The Monte Vista Invitational - Home of the Eliminator!

Dear Runners and Parents,

On behalf of all the coaches, welcome to the 2016 cross country season!

It's been a very busy and fun week so far and the coaching staff has LOTS of information to share, so I apologize in advance for the long email (and for the late arrival in your inboxes).

MOST IMPORTANT INFO:

1. Time trials this Friday, Aug. 19 during practice.
   The time trials will establish a baseline against which each runner can measure his or her progress throughout the season. We've gone over the schedule with the runners. Scroll to very end for schedule details.
2. Contract, goal sheet, and XC Stats registration due by Friday, Aug. 19.
   We coaches have been repeating this all week at practice. We had over 150 students sign up for cross country; of these, 32 boys and 27 girls are at risk of being cut from the team tomorrow for not completing this requirement yet. Parent signatures are required on the contract. For details, see the home page of our team's website: www.eteamz.com/mvxc.
3. Fall sports parent meeting on 8/24 in the theater at 7pm.
   Following the general session for all sports, there will be breakout session for our team. I will be introducing our coaching staff, presenting our team's budget, participation donations, and providing information about uniforms, meets, and more. I look forward to meeting / seeing you all. Coach Mandee Starn, our head coach, will unfortunately miss the meeting due to an unavoidable family conflict. But Coach Mandee will be available tomorrow afternoon, after the time trials, to meet and chat with any interested parents who have questions--it's an informal FAQ meet & greet.
4. Practice times.
   Our goal is for practices to be over by 5:30 on most days. Mondays will be our long run day and practices will usually be over by 6. This week, with so many new kids and lots of administrative things to deal with, we have been running late. In another week or so, we will fall into a more regular groove with our practice schedules. This Saturday will be our first Saturday practice. Runners should meet at 9am on the track. Brand new runners who need to work up to running six days a week may skip this Saturday.
5. Where to get information?
   Before emailing a question, please do check our team's website. I work hard to keep it updated. There is a calendar, news page, home page with highlighted info, and lots more. www.eteamz.com/mvxc The team also has a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Follow us! The links to these are on the homepage of our team website.
6. Team calendar.
   --Calendar page of our team website: Monte Vista Cross Country: Calendar
   --Full team calendar, one printable page (attached).
   --Google Calendar in iCal format: in theory, if you click the following link on your smart phone (or computer), a message will pop up asking if you want to "subscribe" to the calendar. When you say yes, all the team's events will automatically show up in your smart phone's calendar(s) https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/1bg48a4sg3s643fqg7472nhdio%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
7. Consistent attendance. Attending prepared.
   Running consistently is the key to injury prevention in this sport. Daily practice with Sunday as a rest day is expected. Thank you to all the parents who have been helping their runners arrive ready to run (with running shoes, a watch, plenty of water, and having eaten enough during the day).
8. First home meet on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Help wanted!!!
   Please give us a hand as we host 20 teams at the Monte Vista Invitational. Sign up today. No experience necessary! Check out our other volunteer opportunities, too.

Go Mustangs!!

Courtney Corda

Assistant Coach and Team Parent

TIME TRIALS SCHEDULE
3:30 pm the 26 kids that are doing the mile arrive at the track to check in with Coach Mandee

3:30 all boys doing 2 mile meet Coach Jensen at Oak Hill Park (OHP) to check in, do core, warm up.

3:45 heat #1 of mile starts (fast)

3:50 heat #2 of mile starts

4:00 all 2 mile girls meet Coach Kara at OHP for check in, core, warm up and dynamics

4:10 all 2 mile guys are at start with Coach Jensen-gun goes off

4:40 girls are at start with Coach Kara-gun goes off

5:15-last race is finished

After all kids do time trial, they should do a long, cool down run with a buddy and stretch.