Awards Ceremony and Varsity Lists

This coming Tuesday November 17th there will be an end of season celebration held in the back of the field house after school. We'll recognize the recipients of team-specific awards including Most Improved, Rookie of the Year, and MVP. In addition we'll recognize the recipients of the WHS Booster Awards. Varsity letters/pins will be distributed as well as participation certificates. Of course, it wouldn't be 2020 without a few COVID related caveats, so here goes:

•  In order to give people who aren't in school on Tuesday a chance to get to the field house, we'll start at 3:45. We plan on wrapping up by 4:45. 

•  Only team members are allowed to attend, regrettably parents and siblings must stay home.  

•  Unlike previous editions of this event where a potluck meal was served, no food is allowed. There is left over chocolate milk from the season which will be made available, but this will be to take home with you for consumption later (say, after your next race or long taxing workout).

While on the subject of recognition, the athletes listed below have earned varsity status for this season. While there's a thorough explanation of what it takes to earn varsity status in what is a no-cut sport on page five of the team policies and FAQ document, some of the listed criteria didn't apply to the shortened 2020 campaign. In the end, the coaches decided it would be fair to recognize those who finished among the top seven in at least three of the five meets, as well as recognize seniors who have at least two years of experience running on the team at WHS. As it turned out the first criteria included all of those who fell under the second criteria.

Girls: 

Nadia Calder

Emily Grieco

Maleeha Javed

June Kim

Ava Korzeniowski

Grace Marto

Rachel Snyder

Boys: 

Dylan Bonanno

Billy Caddoo

Liam Duffy

Simon Goode

Yiran Li

Zach Marto

Keenan Schilp

DCL Small End of Season Meet Results

 A memorable season wrapped up yesterday for the WHS cross country teams at Burchard Park in Weston, the same place where this abbreviated campaign kicked off five weeks ago. For the seniors competing (all 7 boys and girls co-captains Maleeha Javed and Ava Korzeniowski) yesterday was the culmination of their careers as WHS cross country athletes. 

On an unseasonably warm day, there were many good performances from both teams. The top 8 finishers in each race earned medals, for Wayland medal winners were Liam Duffy (3rd) and Dylan Bonanno (5th) and June Kim (5th) and Emily Grieco (8th). The boys team competed well against a very good Cambridge R+L group and the girls held their own against two solid opponents in Cambridge R+L and Weston. 

Full results can be seen here and the results for Wayland only can be seen here. If you took any splits during your race please send them to Coach Mayall. The coaches are working on awards which will be distributed soon! More details on when and how this will be done TBA. 

DCL Small End of Season Meet - Burchard Field Weston, 11/7/20

Meet Site: Burchard Field/College Pond, 269 Concord Road Weston Ma

*NOTE: the meet is NOT held at Weston High School* 

 

Teams competing will be Cambridge Rindge and Latin, Wayland and Weston

Time Schedule:

2:00 PM Boys  #1 runners from each school - Duffy

one minute later (2:01)  #2 runners from each school - Bonanno

one minute later (2:02)  #3 runners from each school - Li

one minute later (2:03)  #4 runners from each school - Caddoo

one minute later  (2:04) #5 runners from each school - Schilp

one minute later  (2:05)  #6 runners from each school - Goode

one minute later  (2:06)  #7 runners from each school - Z. Marto  

3:00 PM Girls  #1 runners from each school - Kim

one minute later (3:01)  #2 runners from each school - Grieco

one minute later (3:02)  #3 runners from each school - Javed

one minute later (3:03)  #4 runners from each school - Korzeniowski

one minute later  (3:04) #5 runners from each school - G. Marto

one minute later  (3:05)  #6 runners from each school - Calder 

one minute later  (3:06)  #7 runners from each school - Snyder  

Awards Ceremony: 4:15PM

Course Map (click for larger view): 

Staging Areas (click for larger view):

• The course is 5k in length and consists of two loops

The course covers about 1.2k of grass, 3k of dirt trails/dirt road (with a few sections where there also is some gravel on the dirt), and 800m of asphalt (mostly sidewalk and a bit of the driveway which gives access to the parking lot). If you're wearing spiked shoes they should be fitted with blanks or 1/8" pyramids. The course is fairly flat. The athletes will run about 200 m across the grass fields before hitting the trails, 2 times a 2.4k loop in the trails, then a 200m finish back across the field

Trails are quite wide, should be no issues with passing except for one 40 meter stretch (which is run twice, near the mile and then at about 4k).

Weather forecast: 

Partly cloudy, temperature in the mid to high 60s with light winds from the west. Bring clothes to wear at the meet besides your uniform.

Masks:

• Athletes must wear masks before, during and after the race per the Governor's recent update to mask use guidelines.

Other athlete considerations:

 

• When you arrive, there will be cones on the ground in our staging area. These cones will be spaced 6 feet apart. Athletes will place their bag next to a cone. 

• During the race you must wear the uniform assigned to you.
• You'll need to wear your assigned bib number on the front of your jersey. After your race, please keep this bib number in your gym bag. Don't leave the bib number attached to your jersey after the race as this can damage the jersey.
• There is no course tour but as visitors we can preview the course ahead of time. It's recommended that athletes arrive an hour before the start of their race to warm up thoroughly and see the course.

• The course will have a cone/sign at 400 meters, mile and 2 miles. 

 
 What to Bring:

• uniform with bib number attached
• everyday training shoes  

• racing shoes if you have them  
• warmup clothes
• water bottles - totaling at least 64 ounces of water
• snacks for post-race (chocolate milk will be provided using proceeds from the Wayland XC Festival)

• gym bag with contents listed in the practice guidelines

for parents/spectator guidelines:

• Remember, the meet is NOT being held at Weston High School.

• Spectators at the field can see the first 200 meters, a 300m section in the middle of the race, and the last 500m without having to leave the ball field area. 
• Please check the image above showing the various staging areas, which also shows visitor parking. 

And here are the DCL mandated spectator guidelines:

1.  Crowds are limited to 100 people, including opposing team fans, per Massachusetts guidance.

2.  All fans from both teams MUST have their school's DCL lanyard displayed. Lanyards were distributed to athletes earlier this week at practice. The Athletic Director has asked that lanyards be returned at the end of this meet.

3.  Check in will be required at each WHS site and some opposing school sites. (note: I'm not sure that this is the case for Burchard Park).

4.  Spectators must social distance and wear face coverings AT ALL TIMES.

5.  Unfortunately, student spectators are not permitted unless they are attending in place of an athlete's family member AND have the DCL lanyard.

6.  Spectators are reminded that they should not arrive to fields any sooner than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and should leave the field upon completion of the contest. In the event there is a contest taking place on the field prior to the event being attended, spectators should wait until the field clears before heading to the field.(note: for parents driving their child to the meet, I take this to mean that you'll need to wait in your car until 10 minutes prior to the start, or drop off your child and return 10 minutes prior to the start. Not ideal I know. Athletes should be at the park an hour ahead of time to warmup).

7.  Bathrooms and locker rooms will not be available for use. Porta-johns may be available at some sites.

 

Week 11 (Week 7 in person) Training Schedule - 11/2-11/8

 First a few important housekeeping items:

- The date of the DCL Small Schools End of Season meet has been confirmed for this Saturday November 7th, at 2 PM. The order of races and race format haven't been confirmed as of this time. The meet will be held at Burchard Field in Weston.

- With the news of the DCL Meet, the only possible date for making up the Waltham dual meet is Veterans Day, Wednesday November 11th. I'm not entirely certain as of yet that this meet will in fact be made up. I hope to have its status confirmed by this Wednesday 11/4. 

- Regardless of whether or not the Waltham meet is held, I'd like for athletes not in the top seven to have another opportunity to race, in this case a time trial on the track of either 1 or 2 miles in length. The plan is for that to happen on Friday. If enough athletes in the top seven would also like to do a time trial on the track we can look into doing this next week if possible. 

- With the onset of Daylight Savings Time (ugh), it's important that we start practice on time and stay safe while running on roads. Remember when running along roads to stay on the sidewalk and only cross in the crosswalk. Drivers have a much harder time seeing runners in the twilight than during the daytime. If you have a reflective vest or other reflective gear wearing it is encouraged. 

On to the week's plan:

Monday 11/2 - Recreate as much of the team warmup as you can, then a short length run beginning at an easy pace and increasing the pace the last 5-10 minutes of the run. If you are able to do hill drills that would be great but it's dependent on finding an appropriate hill. If you live near either of the two hills we've been using (Wallace Road or Keith Road) by all means go there. Remember the drills we do are bounding for height, skipping, high knees. heel tuck (butt kick), bounding for distance, and a run-out. Each drill is done for about 50 meters up the slope and the set of drills is repeated twice. Total length of the run today is as follows: 

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 32-36 minutes
Level 3: 36-40 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Tuesday 11/3 - Team warmup, followed by a 10 minute warmup jog then a broken tempo run on the "Charena Loop" near the school. This run will follow the same format as the last time we did a workout here, with the tempo being broken into two parts. This time around the two parts will each be a lap shorter. The idea is to run a certain number of times around the loop at a pace right around 75-80% effort, then take a 5-8 minute break, and do it again but slightly faster, i.e. 80-85% effort.  

Level 1: 30 minutes (2x2 loops)
Level 2: 40 minutes (2x2 loops)
Level 3: 50 minutes (2x3 loops)

Level 4: 60 minutes (2x3 loops)

After completing the second part of the tempo run, we'll head over to the track for an 800 meter (two lap) "sharpener" run. The sharpener is alternating 50 meters at faster than race pace with a 50 meter float. Finally, a 10 minute cooldown jog.

Wednesday 11/4 - Team warmup including burpees followed by a medium length run at an easy to moderate intensity. if you're feeling up to it the pace can pick up a bit in the last 5-10 minutes. Remember to be safe while running along any roads today.

Level 1 - 24-28 minutes

Level 2 - 32-36 minutes

Level 3 - 44-48 minutes

Level 4 - 48-52 minutes

Thursday 11/5 - Team warmup followed by a short length run at mostly an easy effort. Save the last 10 minutes or so of the run for short intervals on top of the aqueduct. Top seven athletes will do three sets, JV athletes doing the time trial tomorrow will do two sets.

Level 1: 22-26 minutes
Level 2: 26-30 minutes
Level 3: 32-36 minutes
Level 4: 42-46 minutes

Friday 11/6 - Team warmup followed by either a time trial on the track (JV athletes) or a short length run (top seven). Those doing the time trial will do a 10-15 minute warmup before and cooldown after. Those racing tomorrow should keep their run to a length of 35 minutes or so, with 4 or 5 60-80 meter run outs on the track at the end of the run. 

Saturday 11/7 - DCL Small Schools End of Season meet. More information will be forthcoming in a subsequent post on this site. 

Sunday 11/8 - off