Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Banquet Recap, Spring News - It's the 100th Post!

First, on behalf of the coaches, thank you to the captains and parents for organizing a spectacular banquet. Top-notch, all around. Here's a recap of the awards.

Boys Rookie of the Year: Matt McIsaac
Girls Rookie of the Year: Madison Ward
Boys Most Improved: Tanner Datz
Girls Most Improved: Katie Salley
Boys Coaches Awards: Jack Boyd and Logan Cotto
Girls Coaches Awards: Nikki Kerrigan and Chelsea Dubin
Boys MVP: Evan Vasilauskas
Girls MVP: Sydney Snow

Tri-Valley League All-Stars: Evan Vasilauskas, Logan Cotto, Sydney Snow, Nikki Kerrigan

If you have not returned your uniform yet, please do so as soon as possible. The best time/place is Coach Moreau's office after school.

Spring Sports Forms are due no later than next Friday, March 8th. Make sure your physical is up-to-date!

There will be a winter season wrapup meeting early-mid next week, which will include voting for next year's captains. It'll be announced in school, so please listen.

Also, we'll have the outdoor track signup meeting probably middle or late next week, I'll post the date/time once it's finalized.

Thanks again to all that turned out, be sure to stay in shape for outdoor track (or other sports) if you're competing in the spring!

The spring schedule is up on the right-hand side of the blog. It only includes the dual meets, TVL and state meets. Invitationals will be added once they're finalized.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Ward/Alumni/Banquet News

Well, of the 35 girls that qualified in the high jump for the 2013 All-State Championship, nearly half didn't bother to make the trip. Undaunted, our freshman Madison Ward charged ahead, and after coming ridiculously close to clearing opening height (which is 5'0 for this meet), she missed on her final attempt. She finishes her season tied for 2nd-best among freshmen in the entire state with a PR of 5'0, which she got when she medaled at last week's Division 3 Championship and the TVL Championship. Great job Madison, especially considering that she didn't even start jumping until late December!

A reminder that the banquet is Tuesday night, one of the earlier posts details what you need to bring. Also, if you haven't turned in your uniform, please do so ASAP. Best time is after school in Coach Moreau's office.

Finally, some great alumni news, if Dartmouth wins its first ever Heps (Ivy League Championship) title, they're going to have to thank Emmaline Berg after what she did today. Check out the alumni website (hollistontrackalumni.blogspot.com) for the details!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Wild Cards - Ward In, Snow out

Unfortunately, the Div. 2 meet had enough kids beat Syd's time that she missed a wild card for All-States.

Although I'm sure our 600m sensation is disappointed, I think it's important to note just how rare it is for a freshman to even contend for an All-State berth. Only 14 freshmen will be competing at All-States next week (in any individual event), and that includes every town in the entire state. Big schools, small schools, Eastern Mass, Central Mass, Western, etc.

Sydney's 1:40.67 finishes as the #2 freshmen time in the state, and #26 overall among all runners.

So, all good things must come to an end, and it was certainly a heck of a season for our other freshman phenom.

Don't forget about the banquet on Tuesday the 26th, and we all wish the best of luck to Madison on Saturday.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Wild Card Update - Ward a lock, Snow still in the hunt!

Here's the latest on the Wild Card Chase. Remember, the top 12 finishers (not counting the kids that finished top 3 in their division) advance as wild cards to the All-State Meet. If there's a tie - like in high jump - they take all the kids that are tied.

High Jump - Madison Ward is in. Only one wild card has cleared 5'2, so 5'0 looks to be a lock to be the Wild Card Height. Great job Madison!

600 - Right now, Sydney has the 8th best wild card time, behind four kids from Div. 1 and three from Div. 4. Only Division 2 is left.

The simplest way to put it is we're watching the 8th place finish from Division 2, since that would be the fifth "wild card" spot. If Sydney's time beats the 8th place Div. 2 kid, she's going to All-States. Based on seeds and how the other Divisions performed relative to expectations, it looks possible.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Banquet Info/All-State Update

Important banquet info is listed below. Here's the update on the wild card situation,with the Division 4 meet having just finished. Remember, there are 12 wild cards - although if there's a tie (which is often the case in high jump), they take everyone tied with the same height.

Snow - now the 4th fastest wild card time, 3 Div. 4 kids displaced her. Div. 4 was seeded stronger than Div. 2, so she's still got a chance at making All-States.
Ward - even 2nd place at Div. 4 was 5'0, so only one wild card has gone above 5'2. Looking very strong for an All-State berth!

BANQUET INFO

As is the tradition for the track teams, we will be having a potluck for the end of the year banquet and the assignments are based on grade.
 
Seniors - please bring either two 2-liter bottles of soda or a case of water
Juniors - please bring a main dish of your choice that will feed a large family (approx 6-7 people)
Sophomores - please bring a salad
Freshmen - please bring a dessert
 
Out of consideration for those in attendance with food allergies we ask that all food be Nut and Peanut FREE. For those of you with other dietary restrictions, we ask that you bring something that is appropriate for you/your child to eat.
 
Disposable pans and dishes are preferred.Please clearly label any containers you want returned to you. Please understand that we will not be able to wash or rinse them.
 
The banquet is on Tuesday, February 26 in the HHS cafeteria. The coaches would like to officially begin the banquet at 6:30, so please plan to arrive before 6:30 in order to drop off your food.
 
We hope you will all be able to join us along with your son(s) and daughter(s).

Thursday, February 14, 2013

7 Medalists, 2 Possible All-State Qualifiers at Div 3 Meet!

Coming into today, only Sydney Snow (#5 seed in the 600) and the boys 4x800 team (8th) were projected to earn medals for top-8 finishes. Well, Snow and the relay team each earned a higher medal than expected, and two more individuals (Madison Ward and Evan Vasilauskas) earned medals, with a few other finishes in the top 12!

***I left the relay split sheet at home, the ones listed were ones I knew off the top of my head. I'll update them tonight.

Boys Hurdles - Logan ran 8.59 in the trials, and Evan ran 8.36 to qualify as the 8th finalist! About 10 minutes after his dash trial, Evan ran the finals and improved his time to 8.31 to earn a medal, despite being seeded 18th!
Boys Dash - Evan ran 6.96 to take 11th place overall, having been seeded 20th.
Boys Mile - Jack ran 4:50, but had an ace up his sleeve for the 4x800.
Girls Mile - Chelsea Dubin had a 2 second PR in 5:42.49, finishing 18th despite being seeded 30th! She's now in the top 10 of all-time Holliston milers, ranked ninth!
Boys 600 - Ryan Moser and Ryan Leonard absolutely demolished their heat, beating the next fastest kid by over 4 seconds as Moser ran 1:28.08 (0.22 PR!) and Leonard ran 1:28.33.
Girls 600 - In the fast heat, there were four seniors, one junior...and our freshman sensation, Sydney Snow. Syd torched the track in 1:40.67 to PR by over a second and earn 4th place! She has an excellent chance to earn one of the 12 wild cards for next Saturday's All-State Meet (I'll explain at the end of the post how the wild cards are chosen).
Girls 1000 - Katie Salley ran 3:25.89, not bad considering she's been sick most of this week. She was right in the thick of the race through 700m. Like Jack, her day was not over...
Girls High Jump - Devin Cuevas cleared 4'10, matching her PR and tying for 14th place! Freshman Madison Ward recovered from an early miss to clear 4'10 on her second attempt...then 5'0 on her first attempt, and justmissed 5'2 when her heel grazed the bar. Thanks to clearing 5'0 so early, she won the tiebreaker and took fifth overall, positioning herself well for a potential All-State berth!
Girls 300 - Nikki Kerrigan took second in her heat, running 44.26 to take 15th!
Boys 4x800 - The boys beat their seed and medaled in 7th place, as Ryan Leonard, Ryan Moser, Matt Simonelli, and Jack Boyd ran 8:45! Leonard led off with a 2:07, the fastest split we've had by 3 full seconds all year!
Girls 4x800 - In a gigantic heat with all the sub-10:00 speedsters, the girls moved up six places to take ninth, just outside the medals. Sydney Snow led off with a 2:28, followed by Kiara Hanlon, Maggie Naughton, and Katie Salley.
Boys 4x400 - Despite missing Cotto and with Leonard in the 4x800, the boys ran 3:50. Good job this season, boys, you were undefeated in duals, an accomplishment that isn't overlooked.
Girls 4x400 - The girls lowered their time by 3 seconds, with Shauna Rockett leading off (63.3), followed by Chelsea Dubin (66.5), newcomer Nikki Kerrigan (64.4), and Virginia Hanstad (65.0) running 4:19.38 to take ninth overall! The girls have the third fastest time ever, and the best since 2008!

Wild cards - so, there are four divisions in track. We're Division 3 (1 is biggest, 4 is smallest, etc.). The top 3 finishers in each division (for each event) automatically make All-States. The next 12 best performances also make the meet. If there's a tie - say, if there's multiple kids at 5'0 like Madison, they take all the kids that are tied with a mark as well.
I'll update the wild card list after each divisional meet.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Div. 3 Meet Schedule (Approximate)

*This is based on last year's number of heats per event, so it'll be slightly different than projected.

4:30 - Hurdles and Dash Trials/Finals (Cotto, Vasilauskas)
High Jump after the hurdles/dash are complete - 5:15? (Ward, Cuevas)
5:00 to 5:15 Boys Mile (Boyd)
5:15 to 5:35 Girls Mile (Dubin)
5:35 to 5:47 Boys 600 (Leonard, Moser)
5:48 to 6:00 Girls 600 (Snow)
6:00 to 6:07 Boys 1000
6:07 to 6:15 Girls 1000 (Salley)
6:17 to 6:23 Boys 300
6:24 to 6:30 Girls 300 (Kerrigan)
6:30 to 6:50 Boys 2M (if 2 heats)
6:50 to 7:05 Girls 2M (1 heat last year)
7:05 to 7:15 Boys 4x2
7:15 to 7:25 Girls 4x2
7:30 to 7:40 Boys 4x8 (1 heat last year)
7:40 to 8:05 Girls 4x8 (2 heats last year)
8:05 to 8:25 Boys 4x4
8:25 to 8:50 Girls 4x4

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Three new state qualifiers at TVL Meet!

Great job today, we had three new state qualifiers - including one new double qualifier - as well as many other PR's in the Tri-Valley League championship.

New State Qualifiers
Evan Vasilauskas, 55m Dash (6.94)
Evan Vasilauskas, 55m hurdles (8.50)
Nikki Kerrigan, 300 (43.27)
Kiara Hanlon, 1000 (3:22.15)

Girls Mile - Chelsea Dubin earned one of the top-6 ribbons with a 5:44.95, a new PR, while Maggie Naughton took 10th with a 6-second PR of 5:48.25!

Boys Mile - Jack Boyd PR'd with a great sixth place finish in 4:44.03 (1.5 second PR). Tanner Datz just missed his big goal of 4:59, but took 10th overall in a 4-second PR of 5:00.99!

Girls 600 - Sydney Snow finished a close third in 1:42.25, while fellow freshman Eve Bagley nearly made states with a massive 5 second PR in 1:48.57!

Boys 600 - Ryan Leonard earned another ribbon for the team, finishing fifth in 1:28.72, just a few tenths off his PR. Ryan Moser won the unseeded heat easily in 1:29.30, a PR and seventh overall!

Girls Freshman Mile: Katie DesRochers PR'd by nearly 20 seconds, running a 6:09 to take second. Right behind her in third was Abby Meltzer in 6:13!

Boys Freshman Mile: Kevin Montain's 10 second PR of 5:17 was good for fourth overall!

Girls High Jump - Madison Ward PR'd yet again, breaking her own freshman school record with a jump of 5'0 - on her first attempt, no less! She took fourth, just missing second on tiebreakers. Devin Cuevas was seventh on tiebreakers at 4'6.

Boys High Jump - Nick Bernard tied for 13th at 5'2.

Girls Shot Put - Hannah Brady just missed her PR by 3 inches, throwing 25'10 for 13th. Caitlin Turner took 19th at 23'2.

Boys Shot Put - Max Chisholm was 16th in 33'11.

Girls 55m hurdles - Juliana Van Pelt made the finals and took 8th overall, running 10.26. Diana Waterman finished ninth overall in 10.38.

Boys 55m hurdles - Logan Cotto had our highest finish of the day, taking second in 8.53 seconds. Evan Vasilauskas was fourth in 8.65, but qualified for states with an 8.50 in the preliminary round.

Girls 55m dash - Nikki Kerrigan just missed the finals in 8.00 (9th), while freshmen Casey Rothschild was 13th in 8.17, and Lily Stering was 20th in 8.55.

Boys 55m dash - Evan finished sixth in 7.01, though his trials time of 6.94 qualifies him for states! Unfortunately, there was virtually no rest between the trials and finals. Matt McIsaac was 16th in 7.43, tying his PR, while Isaac Fadden was 18th in 7.58.

Girls 300 - To put this in proper context, Nikki Kerrigan's home PR was 46.5, indicating she probably could break 45. Instead, she hammered a 43.27, easily qualiying for states and just missing second place by 0.10 seconds (behind a girl who's made All-States in the 400 multiple seasons!). Shauna Rockett ran a 46.21 to take ninth overall, winning her heat.

Boys 300 - Jake O'Connell broke the 40-second barrier, finishing 9th in 39.62, several spots above his projected seed! Nate Bubello ran 40.72 to take 15th.

Girls 1000 - Katie Salley held off a furious charge by a Westwood girl to take fourth place in 3:16.22, two full seconds faster than her PR at Coaches' Invite! Right behind her was new state qualifier Kiara Hanlon, who took 9th in 3:22.15!

Boys 1000 - Matt Simonelli PR'd by 7 seconds in 2:51.99, taking 8th place!

Girls 2 Mile - Madison Ward just missed the top-6, taking seventh in 12:41, while Jess Strzempko took 12th in 13:44!

Boys 2 Mile - Mike Glazebrook also finished seventh, running a 10:48.50, while brother Ed Glazebrook ran 11:17.40 to take eighth.

Girls 4x400 - The girls PR'd with a 4:22.18, in order Shauna Rockett (64.1), Chelsea Dubin (66.6), Sydney Snow (64.6), and Virginia Hanstad (66.4)!

Boys 4x400 - Despite not having usual anchor Logan Cotto, the boys stepped up with a 3:42.81 for fourth place, just 0.50 away from second! The splits were Ryan Leonard (54.3), Cole Osten (56.2), Jake O'Connell (56.1), and Ryan Moser (56.0)!

Girls 4x200 - The girls finished second in 1:58.81 beating Westwood by 0.01 - congrats to Devin Cuevas, Lily Stering, Ally Rosati, and Casey Rothschild!

Boys 4x200 - The boys also finished second in 1:41.89, great job by Isaac Fadden, Matt McIsaac, Ben Clapper, and Nate Bubello!