Congratulations to Sarah, Kiannah, Caitlin, Deia, Corrina, Vienna, Cam, Hanna, Lisa, Robert, Thomas, Phillip, Alex, Mehrdad, Andrew, Adeem and Patrick, who competed in the Dino Classic yesterday. Following as closely as it does after the Christmas break, the Classic is always a tough meet – the lack of training, busy holiday schedules, turkey dinners, and late nights take their toll. However, despite the challenges, these seventeen athletes produced some excellent results. Here are some highlights:
For Sarah, Vienna, Robert, Mehrdad and Adeem, this was their first meet of the year and, despite the additional challenges and nervousness that invariably result, they all competed very well. Well done athletes!
I again witnessed many displays of good sportsmanship from the JD athletes at this meet. Despite a skating injury that prevented her from competing, Kamila graciously came out and spent the day at the track, cheering on her teammates. I noticed that Cam stopped what she was doing to cheer on Lisa in the 150m, while I witnessed Adeem offering shouts of encouragement and applause to some of the meet’s youngest athletes. Despite being in the same age category and frequently competing against each other in the same events, Thomas, Phillip and Alex always warm up together and are very supportive of each other, both before and after their races. Well done athletes! Thank you for representing CALTAF so well and for being so supportive of your teammates.
One of my favourite races of the day was Cam’s 1200m. From the start of the race, Cam looked relaxed and confident, and she finished 2nd in 4:29.93s, an outstanding personal best of almost 14 seconds. Coach Ed thought that the best run of the day was Cam’s 1200m, and went further to say that he thought it was “the best race I’ve ever seen Cam run”. Well done Cam! That was a great race!
Hanna followed up a strong performance at the Dino Opener last month with another great meet. Hanna finished 2nd of thirteen 14-year-old girls in the 60m in a personal best time of 8.75s, and was also 4th of thirteen athletes in the 300m, where she finished in 49.30s. Coach Ed thought Hanna looked particularly strong in both sprints. Well done Hanna!
Thomas and Corrina learned the hard way that there is a distinct disadvantage to moving up from the bantam to the midget age category, where one false start means that the athlete is immediately out of a race – there is no second chance for a midget at the start line as there is for a bantam. Both athletes were disqualified in the 60 after false-starting – pretty harsh in their first races as midgets. To their great credit, both athletes put the disheartening set-back behind them and came back with strong performances in their next events. Corrina finished 4th of eight athletes in the 600m in 1:53.63s, beating the old track record of 1:58.63s by just shy of 5 seconds. Meanwhile Thomas, in his first attempt at the 300m, finished 2nd of six athletes in 42.78s, beating the old track record of 43.37s by more than half a second. Well done Corrina and Thomas – two DQs and two track records! Now that’s what I call a comeback!
Lisa matched her outstanding performance at the Dino Opener with another outstanding meet yesterday. Lisa finished 2nd of seven athletes in the 60m in a personal best time of 9.12s while, in the 150m, she not only finished second in a personal best time of 22.38s, but she also beat the track record of 22.57s in the process. Well done Lisa! Two outstanding meets!
Coach Ed commented that the 14-year-old boys who competed yesterday – Thomas, Phillip, Alex and Mehrdad – are a strong group of runners over all distances and concluded that there are some strong relay teams there. In the 600m, both Alex andPhillip beat the track record of 1:49.19s, with Alex finishing 2nd in 1:45.02s and Phillip finishing 4th in 1:45.89s. In the 300m, both Mehrdad and Thomas beat the track record of 43.37s, with Thomas finishing 2nd in 42.78s and Mehrdad placing 3rd in 43.31s. Alex wasn’t far behind, finishing the 300m in 4th in 44.31s. Well done boys! Impressive running!
Two of our youngest athletes, Andrew and Patrick, produced some strong results. Andrew ran a personal best in the 60m, where he finished 5th in 9.27s. Patrick was one of the few athletes who listened to Coach Blair’s advice about not going out insanely fast and trying to sprint the entire 600m. Patrick took the first lap at a quick but entirely sensible pace and, as a result, finished 2nd of the twelve-year-old boys in the 600m in 2:22.44s. Well done Andrew and Patrick!
After my return from a year in Africa, it would be a masterpiece of understatement to say that I noticed a big change in some of the athletes who were with JD before I left. Kiannah is one of those athletes who is running so well and looking remarkably stronger. What a difference a year can make! Kiannah ran a great 60m, just missing her personal best, and looking very quick coming out of the blocks. Well done Kiannah!
Coach Ed commented that “Sarah looked good in both the sprints.” Sarah was 9th of twenty-six 15-year-old girls in the 60m, where she finished in 8.71s, and 7th of fifteen athletes in the 300m, where she finished in 48.75s. Well done Sarah!
Coach Blair and I were impressed with Robert and Vienna’s starts, a surprise given that neither had used blocks prior to the meet. Obviously, both athletes are quick studies, because both took the crash course given to them just before their races and applied what they learned very well. Well done Vienna and Robert!
Coach Ed noted that he admired the effort Adeem put into his two races. He noted an attitude change that was making Adeemmore aggressive and determined in his races, and therefore more competitive. Well done Adeem!
Given his recent return to track and that it was his first competition, Robert impressed his coaches in both of his events. In the 60m, a quick start helped Robert win his heat and place 6th overall in 8.66s, while in the 600m, Robert ran a strong race, and finished 3rd in 1:47.52s. Well done Robert! We are happy to have you back!
It was great to see so many athletes putting to good use the information that they learned at Kelly Anne Erdman’s nutrition seminar. I saw many athletes eating and drinking immediately after their races to help their bodies recover, and Kelly Anne would have been impressed had she been there to watch the athletes eating lunch. There were many good race-day foods and beverages being consumed. If you missed the nutrition seminar, I have summarized the information in the Outdoor Season Information 2013 that I will be emailing to you in the next few days.
Well done athletes! Coach Ed asked me to offer a “way to go!” to everyone who came out and competed. As he rightly pointed out, “JD’s numbers were down a bit considering the holidays, so congrats to those who did make the effort.”
