She Did it Again!

Big meet often leads to big pressure. The answer is usually an experienced veteran who has steadily progressed through these opportunities and moments. However, Amanda Mergaert and usual have not been in the same sentence (or stratosphere for that matter) lately. Like a lot of young runners she has big expectations and dreams. She works hard physically and mentally to fulfill them. She has also taken on the wisdom of an older teammate who has "been there and done it before". Fortunately, that has been the equation for a major breakthrough this fall.

Amanda was 57th at the regional meet a year ago as a freshman. This year she was ninth and qualified for todays NCAA Championships. After celebrating that accomplishment for about 20 minutes she wasn't happy just getting to her first NCAA meet. She had more big goals to fulfill and achieve. I'd love to tell you she achieved them all. If it wasn't for two lousy seconds I would.

She finished 45th (out of 255) at her first NCAA cross country championship meet. The top 40 are named to the all America team and Amanda's time of 20:56 on a very windy day (25-30mph) came up a couple of seconds shy of that big goal. However, I can tell you that she ran an all American race. She had an outstanding race plan as was where she wanted to be at every checkpoint. She got out well at the start, used other runners to break the wind, used the long straightaways to build momentum, and finished strong. Only a sophomore, she ran the race of a much more experienced championship runner. That growth has come through trial and error, becoming a student of her sport, and listening intently to a great senior leader.

We will enjoy this one a little longer (30 minutes:) and then it's on to track where Amanda and her teammates have more unfulfilled goals and a few more dates with championship destiny.

Shopping at the NCAA's

We (Amanda, Alyssa, and I) arrived in Indianapolis late on Friday night on a non stop flight from SLC. Alyssa qualified and finished 76th in the NCAA championship meet in 2008. She missed this season after having to have her knee scoped. Her experience has been invaluable for Amanda and her development last spring and continuing this fall. Besides, if Alyssa didn't come Amanda would have had to hang with me all weekend. This was Amanda's only request (that Alyssa attend) after she qualified which I thought was pretty cool.

The first request after sleeping in on Saturday was.....A.) a premeet run at the course? B.) a great breakfast? C.) a tour of Terre Haute? Nope. Shopping at the mall in downtown Indianapolis was the winning request. Go figure. With the championship banquet later that evening, the girls wanted to search for outfits/shoes. They had packed suitable outfits, but wanted to attempt to find the perfect dress if it existed. After about 90 minutes of exploring the stores a pair of pants and shoes were purchased by Amanda and I coincidentally picked up a sport coat. Again...go figure! They were done shopping before me in the last store so, of course, they had me PAGED! This was after they had asked me about two dresses that were less than suitable for the event we were attending. Of course, I tried to play it off as their choice despite how skimpy and hideous both dresses were:) Fortunately, they were kidding and their taste is a little more appropriate than some women their age.

Today was pretty low key....a premeet run at the course. Amanda has an excellent race plan. She just has to do what she does best and compete. Lunch at Panera was solid. Then they dropped me off at packet pick up and the coaches technical meeting. From there it was dinner with Amanda's parents who drove down from Michigan.

Amanda will start in Box 32 tomorrow. If your watching on the web she will be on the left. The boxes are numbered 1-42 from L to R as the runners look out onto the course.

Go Utes!

The Perfect Storm!!!

On an idyllic crisp fall morning the Utes shined on their home course in every way as we hosted the NCAA Mountain Region meet. Great efforts all around, several lifetime best performances, and an individual qualifier to the NCAA Championships were the result of some Utah "home cookin'." Sophomore Amanda Mergaert (who finishied 58th at this meet as a freshman) ran smooth for the first half of the race and then moved into the top 12 with 2K to go. In the last 400 meters she continued to move and wound up ninth to secure one of the four individual qualifying spots Her time of 20:45 was a new lifetime and school record for the 6K distance. The NCAA championships are on November 22nd and can be viewed at www.ncaa.com from 10a-11:30a (MST).

The rest of our youthful team also ran well and included several new personal best performances. Sophomore Jenny McCune (22:03/52nd), and freshmen Alexis Laws (77th/22:31) and Nikki Dotter (92nd/22:55) all set new lifetime marks to lead the Utes to a 12th place finish in the team standings.

We had a very positive day for our program. To get a sophomore individual qualifier to the NCAA championships, several PR's, and host a nearly perfect meet was a lot of fun. We just missed our goal being in the top 10 as a team by 20 points. However, it wasn't a lack of effort or will. These girls ran terrific and have something to build on going into the track season.

See you all at the NCAA meet in Terre Haute next Monday!!!

GameDay Came To Our Ci-ty!

If only the outcome of the game had been better. Regardless, it was a really fun day. The GameDay crew was outstanding, nice, cordial, and very genuine to everyone! They are stars even when the cameras and lights are turned off which was very refreshing. They sign autographs and took pictures after the show for about 45 minutes.

I am now the proud owner of autographs from Herbie and EA as well as some great photos of the event. I included a few of my favs.

Tees and Tanks

November 4, 2010....66 degrees and nothing but perfect blue skies in Salt Lake City, UT today. We had a little speed workout at the track today. I can't decide if the weather or the view was better!!!