Dual Meet #5 Results @ Bedford, 10/12/22

The dual meet season wrapped up earlier today on a warm and breezy day at Bedford High School. The course included stretches of field, trail, and road running, with a stretch along the Reformatory Branch rail trail. Overall the layout is quite flat and runs relatively fast compared to courses with more vertical relief.

The girls were the first race of the day after a ceremony for senior athletes from both schools that involved more flowers than the Kentucky Derby. The girls dropped the meet to a deep Bedford team but there were numerous noteworthy performances nonetheless. The team was led by Arya Samaratunga and captain Bella Thoen who both cracked the top 10 overall, with 9th grader Sofia Ciciarelli the third finisher for Wayland. Grace Marto crossed the line next for Wayland and Michelle Yee was Wayland's fifth and final scoring runner for the second meet in a row. 

The boys race promised to be a closely contested race. Bedford's top runners charged out early on and at the mile mark the host school had the lead in the race scoring. The tables turned in the second half of the race and the duo of Luke Chisum and Owen Williams was particularly dynamic in the final stretch going 1-2 overall. With five Wayland runners in front of Bedford's fourth and six in front of their fifth, the final score was 23-33 and a definitive victory for Wayland. 

 splits and times for WHS athletes

Dual Meet #5 @ Bedford, 10/12/22

Meet Site: Bedford High School, 9 Mudge Way

Bus Time: 2:45. Upon dismissal, change into your uniform and warmups and head to the pickup area.

Event Schedule:

Girls followed by boys. No separate JV races this time. Athletes who aren't ready to race a full 5k will stop at the two mile mark, record their time on their watch, and share it with me. If you're wondering if this applies to you, don't worry I'll let you know. 

The girls race will start as close to 4:15 as possible depending on our arrival time at BHS; hopefully no later than 4:30.

Course Map:

The course is a mix of paved and unpaved surfaces, and is quite flat overall. This course has the most pavement we'll be seeing this season. If you have spiked shoes you should use blanks or 1/8th inch pyramids.

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: partly sunny with temperatures in the high 60s at race time, NE winds 5-10 mph. While warmer and less windy than last week's meet you'll still want to wear more than just your uniform while warming up and cooling down. The temperature will start to drop by the time the meet's wrapping up. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform.
• You're required to wear your DCL bib number during the race. When the meet is over, you can either keep the number as a memento or discard it. Please return the safety pins to the ziploc bag.
• Since part of the course takes place on roads near the school, we'll begin the course tour before we even get off the bus by driving the bus on those roads. The rest of the course will be shown to us by the Bedford team. You must pay attention to both the "in-bus" and "on foot" portions of the course tour.

What to Bring:

• uniform
• everyday training shoes
• racing shoes if you have them
• warmup clothes
• water bottle
• snacks for post-race (chocolate milk will be provided using proceeds from the Wayland XC Festival)

For Parents:

• The best place to watch the race apart from the start and finish on the track is along Railroad Ave. next to the middle school parking lot. See the course map linked above.

Week 8 Training Plan, 10/10-10/16

For the second time this season, this is a week with two meets. Please note there is an optional practice on Monday, 10 AM at Lincoln Station for those who are in town. Also note that Friday's run will be very short (not just short) in advance of the second meet of the week on Saturday. Remember to fill out the very brief poll indicating your availability for Saturday's Twilight Invitational. You must fill out the poll even if you don't plan on going to this meet in Falmouth and I need to hear from everyone by lunchtime Tuesday.

Mon 10/10 - Progressive Long Run in the woods of Lincoln and Concord. Unlike previous visits to Lincoln we'll be heading off into the broader trail network today. In order to keep track of where you are in this vast area, you must bring your phone along with you with the Outer Spatial mobile app (available in google play or the apple app store) loaded on it. You'll also want some way to carry your phone other than in your hand. The length of the run is the same as last week.

Group A: 48 minutes (16 minutes easy-12 minutes fresh-12 minutes good- 8 minutes easy)
Group B: 60 minutes (20 minutes easy-15 minutes fresh-15 minutes good- 10 minutes easy)
Group C: 72 minutes (24 minutes easy-18 minutes fresh-18 minutes good- 12 minutes easy)

Tue 10/11 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short run followed by run throughs and bounding over cones. The cones will be set up on the softball field. We will again be practicing running around tight corners. Total length of the run today is as follows:

Group A: 26-30 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 42-46 minutes

Wed 10/12 - Dual Meet #5 @ Bedford. More information will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. Remember today is a medium length day, meaning that including your warmup and cooldown your day should come in at around the following:

Group A: 36-40 minutes
Group B: 44-48 minutes
Group C: 52-56 minutes

Thu 10/13 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup followed by a short length recovery run at an easy to moderate intensity with hill drills. We will most likely be doing the hill drills on the Hultman aqueduct where it crosses Cedar Crest Road. The length of the run today is as follows:

Group A: 26-30 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 42-46 minutes

Fri 10/18 - Practice at 3:30. Warmup including BURPEES followed by a very short length run. The last 10 minutes or so of the run will be done on top of the aqueduct with two sets of short repeats.

Group A: 24-28 minutes
Group B: 30-34 minutes
Group C: 36-40 minutes

Sat 10/19 - MSTCA Bob Glennon Twilight Invitational at Cape Cod Fairgrounds in Falmouth.
More information will be forthcoming in a subsequent post. Remember this is a medium length day overall, including warmup and cooldown your overall volume should come in at the following:

Group A: 36-40 minutes
Group B: 46-50 minutes
Group C: 56-60 minutes

Sun 10/20 - off

Dual Meet #4 Results vs. Boston Latin, 10/3/22

 The final home meet of the season was held today in somewhat blustery overcast conditions. Unlike the previous home meet three weeks ago this time all three races were contested on the shorter course. There were many noteworthy performances starting with the boys JV race with Wayland being led by Ben Caddoo. Both he and captain Matthew Frank paced themselves well on the rolling layout. In the girls race that followed, the Wayland group tried to repeat last week's come from behind win and just missed out on doing so, falling 26-29 in a closely contested meet. Michelle Yee and Anna Munford were both among the team's top seven finishers for the first time. The varsity boys raced well led by Owen Williams who took on the opposing top five all by himself and finished ahead of all but one of them. The final times, meet scores and splits for WHS athletes can be seen here. The dual meet portion of the season wraps up next Wednesday with a visit to Bedford.  

Dual Meet #4 vs. Boston Latin, 10/3/22

Meet Site: Wayland High School. The second and final home meet of the season.

Schedule and Lineups:

First race no earlier than 4:15 PM. Based on prior experience hosting BLS, the first race may start later than that. Please head over to the start/finish area promptly after school lets out. All three races will be run on the short course, and contested in the following order:

JV Boys - Caddoo, Dugan, Frank, Goode, Grossman, Han, Jay, Markey, Mui, Newland, Rashid, Salahuddin, Srivastava, Tan, Wheeler, Whitmore, Wyner

Girls - Ciciarelli, Dale, Libenzon, Liu, Marto, Mente, Munford, Oliphant, Ponce, Samaratunga, Thoen, Yee

Boys - Chisum, Creavin, Jackson, Morris, Narvaez, Reece, Wightman, Williams

Meet Information:

• Weather forecast: mostly cloudy, temperatures in the mid 50s with NE winds 10-15 mph. This will be the chilliest weather for any meet so far this season, dress appropriately for the weather forecast!
• Don't forget to wear your assigned dual meet bib number. At the conclusion of your race, please remove the bib number from your jersey and return it to the large ziploc bag where the bib numbers are stored between meets. Leave the safety pins on the corners of the number.
• Be prepared to help out with setting up and/or breaking down the course before and after the meet. This mostly involves the placement or removal of cones and small flags. You may be asked to help by one of the coaches or one of the captains.

Course map:

• course description

• Soon after the teams from Waltham arrive, there will be a tour of the course. Wayland athletes are welcome to join the tour if they didn't race in the first home meet three weeks ago or don't feel confident in their knowledge of the course.

 • Once the course tour has begun, all balls, frisbees, etc. will be put away for the duration of the meet.

 What to Bring:

• uniform
• everyday training shoes
• racing shoes if you have them
• warmup clothes
• plastic bag to store sweaty clothes 

• water bottle - including a second (24-32 oz.) bottle if you have an extra

• snacks for post-race (chocolate milk will be provided using proceeds from the Wayland XC Festival)

for parents:

• If you stand near the start/finish line area (just off the corner of the student parking lot, near the JV baseball field) you can watch the first and last half mile of the race.
• Snacks are welcome, but due to allergy concerns the Athletic Director has asked that any snacks be individually wrapped and ideally have the ingredients written on the label.

Week 7 Training Plan, 10/3-10/9

This week, there are in fact two meets but only one of them that WHS athletes will be racing, the dual meet on Monday vs. Boston Latin. The other meet is the Wayland XC Festival, which is the team's fundraiser. Stay tuned for more details on that, as volunteers will be needed to help the event go smoothly. Aside from these two bookends to the week, note that there will be no practice on Wednesday, a cyclic long run on Thursday, and an optional practice at Lincoln on Saturday morning. 

Mon 10/3 - Dual Meet #4 v Boston Latin. More information on this meet will be forthcoming. Today is a medium length day in terms of training volume as follows:

Group A: 36-40 minutes
Group B: 44-48 minutes
Group C: 52-56 minutes

Tue 10/4 - Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short run followed by run throughs and bounding over cones. The cones will be set up on the softball field. We will again be practicing running around tight corners. Total length of the run today is as follows:

Group A: 26-30 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 42-46 minutes

Wed 10/5 - No school or practice today. If you're not observing the holiday, you can go for a short length run on your own

Group A: 26-30 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 42-46 minutes

Thu 10/6 - Warmup followed by a cyclic long run (CLR). We'll head east along the Hultman Aqueduct towards Weston to start. The length of the run today is as follows:

Group A: 48 minutes
Group B: 60 minutes
Group C: 72 minutes

Fri 10/7 - Warmup including BURPEES followed by a short length recovery run at an easy to moderate intensity with hill drills. We will most likely be doing the hill drills on the Hultman aqueduct where it crosses Cedar Crest Road. The length of the run today is as follows:

Group A: 26-30 minutes
Group B: 32-36 minutes
Group C: 42-46 minutes

The 4 and 3 minute repeats should start at a good pace (tempo) and end at a hard pace (race effort) over the last 30 seconds. The 2 minute repeats should be split evenly between good and hard pace. The 1 minute repeats should be run entirely at a hard pace (race effort). 

Sat 10/8 -  Practice 9 AM at Lincoln Station (145 Lincoln Road, Lincoln MA):

Group A: 8 minute jog then 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute with 2.5 minute jog recoveries, 8 minute jog.
Group B and C: 8 minute jog then 2 sets of 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute repeats with 2.5 minute jog recoveries, 8 minute jog.

The 4 minute repeats should be run at a good pace (tempo). The 3 minute repeats should start at a good pace and end at a hard pace (race effort) over the last 30 seconds. The 2 minute repeats should be split evenly between good and hard pace. The 1 minute repeats should be run entirely at a hard pace (race effort). 

Sun 10/9 - off, or a short length run at an easy to moderate intensity for those who observed the holiday on Wednesday.Today is the Wayland XC Festival, the team fundraiser. Volunteers for this event are always welcome. 

Dual Meet #3 Results vs. Waltham, 9/28/22

Both Wayland cross country teams had a successful visit to Waltham High School today, with both the girls and boys teams winning their repsective meets. The courses began and ended near the school with much of the rest of the course in the woods north of the Paine Estate, on grounds designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. This is a layout that runs slow due to a combination of rugged footing and rolling terrain. 

The first race of the day was the boys JV on a course just under 2.4 miles in length. The Wayland boys were led by 9th grader Matthew Tan who was followed closely by 11th grader Ben Dugan. Edge Wheeler, Azan Salahuddin, and Jayden Newland also finished in a tight group soon after. 

In the girls race, Wayland was losing the meet at the half mile, mile, and 1.5 mile points of the race. This despite having control of the top two places throughout by Bella Thoen and Arya Samaratunga. In the final mile of the race the rest of the top five--Grace Marto, Sofia Ciciarelli, and Selena Liu--pulled ahead of enough Waltham runners to turn the score in Wayland's favor. 

The boys varsity race on a longer 5k course wasn't close with Wayland taking places 2-5 led by 10th grader Will Jackson. Daniel Narvaez and Thomas Creavin, both of whom passed Waltham runners in the second half of the race, rounded out the scoring five. 

Results for WHS athletes