April Newsletter

Meet Schedule

It's been a long process going all the way back to last October, but it looks like we finally (hopefully) have an official meet schedule for this fall.  There are a lot of factors that go into this.  Not only are we at the mercy of the meet dates set by other schools and their willingness to have us, but we also have to dance around other things like football games, band competitions, and other facets of the school calendar.  

Last year we traveled to Willow Springs for a chance to race against some of our district foes.  With the girls likely moving up a class, that trip became less beneficial.  Between the heat, subpar course route, and long drive home, our athletes didn't have the best experience.  We think pivoting to the Stan Nelson Meet at Northwest will not only keep us closer to home, but it will actually provide stronger competition for our top runners and--given the presence of a freshman race--offer opportunities for our new athletes.  

Otherwise the schedule is essentially the same as last year.  Fox and Notre Dame were the two most popular meets among our returning athletes, and so we wanted to keep them in the mix if at all possible.  Perryville did move its meet from Monday back to Tuesday as it was in its earliest years, but we will likely continue to approach it a similar way.  For better or worse our Conference meet is what it is, but at least it's not the weekend of Homecoming this time around.  And we wanted to keep North County in the mix as an additional meet for those who might not get a chance to race in the postseason.  

Sports Banquet

Just a reminder to all athletes/parents from the current year that the Sports Banquet is on Wednesday, May 13 at the KC Hall.  This is a great opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2025 team one last time, including through the distribution of multiple end-of-season awards.  Athletes and parents are invited to attend.  If you haven't already RSVPed to the school using the form provided, make sure to do so.  ​

Summer  Meeting 6/1

This year we are introducing a meeting at the start of the summer.  This offers a chance for parents to meet coaches and have any questions answered before summer training gets underway.  The meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 1 at 6:00 PM in the high school library.  The meeting will begin with a presentation by Maddie Riley, a certified sports dietitian, on nutrition for high school runners.  Maddie ran collegiately at the University of Creighton.  She continued to run semi-professionally while completing her master's degree in human nutrition and dietetics, accomplishing a 16:09 5K PR and a 12th place finish in the 3000m at the 2020 US Indoor National Championships.  Currently she works with athletes and teams at multiple levels of competition, drawing on her academic knowledge and her experience as a runner together to help get science-backed nutrition information into the hands of runners.  You can learn more about Maddie here.

After Maddie's presentation and some time for Q&A with her, coaches will stick around to answer any questions about summer training or the team in general.  Parents and athletes are both welcome to attend.

We Need Mowers

As most of you know, the Seminary Picnic Grounds and the adjoining field serve as the site of the course for our home meet.  However, we also use the same paths for most of our Tuesday workouts during the summer and our race-pace workouts throughout the season.  Making that possible requires keeping the paths and surrounding areas mowed and well-groomed.  In recent years individuals like Eric Clements, Terry Nations, and Tim Burgin have stepped up big time to make that happen.  But now we are in need of new individuals to help carry the torch.

In the summer up until the Picnic, we only use the back loop of the course (highlighted in pink below).  We will run there on June 9 and 16, and then again on July 7, 14, 21, and 28.  We are in need of individuals willing to keep this loop of the course mowed prior to these dates.  With a riding mower with a wider deck, it can be mowed in 2-3 passes around the loop and doesn't take too much time.  I hope to have the exact path marked out at the start of June, and after that it should be easy enough to follow the following times if we keep it mowed.  If you would be willing to help with this, please reach out to Mr. McLain.

Team Camp

Spots are still available to attend our team camp this summer from July 15-17.  More information about the trip is available here.  If there is interest in attending, please reach out to Mr. McLain to save a spot.  Spots are limited, and sign-ups will close on June 19.