Wow, what a great job tonight by our entire team!  Not only did we have great results, but the coaches loved how well we functioned as a team at our first away meet.  The kids did a great job setting up and cleaning up camp, they warmed up without the help of coaches (led by some great natural born leaders on our team!), and both the boys and girls teams cheered each other on as they ran!  We could not have been prouder of the team spirit and sportsmanship shown at this meet.  Keep it up team!!

From a results standpoint, we did great as well!  Results are posted.  The meet was run a little differently this year, since Sterling has a new coach.  So athletes were timed by their teams coaches, and there were no official scores kept for a team score.

That being said, Coach Gillespie teaches math and loves data 🙂  So you’ll get lots of good info when you check out the results tab.  Unofficially, both our boys and girls team won the meet, so congrats!!  We saw a lot of people with improved mile times from the time trial!

Remember, there is no practice tomorrow.  Enjoy your weekend, go cheer on the football team!  Try to get a run or two in over the weekend.  Both Coach Gillespie and Coach Schmidt are running the Jordan Rahn 5K this weekend in Atkinson, so there’s still time to sign up if you want to join us!

A parent letter was emailed home today.  The body of the letter is included below as well.  If you aren’t receiving emails from Coach Schmidt, or if you’d like to add an email address to the distribution list, please email myself or Lauren at egillespie@geneseoschools.org, or lschmidt@geneseoschools.org.

We’re able to include pictures again in our posts!  The first pic is from our rainy practice last week, the other picture is the students who wore their shirt from the time trial to practice today.

August 20th, 2018

TO: Cross Country Parents

FROM: Coach Gillespie, Coach Schmidt, Coach Puent

RE: Grass Relays, Volunteers Needed, Uniforms, Practice, and Forever Young 5k

Grass Relays

Our season is well underway and we are ready for a good warm-up meet at Sterling on Thursday (8/23).  The Grass Relays will be set up for running pairs of athletes. The course will be four miles and each athlete will run two separate mile legs of the relay tagging off to their partner for the other two legs.  This is a good early season format for us stressing conditioning. The Grass Relays will be held in Hoover Park behind Woodlawn Grade School on the east end of Sterling. To get there exit north off Interstate 88 on Route 40 and proceed into Sterling.  Turn right on Route 2 and follow to east side of Sterling. Turn right on Woodlawn Road (close to McDonald’s) and follow to Woodlawn Grade School.

The course begins behind the school.  Starting time for the Girls race is 4:15 pm followed by the Boy’s race.  All athletes will ride the bus home unless they turn in a note from parents to the office on the day of the meet to ride home with a parent (no exceptions please!).  

The students should be back home around 7:00 – 7:30.

Volunteers Needed

We have two home meets this year.  Our first meet is a triangular with the Pioneer Pacers and Rock Island schools on Tuesday, August 28th.  We will need help with the finish line.

We also host our big Invitational meet on Wednesday, September 5th.  We are hosting the Geneseo Invitational that day with 10 -12 teams, and we need lots of parent volunteers to make it a successful event.  Please block that day out on your calendar and plan to help out if you are able. No special skills are needed. We will require help directing race traffic and working at the finish line between  4:15 pm – 6:00 pm. We also need help setting up the course. Boosters will be hosting a concession stand this year and we could use help there also. Contact our athletic director Darin Pardoe at dpardoe@geneseoschools.org to volunteer.  

Uniforms and Warm Up Coats

Cross-country uniforms were distributed today.  Uniform and Jacket care includes the following:

1) Wash in cool or cold water only

2) Do not bleach

3) Hang dry (do not use dryer)

4) Do not iron (gummed labels will smear).  

We are excited to be able to provide uniforms and warm ups, please take proper care!

This Week’s Practices

Remember there is no practice tomorrow, Tuesday, August 21st due to Backpack Night.  Wednesday’s practice will be from 2:30 – 3:30 at GMS. The Sterling Grass Relays are on Thursday, and there is no practice Friday.

Jordan Rahn 5K Memorial Run

The 5th Annual Jordan Rahn “Forever Young” Run will be held on Saturday, August 25, 2018. This race will be held in memory of Jordan Rahn who passed away, unexpectedly, at the age of 19 while playing football with friends. Jordan had a heart condition known as Cardiomyopathy. He was a fun-loving, competitive-natured young man with a wonderful sense of humor which drew people to him, and he was passionate about life.

Consider running this 5K.  The race begins in Memorial park in Atkinson at 8:00 am on Saturday, August 25th, and there are Heritage Days activities after the race. You can sign up using the following link:

https://runsignup.com/Race/IL/Atkinson/JordanRahnForeverYoungRun

If you head over to the Results page, we’ve posted the Top 25 times and finishers for the Time Trial.  Congrats to Annie Wirth and Cooper Schaad for making it into the Top 25, especially given the tougher course this year!

Because we changed the course this year, I also added tabs to start tracking Top 25 times for the new course, so congrats to our entire team, you all made the Top 25 on the new course 🙂

What a great first race for the teams tonight!  As coaches we were impressed with the kids’ ability to go with the flow and be patient with Mother Nature.

This year’s 1 mile course for the middle school teams was a different, more challenging course than in years past, and even so, we had some great times for both the boys and girls, and even a few athletes that made the top 25 all time!  Results are posted in the Results section.  Top 25 times will be updated and available soon.

Thanks to athletes and parents for all the great snacks and drinks, the awesome t-shirts, and all the donations to the Geneseo Food Pantry.

Students, remember there is no practice tomorrow, but you should get in 1-2 runs over the next 3 days.  Those that have run all summer can run 2-3 miles for each of your runs.  Athletes just getting started with running should stick to 1-2 miles for each run.

Monday’s practice will be from 9-10 at GMS.  This is our first dress up day, so remember to wear your shirt from the time trial tonight!

Remember, t-shirt orders are due Monday as well.  If you need the form, here’s a link: T-shirt order form

There is no practice on Tuesday due to backpack night.  Wednesday’s practice is from 2:30-3:30 at GMS, and then Thursday is our next meet, the Sterling Grass Relays.  More info to come about this meet next week.

Hope you all have a great last weekend before school starts up again!

Today was our first day of practice! We are excited for the season to finally be here. Please make sure you are completing all of the paperwork ASAP– Physical, Medical Auth Form, Concussion Form, and paying the $25 fee. Reminder T Shirt Order Form is due on August 20th to the XC Boosters. Here is the parent letter that was emailed to the parents today.

August 13th Parent Letter 

Welcome to the 2018 XC Season! Attached you will find the parent letter that was sent out this morning as well as the attached documents. Please contact Coach Schmidt or Coach Gillespie if you have any questions. Thanks!

GMS XC Meet Schedule 

GMS XC Practice Schedule- August 

GMS XC Practice Schedule- September

GMS XC Practice Schedule- October

GMS Meet Directions 

Concussion Form

August 1 Parent Letter