Chili Night Pictures

Pictures from XC Chili Night

Chili Night

Thursday night was cross country team chili night.  Upon arriving at Utah I started a tradition of thanking my xc team by inviting them to my home and making chili and cornbread for them. Last year we added a team trivia game for entertainment and it has become a permanent addition to the festivities as well.  

New this year was the location.  One of our assistant athletic directors and our current team adminstrator, Zach Lassiter, offered the home of his relatives who live here in Salt Lake as the host site for our dinner.  This house offered a lot more space and nicer amenities than my condo!!!  It was great to have the whole team be able to sit around one table to eat for the first time at this event.  Everyone had a nice couch or chair to sit on for the game as well.  That was not the case at my condo :)  

The only unfortunate thing about this year's event was that not all of the team members could attend due to night class or illness.  The cross country season being extended by Alyssa Abbott's first appearance at the NCAA championships was obviously a good thing.  However, it pushed this dinner back a couple weeks and put us right up against finals week.  Tonight was the best night for the most people so we had to go with it.  Don't worry...I brought take home bowls for those who couldn't make it.   So everyone got some home made, Grandma's recipe chili.  

Finally....I have to thank my Grandma Knoll for the recipe.  Besides the athletes absolutely loving it,  I took some of the leftovers to the athletic offices today and everyone who had a bowl either had seconds or asked for the recipe.  If you like chili then Utah is your school, ha ha!  

LoLo at Practice

Just another day of practice at our indoor facility...the Utah Olympic Oval.  The Oval was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and continues to be the home of the U.S. Speed Skating team.  A 442 meter mondo track was also installed in the training facility and is our home during the indoor track & field season.  

Former Olympians and future Olympian speed skaters are around our practices during the winter season on a daily basis.  Apolo Anton Ono, Chad Hedrick, Derek Parra among others who are regulars at the Oval during our practice time.  

We also have a few track & field athletes who come to Salt Lake for training camps or promotional photo/commercial shoots in the Oval.  Today it was hurdler LoLo Jones who represented the U.S. in the Beijing Games and came within a hurdle of being the Olympic Champion.  She was at the Oval for a promotional shoot.  All of our athletes recognized her and she was very nice and accommodating with them.  She took time to speak with them, sign their spikes, and observe their workouts.  

Come be part of our Olympic Training environment at the University of Utah!!!

The Holy War

With a perfect season and a trip to a BCS Bowl game on the line our football team let arch rival BYU stay close for three quarters.  However, the Utes kicked it into another gear in the fourth quarter for a convincing 48-24 victory and claim the conference title with a 12-0 record.  Where will the Utes be playing in January?  The Valley of the Sun--Phoenix?  Mardi Gras Heaven--New Orleans? or the Mighty Orange--Miami.  Stay tuned for that announcement next week.  

NCAA XC Championships

Unfortunately one of the best seasons in Utah cross country had to come to an end.   However, ending the season with an athlete at the NCAA Championships was a great way to go out.  I sent Alyssa and our graduate assistant, Shayla out to Indiana on Friday before Monday's championship.  Due to having several recruits on campus Friday and Saturday I stayed back to entertain them and then catch up to Alys and Shay on Sunday morning.  Shayla has become a super assistant coach and Alys is about as low maintenance athlete as I've coached.  So I knew they would be perfectly fine without me for a few days.  

 They arrived and had a smooth trip.  They attended the Athletes Championship Banquet on Saturday evening with all of the other athletes and coaches.  They stayed in a new hotel near campus which provided them easy access to all the things they needed.  This year's participation gifts were a rolling travel bag with the NCAA Championship logo and a stocking hat.  I also purchased a black long sleeve/half zip that is embroidered with our school logo and notation of being an NCAA qualifier for Alyssa.  

  The conditions on meet day were less than ideal (cold, windy, and damp).  It had rained the night and morning prior to the race, but was dry at race time.  Alyssa was her usual self....focused, a little on edge, but ready to run a great race.  She later admitted that she was quite nervous, although she never really showed it.   That is what confidence allows you to do.  Alyssa's parents made the trip from Reno, NV which I know gave her a sense of comfort as well. 

  

  Our plan was to be out in the top half of the race at a mile and then start moving up through mile two to the top 100.  From there it would be maintaining a good rhythm and finishing strong.  We felt a top 80-100 finish was achievable and if everything went perfect she would possibly be running for an all-American spot (top 40).  

  

  As she approached the mile it was obvious that Alys was back a little further than we talked even though she was out in 5:29. Per our pre race plan I would see her again just before 3K.  As she came by I knew she had moved up, but I had to take a second look to really believe what I thought I had counted.  Sure enough....she was now in the top 100.  She had passed 40% of the entire field in 1400 meters.  So what would she have left?  At 4K she was 94th (:13:52) and as she passed me with 500 meters to go she was 84th.  She made the turn for home and was still passing people up the final stretch.  She finished 76th in 21:00 in her first NCAA championship. That time was :13 seconds better than she had run on the same course a month earlier with ideal weather conditions.  She was only 19 seconds from being an all-American.  It was an amazing effort.  There is no question Alyssa is one of the best collegiate cross country runners in the nation after that performance.  

  After the race it was back to Indianapolis for the evening as our flight back to Salt Lake wasn't until Tuesday morning.  We grabbed lunch near the hotel and then hand a nice dinner in downtown Indianapolis later that night.  

  It was a great trip and after all of that Alyssa was back in class on Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving--a true Student-Athlete.  There is a reason she was an all-Academic District Team honoree during track last semester.  Below are a few videos from the NCAA meet.

 

 

Utes 6th, Abbott to NCAA Championships

If this cross country season was a concert then our team played a lot of the right notes and left their supporters calling for an encore.  The early meets featured some great individual efforts and a variety of line ups that always seemed to keep everyone around us guessing about how could we really were or could be.  

After a 6th place finish at the Stanford Invite and an even better team effort at the Pre National meet all the pieces were falling into place for a great championship run.  

Insert short Utah history lesson:

Mountain West Conference team finishes:  2005-7th; 2006-6th; 2007-5th

NCAA Mountain Region team finishes: 2005-15th; 2006-11th, 2007-11th (tie) with one All-Region runner

Insert 2008 Utah Team Goals:

Conference: Top 3

NCAA Region: Top 7

As everyone who reads this blogs knows well by now...we had a phenomenal race at conference and finished third.  After that meet we were moved to fifth in the Mountain Region rankings tying the highest ranking in our program history). I wasn't quite sure how we were going to find a way to run any better than we did that day in San Diego.  So as a coach I decided to do what I had done since the Stanford meet....nothing!  I gave them workouts, set up the course for the workouts, gave them water, carried their wet shoes and shirts back to the locker room in my car, and then stayed out of the way!!!  

Coaching isn't always a bunch of magical words, tricks, or motivational ploys.  Sometimes it's simply providing a little guidance and self confidence and then letting the athletes make the magic themselves.  This group did that all year because it was always about the team and doing what they needed to do as individuals to help the team be successful.  It short...they figured out their individual roles on this team.  They gave a great effort every day, picked up others when they were down, and allowed their teammates to pick them up when they were not at their best on a given day.  

The Outcome and Encore:  All seven runners run lifetime bests for 6K, we have three finishers in the top 32, two All Region selections (top 25), and an individual NCAA championships qualifier.  Junior Alyssa Abbott ran 21 second PR to finish 9th and become Utah's first NCAA qualifier in over a decade.  Seniors Chelsea DiGrazia (who didn't run xc in high school---soccer player) and Lauren Endersen (who was told by college coach that she wouldn't be good enough to run at the DI level) were 21st and 32nd overall.  Endersen PR'd by 58 seconds.  Abbott and DiGrazia were both honored as All Mountain Region selections.  Our other two seniors Kellie Anderson (62nd) and Janett Ern (64th) also ran huge lifetime bests.  The two youngsters (So-Sam Gaffney and Fr-Carly Selleck) also ran big PR's to end the season.  

The Second Encore:  Abbott competes in her first NCAA championship meet after her status for the Regional meet was very much in doubt due to an IT band injury which continues to plague her.  Before we left on Thursday it was about 95% that she would not compete at the Regional meet.  By Friday she felt better and didn't want to give up hope of qualifying without trying. It's an injury that she really can't make any worse and running is a matter of pain tolerance.  Don't ever question Alyssa Abbott's toughness or tolerance!!!

The NCAA championship women's 6K will held in Terre Haute, IN and begin at noon (EDT). CBS College Sports Network will televise the race live.   

All Conference Teams

Junior Alyssa Abbott (4th overall)  First Team All-MWC

Senior Chelsea DiGrazia (13th overall)  Second Team All-MWC

Utes Finish 3rd at Conference Championships

To say this team has been a pleasure to work with would be a complete understatement.  With four seniors the leadership has been outstanding.  Together we have all made each other better.  I have helped them become better runners and outstanding people.  They have helped me become a better coach and program leader.  All of our hard work culminated on a perfect day in San Diego this past Saturday morning.  It was 75 degrees, sunny, and just the slightest breeze blowing in off of Mission Bay where we ran this years Mountain West Conference Championship meet.  

The course was a 2K loop that the women ran three times.  Our team executed the early stages of our race plan to perfection.  With 4K to go we started our move and ran our best team race of the year.  With our top five runners finishing in the top 22 we finished third in the team standings--the highest placing for Utah in the 10 year history of the Mountain West.  

Junior Alyssa Abbott led the way finishing fourth overall and was named MWC First Team All-Conference.  Senior Chelsea DiGrazia finished 13th landing her on the MWC All-Conference Second team.  Seniors Janett Ern, Lauren Endersen, and Kellie Anderson placed 18th, 20th, and 22nd to round out the scoring five.  Sophmore Samantha Gaffney (37th), freshman Carly Selleck (53rd), and sophomore Alexis Davis (69th) also ran for the Utes.  

Every gal on our team (even those who did not run this meet) has played a huge role in our improvement.  It's great to see all of their hard work pay off in one of our most important meets of the year.  Next is the NCAA Regional meet on November 15th in Ft Collins, CO.  

   

Banquet Pictures

Team Banquet

On Friday, Octobe 24th we held our track & field and cross country team banquet honoring the 2007-2008 team.  In the past we had held this banquet in May after returning from the conference championships.  However, the season wasn't really over (Regional and NCAA Championships were yet to be held).  So this year I decided to move this banquet to the fall which would allow us to appropriately honor our regional and national level athletes.  It also allowed our incoming freshmen to understand the specialness of being part of our program.  

Cross Country Athlete of the Year:  Alyssa Abbott, SO (All Mountain Region Performer)

Track Athlete of the Year:  Chelsea Shapard, JR (NCAA Semifinalist, MWC Champion-400m hurdles)

Field Athlete of the Year:  Josefin Berg, JR (NCAA Qualifier, All MWC-hammer throw)

Coaches Award:  Sarah McFee, SR (Best overall teammate..voted on by teammates and coaches)

4.00 Award: Lauren Endersen, JR (Maintained a 4.00 GPA for entire year)...Lauren has a 4.00 for her entire college career

It was an outstanding evening and afterward we went out and supported the women's soccer team who was playing at home that evening as well.  

Utah Ranked 6th

The new weekly NCAA Regional rankings were released today and we moved up three spots to #6 in the very difficult Mountain Region. Our region always has four or five NCAA qualifying teams, so to be ranked 6th is a testament to the hard work and dedication or our young women. This ranking also signifies our highest regional ranking since 1996. The schools in front of us have been consistent NCAA qualifying teams. Colorado and BYU have won 6 of the last 18 (1/3) women's team titles. So that is some pretty good company to be in right now.

Our performance at this past weekends Pre National meet was solid, but not our best. We were 26th out of the 39 teams in our race, but only 60 points from 19th. In a race with 287 finishers that is not a lot of points. We finished third among the conference schools (including defeating defending conference and regional champion Colorado State). CSU is an exceptionally talented team and we know they will run much better at conference and regionals. Hopefully, our women will be up for that great challenge. We know we have some room to improve. We also have a few health concerns, but I know our women will do what our athletic trainers ask of them and be prepared to run in our upcoming championship meets. We are off this coming weekend, but then head to sunny San Diego for the Mountain West Conference championships on November 1st. We were picked to finish fourth in the pre season coaches poll and will certainly look to improve upon that forecast.

Keep following this outstanding group of young women. I want to personally thank everyone who has called, sent emails, etc. for your support of our program. We know it is headed in the right direction and growing for the long term.

Pre Nats

We competed in the White Race (2nd of two equally seeded races) at the Pre Nationals this morning in Terre Haute, IN (home of Indiana State).  This course will host the NCAA championships in November.   With 39 teams in our race we knew we had our hands full and had to get out and in position early.  It was a cool morning with the slightest breeze on a dry, rolling course--perfect for cross country.  

Our top two runners (Alyssa Abbott and Chelsea DiGrazia) got out well with the rest of our team in solid positions.  At the half way point (3k) I was very pleased with our positioning.  Alyssa and Chelsea were within the first 70 and the rest of our gals were in the top half of the field.  We knew several runners would go out too hard with the early pace.  We wanted to be in position to take advantage of that.  Overall, I thought we did that well.  We had a solid finish and ended up 26th in our field of 39 that included 11 ranked teams.  We were only 60 points from a top 20 finish.  So part of me also feels like we let one get away.  Like everyone we have had our share of illness and a few minor injuries.  Hopefully, we can keep fighting through that and run even better at the conference championships in two weeks.  We were third among our conference teams and sixth among our regional teams that competed.  

Lincoln Elementary

Today several members of the cross country team participated in a community service event at a local elementary school (Lincoln: Grades K-6) in South Salt Lake.  We try to promote our program by helping others and doing things that have meaning for everyone involved.  As the pictures and video show we had a fun time.  Be sure to turn up the volume on the video for a little narration of the activities. You should have seen the looks on all of those kids faces. They enjoyed us and we really enjoyed spending time with them.  

Pre Pre Nats

The calm before the storm is upon us.  We haven't raced in three weeks since we took 6th place out of 33 teams at the Stanford Invite.  I feel very good about the training that has taken place and I think our group is ready to run at the biggest meet of the year so far.  The Pre National meet will take place at Indiana State University, which is also the host site for this years NCAA championship event.  

Fall weather has started to set in here in Salt Lake which has provided us with some very nice weather to train in thus far.  Our team understands the enormity of the Pre Nats meet in terms of quality and quanity.  All but two ranked teams are scheduled to compete plus about 50 more teams hoping to gain some at-large points in case they are not an automatic qualifier out of their region.  A total of 84 teams will be split into two, equally seeded 42 team fields. Regardless of what race you are in, it will be challenging and fast.  

Be sure to check out the Utah Athletic website for results on Saturday afternoon.  www.utahutes.com

San Fran

Following our very nice performance at the Stanford Invitational I took several members of our team to the San Francisco Bay area for dinner and some site seeing.  Our travel schedule did not allow us to return to Salt Lake until Sunday morning.  If you "have" to get stuck somewhere while traveling for a meet this is one of those places that you can deal with :)  

We drove into downtown San Fran and then over the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito.  Suasalito is a small tourist town on the northwest shore of SF Bay.  It attracts many different types of activities and people in the summer and fall months.  We ate at a nice Bistro right on the water and then did a little shopping in some of the local stores.  

When we departed Sausalito it was dark and some fog was rolling in so driving back over the Golden Gate was interesting.  From there we drove through Fisherman's Wharf which was full of people and night time activity as usual.  Then it was on to Coit Tower on the top of Telegraph Hill.  This is the highest point in the Bay area.  To see the city at night from that vantage point was pretty amazing.  Finally, we drove over to and then down the ever famous winding block on Lombard St.   A one block section of this street winds back and forth like a snake and is on a very steep incline.  Therefore, you have to drive very slowly and with great caution as the street is also very narrow.  

Check out the picks from this trip.  The night time picks are at the bottom of Lombard Street.  

 

Stanford Invitational

After spending the early part of the season mixing and matching our lineup we finally ran our top group together at Stanford.  This has traditionally been a large meet with 25-30 teams attending. This year was no different.  Last year we were 10th of 28 teams.  This year we ran our best team race of the season and placed 6th out of 33 teams.  

Our 1-2 punch of Chelsea DiGrazia and Alyssa Abbott finished 30th/31st and ran very well over the final 3K of the race.  However, it was our 3-4-5 runners who really picked things up and improved a great deal.  Lauren Endersen, Janett Ern, and Kellie Anderson all finished very well.  Those three combined to pass 32 runners in the last 400 meters!!!  Our elapsed time from #1-#5 was 43 seconds which is a big improvement over our earlier meets.  It was also the second best spread of any team at the meet.  

It was very warm and humid for that time of year in Palo Alto, but our kids held up well and this will give us a great deal of confidence as we go to Pre Nationals in three weeks.  We will spend that time continuing to train hard and work on tightening up our pack even more.  

Montana State Trip

Our annual trip to Bozeman was another good time.  I thought overall we improved as a team. Chelsea Digrazia ran a super race and challenged for the individual win.  Janett Ern ran the best cross race of her career.  Freshman Carly Selleck showed a lot of toughness passing several runners over the last mile and grabbing a top 25 finish.  As a team we didn't finish quite as high as I had hoped, but we did run without two of our top five runners.  We need to get out a little bit better in the first mile, but maintain a relaxed feel until it becomes time to make our move over the last half of the race.  

One of the best parts of this trip is the drive up through Yellowstone National Park.  The drive from West Yellowstone up to Bozeman has to rank as one of the top five most scenic drives in America.  Check out a few of the pictures from this trip to the right.  Amazing stuff!

Another short week ahead as we are off to Stanford this weekend.  This will be our first meet where we will be at full strength this year.  This will be our first 6k race of the season which always presents new challenges mentally and physically.  I think our training is geared more towards this distance, but ultimately it requires the women to be mentally stronger.  

This weeks video...Ashley Warnick was a senior my first year here at Utah and now lives with her husband, Kurt, in Bozeman.  She came out to cheer on her alma mater. 

Colorado State Classic

We knew this meet would be tough, but I thought our team really did a nice job.  We traveled to Ft Collins the day before and the trip (minus some rain going through Wyoming) went very smoothly.  Our team had a great pre meet workout and then enjoyed a very nice dinner at Johnny Carino's.  

Meet morning was a beautiful early fall day.  Sunny and mid 50's.  This was our teams first race on this particular course.  I elected not to run two of our top runners.  They are both training well and we want to keep them healthy.  After going out a little too quickly at our first meet, our team plan was to open a little more conservatively and then really work the middle mile of the 5K race. Unfortunately, we gave up too much ground in the first mile to CSU and then ran out of course trying to catch up.  

I was pleased with two of our freshmen (Carly Selleck and Rachel Perkins) who both ran well. Carly was running her first race for us.  Rachel was a soccer player in high school so this was only her second xc race of her life.  They still have a lot to learn, but they ran hard and gave a great effort.  

The rest of our team definitely ran better than they did in the opening meet, but we still have some training to do.  They know what it takes and I know they will keep improving throughout the season.  

We are off to the Montana State Invitational this coming Saturday.  We have traditionally ran very well at this meet in the past.  Our team really enjoys this trip.  The drive through Yellowstone National Park is beautiful.  The weather for the meet can be a bit unpredictable, but the course is usually very fast.  We are looking forward to a great week of training in the mean time.  

 

More Video

Here are a few more videos including some of the fireworks display after the victory and celebrating 10 years of our stadium.

A Crazy Weekend of Fun

What a weekend!  The cross country team had a great workout on Friday afternoon and then we went to Park City to get our long run in on Saturday morning before the real fun began.  Some of the track and xc women gathered at the University of Utah tent at the Avenues Street Fair for some "fun in the sun".  (The Avenues is a historical residential area near the university and the annual fair is always very festive with something available for everyone).  They gave out free 'U' tatoos and team posters to all of our great Utah supporters.  

Then the #22 ranked Utah football team opened their home schedule against Mountain West Conference rival UNLV.  It was tied 14-14 at half, but the Utes rolled in the second half and won convincingly 42-21.  

Check out the video below of the days activities and fun.  Thanks to senior hurdler, Chelsea Shapard for all of the great footage.  You had to actually see or sit in the MUSS (Mighty Utah Student Section) to understand how wild 4,700 college students can be.  She has some great footage from the middle of one of ESPN's "Best Student Sections in America".  

Practice

Just returned from our long run up in Park City.  We had a tempo type workout on Friday, so we kept the long run pretty relaxed.  We had a group go for 75 minutes and a few others go less due to returning from illness or injury.  They will continue to build as they get stronger.

I now have a Flip Video system so I will be attempting to add some short clips and provide and even better experience for everyone who reads this and wants to get to know or program.  

I am by no means an expert, but hopefully I'll be able to figure it out.  

Utes Open XC Season

Ahhh...the season is officially underway.  We had our first meet at Utah State on Saturday.  It was a triangular with USU and Weber State.  Utah senior, Chelsea DiGrazia, picked up where she left off the track season with another outstanding performance.  She was the individual winner and in complete control of the race from the gun.  Chels ran just fast enough to win, but looked and felt relaxed the whole way and used a nice sprint over the final 100m to hold off all challengers.  It was her first cross country individual win at any level.  (She was a soccer player in high school and never ran xc).

As a team I thought we ran well early, however we have to be better in the middle of the race.  The rest of our gals finished well, but ran out of course playing catch up.  This situation will solve itself with a few more weeks of training and another race.  A few of our gals are notorious for needing a couple races (regardless of how well they are training) before they are hitting on all cylinders.  Beyond that...it's August!  We'll have it all put together in late October and November when the races matter.  

We now have two weeks before our next meet at Colorado State.  It will be another smaller meet in terms of teams and total runners.  However, the quality will be very good.   We have some great workouts planned this week and next, so we will look to race even better then.

Keep Checking Back

This is my first ever blog, so bear with me as I learn how to maneuver around and use all the functions correctly.  Feel free to make comments and suggestions for improvements.  Most importantly I hope you get a feel for our team, our program, and our university.  The total package is amazing and provides an experience unlike any other.  Talk to you again soon.

Go Utes!

Our first meet is this Saturday (Aug 30th) at Utah State.  Race time is 9am at the American Heritage West Center which is located on Highway 89 just south of Logan.  Hope to see you there.

Preseason Camp

The 2008 cross country season has officially began for the University of Utah.  Thirteen athletes and two coaches help preseason camp at Bear Lake in the northwest corner of Utah.  Three days and nights of training, team activities, cooking meals, watching the Olympics, and sleeping helped our team bond and get to know each other.  

"I was really happy with our first ever preseason team camp.  I thought the women trained hard and interacted well with one another.  It is certainly something we will continue doing in the future."