Warm-up Sales

Wondering what to get that hard to buy for person on your Christmas list?  Why not pick up a gently used Cross-country warm-up.  We are selling our old cross-country warm-ups for $35 per set.  That includes the top and the bottom.  They have been going fast.  Stop in and see coach Schroeder, room 212, or email him at sschroeder@belleplaine.k12.mn.us.

End of Season Awards Pot Luck

Thanks for attending the end of the season celebration.  The food was terrific and it was nice to be able to talk about what has been one of the most memorable seasons yet.  Congratulations to all the kids on a very successful season.  A special congratulations to:




Most Valuable Runners- Janessa Meuleners and Tony Dvorak
Most Improved Runners- Emily Krautkremer and Kellen Bergs
Most Dedicated Runners- Kiley Hallgren and Taylor Witt
Most Tiger Spirit- Mariah Walsh and Kris Corl

It was a great ending to a most enjoyable season.  Next season begins today.  Keep running!

Awards Pot Luck

The season has come to an end and it is time to wrap up a very successful year.  Please join us Sunday 10/4/12 night beginning at 6:00 pm in the Belle Plaine High School lunch room.  We will be having a pot luck. Drinks, plates, cups, and plastic ware provided.  Bring your entire family.  With close to sixty cross-country runners this year we have much to celebrate.  Hope to see you there.

Congratulations Janessa!

Wow!  Janessa Meuleners just ran 15:12.9 at the state meet to earn all state status placing 14th.  It was a great day for running.

Week 10

Congratulations to Mr. Pederson and Mrs. Jamison on their Mankato Marathon!


Mr. Pederson ran a 3:00:30 and placed 6th overall.  That is a new PR for him averaging 6:54 per mile.  Mrs. Jamison finished in 63rd out of 500 runners in a time of 3:37:20.  Their passion and expertise are valuable to our athletes.  It is great having coaches like them work with your kids.


We managed to pack in a good week of work on the MEA shortened week.  It was nice to have a couple days off of school to relax and catch up on things.  This week the section 4A meet will be held at Battle Creek Park in St. Paul, Thursday beginning at 4:00 with the boys varsity race.  Girls race will follow at 4:30 and the JV race will be at 5:00.

We will be going to eat afterward at The Old Country Buffet in Woodbury.   We should be home between 8 and 8:30.

The kids are very excited for this big meet and have worked very hard.  We all are hoping for many great performances.  Hope to see you there.

Week 9

That was a busy week.  Thank you to all that helped with the spaghetti dinner and the water stops at the half marathon.  We did fairly well at the dinner a bit less than last year but improved our take at the half marathon.  With two water stops we placed 2nd and 3rd and brought home $275.  Nice job kids.

Congratulations to the entire team.  The girls varsity won the conference and we won 4 of the six races on Thursday at Baylor Park.  It was a great day started off by the girls JV with a perfect score, twice.  The first 10 girls to cross the finish line were from Belle Plaine.  What a great motivation to the rest of the team.  From then on we were on a roll, setting 55 personal bests out of 57 runners.  It was an incredible day.  Senior Mariah Walsh once again improved her PR to 18:25 taking over a minute off throughout this season as did McKayla Siemon lowering her PR to 18:14.  Junior Corey Krautkremer improved on her PR brining it under 19 minutes to 18:58.  BreAnn McDermand also lowered her PR to 18:10 as did fellow junior Tori Schroeder dropping her PR to 20:36.  9th graders Allison Lundsten and Trinity Webb ran PR's of 20:28 and 18:29 respectively.  Emily Smith, Ally Fink, Kacie Staples, and Hailey Witt all improved their PR's to under 18 minutes.  Most of these girls would be on varsity at any other school in our conference.

In the boys JV race Kris Corl led the way with a 4th place finish.  Close behind was Ryan Bremseth-Vining in a PR time of 19:03.  Right behind were Kellen Bergs, Taylor Witt, and Tyler Schumacher all in PR times.  Mitchell Farmer-Lies and Mitch Walsh ran career bests of 21:46 and 21:53 respectively.  The two seniors had their first PR's in two seasons.  Other noteable PR's Max Hughes 19:32, Sam Gregory 20:01, Stephen LaJeunesse 20:10, Noah Reutzel 20:59, Noah Mewes 21:00, Bryce Nelson 24:32, and Jed Fahey 24:51.

Girls Varsity saw Janessa Meuleners win and set a new course record in 14:39.  Haley Leger 15:53 and Emilyn Siemon 15:55 were all conference runners.  Alissa Schultz placed 13th in 16:27.  Seniors Kiley Hallgren 16:34 and Kelly Morrison 16:43 ran their best races ever, with 8th grader Emily Krautkremer finishing in her best ever 16:54.  The girls team won 46-73 over Watertown-Mayer.

On the boys varsity senior captain Jacob Schaffer placed 6th with a time of 17:17 over a minute PR.  Tony Dvorak cracked into the top ten all time times with his 18:01 PR.  Dylan Bigaouette was right behind in 18:02 with Zander Stier crossed shortly after in 18:07.  Carter Olson ran an 18:22 with freshman Carter Corl on his heels in 18:23.  Derek May rounded out the big PR day with an 18:30.  This young team ran exceptionally to finish just 3 points out of 3rd place.  This years team would have beaten last years team at the same race and last year the boys were second.

In the Junior High events the girls won with a perfect score and the boys won over Jordan by 16 points.  Each of the Junior High runners ran their all time bests on the 1 mile course.  Vanessa Rosales 6:45, Skylee Schwingler 6:46, Grace Ludvik 6:53, Alexa Lenz 7:01, Hannah Buermeister 7:23, Kate Haege 7:31.  Nate Loegering led the way for the boys in 5:32, followed by Zak Hughes 5:46, Kyle Siemon 5:51, Noah Hastings 6:09, Kenny Dvorak 6:28, Luke Hallgren 6:57, Devin May 6:58, Hayden Cody 7:03, and John Morrison 7:37.

What an incredible week thank all of you for your help and support we could have been so successful without you.

MRC

WOW.   Great job.......55 personal records.  
Girls V, JV, JH all took 1st.  
Boys V-4th, JV-2nd, JH-1st.  

Week 8

Tuesday the Tigers participated in a unique coed event.  In typical fashion neither the boys or girls wanted to let the other down so the outcome was what you might expect.  The varsity and the JV squads each won their respective races.  Everyone ran the same 4.3 K course at the same time.  Girls and boys competed together in the same race.

In the open race Belle Plaine had an excellent showing with Carter Corl, Kris Corl, Sam Gregory, and Tyler Schumacher placing 1-4 in that order.  For the girls Trinity Webb and Kacie Staples ran very good times.  The JV team won their race with a strong runs from (1)Carter Olson, (2)Derek May, (4)Taylor Witt, (5)Kellen Bergs, and (10)Kyle Siemon.  The girls in the race also did well with (13)Alissa Schultz, (15)Kelly Morrison, (18)Danika Schroeder, (19)Emily Smith, (22)Hailey Witt, competing well.  In the Varsity race Jacob Schaffer led the way followed by Zander Stier and Tony Dvorak.  Then came Janessa Meuleners followed closely by Dylan Bigaouette.  Ryan Bremeseth-Vining was the 5th boy followed by Haley Leger, Emylin Siemon, Kiley Hallgren, and Emily Krautkremer.

It was a great opportunity for our kids to just go out and compete.  Over the past few weeks they have been working hard to improve their fast race pace and all that work is starting to pay off.

Coming up will be the conference meet Thursday October 11th at Baylor park north of Norwood Young America. We look forward to a very competitive race and good performances.  Hope you can make it and cheer on the Tigers.

Week 7

This week we had over 40 kids run personal bests.  Tuesday's meet in New Prague made up 39 of the pr's and Saturday in Willmar 2 more ran their best ever times.  It was a busy week with competitions and a heavy practice load.  We are entering the championship part of the season and will be turning up the intensity and lowering the mileage to freshen up legs.  The girls JV team lead the way in New Prague placing 1st behind Emily Krautkremer, Cheyene Westin, and Hailey Witt's 4th, 5th and 6th place finishes.  On Tuesday, Janessa Meuleners (2nd), Krautkremer (4th), Westin (5th), Witt (6th), Mariah Walsh (9th), Nate Loegering (1st), Zak Hughes (4th), all made the medal stand in their respective race.  All around Tuesday's competition was very encouraging.  Saturdays trip to Willmar saw Meuleners (5th), Krautkremer (4th), Noah Hastings (8th), and Skylee Schwingler (14th),  make the award stand.  There were not as many personal records on Saturday but after 39 kids ran their bests on Tuesday it was a bit tough to have another big day or personal records.  This week Tuesday we run at the Ney Center in the LeSeuer Coed meet.  Friday is the homecoming relay.  The following week is the Conference meet at Baylor Park on Thursday.

This is the time of year we work towards now is the time for all the aspects of good running come together, nutrition, sleep, hydration, physical and mental preparation, and to some extent plain old good luck.  It was great seeing all the family and friends cheering us on.  This years team has been working very hard to make their goals a reality.  We thank all the family and friends that have come out to help us achieve our goals by cheering us on.  We have never had such a good group of followers as we have had this year.  See you Tuesday.

Week Six

Another terrific week is in the books.  We had over 15 personal records (PR's) in our race on Tuesday at Crown College and another 15 or so on Saturday in Apple Valley.  It is great to see so much improvement.  Tuesday our kids did a terrific job we had 4 individual race winners.  Emily Krautkremer won the junior high girls 2000 meter race, Nate Loegering won the junior high boys 2000 meter race, Cheyene Westin won the junior varsity girls 4000 meter race and Jacob Schaffer the boys junior varsity 5000 meter race.  Besides those outstanding individual performances both junior high teams won their race, and the girls varsity and junior varsity teams placed 2nd.  I am sure you all heard about our workout on Thursday if you didn't perhaps you noticed how tired your athlete was Thursday night.

With sore legs in tow Saturday we went up against some pretty tough competition.  Although we finished near the bottom of the standings our performances were pretty good.  There has been a continual improvement by our squads and it is due to their incredible hard work and dedication not only in practice but at home and school as well.

Next up for us is the New Prague invitational at the golf course on Tuesday.  Legs should feel pretty good, we are excited to see how well the kids run.  Then Saturday it is off to Willmar for a 1:00 pm start to what should be an interesting race.  I would just like to thank all the parents, family, and friends that have been coming to cheer us on.  The other day I looked around and we have quite a following.  The kids notice and it is nice having so many cheering fans.  Have a great week.

Week 5

 

Hard to believe we are done with week 5 of the cross-country season.  We had a big week competing in the Lion Invitational at NYA and working hard toward our goals in practice.  The Girls Junior High came up big on Tuesday with a second place finish in a meet which had competitors from 20 schools.  Kate Haege, Grace Ludvik, Skylee Schwingler, Vanessa Rosales, and Alexa Lenz all ran personal bests on the 1600 meter course.  The Boys Junior High finished in 5th place with John Morrison, Nate Loegering, Zak Hughes, Kenny Dvorak, Luke Hallgren, and Noah Hastings all running their best times on a 1600 meter course.  In JV action Kelly Morrison ran a solid race placing 2nd overall.  Teammate BreAnn McDermand ran a 30 second PR of 19:14 along with McKayla Siemon, Mariah Walsh, and Haley Witt the team placed 3rd.  Boys JV was 7th with Derek May and Tyler Schumacher leading the way.  In the Girls Varsity Janessa Meuleners won the race in 15:37.  She took it out and lead commandingly for most of the race.  Haley Leger was the second runner for the varsity coming home with and 18th place medal and Emilyn Siemon collected a 20th place medal for her efforts.  The girls performed well placing 4th, their highest placing so far this season.  On the Boys Varsity it was Zander Stier leading the way in 37th place.  Teammates Tony Dvorak, Carter Olson, Dylan Bigaouette, and Carter Corl had strong runs to help the team to a 15th place finish.  Over half the team showed the next morning for our run at 6:30 and wafles to follow.  Then in the afternoon many kids did a nice long run pushing their mileage for the day near 9 miles.  The kids continue to work hard and have fun.  It is incredible to see what these kids are capable of.  The next few weeks are going to be exciting to watch as their hard work begins paying off.

Week 4

The short week saw the Tigers in their first big meet.  Thursday we traveled to Montgomery to participate in the 30 team Gerry Smith Invitational.  13 runners ran a lifetime best race while over 26 runners ran faster this year compared with their last year times.  Over all it was a great showing for our first big meet.  It was a great experience for our young athletes.  The girls were led by Janessa Meuleners who finished in 8th place in a very competitive field.  The girls varsity squad placed 8th out of 24 teams.  The girls JV 7th out of 13 and they were led by Kelly Morrison.  The JH girls were led by Vanessa Rosales and finished 5th out of 10 teams.  On the boys side Zander Stier led the Varsity squad to an 18th place out of 28 teams.  The JV boys led by Jacob Schaffers 3 rd place finish were 9th out of 20 teams.  Nate Loegering led the boys JH with an 11 th place finish the team placed 9th out of 16 teams.  Even though we had a short week we covered some mileage.  Friday mornings run followed by french toast capped off another excellent week.  Next week we see action at Baylor Park near NYA on Tuesday.  Check the calendar for details.  Parents thank you for all your support.

Week Three

We had another terrific week.  The kids finally were able to compete and they did a great job.  The girls JV team scored a perfect score of 15 on Tuesday at Mankato East while the girls varsity defeated Mankato East and MVL.  The boys were second to the Mankato East team running very well with some nice times.  The junior highs both won defeating Mankato East and MVL.  It was nice to compete and it appears our team likes to race.  It was a hot week and we scaled back thursdays practice but had a great Friday workout.  Thank you to the concession stand.  You helped raise nearly $500 dollars at the football game Thursday night.  This coming week we have one meet in Montgomery on Thursday. Check the calendar for details.

Monday August 27th

Monday August 27th is a big day for the cross-country team.  Our first competition at the Ney Center begins at 3:15 with the junior high race.  At 3:45 the girls race will take place and at 4:15 the boys race.

Team and individual pictures will be taken at 1:00 pm at the school come dressed in your uniform.  The bus will take us out to the course after pictures and we will return on the bus after the meet is over.

Parents night BBQ:  Starts at 6:30 in Union Square park behind the high school all families of cross-country athletes are invited.  Seniors and their parents will have their pictures taken that evening.  Look forward to sharing a meal and some information with you.  Thanks to all you parents that have been making sure your kids are at practice we are off to a terrific start.

Week Two

Week two is almost done and an incredible amount of work and fun took place.  We will cap the week with a preview of the Ney Center course for Monday's meet.  This past week we did an interval workout on the track, ran sprints at the beach, ran like kenyans, and ran a long run of 9.4, 7.6 or 6 miles.  When we returned from our long run a veteran commented "did you see how far everyone went today?"  it continues to amaze the coaching staff what hard working and talented kids we have.  This is normal but this years group seems to be exceptional.  Rest well this weekend and be ready for 1:00 pm pictures at the school Monday.  Our race at Ney Center begins at 3:15.  Parents night BBQ in Union Square Park 6:30.

Triathlon 2012

Triathlon 2012

This year 49 athletes completed the 4.5 mile bike, 1.5 mile run and 10 lengths of the pool swim in under 58 minutes.  The winners were Zander Stier (1st), Jacob Schaffer (2nd), Max Hughes (3rd), Janessa Mueleners (1st), Kiley Hallgren (2nd), and Danika Schroeder (3rd).  Congratulations to all participants on an excellent effort.

Week One!

Week One!


Wow!  What a first week we have had.  56 eager young runners have been showing up all week and working incredibly hard to get in shape.  This week was filled with activity, a 2 mile time trial, ran at the beach, did some yoga, lifted some weights, and the annual triathlon.  Runner have logged any between 20 to 29 miles this week.  Sore muscles were abundant along with great enthusiasm.  We are all tired but after a weekend to relax will be ready for another fun week.  Next week expect the watermelon relay, running at the Ney Center course, weight lifting, yoga, and interval training.  The coaches have been impressed with the work we have seen and the excitement the kids have been brining to practice.  Keep it up.

Fueling and Resting

In every meeting, we have as a group, there is something that we forget to discuss.  A couple of things come to mind that need the most attention is fueling (eating) and resting (sleep). 

These things are what will make or break a season.  The problem we have as coaches we cannot control this part of your life.  Therefore, this is on YOU and YOUR PARENTS.  I am not expecting you to have a diet like the Olympic athletes do but I will suggest some things that will help you during the season. 

First, sleeping, this is very important.  The majority of your bodies repairing and recovery comes during the time you are sleeping.  I suggest getting 8-9hours.  In addition, try to go to bed at a reasonable hour (before 10-10:30 PM), try to stick to this time as much as possible.  Research shows that a bedtime +/- 15min that is stuck to over time helps the body recover better and if there is an odd late night, the body can adapt without sacrificing fitness.  Too many late nights or lack of sleep will have an effect on your fitness level and even can make you more susceptible to illness and injury.

Second, fuel or eating is just as important as rest.  Without the proper fuel, your body will not be able to repair and refuel for the next day.  My biggest suggestion is to eat good things and eat a well-balanced diet.  DO NOT EAT UNTIL YOU ARE STUFFED; EAT UNTIL YOU ARE COMFORTABLY FULL.  Again, we are not expecting an Olympic type diet I am suggesting cutting down on the bad foods (cookies, cakes, candy).  The better your diet is the better you will recover.  Get plenty of fruits and vegetables (the darker the green the better), carbohydrates, dairy and protein.  Here are a few other suggestions:

• Eliminate energy drinks (these are the worst things to consume) and soda pop (there is nothing good in them)
• EAT BREAKFAST doughnuts do NOT count (your body goes into starvation mode by not doing this meaning your body starts shutting down)
• A non-sugar based cereal is great.
• Get protein in you system within 45min of the end of practice.
• A glass of milk (even chocolate) or yogurt works best there are other things ask a coach before buying into a gimmick
• Limit your Gatorade and or PowerAde consumption to one per week or at most one every other day.  These drinks to not completely rehydrate you in fact they actually dehydrate you.
• If you are thirsty DRINK WATER, and STAY HYDRATED (urine should be clear to maybe a slight hint of yellow)
• This will also aid in your recovery, it flushes all the bad acids out of your muscles. 
• Girls might want to think about a low dose IRON supplement, some guys might want to think of the same thing. 

If you follow this and some of the other suggestions that we make throughout season you should be able to compete at the high level.

Any questions feel free to ask a coach.

Excitement is in the Air

Couple of things that we should be reminded of.

First fall eligibility meeting is on August 6 at 7pm, in the south gym.  The forms that are needed can be found on the Belle Plaine Schools website under athletics.  If you are a 7th or 10^th grader, YOU NEED A CURRENT PHYSICAL.  You cannot run in a meet until this is done.  If you have not I would encourage you to read the post on running shoes before you buy this year’s shoes.

Second, all practice times and days in which we have a meet are on the calendar be sure to check them out. 

Third, be sure to catch the Olympic spirit and try to watch some of the best track & field athletes show us what is means to put it all on the line and run for something big. 

I am posting the last updated mileage before the season starts.  I also added the averages for each class so you can see how your class is doing.  Just to point out the coaches are ROCKING that department. 

Grade Avg	Name	Grade	Gender	Miles run	Miles biked	Total as of 7-29-2012
28.7	Jacob Schafer	12	M	55.0	36.1	67.0
	Randy Hartman	12	M	3	0	3.0
	Kelly Morrison	12	F	18.5	20.5	25.3
	Kiley Hallgren	12	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Mariah Walsh	12	F	162.9	0	162.9
	McKayla Siemon	12	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Mitch Walsh	12	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Mitchell Farmer-Lies	12	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Taylor Bergland	12	F	0.0	0	0.0
21.7	BreAnn McDermand	11	F	11	0	11.0
	Bryce Schmidt	11	F	0	0	0.0
	Corey Krautkremer	11	F	87.5	16	92.8
	Grace Miner	11	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Kris Coral	11	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Torri Schroeder	11	F	26.2	0	26.2
50.1	Ally Schultz	10	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Carter Olson	10	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Courtney Fogarty	10	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Duane Good	10	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Emilyn Siemon	10	F	31.3	0	31.3
	Janessa Meuleners	10	F	176.0	176.6	234.9
	Max Hughes	10	M	12.5	0	12.5
	Tony Dvorak	10	M	114.1	24.5	122.3
	Tyler Shoemaker	10	M	32.0	4	33.3
34.4	Alissa Schultz	9	F	39.1	28	48.4
	Allison Lundsten	9	F	2	4	3.3
	Ally Fink	9	F	0	0	0.0
	Bryce Nelson	9	M	50.4	0	50.4
	Carter Corl	9	M	88.0	75	113.0
	Danika Schroeder	9	F	92.5	0	92.5
	Derek May	9	M	28.0	102.56	62.2
	Dylan Bigaouette	9	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Emily Smith	9	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Jed Fehey	9	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Kacie Staples	9	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Noah Mewes	9	M	38.0	0	38.0
	Noah Reutzel	9	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Ryan Bremseth-Vining	9	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Sam Gregory	9	M	58.0	0	58.0
	Taylor Witt	9	M	39.3	20	46.0
	Trinity Webb	9	F	21.6	26.1	30.3
41.4	Alexa Lenz	8	F	78.6	39.5	91.8
	Brandon Heitz	8	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Emily Krautkremer	8	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Hailey Witt	8	F	6.2	1	6.5
	Haley Leger	8	F	5.1	0	5.1
	Hannah Bermister	8	F	11.60	17	17.3
	Hayden Cody	8	M	0.00	0	0.0
	Jonathan Presley	8	M	0.00	0	0.0
	Jada Teta	8	F	0.00	0	0.0
	John Morrison	8	M	252.5	0	252.5
	Kate Haege	8	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Kellen Burgs	8	M	108.0	53	125.7
	Nate Loegering	8	M	22.0	21	29.0
	Yanira Mendez	8	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Zach Hughes	8	M	0.0	0	0.0
5.3	Alexis Parks	7	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Darrius Bahr	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Devin May	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Grace Ludvik	7	F	24.5	28	33.8
	Hannah Gauthier	7	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Kyle Siemon	7	M	9.0	0	9.0
	Luke Hallgren	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Luke Sherloct	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Marcus Walsh	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Melissa Jacobs	7	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Michael Miller	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Nick Morrison	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Paige Gua	7	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Patrick Bigaouette	7	M	0.0	0	0.0
	Samantha Romleski	7	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Skylee Schwingler	7	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Sophie Wright	7	F	0.0	0	0.0
	Thea Iverson	7	F	13.0	8.5	15.8
290.68	Pederson	C	M	565.10	12.2	569.2
	Schroeder	C	M	105.90		105.9
	Jamison	C	F	165.30	95	197.0

See you August 6