Along with our insight and video coverage we are going to be using TalkShoe.com to do a few radio shows (Talkcasts). Our first episode, Foot Locker Northeast Regional: Girls Preview, will air November 18th at 8:00 PM.
Scheduled Episodes
Showing posts with label foot locker regionals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foot locker regionals. Show all posts
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
Bonus Coverage: NTN Northeast Regional
Since we have received so many requests, we are going to add Nike Team Nationals Northeast Regional coverage to our spectrum. The NTN Northeast Regional is the same day as Foot Locker Regionals so it will be a busy day for us.
So I guess it is time we got everyone up to speed with the NTN Northeast Regional race.
General NTN Northeast Regional Information
Week 9 Northeast Regional Rankings
NTN Regional Format
NTN Northeast Regional Schedule and Course Map
NTN Regional Qualifying Procedures
Nike Team Nationals NY Regional Championship will be held the same day at Bowdoin State Park.
Nike Team Nationals
So I guess it is time we got everyone up to speed with the NTN Northeast Regional race.
General NTN Northeast Regional Information
Week 9 Northeast Regional Rankings
NTN Regional Format
NTN Northeast Regional Schedule and Course Map
NTN Regional Qualifying Procedures
Nike Team Nationals NY Regional Championship will be held the same day at Bowdoin State Park.
Nike Team Nationals
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Indicator
After being given a tip from a friend, we traveled to Bellwood Antis to meet with Ben Hatch. He finished 3rd at States in the AA 800, but is a relative unknown in XC. As his confidence has grown throughout the season, that is changing.
Ben is an unique situation. Two days a week he does workouts with a private coach and the rest of the days he runs with his high school team. He is the top returner in the 800 making him the early favorite, but that is months away so I will get back on task.
Bellwood is a small town about 35 miles southwest of State College. Bellwood is similar to many small towns in Pennsylvania where high school football is king. The football team is having a so-so season but the you can still feel the energy and hope that all the townspeople have every Friday night when the stadium lights kick on.
When we arrived at the high school we were impressed by the track facility. The track is situated inside the football stadium and when you walk through the gates you can almost hear how the crowd roars every Friday night, even on this is cool Monday evening. With states a week away, Ben's coach prescribed what he calls an "Indicator" workout. He feels the workout gives an accurate indication of what the athlete is capable of on race day. What was the dosage you ask: 5x1000m with 1 minute rest. And I do agree it is a tough workout and will tell you what you are capable of.
Like so many of the top PA athletes this year, Ben is focusing on the Foot Locker Northeast Regional. But he also wants to have a good showing at states. He knows everyone sees him as a long shot, but he has a shot, and this is why we run the races.
As I am speaking with the coach, I notice some smoke billowing from the far end of the track. The coach notices it as well and says he hopes it doesn't affect the workout too much, but as we can start to smell it, we know it could be of concern.
The 5x1k workout is a great workout will let us know just how far Ben has come this season. The pace for the intervals, 3:05-10, 74-76s per 400. Pretty quick, I know. But if you are trying to be all-state and make Foot Lockers, these are the types of workouts you need to do. As Coach Craighead put it, "Gut-Check Workouts".
Someone is running with Ben to help with the pace. I shadow the coach throughout the workout. First 1000 goes fine, 3:06. It's amazing how short of a time a minute is. Next 1000, 3:04. I am not sure what those people are burning, but the smoke is getting worse. The coach says these next two are key, because he has a tendency to drift in the middle part of the race. It is something he has been stressing to Ben throughout the season. The importance to stay in good position and not to let gaps form, so he can use his speed and strength at the end. Third 1000, another 3:04. The workout looks easy to him. Before the 4th thousand is underway, I can see in his eyes that he is anxious and wants to take off. In the 4th thousand he does just that and cranks the pace down to 3:01. The smoke is becoming almost unbearable by now and I can not imagine what it would be like to run through. In the 5th thousand, he runs 3:15. He said it was just getting too hard to breathe with the smoke. The workout was impressive nonetheless.
Ben and his coach are pleased with the workout and both agree that he is ready to go for the weekend. After speaking with them both, I can tell that the real focus is the 800 and XC is just icing on the cake.
What will happen this weekend in Hershey? Hard to say, the AA boys race is wide open. But based on this workout, Ben will definitely be a factor and he is ready to go. We wish him the best.
Good Luck to Ben and all the competitors this weekend.
There will be more on Ben leading up to the Foot Locker Regional including his workout video and team interviews. So stay tuned to the Road to San Diego.
Ben is an unique situation. Two days a week he does workouts with a private coach and the rest of the days he runs with his high school team. He is the top returner in the 800 making him the early favorite, but that is months away so I will get back on task.
Bellwood is a small town about 35 miles southwest of State College. Bellwood is similar to many small towns in Pennsylvania where high school football is king. The football team is having a so-so season but the you can still feel the energy and hope that all the townspeople have every Friday night when the stadium lights kick on.
When we arrived at the high school we were impressed by the track facility. The track is situated inside the football stadium and when you walk through the gates you can almost hear how the crowd roars every Friday night, even on this is cool Monday evening. With states a week away, Ben's coach prescribed what he calls an "Indicator" workout. He feels the workout gives an accurate indication of what the athlete is capable of on race day. What was the dosage you ask: 5x1000m with 1 minute rest. And I do agree it is a tough workout and will tell you what you are capable of.
Like so many of the top PA athletes this year, Ben is focusing on the Foot Locker Northeast Regional. But he also wants to have a good showing at states. He knows everyone sees him as a long shot, but he has a shot, and this is why we run the races.
As I am speaking with the coach, I notice some smoke billowing from the far end of the track. The coach notices it as well and says he hopes it doesn't affect the workout too much, but as we can start to smell it, we know it could be of concern.
The 5x1k workout is a great workout will let us know just how far Ben has come this season. The pace for the intervals, 3:05-10, 74-76s per 400. Pretty quick, I know. But if you are trying to be all-state and make Foot Lockers, these are the types of workouts you need to do. As Coach Craighead put it, "Gut-Check Workouts".
Someone is running with Ben to help with the pace. I shadow the coach throughout the workout. First 1000 goes fine, 3:06. It's amazing how short of a time a minute is. Next 1000, 3:04. I am not sure what those people are burning, but the smoke is getting worse. The coach says these next two are key, because he has a tendency to drift in the middle part of the race. It is something he has been stressing to Ben throughout the season. The importance to stay in good position and not to let gaps form, so he can use his speed and strength at the end. Third 1000, another 3:04. The workout looks easy to him. Before the 4th thousand is underway, I can see in his eyes that he is anxious and wants to take off. In the 4th thousand he does just that and cranks the pace down to 3:01. The smoke is becoming almost unbearable by now and I can not imagine what it would be like to run through. In the 5th thousand, he runs 3:15. He said it was just getting too hard to breathe with the smoke. The workout was impressive nonetheless.
Ben and his coach are pleased with the workout and both agree that he is ready to go for the weekend. After speaking with them both, I can tell that the real focus is the 800 and XC is just icing on the cake.
What will happen this weekend in Hershey? Hard to say, the AA boys race is wide open. But based on this workout, Ben will definitely be a factor and he is ready to go. We wish him the best.
Good Luck to Ben and all the competitors this weekend.
There will be more on Ben leading up to the Foot Locker Regional including his workout video and team interviews. So stay tuned to the Road to San Diego.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
"He's Hungry"
On October 22nd, Matt and I traveled to Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster, PA. The purpose of our trip: to spend the afternoon with Vince McNally, Coach Mike Craighead, and the rest of the Conestoga Valley Buckskins. McNally was on a separate schedule from the rest of his teammates. While preparing for the upcoming District 3 meet and a chance to qualify for the state meet, his teammates look on while McNally has his sights firmly planted on the state meet at Hershey; and perhaps further.
McNally's teammates pounded out a hard mile + 4x400 while Vince, with the assistance of a teammate returning from injury, pushed through 5x800. The Buckskins were focused and looked ready for the district meet. Excitement was in the air.
Vince and Coach Craighead said this will be the first time he has been healthy for a full year. His 4:08 mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals being a strong indicator what he was capable of after being healthy for only six to seven months. That begs the question, "What will he be capable of after being healthy for a full year?" The potential answers are all mind-blowing thoughts. Only time will tell what he is capable of, and we should all be happy that we will be able to bear witness to his senior year.
Coach Craighead, a state champion in the 4x800 and 800 himself, knew Vince was a gifted athlete when he saw him run 4:31 as an 8th grader. But he said what separates Vince is his attitude and attention to detail. He does all the little things one needs to do to succeed and personifies that quote, "A little on a little becomes a lot." The progression he has made is staggering in both XC and track. But there are still a few goals he would like to cross off his list before he graduates.
Coach Craighead has a myriad of adjectives to describe Vince: hard-working, humble, relentless, tough, aggressive, and the list goes on, but perhaps the best description he gave was, "He's hungry." It was something that was instilled in his freshman year, as the seniors on the team along with Vince ran 7:40 to win the 4x800 AAA State title. Vince and Coach Craighead both said these past seniors helped to instill an amazing work ethic in Vince and they displayed a ferocious tenacity as they charged after their goal. That work ethic was embedded into Vince's attitude and has morphed into something even greater as he races through his last high school season.
This tenacity roars on as Vince is focused now on the stretch run of the season that includes the state meet, the Foot Locker Northeast Regional, and hopefully a berth to the Foot Locker National Championship. The first of the trifecta is this Saturday, November 3, in Hershey and Vince looks to improve on his previous placings at states (13th-freshman, 4th-sophomore, 5th-junior) and claim the title.
There will be more on Vince leading up to the Foot Locker Regional including his workout video and team interviews. So stay tuned to the Road to San Diego.
McNally's teammates pounded out a hard mile + 4x400 while Vince, with the assistance of a teammate returning from injury, pushed through 5x800. The Buckskins were focused and looked ready for the district meet. Excitement was in the air.
Vince and Coach Craighead said this will be the first time he has been healthy for a full year. His 4:08 mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals being a strong indicator what he was capable of after being healthy for only six to seven months. That begs the question, "What will he be capable of after being healthy for a full year?" The potential answers are all mind-blowing thoughts. Only time will tell what he is capable of, and we should all be happy that we will be able to bear witness to his senior year.
Coach Craighead, a state champion in the 4x800 and 800 himself, knew Vince was a gifted athlete when he saw him run 4:31 as an 8th grader. But he said what separates Vince is his attitude and attention to detail. He does all the little things one needs to do to succeed and personifies that quote, "A little on a little becomes a lot." The progression he has made is staggering in both XC and track. But there are still a few goals he would like to cross off his list before he graduates.
Coach Craighead has a myriad of adjectives to describe Vince: hard-working, humble, relentless, tough, aggressive, and the list goes on, but perhaps the best description he gave was, "He's hungry." It was something that was instilled in his freshman year, as the seniors on the team along with Vince ran 7:40 to win the 4x800 AAA State title. Vince and Coach Craighead both said these past seniors helped to instill an amazing work ethic in Vince and they displayed a ferocious tenacity as they charged after their goal. That work ethic was embedded into Vince's attitude and has morphed into something even greater as he races through his last high school season.
This tenacity roars on as Vince is focused now on the stretch run of the season that includes the state meet, the Foot Locker Northeast Regional, and hopefully a berth to the Foot Locker National Championship. The first of the trifecta is this Saturday, November 3, in Hershey and Vince looks to improve on his previous placings at states (13th-freshman, 4th-sophomore, 5th-junior) and claim the title.
There will be more on Vince leading up to the Foot Locker Regional including his workout video and team interviews. So stay tuned to the Road to San Diego.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The word is spreading
Well Ebensburg's best kept secret is out, Carly Seymour and the Central Cambria XC team. After big days at Pre-states, Eastern States, and the Laurel Highlands Conference meet, everyone knows Carly and her team are the ones to beat for the AA State title. Lewisburg appears to be their closest challenger. They beat Central Cambria by 1 point at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. Central Cambria is ranked 5th in the Northeast Region, while Seymour's special season has her ranked 4th in the Foot Locker Power Rankings.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Van Cortlandt Park aka Vanny
With the brisk temperatures rolling in this weekend, Fall is truly upon us. And with that, we are six weeks away from Foot Locker Regionals. As always, they are being held at one of the most storied courses in the country, Van Cortlandt Park or just simply "Vanny". Racing there is special. An opportunity to test yourself against the scores of people who have raced through the park and experienced the "Back Hills". The "Back Hills" is the location where the race generally breaks open. The finish is deceiving. When you slip out of the woods, you can see the finish in the distance, but it is not as close as you wished it was, it is still about a half-mile away.
The following piece is excerpted from "Cross Country Running" by Marc Bloom, editor, The Harrier:
"Van Cortlandt Park is America's cross country Mecca. It is not paradise by any means. It has not the prettiest course nor the most difficult. It does not have the best facilities. It is just that it lies smack in the middle of the most populous megalopolis, in an area rich in cross country tradition, where sponsors and those of influence have chosen to operate. Located as it is on the fringe of New York City, Van Cortlandt is most accessible. Public transportation funnels there from every neighborhood in the city. The subways are close by. Highways and turnpikes touch the park from distant locales in neighboring states.
"Therefore, in a given season, more runners race its trails than any other cross country site in the nation, if not the world. There are several distinct programs that merge at "Vanny" as it is called. The biggest is for the high schools. Manhattan College (and before it NYU), and Fordham University sponsor meets with a combined entry in excess of 10,000....over the "time tested" 2.5 mile course.
"At the Foot Locker Northeast Qualifier the high schoolers move up to the 5000m, the same route now used by women competing at the collegiate level. Essentially, it's the first 3.1 miles of the famed five mile course. When the men's college teams compete, they pass through the 5,000m finish area, then another two-mile loop remains. The flats are repeated, then along the cowpath a sharp left is taken up onto the infamous Cemetery Hill, a steep, rocky incline about 4.2m into the college run. "Cemetery" --that's the way it's referred to--just "Cemetery"--rises about a hundred feet during its length of about 300 yards. Its peak stands 150 feet above sea level. It's a killer alright, and the jibes abound. Runners die up there. They're dead and buried, laid to rest. Its name is so perfectly suited for the cross country assignment that one would assume running there had some historical relationship to it. Not so."
The following piece is excerpted from "Cross Country Running" by Marc Bloom, editor, The Harrier:
"Van Cortlandt Park is America's cross country Mecca. It is not paradise by any means. It has not the prettiest course nor the most difficult. It does not have the best facilities. It is just that it lies smack in the middle of the most populous megalopolis, in an area rich in cross country tradition, where sponsors and those of influence have chosen to operate. Located as it is on the fringe of New York City, Van Cortlandt is most accessible. Public transportation funnels there from every neighborhood in the city. The subways are close by. Highways and turnpikes touch the park from distant locales in neighboring states.
"Therefore, in a given season, more runners race its trails than any other cross country site in the nation, if not the world. There are several distinct programs that merge at "Vanny" as it is called. The biggest is for the high schools. Manhattan College (and before it NYU), and Fordham University sponsor meets with a combined entry in excess of 10,000....over the "time tested" 2.5 mile course.
"At the Foot Locker Northeast Qualifier the high schoolers move up to the 5000m, the same route now used by women competing at the collegiate level. Essentially, it's the first 3.1 miles of the famed five mile course. When the men's college teams compete, they pass through the 5,000m finish area, then another two-mile loop remains. The flats are repeated, then along the cowpath a sharp left is taken up onto the infamous Cemetery Hill, a steep, rocky incline about 4.2m into the college run. "Cemetery" --that's the way it's referred to--just "Cemetery"--rises about a hundred feet during its length of about 300 yards. Its peak stands 150 feet above sea level. It's a killer alright, and the jibes abound. Runners die up there. They're dead and buried, laid to rest. Its name is so perfectly suited for the cross country assignment that one would assume running there had some historical relationship to it. Not so."
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