O'Grady Relays

Saturday turned into a good day for the Pomperaug track team at the O'Grady Relays in Danbury. The girls team finished tied for 12th place. We were lead by a first place finish in the long jump relay of Sydney Polke, Nicole Mendelson, and Annie Duncan. We also earned a 4th place finish in the distance medley relay of Emily Hayden, Lydia Huebenthal, Jeanne Theleen, and Jessica Broderick.

Numerous people had personal bests in their events yesterday, including:

• Sydney Polke, Nicole Mendelson, and Annie Duncan in the long jump
• Jessica Broderick, Jeanne Theleen, and Rachel Madenjian in the 800.
• Jessica Broderick in the 1600.
• Amanda Walters and Eryn Wassa in the 300 meter hurdles.
• Nicole Mendelson, Sara Shaban, and Ashley Stocking in the 400.
• Laura Rommelfanger and Ashley Stocking in the 200.
• Kylie Fay in the shot put.
• Mel Urquhart in both the discus and javelin.

Congratulations and good luck on Tuesday at the Masuk meet.

Freshman Invitational Cancelled

The Freshman Invitational at Masuk has been cancelled due to the weather. It will not be made up.

April 24 Meet

After another day of competitions, the Pomperaug Girls track team had a good showing at Newtown High School this afternoon. The girls finished the day 2 - 1, beating New Fairfield and Notre Dame while losing to Newtown.

Winning performances in the field were turned in by Kasey Dean in the javelin and Laura Rommelfanger in the pole vault. On the track, Amanda Walters won the 100 meter hurdles, Emily Pattison won the 300 meter hurdles, Jeanne Theleen won the 800 meters and Jessica Broderick won both the 1600 meters and the 3200 meters.

We had good performances and frustrating performances, but overall we saw improvements in many areas. As we build upon today's performances, we will begin to see all of our hard work begin to pay off. Let's go out and think about what we accomplished today and what we need to work on and improve for our meet next week.

Freshman Invitational

After a week of cold, wet practices it was nice to see the sun. The freshman who participated in the Freshman Developmental had a very good day. We had good performances in all the events, including the top performances of the season so far in the 800 m and the 200 m. The results of the meet are at the right. Nice job.

In case you are unaware of it, the boys are hosting a home meet on Monday. I hope that all of you can stay and cheer on the boys and help out wherever your help is needed. Enjoy your weekend and I'll see all of you on Monday.

Monday Practice is Cancelled

Due to the wind, rain, and flooded fields, Monday's practice is cancelled.

April 20 Freshman Developmental Meet

Masuk High School is hosting a freshman developmental meet on Friday, April 20. This meet is an opportunity for our freshmen to compete against other freshmen. This Friday they will be running the following events:

• 800m
• 4x100
• High Hurdles
• 200 m
• 1600 m
• High Jump
• Long Jump
• Shot Put

You can compete in up to three events. The meet begins at 10 and ends at 1. Our bus is scheduled to leave at 9 AM. I'll see you there.

Vacation Week

While the school is on vacation this week, we will continue to practice. We will be practicing Monday through Friday from 10 - 12. Our focus will primarily be on the individual events. This will be a perfect time to learn and perfect your event, since there will more of a one on one chance for coaching. I would like to see everybody at practice, but I understand that many of you have other obligations. As long as you are present for at least two practices, you can participate in the meet on April 24.

If you are unable to make a practice, you should run on your own. You do not want to lose what you have earned over the course of the past few weeks.

Enjoy your vacation and I look forward to seeing you everyday at practice.

April 10 Meet

Well, after a long and cold day, the Pomperaug Girls and Track team made it home to celebrate a good start to the season. No matter how you look at the meet, there are numerous reasons
that we can be proud.

To begin with, we walked away from the meet with a record of 2-1, after beating Joel Barlow and Laurelton Hall. We had six athletes qualify for the SWC's and five qualify for the Class L championships. We had first place finishes in the pole vault (Laura Rommelfanger), 1600 m (Jessica Broderick), 400 m (Nicole Mendelson), 3200 m (Jeanne Theleen) and in the exciting 4x400 relay (Kelleigh Tidgewell, Sara Shaban, Nicole Mendelson, Lydia Huebenthal).

What impressed me the most was the overall attitude of this team. Everybody went out and competed in tough conditions. We had athletes discovering what they could accomplish, and some athletes who actually pushed their bodies beyond their abilities, only to return in later races. We showed allot of heart today, this bodes well for the rest of the season. Congratulations to everybody on a successful day.

The results are posted to the right, while other sections of the site have been updated. I will see all of you at practice tomorrow.

Last Minute Meet Reminders

• I have posted the tentative line-up for the meet tomorrow. You will see it to the right, under the section titled "2007 Meet Results".
• It will be cold tomorrow, so bring numerous layers of clothes.
• The meet is at Bunnell. Directions are found at http://www.pomperaug.com/.
• We are usually home around 7:30, although this is not a guaranteed time.
• Good luck tomorrow, it will be a good day to compete.

First Meet

We have our first meet on Tuesday, down at Bunnell (Stratford). We will be competing against Bunnell, Joel Barlow, and Laurelton Hall. With this being our first meet, we will have many questions entering the meet and hopefully many answers by the end of the meet. I'm always excited about the first meet, because it gives us a gauge as to how the rest of the season will play out.

A few reminders about the first meet:

• It appears that it will be a sunny, but cold day on Tuesday. Temperatures will be in the 40s. Bring layers of clothes so that you are warm, especially as the sun begins to go down.
• The meet will probably begin around 4 PM. (We usually begin 30 minutes after the last school arrives.) Most meets usually end around 6:30, although this varies depending on the number of athletes in the meet.
• Everybody participates, with most of you competing in two different events.
• The meet begins with long jump, pole vault, javelin, and the 4x800. The field events begin before the track events.
• The order of the jumping events are: long jump then triple jump.
• The order of the throwing events are: javelin then either shot put or discus (host school decides)
• The track events are: 4x800, 4x100, 100 m hurdles, 100 m, 1600 m, 400 m, 300 m hurdles, 800 m, 200 m, 3200 m, 4x400.
• Begin to warm up 2 events before your event.
• Enjoy the meet

I look forward to this first meet, and hope that all of you do well on Tuesday.

The Third Week

As we enter the third week of our season, the abilities of this team are beginning to take shape. Our returning athletes are regaining their feel for their events while our new athletes are starting to understand these different events. The uncertanty of the first week of practice is starting to dissapate and we have a better understanding of who we are as a team.

The focus for this week is to get ready for our first meet of the season. We will be holding "mini-meets" in the throwing and vertical jumping events to determine who will be considered varsity for the first meet. Meahwhile we will be teaching how to pass the baton for relays, how to start out of blocks for sprints, and how to triple jump. There are many things that need to be accomplished this week in order for us to be ready for our first meet. I know that if we are focused this week on learning and perfecting our events, we will be ready for next week's meet.