Swain Invite

Below is the schedule and directions for Saturday's Swain Invite in Duluth.  There will be 3 races for both the boys and the girls and we will be gone for most of the day.  Our bus will be leaving at 7:00am and we won't be back until probably after 6:00pm.  There will be a lot of teams at this meet, so you may need to plan to make sure you see your athlete run.  It will be about a 2 hour drive to Duluth.
Thing of note if you are planning on going to the meet is that there are no dogs allowed since this race will be on a golf course.
Please find info on the meet at the following link: http://swaincrosscountry.org/  and we will be in the AA races.
If there are any questions about anything, please let me know,
Thanks
Denny

T-Shirts:Long sleeved Swain T-shirts sold at $20.00, short sleeved $15.00. Get them early

Swain Invite (Enger Golf Course): 1801 West Skyline Parkway
Duluth, MN 55806 Enger Park Golf Course, 18th Ave. West and Skyline Parkway, Duluth. Take I-35 North to EXIT 255A on the left toward 21st Ave W. Go about 1.5 miles to the stop light. Turn left onto Piedmont Avenue. Take the 1st left onto N 24th Ave W. Take the 1st left onto W Skyline Parkway up the hill to golf course.

RACE SCHEDULE:
Girls 7-9 10:00 a.m. (3000m)	Boys JV “AA” 12:40 p.m. (5000m)
Boys 7-9 10:25 a.m. (3000m)	Girls Varsity “A” 1:10p.m. (5000m)
Girls JV “A” 10:50 a.m. (5000m)	Girls Varsity “AA” 1:50 p.m. (5000m)
Girls JV “AA” 11:30 a.m. (5000m)	Boys Varsity “A” 2:30 p.m. (5000m)
Boys JV “A” 12:10 p.m. (5000m)	Boys Varsity “AA” 2:55 p.m. (5000m)

Griak Results

Results for yesterday's Griak can be found at the following site:
www.gophersports.com/sports/m-xc/spec-rel/roy-griak-invitational-results.html  We were in the Maroon Divisions for the high school races.

Our individual results for yesterday as well as from Friday are on the right side of our page.
Many positives from Friday's race despite only two teams in the JV race.  10 of the 13 girls running JV ran personal bests and we ended up with 6 of the top 7 overall finishers, including race winner Ali Hedlund.  The boys did nearly as well with 4 of the top 7 and overall race winner Reed Smith.  The Middle School boys also placed well, despite not having enough for a team score and were led by 2nd place finisher Isaac Johnson.

As for Saturday, the course and the competition were much more difficult, the boys led the way with both Nathan Mueggenberg and Paul Breitbach finished in the top 40 out of 485 runners.  The girls may not have looked as though they finished well, but most of the girls ran faster than they did a few weeks ago in our first meet and were focusing mostly on getting the first mile figured, which most did.  It's a new race strategy that they girls need to learn with switching to 5k's, so it will take time, but they are improving.

This week will be the Swain Invite on Saturday in Duluth.  I will be posting info on this meet in a couple of days.

Any questions, please let me know,
Thanks
Denny

Griak and Champlin JV Results

Results for today's JV meet at Champlin can be found above by clicking on the Wayzata Results link. Look for Rebel Autumn Classic.

I will have our race results up sometime tomorrow, as well as the Varsity results, as well as info on how everything went, just a hint, lots of PR's today!!

Lastly, the Boys on Saturday will be going with the Ghost uni's, so they will be in all white. This will make it easier to spot the boys, as well as represent the idea of the 'Ghost Runner,' John Tarrent. It's an interesting story and one that one should consider checking out if you are interested in history and running.

Any questions, please let me know,

Denny

Champlin JV/Griak Invite

Here is the information for Friday's Champlin JV meet and Saturday's Roy Griak Invite at the U of M golf course.
Champlin JV:
This meet is for all of our runners that will not be participating in Saturday's meet.  Directions are below as is the time schedule.  This will be a smaller meet, so should go pretty smoothly
Schedule:
JV Girls - 3:30
JV Boys - 4:00
Middle School Girls - 4:30
Middle School Boys - 5:00

Champlin JV (Northwoods Park): Go East on Hwy 10 to Hwy 610 West.  Continue on Hwy 610 to Douglas Dr exit and go North (right).  Continue going north until you come to 109^th Ave and take a left.  Park will be on the Left about 1 mile west.

Griak Invite:

This is one of the bigger meets for high school runners in the state and will also have many college teams at as well.  College races will be starting right away in the morning and the high school races will be in the afternoon.  At 12:45 this year there will be a Hall of Fame presentation that will be to Honor Coach Griak, former U of M coach and big supporter of the Coon Rapids Girls team that we will be going down early to see.  Please be aware though of the admission fee as well as the parking for spectator's.  Any questions, please let me know.

4:05 p.m.	High School Boys' Maroon Competition
	4:10 p.m.	Gary Wilson High School Gold Awards
	4:55 p.m.	High School Girls' Maroon Competition
	5:00 p.m.	Boys' High School Maroon Awards
	5:45 p.m.	Girls' High School Maroon Awards

Admission Fee	The University will be charging $8 entry fee for adults and $5 for students/youth/seniors (62 & above).  Kids age 2 & under are free. The official Griak Invitational program can be purchased for $2.
Spectator Parking	S101 (on the corner of Cleveland and Commonwealth) and the Gortner Ave. Ramp.  Shuttles will transport to the golf course.  Park at your own risk on the city streets.

Roy Griak Invitational: U of M Golf Course. Take 35W South to Cleveland Avenue South to West Larpenteur. Turn right and follow for a ½ mile on Larpenteur and you will see the Driving Range and Golf Course on the right.

Lakeville Invite

Our individual results are posted on the right under results and meet results can be found above at the link for Online Race Results.  When on that page, look for Lakeville Applejack XC Invite, click on it and results will  be on the right side under events.  Just click on the race you want to look at.

As for the race, it was a solid day for many of the runners.  There were a few that struggled, but it is understandable when you look at the past couple of weeks with the first week of school and with Homecoming this week, not to mention some solid workouts.  The course was also a bit of a challenge the later the day went on. There had been over 3 inches of rain in the area in the 48 hours before the race, thus making a nice muddy course.  Hopefully the runners will be washing their uniforms or they might be a little crusty next week!! haha

But, there were still many solid performances.  The C Race groups, which were our 9th grade and younger, had great days and finished in 4th for the Boys (4 boys in the top 20) and 5th for the Girls (3 of the top 25), with Reed Smith, 5th overall for the Boys, and Abby Ellenbecker, 3rd overall for the Girls, leading the ways.  The only other medalist that we got to day was Paul Breitbach in the Boys Varsity race as he finished in 18th, but we did have many that finished just out of the medals.

Next up will be the Champlin JV on Friday and the Roy Griak Invite at the University of MN golf course on Saturday.  Everyone will be notified on Tuesday which race they will be in.

Lastly, because of the amount of work we have done and the stresses of school this past two weeks, we will not have practice on Monday.  We are asking the runners to go home after school to catch up on school work and to relax.

If there are any questions, please let me know,
Thanks
Denny

Lakeville Invite

Thank you to those that were apart of the Cardinal Mile last night! It was a little wet, but those that were there were having a good time and I think we might have gotten our name out to a few that will be possibly running for us soon!

Friday is the Homecoming game and the Boys team will be running the game ball in from Anoka. Because of this, the boys will be having their pasta party tonight, Thursday.  As for Friday though, there will be a bus that will be taking the boys to Anoka for the run back.  It is a 6 mile run, and since we have a meet on Saturday, we won't be going too hard.   The Girls team will be practicing at normal time on Friday and will have their pasta party after practice.

Saturday is the Lakeville Invite.  Below is the schedule of the races as well as directions to the meet location.  This is a bigger meet, so please plan accordingly because parking is not always easy.
Any questions, please let me know,
Thanks
Denny

Start Time	Event	Distance	Max runners/ school
9:30 AM	Coaches Meeting –near finish line /timing area
10:00 AM	Girls C  Race	3200 meters	No limit
10:30 AM	Boys C Race	3200 meters	No limit
11:00 AM	Middle School Girls Race	1 mile	No limit
11:10 AM	Middle School Boys Race	1 mile	No limit
11:20 AM	Girls Junior Varsity Race	5,000 meters	No limit
12:00 PM	Boys Varsity Race	5,000 meters	Up to 10
12:30 PM	Girls Varsity Race	5,000 meters	Up to 10
1:00 PM	Boys Junior Varsity Race	5,000 meters	No limit
1:40 PM	Kids’ Fun Run	500 m	No Limit
2:00 PM	Awards	South side of  Main Pavilion

Lakeville Invite (Arnoson Park): Highway 10 east to Hwy 610. Merge onto Hwy 252 and continue south to I 94.  Take I 94 south to I 35W South and proceed on I 35W to the merge for I 35.  Exit at CR 5/50 (Exit 85) and go east on CR 50 for about 4.5 miles.  Park will be on the right.

SPECTATOR PARKING:
 Parking at this meet is limited!!    PLEASE make every attempt to CARPOOL or expect to walk a distance.   Park in only approved areas  (East Parking Lot at Aronson, St. John's Church until full and  Lakeville City streets.    NO EVENT PARKING BEHIND CEMETERY OR HIGHVIEW HEIGHTS SENIOR LIVING FACILITY.  VEHICLES MAY BE TOWED from these locations if they are parked there.   Please respect all traffic police and parking volunteers, safety of our athletes and spectators is our top concern. 

**PEDESTRIANS CROSS Cty Rd 50 at DESIGNATED AREAS ONLY (marked)**

Cardinal Mile Tonight

For those helping tonight at the Cardinal Mile, registration people I would like at the stadium by around 4:45, all others can be there by 5:30. Race will start at 5:50 and as soon as the last person finishes, we are pretty much done.
Lastly, you are all welcomed to participate as well, so bring your running shoes and get a mile in!
Any questions, let me know,
Thanks,
Denny