First Home Meet on our New Track!

@Home vs. Mundelein & Waukegan
The weather gods smiled upon us as we hosted our FIRST EVER meet on our beautiful new track!  We were also lucky to have Mr. Niemi--our athletic director--invest in our meet so that we could have FAT at the finish. For those of you new to track, FAT=Fully Automated Timing. We hired PFV Performance to time all of the track events so that the meet would run efficiently and the times would be official! The timing system records the starter's pistol and then records the finish, accurately filming each finish and matching up times with athletes. In a word, FAT is AWESOME. With all our new lanes, we finished the whole meet in under 2 hours, which is also AWESOME! Although we don't want to rush, we certainly do want to be efficient so athletes can take care of homework. And on most days in April, we also want to get out of crummy weather, but not on this glorious day!  Let's check out some fantastic performances from the day.

Although I didn't get to watch the field events due to working at the finish line, I did hear some great news from our field coaches:
Shot put:  Arianna threw a LIFETIME best in the shot, making her way into the 22-foot club!

Discus:  Bri led this crew with a HUGE throw of nearly 90 feet. It was a season best, and it earned our team 3 points against Mundelein. It's great to hear that Bri is back to her usual form this season and only a few feet from a lifetime best. Awesome leadership, senior! Audreynah had a season best, too, improving by over 2 feet from her performance at Lake Forest. So glad to hear that she is finding her groove, too! Arianna had ANOTHER LPR in this event, throwing 5 feet further than at Lake Forest. Awesome work, Arianna!  Ximena was with her, really figuring out the event. She threw over 22 longer than at Lake Forest! Holy smokes! Proud of your effort, Ximena!

Long Jump: Our senior leader and teacher in the jumps had a great day, too. Kate jumped 14'8.5", nearly 2 inches further than her awesome performance at Conference last year. Awesome work, Katelin! Grace had a great day, making it into the double digits and improving by over 2 feet from Lake Forest. Sweet effort, Grace! And Marshyir made her jumping debut, showing her grit by trying a new event. Awesome work, freshie!

Triple Jump:  Grace made her triple debut today, jumping over 25 feet! Impressive for your first time at this tricky event--great job, Grace!

Short Sprints: Our newbees and veterans alike took advantage of the lovely weather to bust out some great times. In the 100, Cici, LaKiyrah, Marshyir, Mary, Tyesha, Abygail, Anesa, Nala, Auriel, and Kennilyn all earned LIFETIME PRs while  Makayla and Jada both earned season PRs. That's a total of 12 PRs--that's huge!  Awesome work, crew! I know that as everyone gets more reps in the blocks and keeps working hard in practice, that those times will continue to improve. In the 200, we witnessed the same effort and improvement. Niyanna, Baakir, Nala, Jada, Lanay, Nyana, Makayla, Tyesha, Mary, Marshyir, Christa, LaKiyrah, and Cici all earned new LIFETIME PRs while Tikia earned a new season PR. Do you see that list of greatness? Awesome to see!

Hurdles: Our crew has been so patient with me as we work through drills and workouts. In the 100, Baakir ran a new LIFETIME best without much practice in this event! In the 300 hurdles, Tati ran a significant season PR, dropping 4 seconds over last week. I'm confident this crew will continue to improve!

Long Sprints/Mid-Distance: Our 400 crew enjoyed considerable success, too! Brionne ran a new LIFETIME best in the 400 after having a great weekend in Springfield. Janalise, Carmella, Aubri, and Sheila all ran big LIFETIME PRs, too, in one of the toughest events on the track. Keep up the hard work, bees! In the 800, we had two big PRs. Riley led the race from gun to tape, earning a HUGE LPR of sub-2:20. For those of you doing the math at home, yes:  that means she ran faster than 1:10 for each lap. Whew! Awesome job, Ri!  Melanie also ran a sweet race today. She has gotten SO much better at running with an open stride, and that strength showed today with a new LPR by over 4 seconds. Nice job, Mel! 

Distance: Lauren had a huge day in the mile, earning a new lifetime best of 5:33, taking the lead early and not looking back! It was so cool to watch her wind up that kick at the end of a great effort. Proud of you, Lauren! Liz had a huge day, too. She ran a sweet 7:21, improving 21 seconds from her previous best! Whew, that's fun! And Sofia did a great job of taking a risk early in the race to earn her a new season PR; awesome work, Fia!  

Relays: Race day allows us to see how to handle handoffs in pressure situations. These Monday meets allow us to practice!  We are a work in progress in this area, but that's ok!  Our 4X100 took care of business, taking first place. For Monday meets, relays are all or nothing:  we either win and take all 5 points or miss out. By the end of the season, I am confident that all of our relays will help us earn points at the Conference Meet. Until then, let's really soak up Coach Cuttill's advice on handoffs so that we can perfect these fun team races that are so thrilling to watch!

Overall, we were able to beat Waukegan's up and coming team while Mundelein was able to pull off the win against us. It was a great night filled with fun and growth, which is all your coaches want for you! Great job, bees!