Had a pretty decent first meet, all things considered. But still I was hoping for – and expecting – a little bit more. Here’s a recap of our race results:

Race videos

Full results

60m

Eric – 6.96 prelims (4^th), 7.02 finals (7^th)

Chris – 7.05 prelims (8^th), 7.21 finals (8^th)

In prelims, both guys looked like they were more focused on trying to beat people rather than running their race and let that translate into their best performance. Chris, especially, looked like he was leaning/chasing as he went down the track. Eric won his heat, and Chris was second, and they were the only two from the second heat to make it into finals. In finals, I thought they both looked better in executing the race, but they both ran slower; Eric not by much, and Chris because he eased up due to a tightening hamstring. However, they did both set PR’s, and it was also the first final that Chris had ever qualified for.

500m

Rob – 67.51 (4^th)

Devon – 69.17 (11^th)

Demetrius – 74.58 (17^th)

I was most pleased with Rob’s race. He was in the second heat (seeded fastest to slowest). He’s been having an extreme issue with starting out way too fast with anything we do, so I wanted him to relax a little at the beginning, and then build into the rest of the race. Also he has had an on-again-off-again hamstring issue, and I figured by starting him off a little easier it would be less likely to flare up on him. Devon and Demetrius were actually in the fastest heat, and both got out in about 40 for the first 300m. Devon kept going pretty well, while Demetrius faded; he has only been to about a week of practice. I’m not too familiar with 500m times, so I’m not exactly sure how to gauge the results, exactly, but I was pleased with Rob and Devon’s races, and know that Demetrius’ results aren’t anything but a starting point.

Alex – 80.08 (9^th)

Jacquennee – 95.27 (21^st)

Alex looked like she was running an 800m and not a 500m. She came through 300m in about 46, and just kept pretty steady. Never really tightened up, even though she slowed the last 200m slightly. We’ve been having troubles getting her the training she needs because of some really bad shins. Jacquennee just really tightened up in the later stages of her race. Just like Derrick/Tavares (below) I think her workouts are showing a lot more than what her race did.

4x800m

8:21.09 (3rd)

Marcell – 1:59.4

Will – 1:59.4

Tavares – 2:10.1

Derrick – 2:12.0

I was probably most shocked/disappointed/confused by Marcell and Will in the 4x800m. Neither of them got out aggressively at all, coming through in about 59 for the quarter. Both are rather aggressive in practice, so I didn’t see this coming at all. Tavares and Derrick actually also got out in about 58, but just aren’t ready to handle that fast of an opening pace yet; though from their workouts, I would expect that it wouldn’t have been that big of a struggle. Marcell did say that this is faster than he’s run at this time of the year before, though. And Will was coming off of several days without running after banging up his knee a little in a car wreck. Tavares/Derrick were close to their PR’s.

4x400m

3:28.10 (5th)

Eric – 51.3

Marcell – 48.9

Will – 51.1

Derrick – 56.8

I felt they ended the meet well with an aggressive effort in the relay. Eric’s ankle was bothering him slightly, yet he still hung in there leading off with a 51.3. Marcell looked really good, and I was very excited about his 48.9 split, especially on that tight track that had seemed to make everybody slower. Will was much more aggressive, though his speed comes from his strength, so that wasn’t a bad split, I don’t think. Derrick was filling in for Chris, whose hamstring was a little tight after the 60m. The team might end up being Chris/Eric/Marcell/Rob as we get into the season, with Devon/Demetrius/Will also all being sub-50 guys.

This week…

This week is finals and then traveling home for the athletes. So we’re not going to be getting much accomplished, I believe. I’ll be giving them probably four days of training to get accomplished each week, with one day off and two “flex/recovery” days for them to choose. They have essentially a month away, so I’m hoping to at least maintain where they’re at during this time apart. We have a meet the weekend we get back, so it’ll be interesting to see where they’re at.