AgouraCrossCountry

Girls Headed for CIF FINALS!!

The Agoura High School girls cross country team led by Coach Cathy Prater began their season in August running through the Mammoth mountains and now are one step away from reaching the highest peak of all -- State Finals in Fresno.  The girls (Erin Baird, Alex Smith, Katie Klezek, Kristen Hessick, Sarah Kislak, Logan Bedell and Natasha Blonsky) finished a strong 3rd in their heat at the CIF Prelims at Mt. SAC this past weekend and are headed back to Mt. SAC for an encore at the CIF Finals this Saturday.  Good luck girls!  The boys team's season ended at League Finals, but it is a very young team that shows great promise for next year.  Congratulations to new Coach Hochhaus for a great job in steering the team in the right direction.  The spirit of "Manmoth" (brought to you by promoters Adam Brosh and Evan Fehler) is clearly inspiring the team to new heights.  Kudos also go out to senior Captain Harrison Sobel who set a PR (21:58) in his last race on his home course and defeated 46 other runners (also a personal best), and to both Brandon Severson and Cameron "Dogboy" Thomas who achieved All-League status at League Finals and took home shiny new medals to prove it.  Warning to Dogboy:  DO NOT wear the medal around your neck ... someone might try hitch a leash to it.

Big Win Over Moorpark

This past Wednesday Erin Baird led the varsity girls to victory over Moorpark High School at the Agoura High School home cross country course, and Brandon Severson led the varsity boys to victory as well.  The varsity girls remain undefeated and are starting to get CIF and the State meet in their sights.  Congratulations also to Captain Harrison Sobel for setting a PR of 23:46 and defeating numerous runners. 

Report on League Finals: It's A Family Affair

One of the great funk/rock bands of the 60's and 70's was Sly and the Family Stone, and one of their later songs was "It's A Family Affair", a song that should have been playing over the loudspeakers at the end of League Finals as the brother and sister combo of Chris and Erin Baird both finished as League runner-ups in the 3200M.  More importantly, they ran qualifying times (9:31 and 11:17) for CIF Prelims next week.  Erin ran her usual smart race, losing only to last year's state finalist, Anna Sperry.  Chris was involved in maybe the most exciting finish of the day, with Michael Cybulski (last year's State champion) barely holding on for the victory over Chris by a mere .07 seconds, but Chris outleaning Alex Routh of Royal by the same .07 margin.  Coach Spencer said he wished his sprinters leaned into the tape as well as Chris had.  It's on to CIF Prelims next week at Moorpark High School, with a trip to CIF Finals at Cerritos College at stake.  Congratulations also to Derek Johnson (League Champion in both the Shot Put and Discus), Kevin Graf (Shot Put), Amy Moffat (Pole Vault), and Rebecca Wong (400M) who also are progressing on to CIF Prelims.

In addition to these CIF qualifiers, there were many other fine performances on Friday.  Matt Schroeder overcame the 7am phone call I made to him that morning (to inform him that he'd been added to the 1600M finals), to post Personal Records in both the 1600M (4:49.96) and the 3200M (10:36.85), a gutsy and great way to end his high school career.  Matt's goal was to break 4:50, so we were forced to wait more than an hour for the official results in order to confirm he had in fact achieved his goal.  I found out first, and went over and asked him if he really wanted to know the official time.  His face tensed up and I said:  4:50 ....... minus .04.  He threw his arms in the air as though he'd won the Olympic gold medal!  His second goal was to get Anna Sperry's (Simi Valley) phone number, but I hear she's got far better sense than that.

Other PRs included sophomore Katie Klezek's 5:26.34 in the 1600M, freshmen Bryan Quintanilla, Max Byer, Aaron "Paisano" Argiso, and Richard Avery in the 3200M (11:14, 11:51, 11:57 and 12:27, respectively), and Evan Fehler's 11:38 in the 3200M.

Captain Michelle Kislak also said goodbye to her high school career with her efforts in the 1600M and 3200M varsity races.  It's been a tremendous season for Michelle, who broke her PR several times during the season, exceeding all expectations with her 5:27 1600M, a 21-second improvement over her previous seasons.  She is now off to the People's Republic of California (aka UC Berkeley), but promises Richard Avery (her future second husband) she will stay in close contact.

Stay tuned for CIF updates and most importantly, KEEP ON RUNNING!

Results from League Prelims: Several Distance Runners Qualify for League Finals

Michelle Kislak (PR of 5:27.29), Katie Klezek (5:27.84) and Kristen Hessick qualified for the Varsity Girls 1600M Finals this Friday.  Only 12 girls qualified, so to have 3 in the finals is a very impressive development for Agoura High School.  Erin Baird would have also undoubtedly qualified as well but has chosen to focus on the 3200M finals this Friday in an effort to meet the CIF qualifying time.  Also qualifying for League Finals was Adam Brosh in the highly-competetive F/Soph 1600M and Logan Bedell in the JV Girls 1600M.  Chris Baird had the 4th fastest qualifying time in the 1600M but will not run that distance at Finals, instead running the 3200M only in his quest to reach CIF for the 2nd season in a row.  Several of our runners will also run in the 3200M finals this Friday (there is no qualifying prelims for this event).  Congratulations also to the following runners who achieved end-of-the-season PRs at prelims:  Jessica Stoffel (2:52.91), Phoebe Simon (2:45.08), Stacey Goldberg (2:54.56) and Logan Bedell (2:31.99) in the 800M, and a trio of freshmen boys in the 1600M despite windy conditions: Max Byer (5:23.24), Aaron Argiso (5:29.77) and Richard Avery (5:36.15).

Ventura County Championships

At the Ventura County Championships held at Moorpark High School last Friday evening, Katie Klezek earned a 3rd place medal in the Seeded 1600M race (5:28.22) and a 5th place medal in the Seeded 3200M (11:54.09).  Erin Baird earned a 4th place medal in the Invitational 1600M (5:20.21).  Chris Baird ran a PR in the Invitational 1600M (4:25.57) and now will focus on his specialty, the 3200M, for the remainder of the season.  Perry Casey ran a PR in the 800M (2:09.34), finishing just ahead of John Reuter (2:09.72) who ran his best time of the season after suffering several injuries.  Logan Bedell, Adam Brosh and Michelle Kislak also ran well in their 1600M races.  Congratulations to Derek Johnson of Agoura HS who is the county champion in both the shot put and the discus!

Chris Baird Has 20th Best Time in State

Click here and then cursor down to the Boys 3200M list.  This is from a list of the top-40 performances in the State.  Note Chris Baird has the 20th best time in the State at this point in the season.  Also, discus thrower Derek Johnson is listed as having the No. 1 throw in the state.  My understanding is that he also has the No. 1 throw in the nation!

Report on Meet vs. Westlake and Newbury Park

The last league meet before county and league championships produced some notable efforts, including the following:

Freshman Logan Bedell showed her usual competitive drive with victories in both the JV Girls 1600M and 800M, plus a strong showing in the 4 x 400M.

Freshman Bryan Quintanilla had a great breakthrough with a 5:02 PR in the 1600M and 11:28 PR in the 3200M.

Chris Baird ran to an easy victory against the Westlake and Newbury Park varsity boys with his comfortable 9:48 in the 3200M.

Jordan Burch returned from his doughnut binge with gutsy performances in the 1600M and 800M.

Liska Gunther ran a fine 6:32 in the 1600M in her first race ever!

HARRISON SOBEL COMPLETED AN AMAZING SEASON:  HE ACHIEVED A PR IN EVERY SINGLE RACE THIS YEAR IN THE 800M, A FEAT THAT NO ATHLETE WILL EVER BE ABLE TO EXCEED!!  HE ALSO DEFEATED 5 OTHER RUNNERS!!!

Other PRs:

Phoebe Simon 2:45 800M

Deanna Aaron 3:01 800M

Heather Hamilton 3:17 800M

Cam The Man Thomas 5:09 1600M

Max Byer 5:26 1600M

Ashley Warren 8:13 1600M

Katie Klezek 11:56 3200M

Michelle Kislak 12:13 3200M

Sara Kislak 13:29 3200M

Richard Avery 12:46 3200M

If I missed any PRs, e-mail me!

Spring Break: Bairds Run WILD in Arcadia

This past Friday night at the Arcadia Invitational Erin Baird earned a 4th place medal and ran 11:19.04 in the 3200M, then on Saturday afternoon her big brother, Chris, one-upped her with his 3rd place medal and 9:24.69 in the Boys Open 3200M (a 13 second PR!).  Congratulations also to Agoura HS Discus Thrower Derek Johnson who won the Saturday evening Invitational event with a tremendous throw of 192' 6", which now ranks him as the best in the State.  Also noteworthy was Westlake High School's Cory Primm who won the 800M in 1:49.50, the best time in the nation!  The Arcadia Invitational is annually considered to be the top high school track and field meet in the nation, and this year was certainly no exception.  Congratulations to the Agoura HS athletes who participated.

Spring Break Schedule

We are at a critical juncture in the season, so don't lose your focus while on vacation this week.  The schedule is as follows:

Friday 4/6  On your own 4-6 miles

Saturday 4/7  On your own 5-8 miles

Sunday 4/8  Optional

Monday 4/9  8:30AM at Chesebro

Tuesday 4/10  4:30pm at AHS track.  Workout will be from 8 - 12 400Ms (2 at GP-2, 8 at GP+2, 2 at GP-2 with 60-90 sec recovery.  B and C group will skip every 3rd interval.  Coach Prater will be there if her plane lands on time from Atlanta and will make any necessary adjustments.)

Wednesday 4/11 Chesbro 8:30am

Thursday 4/12 AHS track at 8:30am

Friday TBA

Saturday TBA

Varsity Boys/Girls and JV Boys Defeat Calabasas

The Agoura track and field team competed successfully against Calabasas yesterday, winning every division except the JV Girls team which lost a close battle.  Once again the distance runners contributed mightily, including the following PR's:

800M

Logan Bedell 2:36

Jessica Stoffel 2:55 (Impressively, this was on the heels of her success in the half marathon on Saturday at the Great Race)

Deanna Aaron 3:07

Mitchell Squires 2:52

Harrison Sobel (Incredibly, Harrison has run a PR every single meet this season!)

1600M

Evan Fehler 5:14 (who is now officially faster than Marc Mahlknecht ever was  ...  come on Marc, you can't sit around and let that happen!)

Ben Wolhaupter 5:04

Bryan Quintanilla 5:12

Casey Johnson 5:16

Trevor Hochhaus 5:37

Jake Higgins 4:51

Matt Schroeder 4:51

Sara Kislak 5:50

Katie Klezek 5:30

Sara McGillewie 6:29

Kyla McGinley 7:07

Heather Hamilton 7:11

Deanna Aaron 6:53

Due to timing problems, we cannot verify whether anyone ran a PR in the 3200M.

Excellent Performances at Pasadena Relays

Only athletes who meet certain standards are invited to participate in the Pasadena Relays.  The Agoura High School distance runners who participated yesterday at Pasadena City College's beautiful facilities were Erin Baird, Michelle Kislak, Katie Klezek, Chris Baird, Adam Brosh, Matt Schroeder and Jake Higgins.  They all performed well, running near or better than their previous PR's.  Michelle Kislak ran another great PR (5:27) and won a medal in the Open 1600M.  Erin Baird had a huge seasonal PR in the 1600M invitational race, improving her time this year by nearly 10 seconds in running 5:17.  Chris Baird finished 4th in the Invitational 1600M, equalling his PR at 4:27 despite having run two difficult races only two days before against TO and Simi Valley.  Adam Brosh, Jake Higgins, and Matt Schroeder ran 4:49, 4:53.77 and 4:54, respectively, in the Open 1600M race.  It was a great opportunity for these athletes to run in this prestigious, competitive meet, and should prepare them well for league, county and CIF meets later in the season.

Report on Meet vs. TO and Simi Valley

Chris Baird won both the 1600M and 3200M against the strong distance runners from Thousand Oaks HS and Simi Valley HS.  He surprised the TO runners in the mile by hanging back and using them as wind blocks, and then putting together a great kick to the finish.  In the 3200M, he led the entire race and ran a "comfortable" 9:45.  Perry Casey also put in two noteworthy performances, setting a PR of nearly 10 seconds by running 4:50 in the 1600M and followed that up with a 2:11 PR in the 800M.

Here were the day's other PR's:

800M

Katie Klezek 2:32

Bryan Quintanilla 2:25

Harrison Sobel 2:59.5 (he also defeated 3 runners from Simi Valley)

Casey Johnson 2:23

Stacey Goldberg 2:58

Deanna Aaron 3:12

Sara Kislak 2:37

Perry Casey 2:11

1600M

Logan Bedell 5:41

Stacey Goldberg 6:37

Olga Galchenko 7:00

Kyla McGinley 7:16

Casey Johnson 5:18

Evan Fehler 5:19.8

Trevor Hochhaus 5:45

Max Byer 5:27

Mitchell Squires 6:15

Brandon Severson 4:56

Perry Casey 4:50

3200M

Katie Klezek 12:18

Logan Bedell 12:54

Casey Johnson 11:40

Brandon Severson 10:38

Bryan Quintanilla 11:29

Max Byer 12:07

Aaaron Argiso 12:07

Great Efforts Against Royal and Moorpark

Michelle Kislak ran two more PR's, running 5:31 in the 1600M and 12:14 in the 3200M.  Her 1600M finish earned her a first place against Royal and 2nd place against Moorpark.  For those of you who become frustrated when you reach an extended plateau, consider Michelle.  Last year she was unable to match her sophomore PR of 5:48, and this year she has shattered that mark in several races.  Persistence is the key!

Chris Baird ran a fine double of 4:27 in the 1600M and 9:50 in the 3200M, earning a first place against both Moorpark and Royal with the latter performance.

Phoebe Simon shattered her 3200M PR with a time of 12:56.

Mitchell Squires also achieved two PRs, with his 13:14 in the 1600M topped off by a furious finish, and 6:22 in the 1600M.

Adam Brosh also knocked several seconds off his PR with a 4:47 in the 1600M and 10:35 in the 3200M.  Not to be outdone, his doppelganger, Brandon Severson, also achieved double PR's of 4:56 and 10:42.

Harrison Sobel again set a PR in the 800M (something he has done every race this season) with his 3:01.

Additional PR's:

800M

Perry Casey 2:12

New-kid-on-the-block Trevor Hochhaus 2:27

Olga Galchenko 3:17

Ashley Warren 3:46

Sara McGillwie 3:14

Christine Menges 3:35

1600M

Bryan Quintanilla 5:13

Max Byer 5:27

Richard Avery 5:42

If I missed any PR's, let me know.  Also, although she didn't set any PR's, it was great seeing Erin Baird run so well after her various ailments, finishing 5:31 in the 1600M and 11:54 in the 3200M.

Report on 3/15 Against St. Bonaventure

Not only did our teams march to victories against St. Bonaventure, the Agoura High School distance runners set several PR's, including the following:

800M

Bryan "Q" Quintanilla 2:27

Aaron "Paisano" Argiso 2:34

Mitchell "GQ" Squires 2:58

Adam "Big Hair" Brosh 2:14

Max "Ping Pong" Byer 2:32

Jake "Jazz Man" Higgins 2:11

Logan "Freshman Flash" Bedell 2:39

Stacey "Which Twin" Goldberg 3:05

Jessica "LUV To Run" Stoffel 3:08

Olga "From Russia With Love" Galchenko 3:26

Kyla "Color My Hair" McGinley 3:24

Michelle "Billionaress" Kislak 2:35

Okay, that's enough nicknames!

1600M

Ben Wolhaupter 5:18

Bryan Quintanilla 5:19

Casey Johnson 5:20

Evan Fehler 5:23

Aaron Argiso 5:33

Trevor Hochhaus 5:52

Mitchell Squires 6:25

Brandon Severson 4:57

Logan Bedell 5:49

Sarah Kislak 5:51

Heather Hamilton 7:21

Olga Galchenko 7:25

Christine Menges 7:26

Kyla McGinley 7:36

3200M

Aaron Argiso 12:48

Casey Johnson 12:07 (plus school record in the 3600M!!)

Heather Hamilton 16:32

Congratulations also to Greg Stanger who set a PR in the 400M with a 52:50!

Report on Dual Meet vs. El Camino

The Agoura High School Varsity and JV Girls, and the Varsity Boys, all defeated El Camino in the dual meet at home this past Thursday.  The distance runners contributed mightily to these victories, and in the process recorded the following PR's:

800M

Mitchell Squires 2:58

Heather Hamilton 3:21

Katie Klezek 2:35

Sarah Kislak 2:37

Cameron Thomas 2:25

Richard Avery 2:57

Bryan Quintanilla 2:30

Max "Ping Pong" Byer 2:32

Harrison Sobel 3:10

1600M

Stacey Goldberg 6:42

Sara McGillewie 6:50

Christine Menges 7:43

Casey Johnson 5:24

Evan Fehler 5:26

Max "Ping Pong" Byer 5:32

Brandon Severson 4:59

3200M

Bryan Quintanilla 12:03

Evan Fehler 12:03

Max "Ping Pong" Byer 12:28 (3 PR's in one day!)

Richard Avery 12:34

Katie Klezek 12:25

Michelle Kislak 12:25

Jessica Stoffel (her exact time is still being determined)

Also, Jordan Burch ventured into the 200M and thereby earned a PR of 26.04.  He also tried the 110H and we are trying to locate someone who can read sun dials in order to determine his exact time.  Ben Wolhaupter showed his decathlete potential by pole vaulting 9 feet!!

If I missed anyone, please let me know.  Also, in my earlier post about our first meet, I misspelled talented freshman Trevor Hochhaus's name.  That has been corrrected and is a name to remember!

This is Funny!

At the White House Correspondent's Dinner, President Bush addressed the audience and had a look-alike imitator simultaneous serve as his "conscience", telling the audience what President Bush was really thinking.  See this very funny video here. 

The Q Sets a PR!

With a PR of 5:22 in the 1600M, freshman Bryan "The Q" Quintanilla gets his very own POST since I left him off my earlier list!  Bravo Q!

PRs aplenty at First Meet

Before listing the slew of PRs run by the Agoura High School distance runners during the first track meet of the season, let's first sing happy birthday to newly-minted 18 year-old Harrison Sobel.  Harrison informs me that he will vote Green Party in the next election, presumably to improve the quality of air runners have to breathe in larger volumes than others.  Oh yeah, and Harrison also set a PR on Thursday in the 800M (3:16).

Congratulations are also in order to Derek Johnson who set a school record in the discus (182' 5"), and to Chris Baird who ran a fine double of 4:31 in the 1600M and 9:52 as he cruised to victory in the 3200M as well.

Here were the day's PR's:

1600M

Michelle Kislak -- 5:35, knocking 12 seconds off her best from 2 seasons ago.

Jake Higgins -- 4:56

Katie Klezek --  5:36

Kristen Hessick  -- 5:31

Phoebe Simon -- 5:59

Brandon Severson -- 5:00.5

Adam Brosh -- 4:52

Mitchell Squires -- 6:26

Evan Fehler -- 5:29

Logan Bedell -- 5:54

Sara Kislak -- 5:57

Ben Wolhaupter -- 5:29

Max "Ping Pong" Byer -- 5:37

Aaron "Paisano" Argiso -- 5:38

Perry Casey -- 4:59.91

800M

Adam Brosh -- 2:15

Logan Bedell -- 2:40

Sara Kislak -- Exact time to be determined.

Ben Wolhaupter -- 2:30+

Perry Casey -- 2:13

3200M

Phoebe Simon -- 13:35

Brandon Severson -- 10:40+

I believe Sara McGillwie and Christine Menges also ran PRs, but I'm still trying to determine their times!

Freshman Trevor Hochhaus also entered his first race ever (after having trained only one day), and ran a fine 2:30+ in the 800M.  This "new kid on the block" has some obvious talent!!

Also, Matt Schroeder ran his first 200M and therefore earned a PR of 27.6 (he must have fallen down along the way!), and Ben Wolhaupter entered his first pole vault competition and cleared 8 feet.

IF I MISSED ANYBODY'S PR, E-MAIL ME!

Rap Video ... Now This is Good!!

The Agoura High School distance runners set many, many personal records (PRs) yesterday at the team's 1st meet of the season.  I do not have the official results yet, so stay tuned for my official report on the meet hopefully either later today or over the weekend.  In the meantime, check out this great video here that my daughter Katie forwarded to her brothers (this is apparently what all that college tuition is getting me).  Now I don't know much about rappers, but these imitations seem right on.  I think it's appropriate for a general audience (though I'm not sure I'm picking up on all the terminology ... so parental guidance is advised). 

Evan Fehler runs to PR at Alumni Meet!

The Agoura High School distance runners put in some good performances at the Intrasquad Meet (or as Perry Casey described it, "practice with a tent") on Saturday, especially given that many of them put in a 4-6 mile workout only hours before the event.  The mile race combined all levels of both boys and girls, prompting Evan Fehler to post a Personal Record of 5:33 as he held off top female finishers Kristen Hessick, Katie Klezek and Michelle Kislak.  Chris Baird, naturally, led the race from start to finish, posting a cool 4:36 without breaking a serious sweat.  Other notables were Jessica Stoffel who broke 7 minutes in her first competition after an extended battle with injuries, and alum Travis Moffat who ran a gutsy 5:45 but still had sand kicked in his face by Kristen.

In the hotly contested 800M, Jake Higgins played possum to John Reuter and Perry Casey, then blew by them on the backstretch to set a 2:11 PR!  Phoebe Simon completed a double by winning the Girls' 800M, matching her 11 year old sister, Carly ("You're So Vain") Simon, who destroyed the Agoura HS JV girls in the 100M race.  Ben Wolhaupter announced his return from the wrestling mat with a win in the 400M.

Several distance runners competed in the 4 by 400M race, sparked by Mitchell Squires who fearlessly took the baton on the first leg despite having already run the 1600M.  John Reuter also bounced back from his loss to Jake "Possum" Higgins in the 800M by putting in one of the better performances in the relay.

Finally, Derek Johnson threw the discus 182 feet, a distance that would have placed him in 5th place in last year's State Finals!!!  But Evan Fehler stills says that he, not Derek, was the Athlete of the Meet.  Evan World must be a pretty scary place to live.

Dilbert Cartoon Revisited

For those of you who were unable to access my link (see post from last week) to the Dilbert cartoon, "The Knack", here are a couple of other links to try: 

www.rcgroups.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1159494

or

http://www.optcom.com/file_exchange/index.php?order=taille&direction=1

John Reuter and his Dad, Brian, forwarded these to me.  John apparently has the KNACK.  Brian does not.  Must be a recessive gene!

805 Running Club

Check out the new website, "805 running", which provides a resource for running in the Ventura county area (hence, the 805 area code in its title).  I've added a link to the site in the lefthand column of this page.  This site was started by Josh Spiker, a former Ventura high school runner who was the State Champion in the 3200M back in the 1990's before starring at the University of Wisconsin.  He is a world class runner and recently purchased Inside Track (a running shoe store on Main Street in Ventura) from another Venturan, Gary Tuttle, who himself once finished 2nd in the Boston Marathon and now, among other activities, works as an official at area cross country and track meets (including our cross country league finals this past fall).  You might want to take a trip up to Inside Track sometime to check out the merchandise and, more importantly, to visit the epicenter of distance running in our area.

Check Out Which Colleges California High School Track and Field Athletes Will Be Attending Next Year

Click here for the most recent list of where California high school T & F athletes will be attending college next year.  Chris Baird is listed among this group.  Derek Johnson (discus) has not yet made his choice, though he is being heavily recruited by Division I programs.  There are other Marmonte League kids on this list as well.  I will repeat myself:  If you run varsity at Agoura High School, there will be college program(s) interested in recruiting you.

I'm Baaaaaaaccckkk!

The hiatus is over!  With the first official day of practice coming this Monday, it's time to start posting again.  First, a quote from Winston Churchill supplied by Kenneth Kile:   "Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm."  For Kenneth, you can substitute "injury" for "failure".  Ha.  Anyway, check out what's happening in the world of high school track and field at www.dyestatcal.com.  As for the Agoura High runners, quite a few of you have been putting in a lot of work and should be looking forward to PRs this season, as well as seeing your names in lights here on this much-visited blog.

Now, for those of you who hope to become engineers or know someone who is one, you'll probably enjoy this Dilbert cartoon:  TheKnack.mpg (2407K)  Since it has absolutely nothing to do with track and field you may ask why I put it here.  I guess because it made me think of John Reuter!

Another Alumni Update Courtesy of Coach Prater

Coach Prater has submitted the following alumni update:

Sue Novik is rowing on the crew team at UC Davis and recently mourned the death of her pet fish, the only pet allowed in the dorms.  Sue also had a Venus Fly Trap as a "pet" but we aren't too sure how it did.

Adina Farkash has joined her brother Joey on the UC Davis Field and Track Team as she is now throwing the hammer.  For those of you who don't know what the Hammer Throw is, it involves a 4 kg iron ball that is attached to a wire a couple of feet long.  The thrower holds the handle of the wire with both hands and accelerates the apparatus in a circle before flinging it out into a field that is likely inhabitated by burrowing owls.  Don't tell Sue that animals live out there.

KEEP THOSE UPDATES COMING, ALUMS!!

Chris Baird is a Quaker!

Congratulations to Chris Baird who found out yesterday that he has been accepted into the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (team nickname:  "The Quakers").  He plans on running for the Division I Quaker cross country and track teams, and hopefully someday will run in the world-famous Penn Relays held at the U Penn campus, a track meet that recently drew over 110,000 fans over a 3-day period.  For those of you who don't know the difference between Oxnard College and Harvard, U Penn is one of the 8 Ivy League schools and Wharton is the No. 1 Business School in the nation.  Please let me know your college choices as the year goes on, seniors, so I can give you a POST.  There are a lot of great colleges and universites out there, but the best one of all is always the one that fits you best!

Watch the Footlocker National Championships on Video!

Watch an 8-minute highlight of the Boys Footlocker National High School Cross Country Championships from San Diego here, and the Girls race here.  This race took place on Saturday.  Chad Hall from Big Bear (remember his 14:00 win at Woodbridge) is the National Boys Champion.  Michael Cybulski of Royal slipped to 7th following a tough stretch of races at State where he had to put on a furious kick to win, and at the National Team Championships in Oregon last week.  The biggest surprise was in the Girls race, where 10th grader Jordan Hasay, who was the National Champion last year, finished 10th.

Saints, Alums and Quotes

A couple of quotes and alum updates:

"No athlete is crowned but in the sweat of his brow."  Saint Jerome aka Eusebius Hieronymous Sophronius, 4th Century.

Alum Danny Lefkowitz (currently pre-Med at the University of Arizona) has sent in the following quote:

"The world breaks everyone ... but afterward many are strong in the broken places."  Ernest Hemingway.

It's not surprising that injury-prone Danny likes that quote.  He bounced back from a stress fracture to post a sub-4:40 mile last season and now has an extremely strong metatarsal which should serve him well when he has to stand for long periods of time in the operating room!

Other alum updates:

Alum Cory ("The Man-Horse") Hatch ('06) is running at Division I Southern Utah, and you can access his bio and a picture of his handsome mug in the team yearbook by clicking here and then scrolling down to Page 14.  One of his teammates finished 3rd at the NCAA Division I National Championships in November, so that's a pretty good indication of how strong the distance program is at Southern Utah.  Cory has forwarded the following inspirational quote:

"Umm ... "

Okay, I made that last part up!

Alum Kevin (KJ) Johnson ('05) just wrapped up another successful cross country season at Cal Lutheran by competing at the Division III Western Regionals for the 2nd year in a row.  He is working hard to convince Matt Schroeder to join him, though Matt says he'll attend whatever school offers him a year's supply of Fruit Loops.  KJ has forwarded the following inspirational quote:

"Better to start fast and die than start slow and die anyway."

Okay, I made that one up, too!

Alum Danielle Goldberg ('06) had a successful first season as a cross country runner as a UC Santa Cruz Banana Slug (that really is the team nickname) and dropped by recently to visit her running twin sisters.  She asks that everyone watch where they step after it rains ... that snail may actually be her team mascot.

The always effervescent Ali Heller ('05) follows the Agoura team closely via this blog and frequently forwards her congratulations and encouragement via e-mail from her dorm room at CSUCI.  She still jogs occasionally but hates to leave her room because every CSUCI dorm room has a plasma TV.  Now that sounds like a school for Matt Schroeder!

Brian Oppenheim ('05), team captain emeritus, is a sophomore at Cal Poly SLO and by now is probably running the University computer system.  He tells me, however, that he has not been actually running, which may be the case for many of you. Therefore, I have the following additional quote from Saint Jerome for those of you out there who don't occasionally dust off the ol' running shoes:

"A fat paunch never breeds fine thoughts."  Or, as Shakespeare richly paraphrases, "Make rich the ribs, but bankrupt quite the wits."

 

Chris Baird Shines at State Finals!

Chris Baird topped off his 5-week string of great races with his best performance of all at the State Finals meet in Fresno today.  He finished 13th place and earned himself 2nd Team All-State honors.  Although the course was 3.1 miles (the longest course of the year), Chris ran 15:48.  This translates to approximately 15:10 for 3 miles.  Evidencing how well Chris did, he defeated Brandon Shirck from Nordhoff who was the Ventura County champion, Jose Alcantar from Hueneme who edged Chris at CIF Finals, and Alex Routh (Royal's 4th runner) who finished in front of Chris at League Finals.  Royals' top 3 runners were the only Ventura County runners with faster times than Chris today.  It was an exciting day at Woodward Park, the home of the State Meet since the 1980's, and there were literally thousands of spectators lining the course.  Hopefully some of our other current Agoura runners will get the opportunity to participate in this memorable event before their high school careers come to a close.

Chris Baird Qualifies for State Finals

Chris Baird added to his spectacular season by finishing 6th at the CIF Finals.  Not only did this qualify him for the State Finals in Fresno this coming Saturday, it also earned him First Team All-CIF honors to go along with his All-League and All-County honors.   Chris gave a tremendous effort today, and could barely stand up long after the race ended.  He passed the Mile mark at 4:52 with about 20 other runners, gained ground in the first set of hills moving him into the top-10, and put on a furious kick to finish 6th.  Three seconds slower and it would have been season over.  Talent is important, but there's no substitute for consistent training and all-out effort.  Chris is reportedly the first Agoura runner to qualify for State in at least 9 years ... which one of you out there will be next?

Chris Baird Qualifies for CIF Finals

Chris Baird's tremendous senior season continues as the Agoura High School cross country runner finished 3rd in his heat (15:39) at the CIF Prelims held at Mt. SAC yesterday, qualifying for CIF Finals this coming Saturday.  Chris ran the first mile in 4:54 with a pack of about 15 runners, and then quickly moved into the top-6 group of runners on the steep hill that begins at Mile 2.  From there he ran a hard-but-controlled pace to the finish, easily qualifying for the next round.  Chris will be the first Agoura HS runner in several years to compete at CIF Finals!

A Very Timely Quote of the Week from the Rabbi

With cross country ending for everyone but Chris, and the offseason training for track about to begin, Rabbi Jared has come up with the most-appropriate of quotes from the man often referred to as the "Grandfather of Our Country" (GW, of course, being the Father):

"Resolve to perform what you ought to preform. Perform without fail what you resolve." -Ben Franklin

I hope y'all will memorize that quote and apply its wisdom throughout the winter!!!

Report on League Finals

The varsity boys did not achieve our goal of reaching CIF this season, but those who ran yesterday did everything they could to make it possible.  Had Kenneth not had the unfortunate injury to his foot, all he would have had to do would have been to finish one spot in front of Matt for us to qualify.  But that's just how it is in sports ...  injuries happen so we just need to build more depth in our program so that we can overcome injuries in the future.  But if someone at the beginning of the season had told me our No. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 runners would run as well as they did yesterday, I would have been ecstatic!!

Yet despite our setback, the team was not without its playoff success.  Senior Chris Baird continued his fantastic final season with a 5th place finish (15:44), qualifying as an individual for next week's CIF prelims.  The only runners to defeat Chris were Royal's 4 top runners.  Given that Royal is the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, that is a great accomplishment by Chris.

Senior Matt Schroeder also had a great final race, breaking 17:00 for the first time ever on our home course and, more importantly, absolutely giving everything he had during that race.  He could barely stand up long after the race was over.  Sophomore Brandon Severson continued his late season surge with a fine 17:13, sophomore Adam Brosh ran a solid 17:30 despite tripping and injuring himself near the beginning of the race, sophomore Sean Slavin also broke 18:00 on our home course for the first time, and Greg Stanger put on his patented 400M kick to finish in a solid 17:54 -- not bad for a soccer playing 400M runner.  Congratulations Varsity ... you gave your best despite the season-long adversity we faced.

Other fine performances were put in by our soph/frosh and jv teams, including sophomore Cameron Thomas (18:16), and freshmen Bryan Quintanilla (18:53), Ben Wolhaupter (19:32), Max Byer (19:35), Brennan Bown (19:49) and Aaron Argiso (19:51).  Congratulations also are again in order to Harrison Sobel who ran a PR of 24:35, defeating 20 other runners.

ATHLETE OF THE MEET:  Matt Schroeder

I will post the Girls Results once Coach Prater files her report, so stay tuned!

Report on Girls' Team at County Meet

Coach Prater has filed the following report on the Girls' efforts at the Ventura County Championships last Friday:

The varsity girls finished 8^th in Ventura County, only five points behind Westlake, with a better team time.  The Marmonte League is obviously one of the strongest leagues around as it garnered 6 of the top 8 places.  The girls were led by Erin Baird and Kristen Hessick who finished 9^th and 14^th overall.  Emily Hahn and Jenny Archuleta stepped up this week as our 5^th and 6^th runners, finishing only seconds apart.  This coming week, we need to work on keeping our 4^th through 7^th runners tightly packed for as long as possible!

The frosh soph girls were led by Arielle Slater who regained her competitive fire, finishing the difficult course in 22:47.

Ventura County Championships

I'll begin with the report on the Boys Team, and will post the Girls Report once I receive it from Coach Prater.  So keep checking back.

The Ventura County Championship Meet was held at the beautiful setting of Lake Casitas, and involved the 25 or so schools from the county area.  Since this area is considered one of the strongest cross country regions in the nation, the meet is always a good one.  The Marmonte League, as always, dominated both the individual and team races, even though Royal did not run its varsity boys team due to injuries and the like.

Chris Baird added to his great season by finishing 2nd in the Boys Varsity Race.  This cements his position as a first team All-County performer for the second year in a row.  His time was 15:52, less than a second behind the County Champion.

The boys sophomore team ran an awesome race, finishing 3rd overall in the county.  The scoring performers were Brandon Severson (6th -- 17:31), Adam Brosh (9th -- 17:50), Sean Slavin (14th -- 18:08), Cameron Thomas (17th -- 18:12) and Alex Bown (67th -- 20:09).  Three of these sophomores will be running varsity at League Finals.

The boys freshmen also showed their great potential.  Bryan Quintanilla (19:03), Ben Wolhaupter (19:38), and Brennan Bown (19:38) all broke 20 minutes, while Aaron Argiso, Max Byer and Richard Avery also put in good performances.  All of these runners are developing a good work ethic and offer a lot of promise (together with our strong sophomore class) for the Agoura Cross Country team in the next few years.

Congratulations to Harrison Sobel, who defeated 7 county runners on Friday.  I probably should stop publicizing Harrison's accomplishments; otherwise, other coaches may start recruting him away from Agoura!

League Finals is on Thursday, and we will lay it all on the line during what is annually one of the best League Finals meets in the nation!

Great Quote About Running!

Rabbi Jared has come up with a great quote specifically about the sport of running:

"Running is perhaps the truest and most honest sport of them all. There are no lucky calls or breaks in running. Runners can't swing at a bad pitch and get the lucky hit, throw the "Hail Mary" pass to score the winning touchdown or heave the ball from half court to score the 3-pointer at the buzzer. Runners can't blame officials foor losing games and can't have another team member compensate for their inadequacies. Runners are ultimately alone and fully responsible for their sport. They know there is no short cut to getting or staying in shape. Most sports and games allow players to fall out of shape and yet are still able to compete. A runner who doesn't stay in shape simply cannot run at a competitive level. Everything in running is earned and nothing is given." -John Doyle

Neither Jared nor I have any idea who John Doyle is or was, but he certainly knew something about our sport.  Good luck to everyone tomorrow at the County Meet.  It's one of the best meets of the season.

Inspiration from Rabbi Jared

Another great quote from THE RABBI:

"The best way to succeed tomorrow, is to start preparing today." -Anon

That's a great quote I need to bring back in June when summer training begins!

Report on Yesterday's Meet

Agoura High School's cross country team ran into the Thousand Oaks HS cross country juggernaut and the excellent teams from Westlake High School.   Thousand Oaks ran to solid victories against both Agoura and Westlake.  The Agoura Girls Varsity ran to a 28-28 score against Westlake, but lost due to the 6th place tiebreaker rule.  The Agoura Boys Varsity lost by a tight score of 26-30 against Westlake, but the result indicates that we have a shot against them at League Finals.

Highlight of the Day:  Chris Baird finishing first place overall, with a PR of 15:50.  He followed TO's top runner on to the track for the final 250 meters, and passed him going away on the final straight away, putting a victorious finish to the day.

Other top performers:

Girls Varsity:

Erin Baird (2nd overall -- 19:21)

Kristen Hessick (6th -- 19:52)

Katie Klezek (11th -- 20:17)

Girls F/S:

Arielle Slater (10th overall -- 22:45)

Sarah Kislak (22:59)

Girls JV:

Kelly McBride (24:42)

Amy MOffatt (25:05)

Pia Nieghbors (25:32)

Boys Varsity:

Chris Baird (1st -- 15:50)

Matt Schroeder (17:13)

Brandon Severson (17:13)

Boys F/S:

Cameron Thomas (8th -- 18:24)

Daniel Hurlbut (19:19)

Bryan Quitanilla (19:29)

Boys JV:

Perry Casey (18:20) (Perry continues to challenge for a varsity spot)

Jonathan Reuter (19:24)

Jordan Burch (19:25)

Cameron Jacobson (19:34) (This may have been Cameron's best race ever!)

Harrison Sobel (25:09) (Harrison has now defeated runners from both Royal and Westlake!)

There are less than 3 weeks until League Finals.  Let's keep our focus so Agoura HS can peak at the perfect time!

Quote of the Week

Rabbi Jared has come up with another one:

"Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, determined effort, and skilled expectations." -Anon

Talent may be an accident of birth and might open some doors, and luck might win you the lottery or some other occasional good fortune, but I agree that excellence is always a combination of intentions and effort.

If you are one of those who think you can rely on luck in life, that brings to mind two other similar quotes I've heard on the subject:  "Luck is the residue of design" and "The harder I work the luckier I seem to get."

Greg Stanger Medals!

Somehow, someway, somewhere on this blog, sometime ago, this editor neglected to list the Great Greg Stanger as a medalist (senior division) at the Woodbridge Meet ... so I am making it up to Greg by giving him his very own post!  Congratulations, Greg.  Way to go, Greg.  Atta boy, Greg.  Here's the ol' proverbial slap on the back, Greg.  You the man, Greg.