November 8, 2006
I'd like to take this opportunity to say great job ladies. You had a successful finish
to the season with your third place finish at counties. Once again leading the way for
the Lady Raiders was Jenn followed by Julie and Angela--each earning all county honors.
Rounding out our top five were Lauren and Ashley, both with outstanding races.
Dani and Hillary also competed in the varsity race and despite the muddy conditions
cruised through the course. In Fairport's second race of the day Elizabeth and Jennie
took the lead and finished the race in second and third with outstanding performances
that earned them a spot on the sectional team along with Keri. Peggy and Rebecca
competed in their last high school cross country race. Jenna and Renee battled to the
finish and were separated by a second. Laura took a lead on a pack of four girls and put
a gap of over 30 seconds in before Eleanor, Emyli, Paige and Katie crossed the line.
Natalie had a great transition into her finish kick as did Alanna and Gretta.
Despite the cool temperature and extreme mud pit called the finish line everyone
turned in great performances and enjoyed the chicken soup after their finish--some
even tried to sneak the delicious picnic food before their cool down.
After a week of training a few of our athletes were ready to compete at sectionals,
or so we thought. Jenn was out sick from school but chose to step up and compete for
the team, finishing in seventh overall and earning a spot to the state meet. Julie
qualified for her third state meet with a strong 5th place finish, leading the team
to a third place finish. The remaining five girls packed together and finished close
with Angela leading Ashley, Lauren, Jennie and Dani. Keri and Hillary cheered for the
team and were ready to go to the line if we needed them and for that we are very
thankful. Emyli, Laura, Katie and Gretta also came along to cheer on the team and
were able to witness some great races. Despite our strong performance the team finshed
third behind Hilton and Rush-Henrietta. We send the best of luck to Julie and Jenn
next weekend where they will represent section V at the state meet.
October 22, 2006
Howdy y’all! Thought that would get a laugh out of everyone… plus we have been covered
in mud the past week like farm animals with all the rain happening lately. Our last
league meet of the season was at Center Park. Peggy and Rebecca were our only seniors
and they initiated the mud under the eyes just before the gun went off to signal the
start of the race. Eleanor found a last second burst of speed and nudged out Gretta in
the finish chute. Jenn crossed the line first overall on the muddy course, which became
even more muddy by the time the boys had to race. Julie and Angela finished with strong
times over the hilly and challenging course. We welcomed Dani back after a few days off
to let her knee heal up after a spill at Seneca. Ashley once again proved that she is
tough enough as she finished as one of our top runners. Natalie finished with a smile
on her face and was cheered in by her teammates before a cool down mud run. Keri and
Katie finished seconds apart and worked together passing people over the course… only
to be surprised by a former teammate jumping out from behind a tree in the woods.
Laura and Jennie also finished seconds apart, also covered head to toe in mud.
Elizabeth found that extra gear and sprinted into the finish with a determined look
on her face. The official waived the uniform rule due to the damp cold from the rain
and many girls took advantage of the situation to wear their under armor, tights or
both. Alanna and Paige had amazing finish kicks again. For anyone interested in finding
out what good sprinting form looks like, check out their finish. A girl motioned to her
coach that Paige was behind her and wanted to know how far… she was afraid of her kick
(please note that Paige did out-kick her). Renee ran a strong race, working with Peggy
the whole time. Jenna and Emyli also displayed their finishing skills along the long path
to the chute. Rounding out the team for the meet at Center Park were Hillary and Lauren,
helping our team to clinch the Division I title. After everyone finished… the first time
our whole team has competed in a race too, a shoe picture was in order followed by a cool
down and of course some cheering for the modifieds and boys teams. We are now looking
forward to Counties where a magical fairy with pixie dust will once again appear so you
can all “fly.” ;)
October 15, 2006
Hello! We survived Friday the 13th and had a great trip to NYC for the Manhattan
Invitational. The course was a hilly and challenging 2.5 miler with rail road ties and
stonedust. "Let me tell you a story about the time the Fairport girls cross country team
went to Manhattan to run a race, but not just one race, THREE races..." After checking out
the course we headed to the hotel and most had dinner in the Westchester Mall-- can we say
fancy mall, followed by dessert of cookie cake for Coach Brown's birthday. Many
mini-icebath parties followed before bed. We woke up to find a beautiful, perfect cross
country day with sunshine and temps in the 50's. Our first race of the day was lead by
Elizabeth. Not far behind were Katie, Keri and Laura. Rounding out the team was Emyli,
Paige and Alanna. Meanwhile Coach Amanda somehow managed to get across the bridge to the
back hills and stayed there until the second race that Fairport was in came though. The
second race was lead by Eleanor and Gretta. Peggy and Renee ran side by side followed by
Jenna and a smiling Natalie. So, now it is lunch time since our third race isn't for
another 2 1/2 hours... Lloyd's Carrott Cake sounds good. Shortly before our third race of
the day was the girls Big East race where nationally ranked high school teams duked it out
for the title. Talk about flying feet... it must have been contagious. Our final race of
the day proved to be very exciting with all 7 girls earning medals and t-shirts for their
performance. Jenn lead the way to the teams 4th place finish followed less than a minute
later by Julie and Angela. Lauren, Ashley, Jennie and Hillary also finished in the top 70
with top 75 earning medals. After some waiting for scores the Fairport team hit the road
home and returned late to finish up a very fun weekend.
October 10, 2006
Hello Ladies!
Meet at Parma Park went well and we defeated our opponents except Hilton, but we knew that
was going to happen. We had some strong performances on the hilly and very wet and muddy
course. Moving on a Congrats on adding to our winning record today at Seneca Park against
Pittsford Sutherland, Penfield and R-H. Most ran fast times on the mostly flat course
through "Jurassic Park." Nobody got lost, despite some navigational issues at our Saturday
practice. Jenn and Julie both broke 20 minutes for the 5k on the course. Out at the two
mile mark (which was as far from the finish on the course that you could be) I got to see
some nice team work. Rebecca and Peggy were running together as were Hillary and Jennie
followed by Emyli and Eleanor. Dani had a strong finish, despite a tumble that left her
scrapped up. Lauren, Ashley and Angela finished close together to give us an edge in the
scoring. Katie busted a move and put in a strong race today as did Laura and Elizabeth.
Getting the team pumped to run the race were Renee, Natalie and Jenna cheering along the
course for Alana, Paige, Gretta and Keri. We travel to the Manhattan Invitational this
weekend at VanCortlandt park. The race will be very competitive and many of the best
schools will be there at the historic course. I look forward to some great races and having
some fun!
Keep up the hard work and stay healthy!
October 2, 2006
Hello Ladies! We have all been super busy with school work and everything else in our
lives. Our meet at Webster park went extremely well with our running as a team in groups.
I love Webster park. It is the course I grew up on and developed my love of running from.
The course is a lot different now than it was then, but still difficult. One of my favorite
memories from there was after a particularly rainy week going for a mud run after the race
and having to "shower" in the creek before being allowed in the car to go home. Too bad it
wasn't muddy for you guys but I do have to say that I enjoyed watching everyone race and
in the groups. It looked pretty awesome to see a group of red running around and in the front
of the race too. Hopefully we get to do that again and more often. We easily defeated the
other teams. A lot of us have been getting sick or are sick. Remember to get enough sleep,
drink enough water and eat well. We want a healthy team at the end of the season. Brownie
says if you are going to get sick do it now so you are healthy and have it out of your
system for counties.
Moving on... McQuaid Invitational went well with us placing 5th in the seeded race.
McQuaid is definitely a favorite of many runners. The race is the biggest high school
meet on the East coast. It is really cool to know that you aren't the only crazy person...
very obvious by amount of teams and strange puffy painted t-shirts seen all day. Many of
our girls set personal bests on the slightly short course. McQuaid is a 3.0 race, not a
3.1 for those of you wondering. And another thing... the race t-shirts and such have
gotten a lot better than when I went to school-- they actually have stuff that girls
would want and wear rather than just t-shirts. Exceptional performances were turned
in by Jenn (who got an award) and Julie (who got a t-shirt). Lauren, Ashley and Dani
clumped together and finished within 10 seconds of one another. Jennie, Hillary and
Elizabeth also packed together but within 6 seconds of one another. Natalie was on pace
for a major PR. Keri and Paige battled each other into the finish and were one second
apart. Laura, Alanna and Emyli finished strong. Gretta wanted to pull a Coach Amanda
and rip her shoes off about halfway because they came untied. Jenna and Katie lead the
way to the finish for Eleanor and Renee, who once again finished with the same time.
Peggy and Rebecca cruised the course at Genesee Valley as seniors.
Looking ahead we have only 3 league meets left plus Manhattan Invitational and Counties.
The season is going by so quickly!!! See you at the starting line!
September 19, 2006
Congrats on the wins at Black Creek today! It was a tough day for everyone and close
scores… a one point victory over Brighton and a three point victory over Pittsford Mendon.
I am sure that they will be looking for us at future meets for a re-match. Athletes of
the meet go to Lauren for stepping it up when we needed her, I’d also like to mention
that without Ashley having passed the one Brighton girl on the finish stretch we may
not have won. Our other Athlete of the meet was Eleanor for finishing the race, with
then encouragement of Renee, despite two bee stings. We had some team sprint for the
finish line rivalry with Keri and Elizabeth as well as Rebecca and Emyli only two
seconds apart. Gretta competed in her first meet of the season and we all had Katie
and Peggy cheering at the two mile (they must have found some mud back there cause
their flip-flopped feet were dirty). Jenn lead the team over the course followed by
Julie and Angela—who despite getting a stitch finished strong. Dani and Hillary showed
the course how tough they are and had some cheering from Natalie, who got all the girls
to start their 400meters to the finish kick. Paige and Alana once again showed their
amazing speed with great finish kicks. Laura, Jennie and Jenna showed no mercy despite
a practically falling off toenail, really nasty blisters and feeling pretty icky. I
know that we can all walk away from this meet seeing what we can accomplish despite
feeling fatigued, hurting and not all together with it. I am proud of everyone for
toughing it out today and showing what you are made of—toughness and the ability
to finish what you start. Take care and I’ll see you at practice for an easy day tomorrow.
September 17, 2006
Hello Ladies! Great job this weekend at Central Square on your fourth place finishes.
Sorry I could not be there, but I am doing very well and look forward to being at
practice on Monday. I can’t wait to start running again—even though it will still be
a few more days to be smart. Thanks for the pudding and jello and freeze pops, they
helped in my wisdom tooth recovery. I hear that the course was twisty, curvy and muddy…
just what all of you love. Anyways, can’t wait to see you all at practice tomorrow and
hear about what has been going on at practice and the meet. Believe me, I want to hear
all of it (and hopefully it is more good than bad). Well, I have to finish up some of
my homework since I slept almost all of the past 3 days. Later Alligators!
September 12, 2006
Congrats on the FIRST meet of the season!!! Everyone did very well and we came away
from the meet defeating 3 teams. A new course record was set by Julie of 20:36, a big
congrats to her for that. Athlete of the week goes to Jennie and Angela for their
outstanding performances. To Jenn, Elizabeth, Laura, Alanna, Paige, Emyli and Jenna
congrats on finishing your first 5k cross country race… you did well and I look forward
to seeing how much further you will come this season. Our walk joggers Renee and Eleanor
finished well and Natalie didn’t get lost—yay! We had Dani finish the first race of this
season, which was unfortunately not the case last year. Re-joining our lineup this year
and having strong first performances were Lauren and Hillary. Peggy and Rebecca got their
senior season started while Ashley got the team to laugh with her “do a little dance,
make a little love, get down tonight.” In the meantime we had Katie get tough and have
a great race with Keri not too far behind after managing to drink a whole glass of hot
tea before race time. I am very excited about this season and the start that we have,
you girls definitely “ran like you stole it.” I cannot wait to see what is yet to come…
as my high school coach Mr. May used to say “mambu baddu,” which is Swahili for the best
is yet to come. Mendon is one of the tougher courses we will compete on this year and
based on your performances, and tight pack that we had up front I think we are ready
to be very competitive this season. I know many of you were disappointed that it
started to sprinkle after the race, but we will have plenty of wet, rainy Tuesdays
and Saturdays for that fun mud stuff. Keep up all the hard work. Congrats again on
a great start to our season!
September 9, 2006
Sometimes a little rain is good… but the thunder really isn’t good cause then we sit
on a bus for a half hour. Great job today with your workout, what we could do before
the thunder, and then getting out there to check out the course. I know that all of
you are super busy now that school has started. I am very proud of how well everyone
is doing. We had a tough workout the other day then again today, with a few complaints
but in general everyone did what was asked of them and rose to the occasion. Things
should hopefully start falling into place once the meets start. I can’t believe our
first one is Tuesday. It has come so quickly, but then again I know for some it hasn’t
come quick enough. Remember to come prepared for the meet. This means extra items of
clothing (socks), and don’t forget your spikes! Hopefully you read the paper Coach Brown
gave you. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about any of the info given on it.
Congrats to the Red Scavenger Hunt team of Jenn, Katie, Natalie and Ashley who broke
the tie with their cheer “we run for fun.” I hope that everyone had a great time. Wed
efinitely had very interesting items. Probably the most interesting was the live butterfly,
dead mouse aka zesty road kill, “killer” (Julie cause she killed a bug), and a cinder
block. If anyone has an idea for a future fun day let me know.
September 7, 2006
Good morning! Hope everyone had a wonderful first day of school. Sorry I was not able
to be at practice yesterday. I hope that the workout went well and I want to hear all
about school and practice. We finally got to run in the rain at Saturday’s practice at
black creek park… Rebecca and Laura even found some mud and had a mud war on their run.
Time is flying by and in a few days we have our first meet. I am very excited to get
into the meets of the season and not just practice, practice, practice. I will be at
the MADD dash in Henrietta on Sunday volunteering and maybe running the 10k (well, just
enjoying the race at a comfy pace). A reminder, the weather has been a little odd lately,
chilly in the am, warm in the afternoon and chilling off again. Make sure to bring a
long sleeve t-shirt or sweatshirt to practice so when you are done you can put it on
if you start to cool off and shiver. Another update after our practice Saturday. See
you at practice for an EASY day!
August 30, 2006
Hello All! Hope that the t-shirt decorating went well. I am very proud of how well
everyone is doing in the workouts. They are not easy workouts as far as intensity
and length. Just a reminder of what we discussed yesterday during stretches. The
first week of school will be the “toughest” all season, with school starting and
the miles. We will get paper to you outlining what the easy/hard/recovery day
schedule will look like (varies depending on one meet per week or two). Also,
communicate with us about any injury or illness. On the flip side of that I love
good news, even if is seems not that important, if it makes your day or just puts
a smile on your face I want to hear about it. We have Peggy back practicing with
us, which means lots of abs since she loves them. Lauren and Hillary have their
exchange students coming. They both have one named Pablo! Well, keep up the hard
work and it’s not too early to start thinking about when school starts, what time
your lunch is, do you need a snack during the day, keeping hydrated at school, sleep,
etc… Keep having fun and smiling!
August 27, 2006
Every once in a while we need to take the time to say “it just isn’t happening today.”
We all have days where it is an effort to run, even if it is at a snails pace. I
have those days once in a while and I am able to recognize that it is not going
to do me any good to crawl through the miles just to get in the miles. Call this
“slacking off,” or something else of that nature but once in a while we need to.
Our bodies say rest and we need to listen. Sometimes there is a need to push
through the fatigue, but other times it is important to say “enough.” We had a
great run at Mendon yesterday and some yummy bagels after thanks to Coach Brown.
You have survived the double practice sessions and we hope to see the benefits of
all your hard work as the racing begins. We have lots of great new things planned
in addition to some old things.
August 23, 2006
Welcome to the 2006 XC season! I am very excited about the upcoming season.
Not too much to report at this time so I thought I’d share with you my times
from high school and some from college. Ask me to see the full list at practice
sometime. Incase you are feeling that you are not “fast” keep at it and it is
amazing how far you can get. I didn’t keep track of my college times since most
of the results were on the website (which they have cleared most of the archives now).
So, my freshman year in 1996 (I guess I am getting old, but no one was born that yea
that is on the team so that’s a good thingJ) My best race was at Mendon East on 10/8
where I ran a 23:52. My worst race (and the first time I ever got blisters, new shoes)
Geneseo Invitational on campus 28:36 on 9/21. My sophomore year a 23:07 at Seneca,
and a 26:34 at Harris Whalen. My junior year I ran a 21:53 at McQuaid and a 24:46
at Harris Whalen (I really disliked that course by this point having run it about
two or three times a season) Senior year of high school I ran a 24:43 at the Wildcat
Invite on the sectional course (I redeemed my self in my first sectional appearance
with a 22:51). My best time all season came from Mendon West in a blazing 21:10 (I
can still tell you almost everything about that day if you ask). As far as my college
running went I was consistently between 20:20 and 22:00 but my very last cross
country meet I ran a 19:46. I know it is hard to get out there and train sometimes
when the weather is less than perfect and you feel not that great. But, all the
difficult practices and races that you struggle through are worth it when you cross
that finish line and can say, “I did it.” See you at practice…