Varsity, Freshmen Boys Win at Clear Creek

LEAGUE CITY - Freshman Aharown Sparrow ran his first cross country meet today and won! He started off one of the best days in Kempner Cross Country's history. Sparrow took the lead from the gun and was never challenged. He ran the two mile course in 11:20. Scott Vilas continued to run well and finished in the top 10 with a 12:16, while Jose Vilche continued to improve finishing very close to Scott with a 12:37. Danillo Arcane also picked up a medal by finishing 15th with a 13:05 and Nathan De Jesus finished off the scoring with a 13:23 that was good enough for 16th (just one place out of a medal). Matt Smallwood continues to improve and finished in 14:11. The freshmen took home the team title over Clear Creek and MacArthur, among others.

Sophomore Abel Simie continued the team's winning ways by running three miles in a personal best 17:02. Junior Evan Bogdan ran well with an 18:54.

The varsity girls continued to be consistent time-wise but hoped for more. Sophomore Briana Gifford had a breakout race by running a season best of 13:08 just ahead of senior Zelda Abadom, who covered two miles in 13:10.

The varsity boys were the highlight of the afternoon. Senior Shalin Dalal got in the front early an led a pack of about 6 runners for most of the race. After two miles Shalin and Spencer Buxton of Travis were running 1-2 but when we saw Shalin come out of the trees with about 300 meters to run he was all alone. Shalin won the race with one of the best three mile times in school history, 15:43. That performance earned Shalin Athlete of the Week honors.

That wasn't all. The top 4 boys were all in at the 16:20 mark! Errol Hampton was 7th with 16:07, Matt Cortez finished 10th with a 16:12 and sophomore David Koistinen earned the right to drink a Coke by running 16:20 and finishing 12th. Shanup ran 17:20 and finished 26th overall, but it was good enough to give the boys their second team championship of the season.

KXC RESULTS:

Varsity Girls (2 miles)
Briana Gifford 13:08
Zelda Abadom 13:10
Katherine Toy 13:26
Lisette Bogdan 13:34
Hannah Selesky 14:18
Jena Deitrick 14:50

Varsity Boys (3 miles)
Shalin Dalal 15:43
Errol Hampton 16:07
Matt Cortez 16:12
David Koistinen 16:20
Shanup Dalal 17:15
Juan Trujillo 18:51
Kyle Muscarello 19:02

JV Girls (2 miles)
Lillian Dominguez 15:38
Chelsea Nelson 15:49
Sahar Halim 16:49

JV Boys (3 miles)
Abel Simie 17:02
Evan Bogdan 18:54
Shiraz Ali 19:26
Christian Salazar 19:53
Jimmy Luong 20:00
Joe Green 20:14
Marcos Anaya 20:17
Chris Ysais 20:23
Sergio Bautista 20:25
Jonathan Silva 20:30
Jonathan Amadio 21:44
Kevin Kapke 23:18
Mukhtar Owais 24:44
Nelson Fuentes 25:28
Tom Duecker 25:41

Freshmen (2 miles)
Aharown Sparrow 11:20
Scott Vilas 12:16
Jose Vilche 12:37
Danillo Arcane 13:05
Nathan De Jesus 13:23
Matt Smallwood 14:11

Complete Aldine Results

Complete Results Here

Matt Cortez Kicks

Matthew Cortez is a senior who joined the team last year. He has really stepped up to be consistently one of the top 3 runners this year. He is into tae kwon do and has a younger brother who also runs.

KXC: Matt, Bri is going to be mad if you don’t mention her. Is there anything you would like to mention about her?

Matt: I just remember that one time we first ran together, with Jamadio and that was my first time to finish 12 miles.

KXC: Why did you start running cross country?

Matt: Last year, Emilio told me to start up because it was an energy boost for endurance.

KXC: What do you like most about running?

Matt: I think more about times. I always look down at my watch to make sure I’m going to make it.

KXC: What are your time goals for this season?

Matt: To break 16 for 3 miles would be a good accomplishment.

KXC: How about tomorrow at Clear Creek? Do you think you could break 16 there?

Matt: My leg is stopping me right now but I think if I do my best I can break it.

KXC: The leg?

Matt: No, the time.

KXC: Who is your greatest influence when it comes to athletics?

Matt: Steven Lopez, the gold medalist in tae kwon do. He shows you that anything is possible.

KXC: What do you think is going to happen for the boys’ team at District?

Matt: I know for a fact we’re going to get first, team wise. At regionals we will dominate.

KXC: Is there anything you wished I would have asked you that I didn’t?

Matt: How many days I’ve run?

KXC: Well, how many?

Matt: 68 today.

Coach Dye: That beats my record by 11 days.

KXC: Good luck tomorrow. I hope your leg feels great and you break 16.

Clear Creek Rosters

Again this week the meet will only allow 7 varsity runners and unlimited junior varsity runners but there is no open race. Therefore, I will take many to Stafford next Saturday to get in one last race before the season ends.

Clear Creek Rosters:

Varsity Boys
Shalin Dalal
Errol Hampton
Matt Cortez
David Koistinen
Shanup Dalal
Kyle Muscarello
Juan Trujillo

more to come...

TACTICS and STRATEGY

[ This article comes from the Cross Country Journal, Vol II Nm 2, July-August 1984. It is authored by Harry Groves, Head CC coach, Penn State ]

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Cross country training is directed toward improving competitive effort. Tactics and strategy may enable the athlete to improve race performance, too. The primary objective in racing is to attempt to win, not to just get a good time.

Knowledge of the following race tactics and strategies can help cross country runners achieve success:

• Run as a team! Get up in front and stay there if the pace is tolerable. Cross country is a team sport where the lowest score wins, so the closer to the front you can stay the lower your team score. Victory cannot come by running in the second wave. Most meets are won within the first 2 miles of a 5 or 6 mile race and the first mile of a three mile race. Don't get boxed in the back. Knowledge of pace is essential.
• After running up a hill, down a hill or turning a corner (especially a blind corner) drive the knees and pick up the pace for 30 yards or more. This is a good way to "ditch" an opponent or catch someone.
• If an opponent is running "your" pace and he wants to lead, let him. Just hang on. But, be sure you are running your own race, and know your opponent. Don't let him run his race! For example: Don't jog with a 9.5 sprinter for 4 3/4 miles of a 5 mile race because he will beat you to the tape. If you make use of your strengths you can hide your weaknesses.
• Keep your eyes on the shoulders of runners ahead of you. Do not watch their feet or you will fall into their cadence and your stride will shorten. Be aggressive -- keep eyes and head up and drive the knees.
• When running with teammates, help each other. Together pick up the tempo and go after the man ahead of you. Remember, it's easier when you work together.
• Running uphill. Lean forward, bring knees high and shorten your stride. Drive the arms. Sometimes it's good to pass an opponent here (try him), but don't "kill" yourself going up a hill. It's better to accelerate after you have reached the top or on the second half of the hill.
• Running downhill. Relax, lengthen your stride and let the force of gravity do the work -- but stay under control. No matter how tired you are, you must increase your leg speed. If you run "out of control" you will be using as much energy as you would going uphill. Lean with the hill and use the arms to keep control. When coming off the bottom of the hill stay relaxed and run your momentum out. Always pass anyone who passed you coming up the hill if you don't have to expend too much energy.
• Running on the Flat. Stay relaxed and smooth as you do in track running. Don't plod. Run an even pace.
• Never pass a man slowly. Pass him with some "zip." This is good psychology as your opponent will feel that you are fresh and have lots of "stuff" left. You may be just as tired as he is, but this will often slow him down and cause him to give up and lag behind. Do not slow down immediately after passing a man - hold the new pace.
• Always THINK. Be alert. Falling asleep mentally spells defeat. Know where you are, where your opponents are, what they are doing, and what you are going to do. Remember strategies. Know when you must make your move. Listen to splits and know your pace. Expect yourself to run faster in big meets and on flat courses. Keep your cool so that you can make sound decisions. The thinking runner who knows strategy has control of all situations and gains an advantage the on his opponents.
• Even paced races are the most economical from an energy use standpoint. However, some competitive situations may not allow this. In an effort to win, an athlete may attempt "surges" in an effort to kill the opponent's will. Therefore, it is wise to practice these tactics in interval workouts, trials or races. The simplest tactic for a great "kicker" is to wait (layback) and sprint hard off a slow pace. A smart opponent never allows a kicker this luxury.

300 XC Style

Video by the varsity boys and Bri:

Aldine Results

Errol Hampton was named athlete of the week for his great efforts all week. He was the first to start pace intervals on Tuesday, he did a high set of 400 intervals on Friday and he still set a PR for 5k on Saturday. He is the team's training leader and a great captain.

The varsity boys were again led by Shalin Dalal's 12th place finish. His official time was 16:29 which was about 2 seconds faster than what we got. So based on official results all the times will be dropped by 2 seconds. Here is what Kempner did last Saturday:

Varsity Boys
Shalin Dalal 16:29
Errol Hampton 16:47
Matt Cortez 17:04
David Koistinen 17:06
Shanup Dalal 17:49
Kyle Muscarello 20:01
Juan Trujillo 20:08

Varsity Girls
Zelda Abadom 12:47
Lisette Bogdan 13:09
Briana Gifford 13:10
Katherine Toy 13:11
Gina Keidel 14:23

JV Boys
Abel Simie 17:18
Chris Ysais 18:53
Evan Bogdan 18:56
Marcos Anaya 20:41
Joe Green 20:47
Jimmy Luong 21:16
Shiraz Ali 21:19
Sergio Bautista 22:27
Kevin Kapke 25:25
Nelson Fuentes 27:52

JV Girls
Jena Deitrick 14:29
Macy Ramos 14:39
Lillian Dominguez 14:55
Sahar Halim 15:05
Chelsea Nelson 15:09

Freshmen Boys
Scott Vilas 11:41
Jose Vilche 12:16
Matt Smallwood 13:58

Open Race
Jaclyn Amadio 15:30 (2 miles)
Jonathan Silva 20:35
Christian Salazar 21:13
Ronnie Stroud 24:00

Probable interviews this week are with freshman Scott Vilas and junior Sahar Halim.

Clear Creek Friday

Aldine results and pics to come.

Here is the schedule for Clear Creek:

2:00 Freshmen Boys (2 miles)
2:20 JV Girls (2 miles)
2:40 JV Boys (3 miles)
3:10 Varsity Girls (2 miles)
3:30 Varsity Boys (3 miles)

The meet will be at Walter Hall Park in League City. We will leave school during 5th period to arrive before 1pm. More info to come.

Click here for directions.