Track up date

Maybe one day we could get a meet or two in. The weather has been nasty and two meets have been cancelled. Last Saturday though a 8 team meet was held at Bloomington Central Catholic. The kids were nervous and just wanted to get on with it. The girls were up first and did a fantastic job. A few standouts came out of the 6th graders, and I was impressed as well as proud. Some of these girls have competitive edge which I didn't see in practice. So my statement as to having an athlete such as Desiree Ficker come from a small town in central Illinois may hold true. Once the first competition jitters went away you could see what good quality practices have done. A few girls were seconds off state qualifying times.

Girls 1600 runners NB 6:14, CR 6:41 HS 6:45, AH 6:59, JB 7:07, DH 7:26 Though qualifying time for 7th and 8th grade is 6:03 a few runners have a good chance to make it to state.

Girls 800 runners consists mostly of 6th and 7th graders. We do have one 8th grader representing Heyworth. The times were OK, but once again first time jitters were there and some tears were shed. As a coach positive reassurance will lead these girls onto better times. State qualifying time 2:42
NB 2:55,RF 3:20, CM 3:20, AH 3:24, KP 3:24, SS 3;28, KR 3:29, JD 3:33, KC 3:34

Girls 400 m state qualifying time 1:07
BW 1:15 KZ 1:16 and on the 8th grade level CSt 1:07, CS 1:18

Good job girls.


On the boys side, again I was impressed. After being patient watching and cheering on the girls it was the time to get warmed up to race. The sprinters faired well and still have some room to improve. Next was the 1600 meter run which was the only race I got to watch before I had to leave for the race I was preparing for. They ran the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders together, which put the field at over 20 runners. There were some good points to this but also some bad points as I will explain shortly. For some this was their first race and others you could tell the jitters were there, but soon to leave.

The gun went off and ZQ, and BK were out to a fast start. ZQ, an 8th grader has been training fairly hard and has some races under his belt. BK was in his first race and he is a 6th grader. Watch out for this 6th grader in the future. The rest of the field trailed as ZQ and BK pulled ahead. The the first 400m ZQ came across 1:03 and the trailing BK 1:16 The rest of the field began to spread out and by the middle of lap 2. I have new stop watch and I inadvertently pushed the wrong button and lost track of the splits. Lap 4 started at 3:47 for ZQ and he finished with a strong 5:03. The unfortunate part was ZQ and BK had to pass numerous runners in the last 200m, which added a few seconds to the end time. BK's time ended up being 5:36. Prior to this race the best time ZQ clocked for the mile was 5:15 and BK's was a practice time of 6:20. The rest of the milers from Heyworth faired well, TR 5:59, JS 6:08, KD 7:08, JB 7:34
The rest of the field had a good race 3rd place ended up being 5:52. State qualifying time 7th grade 5:28 and 8th 5:13

800 m runners did a fantastic job state qualifying time 7th 2:28, 8th 2:20
ZQ 2:22, RW 2:28 BP 2:35, BK 2:36, CJ 2:57, DP 2:58 SM 3:03, BC 3:04, SC 3:08, ET 3:10

400 m State qualifying time 7th 1:01 and 8th :58
7th grade level EB finished 1:03 and JS 1:11 and 8th grade MF 1:06, TC1:06

In all it was a good day for the Heyworth Junior High track team. The relay teams faired very well and posted some good times. With more practices ahead and some positive mind setting strategies our times will improve. The girls finished 4nd overall in points (110) and the boys finished 1st (148) and combined the team finished in 2nd place.

Good job runners keep up the good work

"Pain is temporary, Pride is forever"