meet is at Weber State. All events, except throws, will be in the Swenson gym. The throws will be held Friday night at the Weber County Sports complex (by the Dee events center). For directions, policies, and meet information please refer to this link https://www.runnercard.com/runner/data/227316/1002906/schedule/2020%20Weber%20State%20Indoor%20Invitational%20Information1.pdf

Please read through that link. Far too many have not been reading it and then get confused, and this meet has a lot of specific information needed for it.

This weekend is going to be a little bit different for the team, as we have elected not to sign up any relays. Talk to your event coach about what events to sign up for. We recommend signing up for as many as possible to get the fitness benefit. The link to sign up is https://www.runnercard.com/e/runner.Main?meet=1002906

Instructions to sign up:

              Click on “register” at the top of the page.

              Click on “individual sign up” on the left half of the page

                             Do not create a runnercard account. You are doing something wrong if you make one.

If you would like to go to Simplot please let me know. It is the highlight of our indoor season, and we would like to take as many of you as possible. Right now we have plenty of space so talk to me asap.

Lastly, I have updated our performance lists for the indoor season as well as the all-time lists. Check them out here:

Girls - http://bravestrack.blogspot.com/p/girls-indoor-performance-2020.html

Boys - http://bravestrack.blogspot.com/p/2020-indoor-performance-boys.html

If you have questions about any of this please let me know (after reading the meet information, of course 😊)

Coach Jacobson

1/19 update

Braves,

Thank you to those of you who made this meet so enjoyable. After the amount of time we put in training, it is rewarding to see the hard work pay off at meets like this. I love seeing the heart and effort that is on display from each of you, made all the better from knowing how much work has gone into it. Special shoutout to Grant, who was there to watch the 3200 on Friday, stayed late (and I mean late, Coach Munk and I left at 11 PM) to long jump, and then was there early Saturday and was there competing all day. Conner did virtually the same thing, and even subbed in for Ethan in the relay due to injury. Hannah, Rylee, Adam, Sam were four that ran the 3200 Friday, 1600m first thing Saturday, the 800 in the early afternoon, and then the relay at 6:30.

Of course they weren’t the only ones who sacrificed time and plans to be there, as all who came had to make arrangements and sacrifices to compete, so we appreciate your efforts to be there, including the parents who drove back and forth, stuck around all day, and generally made this all possible. Many athletes and parents were balancing other commitments/obligations (like work, other sports, family plans, etc.) but still found time to come compete, which is awesome. Your efforts make our team better, so thank you.

This coming week we will not be practicing on Monday due to the holiday. We will be practicing on Wednesday even though the high school will only have school for Juniors, and we will practice at 2:40 (3:15 for JH). The meet this week is at the Olympic Oval. The meet is on Friday afternoon/night and Saturday all day again. Please see the order of events that I have typed at the bottom. The links below show where to register (similar but not identical to BYU), estimated time schedules, and a google maps link.

Like last week we will sign up and pay for the relays. There is a 4x800 on Friday night following the 1600m and 400m. There is a 4x200m on Saturday morning, and a 4x400 on Saturday evening. We would like all to compete in a relay, namely the 4x400m. If you are available/interested in a relay, please email me which ones you’d like to be considered for. We would like to field our best possible team for each relay, and then have several other teams along with it.

Throws will be competed on Saturday at Herriman high beginning at 1:30. The information for that is in the attachment.

Talk to your event coach about what events you should sign up for, and if you have any questions please let me know.

Remember that spikes must be the 3/16^th pyramids, not the ¼ inch used at BYU. Some of those spikes can be purchased there, I believe, if needed.

Instructions for signing up for the Olympic oval:

Registration: https://www.runnercard.com/e/runner.Main?meet=1002905

              Click on “register” at the top of the page.

              Click on “individual Signup” on the left half of the page – MAKE SURE YOU CLICK ON THE LEFT SIDE TO REGISTER AS AN INDIVIDUAL.

Do not create a runnercard account. You are doing something wrong if you make one. This is only for coaches signing up relays and entire teams, not individuals.

              For team, enter “Bountiful” (without the quotes, of course)

Don’t sign up for relays, we will take care of that.

              Order of events/time estimates: https://www.runnercard.com/runner/data/184432/1002905/schedule/2020%20UHSTCA%20Indoor%20Updated1.pdf

              Map to the meet: Google Maps Link (Kearns, UT) (Park on south side of the building)

Friday: 1600m @ 4PM

              400m

              4x800

Saturday: 60H @ 9AM

              4x200

              800m

              200m

              3200m

              4x400m

Coach Jacobson

1/12 update

Braves,

This is the week of the BYU invite. Follow this link to register: https://www.runnercard.com/e/runner.Main?meet=1002887 You can also find the meet info at the “schedule” link at the top (it’s kind of small).

If you have any questions about signing up please let me know.

If you want to do a relay on Saturday please email me and let me know. As of now, only 7 people have said they want to do one. I need the names of everyone wanting to run so I can sign you up. I can’t just sign up a relay without the names. The sooner you can do this, the better. If we don’t get more signing up for relays we may have to cancel them this week, which would be unfortunate, but is a possibility.

If you haven’t yet, please look at the meet information at the link above. For you milers who are also doing a relay, you could reasonably be at the meet for 12+ hours. That makes for a fun day if you’ve planned for it, but it can get really long if you thought you were going to be done in the afternoon. Most likely the meet will end around 7 or 8. That’s just the way it has gone most years. I’m looking forward to it!

I have received a few questions about the junior high kids at this meet and future meets. I mentioned this at the parent meeting and at practices, but I should say it here for those who missed it. Some of the meets say they are only for grades 9-12, but then they still let you sign up while listing a lower grade (BYU is doing that this week). I honestly don’t know what the answer is there. You can sign up with your grade (there are a heap of kids registered with grades under 9, some even under 6). Listing a grade is not exactly necessary during indoor anyway, because it is just a club activity, and not a state sanctioned sport/activity. In other words, it’s recreational and not a state competition. That is, unless you are one of the top runners in the state/nation, then they use those rankings for things like Simplot, indoor nationals, etc.

I’ve attached information for the throwers for the meet next weekend (“next” meaning the weekend of next week, not this week). The throws will not be done at the Olympic oval, but rather at Herriman High School.

A few of you have nervously told me that you won’t be able to go to some meets. Don’t worry, we understand when you have legitimate conflicts. As coaches we want you all to come so you can see how you’re improving, and because the meets are a lot of fun, and more fun when we have a larger group, but when you have the ACT (for example), are nursing an injury, or have some other important event, we understand. (When you start missing for little league basketball we start to wonder why you practice so much just to miss the meet but that is a separate issue 😊 (inside/recurring joke)). In other words, when you miss a meet, not because of lack of commitment to the team, but for something unavoidable, we get it.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Coach Jacobson

BYU Registration

Braves,

We will be resuming practices as usual this week. Next week will have our first meet at BYU. I wanted to send out the info about it now so you can get a head start on it if you would like. The registration process can be challenging, and there is a lot of information in this email about it, so please take a moment to read it so you know what to expect.

The BYU invite has events on Friday and Saturday. Field events and the 3200m are on Friday, and everything else is on Saturday. I have included the links to go on and register, the meet information, and the map to the meet at the end of this email. In the past, this meet has lasted into the evening hours. At the meet info link you can see at what time each event was competed in years past.

Indoor track meets can be long affairs due to the huge popularity around the state, and the limited track space. We encourage you to make the meet fun between your races by supporting your teammates in their races, and bringing things to pass the time like homework or games. These meets are a lot of fun; I thought that as an athlete years ago, and now as a coach.

Because indoor track is a club sport (outdoor track is a school sport) each individual will have to sign themselves up. Before you sign up, talk to your event coach (either through email or at practice on Monday) about what events you should be doing. Coach Caitlin can be reached at cpjacobson19@gmail.com. Registration closes next Thursday (1/16) (actually Friday, 1/17, morning at 8 AM, but who wants to stress about it in the morning?), but don’t procrastinate or you may end up like a few kids last year who kept procrastinating then missed it all together.

Lastly, BYU’s indoor track is 321.5m around. At the end of the meet they do a 4x1 lap instead of a 4x400 for simplicity. We hope to have as many of you as possible run the 4x1 lap at the end of the meet. The last few years we’ve had the most relay teams from any school, and we would like to continue that. The relay at the end is one of the most fun parts of the meet, and it is a fun and great opportunity for sprinters and distance runners to get better and race together.

DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THE RELAY ONLINE. We will sign up the relays and pay for them. EMAIL ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A RELAY. I ask you to email me so I can get a count of how many teams I need to register and pay for. Again, we want to have an awesome group there this next weekend competing and getting better.

If you have any questions about the meet, don’t hesitate to ask.

Coach Jacobson

Registration: https://www.runnercard.com/e/runner.Main?meet=1002887

              Click on “register” at the top of the page.

              Click on “individual sign up” on the left half of the page

                             Do not create a runnercard account. You are doing something wrong if you make one.

              Don’t sign up for relays, we will take care of that.

Meet info: http://www.byutrack.com/various/Special/Meet_Info/2019-20/HSInd/Coug-HSIN20.htm

Map to the meet: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Smith+Fieldhouse+(SFH)/@40.2473836,-111.6552114,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xe988d551777d2390!8m2!3d40.2473836!4d-111.6552114

Indoor Track 2020

Braves,

The first meeting for indoor track will be 12/10 in the BHS commons, next to the cafeteria, at 2:40 - junior high kids will meet at 3:15. Indoor track is a club sport (meaning not part of the UHSAA), which means we can have kids from grades 7-12 join us. If you are interested in joining us please sign up through the following link: Sign Up Here

Indoor track has been a huge part of our team success over the past 4 seasons, and we look forward to improving even more as a team and reaching new heights. The goal of indoor track is to create a unified team that is a positive and enjoyable experience for all involved, and improve your speed, endurance, strength, and technique.

There will be practices for Sprints, Hurdles, Throws, Jumps, and Distance.

We will meet Monday-Friday each week (2:40 for HS kids, 3:15 for JH, except Friday due to early out). For those coming from the junior high, we use the "remind" app to let them know where to go when they get to the school.

They call it "Indoor Track" because the races are indoors. Whenever possible we will be outside for training. Depending on weather and days of the week we will be in the school, on the track, in the field house, or on the roads near the school.

In January and February we will compete at BYU, Weber State, the Olympic Oval (2-3 times), and Idaho State. The official schedule will be on this website when it is available.

The fee for the indoor season is $75, which covers participation in practices (30+ practices) and a singlet with our logo to wear at meets ($20 value). There are meet entry fees (usually between $5 and $15) that each athlete will pay on their own - due to the sport being club each venue charges a different amount, and charges athletes individually.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at bjacobson@dsdmail.net, or come find me in room 502, or Coach Munk in the counseling office.

Coach Jacobson

4/14 update

Braves,

We had some great performances over the past week at our meet at home and in Ogden. Thank you to all of you who helped out at the meet on Thursday, it made our lives much easier. Over the past week I was reminded many times what this sport is all about, and why we do what we do.

As with any sport, it isn’t about winning or proving something to ourselves, but rather the journey that each of us goes on together. Of course we do the best we can to be our best, and we compete to win, because those things are enjoyable and enhance the experience, but winning in and of itself does not make the experience valuable. What makes the experience valuable is what we do each day to become better athletes, better teammates, better friends, better people, etc. It’s the journey that is valuable, not the results. The journey includes hard work, daily striving to improve, and determination to reach our goals, but ultimately it isn’t the time or mark that you hit that determines your experience, but rather what you did to get there. Without goals to work towards we would miss out on opportunities for growth and improvement, so we must set goals and work deliberately to achieve them, but always remember to enjoy the journey and appreciate the relationships and experiences that you build along the way. This week, as we host the Junior High meet and travel to other meets, I encourage you to pause and enjoy this journey that we are on together.

We have officially reached the heart of the season, where we have JV meets during the week and varsity meets on the weekends. Those varsity races vary in terms of how many individuals can be entered. Some allow 4 per event, while others are capped at a certain number per team, while others still allow a certain number per event.

This weekend at the Davis Invitational, only those who make the cutoff will be able to race. The cutoff is determined by the entries of each school. They take something like the fastest 50 entries. Meaning, if the time you are entered with happens to be in the top 50 of all other athletes entered, then you will be able to compete. I entered everyone with a mark into the meet, and we will find out tomorrow who of those will make it.

This week is jam packed. On Wednesday we will be hosting Mueller Park, Millcreek, Bountiful, and Centerville Junior Highs for a meet on our track. We will need everyone’s help to make this meet happen!!!  There are going to be over 400 kids competing; we simply cannot get this done effectively or efficiently without all of your help. Those who elect not to help will be pulled from the meets Thursday and/or Saturday – that’s how seriously we need your help. This is the most challenging day of the year for us coaches trying to organize a mass of Junior High kids new to the sport, so we need your help to make sure they have a positive experience and we can get the meet done efficiently and accurately. I will email out assignments for the meet tomorrow, so you will all know exactly what you need to do. We will be taking our team picture for the yearbook at the conclusion of the meet on Wednesday.

On Thursday, there is a JV meet at Box Elder. Only those not competing at Davis will be allowed to go. We will be entering you in your events for this meet. Talk to your event coaches if you are unable to attend.

Let’s get better as a team this week, by making sure we have quality practices in spite of the rain. Come to practice determined to help your teammates have a positive experience and to improve.

Side note, my preferred mode of communication for track related items is via email. It helps me stay organized and I can easily see if I have replied and addressed what I need to, so if you need to ask a question or let me know something, just send me an email.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Coach Jacobson