USATF

Many of you have been wondering about the USA Track & Field (USATF) cards. This is your membership in the USATF organization. It includes insurance to, at, and from all USATF meets , and allows you to compete in all USATF sponsored meets (including Simplot and the series of summer meets).

Here is the link:

www.usatf.org

Indoor Track!

Finally, Indoor Track is back!

We will be starting our indoor track program on Dec. 1. Meet on the basement track at 3:00 PM in your workout clothes.

Indoor Track is our pre-season conditioning program for those of you who are not playing a winter sport to get into shape. There are several meets in January and February, culminating in an Indoor State Championship and the Simplot Games. The last year that we participated in Indoor track (2006) we were the Indoor 4A State Champions. The Simplot Games is the largest high school indoor track meet in the country. Info about Simplot is available form either Coach Rockwood or coach Maria Thatcher.

The cost for Indoor track is $20. That money will go towards a team shirt and for your entrance fees into the various indoor meets that we will attend. (The meets are not free.)

We are anticipating to have the greatest season yet. But remember, a successful track team is a big track team. Talk to your friends into coming out. The more people we have, the funner it is.

One More Banquet Change

It feels like this XC Awards Banquet is bouncing around like a rubber ball. We think, however, that we have a final date. The banquet will be on THURSDAY NOV 6.

Great West XC Conference Championships

The Great West Conference (the collegiate athletic conference with UVU) will be having their Conference XC Championship in Orem this Saturday. There will be several former Payson runners competing. Some of you may want to go, watch, and cheer. Here is the info:

November 1, 2008
Women's Race 9:00am 6K
Men's Race 10:00am 8K

Lakeside Park
400 South Geneva Road
Orem, Utah 84058
Its next to Geneva Elementary School

School that are in the conference
Utah Valley University of Texas-Pan American
Chicago State University
New Jersey Institute of Technology
University of South Dakota
University of North Dakota
Houston Baptist University

All-Star Meet for All Seniors

In connection with the USATF Junior Olympic XC meet (listed below), there will also be the Utah State All-Star Meet for All Seniors! So, if you are a senior, plan on the All-Star meet. If you are a in grades 9-11, plan on the USATF Junior Olympic met. Here is the info for the All-Star Race:

Your coaches association would like to invite you to this year’s Utah Cross Country All-Stars Meet of Champions to be held at the Cotton Wood Complex
(4400 South 1300 East SLC). This will be a great opportunity to see our graduating senior class at their best going head to head, classification against classification to see which classification has the strongest graduating group of seniors. Hopefully this will be an exciting event that will show off our seniors one more time to the college and university recruiters without the other grade levels mixing up the results.
This event has been sanctioned by the Utah High School Activities Association. Please encourage your athlete to come. Thanks for your support and all you do for your athletes and this great Cross Country Sport.


Date: Saturday November 1, 2008

Time: Girls 12:30 PM
Boys 1:00 PM
Awards 1:30 PM

Who: 12th Grade Boys and Girls

Where: Cotton Wood Complex (4400 South 1300 East SLC)

Awards: Medals for the top 20 finishers

Cost: $5

Singlets will be given to the top 10 state championship finishers for each classification. All others will wear their school singlet.

Junior Olympic XC Meet

Some of you may be interested in the following meet information:

2008 USATF UTAH
JUNIOR OLYMPIC
CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
November 1st, 2008
Cottonwood Complex, Salt Lake City, UT

Location: 4400 S 1300 E, Salt Lake City

Bib Pickup 9-9:30 am, 11/01/08

Format and Schedule of Events:
Junior Olympic Championships


Youth (13-14) 4K 11:00 a.m.
Intermediate (15-16) 5K 11:30 a.m.
Young M/W (17-18) 5K 12:00 p.m.


ENTRY FEES: $5.00 for each participant.

Awards: Awards will be given to the top ten finishers in each division.

The Course: The entire course is grass surface. Spikes may be useful on the hills or if the course is wet. No dressing facility or public water is available.

Numbers: The race numbers are to be worn on the front of your singlet or shirt and pinned in a flat manner. Do not tear off strips!!! To receive numbers see bib pick-up.

Division Rules: All participants must run in their proper age division. At the Regional Championships each athlete must compete in the division they qualified in at the Association Championships.
Declaration of Advancement: The top 25 finishers and top 3 teams in each division may advance to the Regional
Championships on November 15th, 2008 in Albuquerque, NM . Declaration of intent to advance should be done before the end of the meet. Advancement to the Regionals is $7.00 per individual athlete and cash only will be accepted.

Registration: (COACHES PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING VERY CAREFULLY)
Entry per athlete is $5.00. All athletes must be current members of UT USATF. Registration packages including
individual, team entry form and age verification documents MUST be postmarked no later than Saturday, October 25th 2008. No Late Entries Will Be Accepted.
Entry: Entries must be made on the official entry form which is enclosed. If you require additional forms you may make copies of the form. Remember that the age division an athlete competes in is determined by the year that he/she was born.

All participating athletes must provide proof of USATF membership and sign the entry form.
(a) Athletes who have previously verified their date of birth do not need to do this again. Clubs should
obtain a current list from the Membership Chair identifying those athletes whose date of birth is verified.
Clubs will enter all athlete’s date of birth on the entry forms to signal to the registration chair that the
athlete’s date of birth has been previously verified.
(b) If you, the coach have not previously verified the athlete’s date of birth, than a legible copy of the
athlete’s proof of birth is required, such as; birth certificate, passport, certificate of baptismal records,
driver’s license, or U.S. Government I.D. are acceptable. Proof of birth must accompany the athlete’s
entry. Clubs will leave the date of birth area blank on the entry form and attach the required
documentation.

Late Registration: No Late Entries Will Be Accepted after Oct. 25th, 2008.

Race Day Membership: Membership must be purchased prior to sending in the individual & team entry forms. No membership purchase will be available on race day.

Team Registration: Each club must provide a team declaration roster for each age group/gender division for which they are registering a team. All members of the same club registered on a Team Roster Declaration form are eligible to compete on the club’s team. A minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 athletes may compete on a team into the next round of qualification up to and including the National Championships as long as they qualify. An entry form for each athlete
competing must be remitted

Send registration packages and information to:

Mike Durman
Youth Cross Country Chair UT USATF
4595 W Birdie Way
South Jordan, UT 84095
Telephone: (801) 403-9418
email: Miked1967@comcast.net

For membership information contact:
Kris Erickson
USATF – Utah Office Manager
Telephone: (801) 277-7405
Email: usatf@earthlink.net

Individual membership may be obtained online as well as at www.usatf.org for the fee of $19.95.

Results will be listed in: www.usatf.org/assoc/ut

Banquet Date Changed

Important announcement:

Because of some scheduling conflicts with the school facilities we are moving the date of the awards banquet. We will plan on having it one week later, on Wed. November 5th at 6:30 in the Cafeteria. It will be a potluck dinner. More info will be distributed soon with specific instruction.

Cedar City

Here is the info for the Cedar City trip. In order to go, YOU need to do 2 things:
1) bring back the signed parent consent form (green)
2) pay $60 to the bookstore (financial office)

Agenda:
Fri, Oct 3
11:00 AM leave from PHS
4:00 PM Race at Cedar City H.S. (see below)
7:00 PM Dinner in Cedar City
9:00 PM Go to hotel in Beaver (see info below)

Sat, Oct 4
8:00 AM leave from hotel
12:00 PM arrive at PHS

Coach Peck: (801) 717-5298
Coach Rockwood: (801) 503-6892

Cedar City High School
703 W 600 S
Cedar City, UT

Super 8 Beaver
(435) 438-3888
626 W 1400 N
Beaver, UT

Run the Y!

Practice on Wed. Aug 6 will be a little different. We will meet at the base of the Y mountain trail in Provo at 8:00 AM. To get there, go to 800 North (changes to 820 North) and head East toward the mountain. We will run up to the Y for our "hill" workout for this week. It will be a lot of fun and you'll get a great view of the valley. Don't forget to bring water!

Call the captains about carpooling :o)

Best Camp Yet !!

Thanks to everyone who attended the camp and helped to make it the best camp yet. The coaches are very excited by all of the good things we saw. There is a lot of enthusiasm and hard work on the team this year.

If you have any comments on how camp went this year, please leave a comment on this post. Tell us what you liked and we should keep doing in the future, and what you didn't like and we should change. Give us suggestions for future camps. Etc.

Camp

Camp will be July 7 to 10th (Monday to Thursday) at Payson High School. We will be at the school all day, but you will sleep at your houses.

We will begin promptly at 8:00 AM each day and go until about 10:00 or 11:00 PM each night. We will end around 6:00 PM on Thursday.

Bring these items:

Running gear (shorts, shirt, shoes, etc.)
Sunglasses, if desired
Sunscreen
Swimsuit & towel
Watch
Any personal running ointments (icy hot, etc.)
Summer Running Log
Camera
Pen or pencil
An object that represents something important about yourself for a Show & Tell
Your favorite inspirational quote to share

Summer Running and Camp

Well, guys. So far, this has been the best summer running program ever! You are all doing a great job of attending and working hard. Remember, the summer is the training season for XC. It requires discipline and focus to consistently run throughout the summer but it will pay off in Sept and Oct when we tear through our races like crap through a goose! If you haven't come to a team practice yet, they are every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:30 AM.

Camp will definitely be held. If you have not paid yet, get to it so that we have the money to buy the food, shirts, and other needed items. We have made a slight change. We will be holding the camp at PHS instead of Shadow Mountain. This will allow us to add more clinics, guest speakers, use facilities like the weight room and pool, and other advantages. It also allows some of you to come for only some of the days, if you have a conflict. The price for the entire camp is $75. If you can't come for the whole thing, then the price will be $25 for 1 day and $20 for each additional day. This will pay for your food, your shirt, your camp packets, and the other expenses that the team incurs . The dates are Monday to Thursday, July 7 to July 10.

We have some great stuff planned. it will be the best camp we've ever had!

Stay Strong!

Rockwood's Book!

Well, my book is almost ready. I am finishing up my review of the proof from the printer and fixing a few typos here and there. It should be ready to go by the second or third week of March.

If you're curious you can check out the book's site at www.SportPsychSchool.com The book will be available in hardback (for classroom use) and in paperback (for personal in-home use).

It was a real thrill to finally hold a copy of it in my hands, the fruit of so much hard work. The rewards of hard work is the #1 lesson you should be learning as an athlete. I hope that you feel that great sense of satisfaction and pride that comes from sweating, vomiting, and bleeding your guts out and then seeing the results.

Keep working hard in school, sport, and life. You will find it tremendously rewarding.

"Victory belongs to the most persevering."
-Napoleon Bonaparte