4/29 update

Braves,

Sorry I am not getting this out to you sooner. We had a great day at the Davis Invitational on Saturday. There were tons of personal bests in spite of the wind, many all-time marks, and as a team we flat out got better. I highlighted a few of the events on the day on our Instagram post, so if you would like to see some of them I will refer you to that to save time here.

The season is quickly coming to an end. We have just over two weeks until state, and just over a week until region. That leaves us with the meet on Thursday at Viewmont, which will begin at 3:30, and the meet on Friday and Saturday at BYU. There are minimum marks for the BYU meet, which are very difficult, so most of you will only be competing at Viewmont. We will talk to those of you who qualified for the BYU meet and decide which events to have you compete in. For running events, you will be doing less events at BYU than you are accustomed to as we prepare for the region meet only a few days later.

We have 5 practice days until the region meet. Use each day to get a little better, and come region we will give ourselves a shot to win it. The past two weeks have been great for our team, we have worked harder and been more consistent and saw some good things happen. When the region meet is upon us all we will have to do is go out, compete hard, and have fun. If we do that then the results will take care of themselves. We have a fun few weeks ahead of us. Let’s make some good things happen.

In summary, Thursday we have a meet at Viewmont. Woods Cross will also be there. That meet begins at 3:30, and there will not be a bus, so you need to find a ride to and from. You will sign up for events at the meet. Talk to your event coach about what events to do. If you are going to BYU plan on doing a workout back at the school then coming over to support your teammates. Friday-Saturday is the meet at BYU. The link below has the info for the meet. If you hit the standard to be entered you will most likely be entered into the meet, though probably not all of your events. We will know about relays tomorrow, most likely.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Link for BYU meet info - http://www.byutrack.com/various/Special/Meet_Info/2017-18/BYUInv/BYUInv-18.htm

Coach Jacobson

4/15 update

Braves,

We took a small group to the Taylorsville invitational and some solid performances with a number of PRs as well. As always, we are simply looking to improve each day. As I have said before, it is uncommon to have a PR every time you step on the track, even though we always go out with the intention of having a PR, so don’t get down on yourself if you ran or threw slightly slower than your PR. Often in track you have a couple of times or marks that are close to your PR, then you are due for a big improvement.

This week we only have one meet, which is the Woods Cross invitational on Friday after school. Once again we will be limited on entries so make sure you aren’t missing practices. As I said at practice this week, I did a projection of the region meet next month based on the performances of everyone in the region. On both the boys and the girls side we are the underdogs. We are not the favorites. To be completely honest with you, this past week of practice did not meet the standards that this team has set up to this point. We have done a good job at being at practice, being ready to work, being dedicated and mentally tough. However, last week we took a step back by missing practice, we missed a huge number of you one or more days last week, or by not being fully engaged or prepared for the workout. This is not about condemning any of you, but rather it is a wakeup call that we have got to be better if we are going to have a shot at region. We have a lot of work to be done and we cannot afford to miss days and opportunities to improve. We were in a similar position last season before our boys team won region. There was a meet where we left the varsity kids at home to practice, and they simply didn’t do what they were supposed to and essentially took the day off. I talked to those kids and from that point on they went to work like I had not previously seen from them and ultimately went on to win region. I hope this year’s teams can do the same. Let’s rededicate ourselves to be better than we heretofore have been and do great things together.

The season is ramping up and we now have less than one month until it is over. Let’s enjoy this time we have together with this team because before long it will be over. We have a small senior class this year, but they have put in a lot of work over the years, so let’s make this season great for each of them. Before long you all will be in their shoes with a sense of urgency to become the best you can; make the most of this experience now and let’s have fun over the next month.

Coach Jacobson

4/7 update

Braves,

I hope you all have thoroughly enjoyed your spring break. We are looking forward to getting back to practicing every day. We have missed seeing you all every day so it will be good to be back. We appreciate your hard work day in and day out up to this point, let’s keep it going and work to reach our team goals.

This is the time of the season where things start to move really quickly. We have races every week and about 1 month until the region meet. We have a lot of work we need to put in in order to give ourselves at shot at winning the region title and even more so for state.

This week we have a region meet on Thursday at Viewmont. We won’t be taking a bus to this meet, as the school won’t provide one, but we will ask you to meet at Viewmont at 2:45. The meet will begin at 3:30. We also have a race on Saturday at Taylorsville. Because that is an invitational we will only be able to take a small group, so we will let you know as soon as we can if you are entered for that meet. Namely people who are close to the state qualifying marks. If you are wondering if you will be entered you can always ask your event coach so you can plan your weekend.

It is my understanding that prom is coming up on the 21^st? Keep in mind that we have a race on that Friday night, the 20^th, at Woods Cross, and it typically goes until later in the evening. I know some of you like to do your “day date” the night before, so plan accordingly with your dates and groups to not have it that day so you can attend that meet. We are able to enter a few more people into that meet, but after that the invitationals become extremely difficult to qualify for. After the WX invite we go to Davis, then BYU, before region, and those two meets are very selective.

Again, looking forward to seeing you all again and working hard.

See you Monday.

Coach Jacobson

District/Spring break update

Braves,

We had a very successful first day at the district championships. Baily Jenkins had a 20 ft PR, throwing 88-07, in the javelin and finished 6^th, and Tashena finished 3^rd in the javelin with a throw of 97-00. Bailey Basinger finished 5^th in the shot with a put of 31-06. Julia Miller finished 5^th the long jump and the 4x800 finished 3^rd as well. Laurie Murphy had a big outdoor PR in the mile to dominate the field and finish first overall, leading the girls team to second place after day 1. In the lane events Kiwi, Sophia, and Olivia all qualified for the 300H final, and Bountiful is the only school with 3 people in the 8 person final. On the boys side Nainoa finished third in the disc with a state qualifying throw of 139-04. Sam also qualified for state in the disc throwing 129-03.5 and finishing 7^th. In the lane events Jace will be competing in the 100, 400, and 200, and Blake Nielson will be in the 400 in addition to his relays. Our relays will all compete today as well and we are set up for some great performances. Remember, anyone who would like to do a 4x400m and the end of the meet (as long as you haven’t done 4 events already) is encouraged to run. I hope we have a big group of kids out running and having a good time.

You will be excused at 1:30 again and the bus will leave at 1:45. Even if you are not competing we would love to have you there to support your teammates. Make sure to head out to the field events and cheer on your teammates who are throwing and jumping. It should serve to be an exciting day with several more state qualifying performances and podium appearances.

As for Friday 3/30, we will not be holding an organized practice, but of course we encourage you to get out and be active to recover from a hard few days of racing. During spring break, runners will meet Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 10 AM, for those of you who are in town. Throwers, talk to Coach Munk about a schedule for your group, which may be slightly different. Those who are out of town need to stay active and get out and run as much as possible. The season is ramping up and we need to be at our best when we come back from the break.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Coach Jacobson

3/25 update

Braves,

We had a pretty exciting week with the schedule being moved around and not knowing our bus situation. Through it all you were all very flexible and did what you needed to do. Thank you for your hard work, understanding, and flexibility. We had more people consistently at practice this week, several state qualifiers in the long jump and discus, and we had excellent performances and improvements at the meets on Tuesday/Wednesday and Friday. All in all it was a very successful week and as a team we took another step forward. Let’s keep it rolling and have another great few days of practice and a great meet before spring break.

A few top performers at Box Elder on the girls side were Laurie, who won the 800m and the 3200m (her favorite event hands down) and Julia finished first in the long jump, qualifying for state, and was followed by Bri in second place. On the boys side Blake won the 800m, and Garrett finished second in the long jump, also qualifying for state, and 3^rd in his first time throwing the javelin.

This week we will practice as usual on Monday and Tuesday, then we have the Davis district championships on Wednesday/Thursday. It is a trial/final meet so all sprint events will compete for 8 spots in finals on Thursday. I’ve also included the schedule of events at the end of this email. All the schools in our school district will be there so we will see some great competition. Because it is a state qualifying meet we will once again be limited on entries, which we will send out on Tuesday.

Parents, this meet is run by the schools so each school is in charge of running a field event. We have been assigned to run the javelin. If any of you would be willing to help for a couple of hours on Wednesday/Thursday (if you can only do one of those days that’s fine too) please let me know. We’ll teach you everything you’d need to do so you feel confident. It’s a pretty straightforward job. Coach Munk will run the event if we don’t have help, but because he coaches all three throwing events I’d rather he be able to go help our athletes at each event instead of being only at the Jav. If that’s something you can do let me know.

This is our last meet before spring break so let’s make it a great one. Let me know if you hav any questions.

Coach Jacobson

Schedule of Events

Be aware that events will move ahead of schedule when possible in the trials, but not finals.

Wednesday, March 28

3:00     Boys DISCUS

Boys HIGH JUMP (5'06")

Boys POLE VAULT (8'10")

Girls SHOT PUT

Girls LONG JUMP

Girls JAVELIN

3:15     Girls 100m HURDLES trials

3:20     Boys110m HURDLES trials

3:25     Girls 100m DASH trials

3:30     Boys 100m DASH trials

3:35     Girls 1600m RUN final

3:50     Girls 400m DASH trials

4:00     Boys 400m DASH trials

4:15     Girls 300m HURDLES trials

4:25     Boys 300m HURDLES trials

4:40     Girls 200m DASH trials

4:50     Boys 200m DASH trials

5:00     Boys 3200m RUN final

5:20     Girls 4x800m RELAY final

5:35     Boys 4x800m RELAY final

Thursday, March 29

3:00     Boys JAVELIN

Boys LONG JUMP

Boys SHOT PUT

Girls DISCUS

Girls HIGH JUMP (4'05")     

Girls POLE VAULT (6'06")

3:15     Girls 100m HURDLES final

3:20     Boys 110m HURDLES final

3:25     Girls 100m DASH final

3:30     Boys 100m DASH final

3:35     Boys 1600m RUN final

3:45     Girls 4x100m RELAY final

3:50     Boys 4x100m RELAY final

3:55     Girls 400m DASH final

4:00     Boys 400m DASH final

4:10     Girls 300m HURDLES final

4:15     Boys 300m HURDLES final

4:20     Girls 800m RUN final

4:30     Boys 800m RUN final

4:40     Girls MEDLEY RELAY final

4:45     Boys MEDLEY RELAY final

4:55     Girls 200m DASH final

5:00     Boys 200m DASH final

5:05     Girls 3200m RUN final

5:20     Girls 4x400m RELAY final

5:30     Boys 4x400m RELAY final

5:40     Girls 4x400m Exhibition RELAY

5:50     Boys 4x400m Exhibition RELAY

6:00     Presentation of Team and MVP Awards

3/18 update

Braves,

Our first official meet is in the books and the effort was outstanding in spite of having to postpone the meet the day before. At the end of the meet we had 10 4x400 relay teams. It was quite the site having everyone lined up on the track, including a team of throwers who ended up finishing 4^th. I love the energy and atmosphere at the end of a meet like this where everyone is running hard and yelling support for their teammates, embracing the challenge of a 400 rather than shying away from the pain. Great job to those of you who competed in 3 or 4 events. I know a few of you weren’t allowed to do a relay because I had entered you in 4 events already, which means we could have had even more relays. I think we did a good job of competing hard in each event, we did well at supporting each other during the races, and as soon as we got there most of you immediately began to warm up like we had asked, so we thank you for that. All in all yesterday was a very successful day for those who were able to attend. There is one area where we can definitely improve and that is in our consistency of attending practices. I know many of you are doing the best you can, and I know you have many schedule conflicts so we appreciate you moving your schedules around the best that you can to be able to be there every day, but there are days when people simply decide not to come, and that is going to hold those individuals back. This team has some great kids on it, both as athletes and as people, and this is going to be an awesome season, not just in the team and individual accomplishments, but in how much fun you have working hard together, competing together, and enjoying the friendships made; those are the true joys of track and field. We want everyone to be a part of this journey, and some great things are going to happen, by being consistent in our effort each day, at our attendance at practices, and our positive attitudes in all we do.

We do not have another region meet like this one until after spring break. The next two weeks we have invitationals, where we are limited on who we can bring to the meet, both by times/marks, and by number of entries. We will take as many of you as we can, but when we have limitations like this, one way we make decisions is by attendance at practice, so you’ve got to be at practice each day. I will do everything I can do get you into at least one event in each meet for those who have been coming to practice each day.

(Here is a link to the season schedule https://bravestrack.blogspot.com/p/2018-outdoor-meet-schedule-subject-to.html)

The meet this week is called the super meet, and is on two separate days for the girls and boys. The girls compete Tuesday at Davis High, and the boys are on Wednesday. The boys will practice as usual on Tuesday, then we encourage you to come support the girls, and the girls will practice as usual on Wednesday and we encourage you to come support the boys. We will have entries finalized Monday after practice, and the excuse/bus departure time will be given then as well.

With no school on Monday we will be practicing at 10 AM. If you are hoping to go to the super meet we really need you at practice Monday. Coach Chism will be there to work with the jumpers as well.

If you are unable to go to the super meet, or you can only be there for part of it, please let me know ASAP so I won’t enter you, or I can enter you in the earlier events only, or later events. We have to pay per event entered so we really prefer not to spend money for a race that someone cannot attend, so please let me know today if you can.

Here is a link to the results from the meet yesterday http://results.runnercard.com/Results/results.jsp?meetid=1001719

Coach Jacobson

3/11 update

Braves,

I want to begin by saying thank you for all of your help in making the alumni meet go smoothly. It is difficult to run a meet in which we are also racing. Special shout out to our managers, Leah, Alyssa, and Jinny, and to Kamora, Makayla, Kole and others whom I may have missed for helping with heats, timing, marking the times, moving hurdles, etc. I know more of you helped in many capacities but those were some I was with most directly. All of your willingness to help made our lives easier, so thank you.

I had an awesome time at the meet catching up with former runners and coaches, and seeing you all compete and work to improve. I hope that you walked away from the meet with some positives about your own performances and with some clear goals for the meet next week. I also hope that this meet gets some traction for the coming years and that more and more alumni will come out. I hope all of you will come after you graduate as well. It is kind of a selfish motivation on my part for making it an alumni meet rather than just a time trial, and that is so I get a chance each year to catch up with you as you move on in your post high school life.

As I said at the end of the meet, the effort was there during each race and made our team better. We took a step forward in terms of our physical fitness due to the hard work in each race. That is something that our team typically does well, and that is a good thing. We also did a great job of supporting each other. I loved that if you weren’t competing or warming up that you were down by the finish line ready to help if needed, and cheering for your teammates as they came through. That speaks to the character of our team and our desire to see each other succeed. Those two things, hard work and support for your teammates, are a big key to success and if we can keep doing that we will be a tough team to beat at region and state. Our next big step forward is going to be a mental one. We need everyone determined before every race that we are going to, and want to, give our absolute best. If we mentally believe in ourselves that we can at least do our best in spite of any other condition, then we increase our ability to physically perform at our best. Having confidence in your abilities to perform also gives you confidence that you can get better, and that is what each of us needs, to simply get a little better each day. Believe in yourselves. You’ve put in some hard work over the past few weeks of the outdoor season, now amidst the anxiety and pre-race jitters of the impending performance, believe that you can perform at your best, because you absolutely can. That’s what you’ve been training for.

This week we have our first official meet at Box Elder High School, on Thursday. The official start time is 3:30. Due to bus limitations from the district we have to leave fairly early. You will be excused from class at 1:15 and the buses leave at 1:30. If you arrive at 1:31 you will be left. The driver has to drop us off then get back to pick up kids from another HS, JH, and elementary before returning to get us. Remember that if you have not completed register my athlete that you are ineligible to compete and cannot go, and as stated many times we will only have room on the buses for those who are not missing practices.

We are looking forward to a great week of work outside on the track!!!! I cannot explain how excited I am to be able to be back on the track. We have put in some great work on the roads and in the halls, and I think that was a big advantage to us, and now we can carry that over onto the track.

If you have any questions for me please let me know. We are excited about this team and what each of you can do.

Coach Jacobson

3/4 update

Braves,

I hope you are all enjoying the insane amounts of snow. Every spring we have weather challenges that interfere with training and meets, this is just another example. While the Utah weather may not always be cooperative, we cannot allow it to deter us from getting better each and every day as we work towards our team goals of winning the region and state championships. Regardless of snow, we must work each day with the mentality that we can be champions. With our school so high up on the Bountiful Bench we see the worst of the snow – which could mean that there are days when the competition is able to be on their track, but we aren’t because the snow hasn’t melted yet. Rather than seeing that as a disadvantage, however, I see it as a positive thing as we develop mental toughness, and it roots out complacency as we realize that we cannot afford to take sets off. We are lucky to have means to becoming better athletes even if the track is covered, so we will certainly take advantage of those facilities – namely the hallways and the roads – so let’s make the weather challenges something that makes us mentally and physically better as individuals and as a team.

This week is our last week of “pre-season” training so we have to use these days to improve. On Friday we will be doing the “alumni meet.” All Bountiful High alumni are invited to come and run with us in our time trial. The meet will contest each event, weather permitting, and will be an opportunity for us to see where we stand. We will need all of your help running the meet, so please do not leave until it is over. We will need help in the field events, timing the track events, moving hurdles, and so forth. In the event the track is still covered with snow we will move the alumni back to another available Friday tbd.

Reminder that I am going to submit the clothing order this week, and I need your order forms by the beginning of practice on Monday. These orders are totally optional, and you are not required to order anything. I attached the form in case you no longer have one. There are two differences than what are on the form. First, the nike bag will actually be under armor, but is the same price. Second, on the back it says the price for the hat is 25, but that is my mistake, that is the cost of the hat we used for XC, which was slightly different.

Lastly, please go to the following link and register for track. This is required by the state for all participants in high school sports, and must be completed before you will be allowed to compete. https://registermyathlete.com/schools/

We will be issuing uniforms this week after practice. That day is tbd as well.

Looking forward to another great week. Let me know if you have any questions.

Coach Jacobson

2/18 update

Braves,

Another indoor season is in the books and we had some amazing things happen on our team. The single biggest difference between this team and the teams in the past in the number of committed athletes we had on the team. The more of you who come out and are determined to get better, the better our team is as a whole. We appreciate each of you and what you have contributed to the team, regardless of how fast you ran, or how far you threw. As I’ve said many times, your contribution is measured in work ethic, commitment, attitude, etc. We are proud of what this team did in those areas.

The Simplot games were a huge success for our team. The past two seasons we did not have anyone make finals so we were forced to come home early on Friday night/Saturday morning. This year we had 3 individuals and 2 relay teams qualify for finals. That is a huge jump from years past and something that the team will hopefully continue to build upon in the years to come. Trisha Thompson, a freshman qualified in the 3200m with a huge 13 second PR on Thursday night, marking the 3^rd fastest time ever run by a Bountiful athlete, indoor or outdoor. She ran so well that she nearly had a PR in the mile in the middle of her 2 mile run. Laurie made it in the 1600m, and then anchored our medley team which qualified for finals the next day. The girls medley of Trisha, Sadie, Olivia, and Laurie (whose average age is 15 – 2 freshmen, a sophomore, and a junior) qualified for finals, which is a pretty awesome accomplishment in such a competitive meet. They were the final team to qualify (12^th), but finished 8^th in finals. That is a feat to be proud of. Jace Jensen qualified in the 400m with the fastest overall time on Friday, then anchored the Medley of Ammon, Ben, Andrew, and Jace and qualified for the final as well. They ran two seconds faster the next day to also finish 8^th overall. Jace was in the fast heat of the 400m running against some of the fastest guys, not just from Utah, but in the country. He cut in at the 150 mark in 4^th place, but surged over the next 50m and squeezed through some narrow spaces, showing vision, speed, and agility in the middle of a 400, to move into first place at the halfway mark. From there he just flew down the straight away and into the turn leaving no opportunity for the competition to make a move on him. He won the race going away with a time of 48.77 – the third fastest time ever run by a Utah athlete on a 200m track. That race, particularly his move to wiggle into the front, was one of the craziest 400s I have ever seen. Check out his Instagram post for the full runnerspace video that really shows the details of the race.

We are thrilled that those three individuals and the relays did so well, but not because they are just good athletes, but because of how hard they work to get there. Racing well is the reward of hard work. If you work hard each day and give your best at every practice then racing in the fun part. I asked in our team meeting how many had a PR this weekend and nearly everyone raised their hand, and everyone raised their hand when I asked if they ran one of their fastest 3 times ever. That is outstanding considering the first day no one was allowed to wear spikes. We had 17 relay teams, and some of our runners had to run all 3 three relays. Abby and Naomi come to mind as two that ran every relay. They are distance runners but were happy to step up and run a 4x200 so others could have another race. There were others who did so as well and we appreciate your willingness to work for your teammates. We also saw some fantastic support from each of you during each other’s races. Watching you cheer for your teammates, no matter what place they were in, makes us want to continue the Simplot trip. Our goal for the trip this year was for each of you to have a positive experience and hopefully make you want to continue to get better as well. When you support, and are supported, it shows us that you are doing just that and makes the trip way more enjoyable, so I thank you for that.

Shoutout to Kamora who fully planned on racing but then at the last minute found herself on crutches unable to walk. She asked if she could still come and support, which she did and she took hundreds of photos for you all as well. And thank you to Shayla for being willing to fill in with less than 24 hours’ notice. We took an awesome group to Simplot and we are proud of this team and this indoor season. I harp on getting better each day, no matter if you are the fastest or the slowest, you just need to get a little better each day. Well, this team did get better each day and now at the end of the season we can look back and say we got a lot better. From those first days in November until now, we are a totally different team, in a good way, and it makes us excited for what is to come outdoors.

Outdoor track will meet 1 week from today, Monday the 26^th after school for our team meeting and sign up. Practices will begin on Tuesday. Our team is looking very solid on both the boys and girls side, with our girls trying to continue their success in cross country, winning the region title, and our boys looking to win region for the 4^th straight year – something they have never done. Depending on who else comes out for the team, our prospects for state are look to be higher than in years past as well. We hope that each of you who was a part of this indoor team comes out for outdoor as well. I know many of you had schedule conflicts or for whatever reason weren’t able to do all of indoor. If that applies to you I want you to know we still want you to join us for outdoor and hopefully your able to be with us each day.

Lastly, there were a few items left in vehicles after Simplot, so if you are missing something, please let me know.

Thanks for a great season Braves! On to the next one.

Coach Jacobson

2/11 update

Braves,

Another great week of work lead to some great performances Friday night at the Olympic Oval. There were tons of PRs and SBs in each event and Jace Jensen’s 49.04 in the 400m meter set a new meet record, meaning it was the fastest time ever run at this meet since it began 10 or so years ago. That is a huge accomplishment. More important that the record though is the fact that he, along with the majority of our team, has been working hard each day and continues to improve. We commend each of you for that, because it can be difficult to sustain for a long season, but this group keeps working hard and getting better.

On that note, there are many of you on our team who haven’t been able to stick with it this season. Many of you, for one reason or another, weren’t able to come to practices or meets consistently. I don’t write this to condemn you, rather to encourage you to join back up with us during the outdoor season. The first meeting for outdoor will be on Monday, February 26^th. The first meet is about 3 weeks after that. If you know people who did indoor, but not the whole time, invite them to join back up with us for outdoor. And, of course, invite your friends and peers to do outdoor track even if they didn’t do indoor.

We are taking 38 athletes to the Simplot Games this weekend. I won’t explain many of the details here but will email that group directly. If you aren’t going to Simplot we encourage you to still come to practice this week and work with the team to get better. Next week will be an off week after returning from Simplot.

Those of you going to Simplot, make sure you are at practice every day this week. We have a lot of practice to do with handoffs, which we will do every day, and to tune up before the meet.

Thank you for all of your hard work and your support of your teammates. We have some big things coming for our team this spring in outdoor track if we can continue to improve.

I’ll leave you with a paraphrased quote that Jared Ward shared from his sports psychologist at the pro-runners panel on Thursday night: fear and anxiety live in the future; regret and remorse live in the past; and none of those emotions help us in the present. Be sure to focus on the things you can control in the present rather than being weighed down by emotions that live elsewhere.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Coach Jacobson