Vaulters, Coaches, Parents,

This summer’s indoor pole vault meet schedule at The Factory has been finalized. As you can see below there are plenty of meets this summer; lots of opportunity to keep jumping. On opening day, May 25^th We’ll be holding a special event; a pizza and movie night. Normally, we open up at 9AM and get the meet going by 11 AM, but on opening day, we’ll open at 12PM and start jumping at 2PM. After the meet is done we’ll have pizza and a movie for all to enjoy. Stay tuned for more details.

In addition to our regular meet schedule, we are working on bringing you another exciting Ultimate Vaulter Competition and at least two camps. Information and schedules are in the works. All indoor Pole Vault competitions and camps are hosted by Yolo Striders Track and Field Club in Woodland and are open to High School, Collegiate, Open, and Masters vaulters. Both meets and camps are held at The Factory where will run two (possibly three, if things go right) runways simultaneously. The Factory is located at 460 Harter Ave. Woodland, CA 95695.

For insurance purposes, a valid USATF membership number and a liability waiver is required. The cost is $10 per vaulter. Even if you don't vault, come and support us. The meets are free to spectators. I can be reached on my cell at 530.867.4286 if you have any questions. Feel free to pass this along to anyone you may think would be interested. We can accommodate up to 60 vaulters.

Summer 2013 Indoor Pole Vault Meet Schedule @ The Factory

·         Saturday, May 25^th 2013

·         Saturday, June 15^th 2013

·         Saturday, June 22^nd 2013

·         Saturday, June 29^th 2013

·         Saturday, July 13^th 2013

·         Saturday, July 20^th 2013

·         Saturday, July 27^th 2013

·         Saturday, August 3^rd 2013

·         Saturday, August 10^th 2013

·         Saturday, August 17^th 2013

·         Saturday, August 24^th 2013

·         Saturday, August 31^st 2013

·         Saturday, September 7^th, 2013

USATF 2013

If you don’t already have a USATF membership or need to renew it, go to https://www.usatf.org/membership/application/index.asp. Remember, in order to participate in YSTFC meets a valid USATF membership number is required.

Liability Waiver

Download the liability waiver from the YSTFC Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/download/529510447066704/Assumption-of-Risk-and-Release-of-Liability.pdf. Have your parents fill out the liability form and bring it to your first meet. Don’t worry, if you forget yours, we’ll have copies. Also, liability forms are kept on file and are only required once.

T'was the night before Christmas, when out on the course
not a runner was stirring, not even their horse;
When out on the road there arose such a clatter,
I looked around me what was the matter;
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but Allison and Elise and their finest red gear,
With polka dot stockings and fur at the top,
and red santa hats were these daughters of cops;
The race had begun and I knew from the pace,
these Diamondback runners would not lose the race;

Come on now, look at these pictures and tell me they aren't just so darn cute.  Saturday saw not only Allison and Elise running in the Fit for Girls 5K race but their future teammate and Elise's little sister, Emma braving the cold temps and also adorning the same Christmas wear.  Congrats to all three and job well done.

Results:
Allison: Overall 4th, Female 1st, 13-15 1st
Elise: Overall 15th, Female 7th, 13-15 3rd
Emma: Overall 48th, Female 32nd, 1-12 2nd

Varsity Girls Div IV
Allison Babbage, Time 20:02, Place 5

The 2012 SJS Cross Country Sub-Sections Meet is in the record books and Union Mine's boys are headed to Sections next Saturday at Willow Hills Reservoir in Folsom.  Before we look at today's results let's put things into perspective and see just how much this team has improved since opening day on August 13th.  We started out the season ranked 20th at the 3 mile distance we ran today and in less then 3 months we've improved dramatically to take 9th place in today's race.  That ladies and gentleman, boys and girls is OUTSTANDING and a credit to our boys hard work and determination.  No other team in Division IV has had such a meteoric rise in the rankings this season.

Onward we march towards next Saturday's Sections race looking to improve even more.  Just as our boys called a team chant for the first time this year we will look back on this season with it ringing true...

" Union Mine, How Do We Run?...No Excuses, No Regrets".

Here's how our boys team placed and their times today with the last column showing their improvement over our last race at Frogtown on September 22nd:

4 Makana Kauhaahaa, 17:05* Medalist - 0.52 

29 William Winter, 18:21 - 0.15

36 Troy Maxfield, 18:43 - 1.59

72 Spencer Nelson, 20:00 - 2.29

73 Aaron Jonas, 20:05 - 1.35

80 Kevin Ralphs, 20:13 - 2.26

81 Adam Benouar, 20:20 - 1.36

100 Austin Cordero, 20:34 - 1.39

106 Quinn Smiley, 20:46 - first time this year

107 Dale Oglesby, 20:47 - 1.16

111 Keis Verleur, 20:53 - 0.49

For our girl’s team of 8 runners the challenge was made even greater by sickness and injuries which left only 6 girls racing today.  Senior, Mikaelyn Praker arrived with a potential broken wrist suffered Friday during a Senior day rally event and Junior, Jessica Jetton has been out sick from school all week so both were unable to run today.  Junior, Morgan Svensson had injured her ankle a couple of weeks ago and has been unable to practice but was determined to race today and she put forth a valiant effort.

Our girls also weren't looking for excuses and put their heart into today’s race.  Like the boys, our girl’s team has experienced similar improvements in their rankings this season starting out at 19th and despite not fielding a full team today was able to finish in 13th place.  While they will not be moving to Sections as a team we did manage to have one of our girls not only move on to Sections but also medal.  Allison Babbage will be joining the boys next week at Willow Hills Reservoir and is now the 4th ranked Division IV girl in the San Joaquin Section just like the boy's, Makana Kauhaahaa.

Our girl’s team placement and their times are below again showing how much they improved over our last race at Frogtown:

3 Allison Babbage, 20:22* Medalist - 1.39

44 Michelle Gonzales, 22:45 - 1.14

54 Elise Piazza, 23:26 - 3.15

86 Rebecca Trujillo, 26:10 - 2.12

96 Jordan Caldwell, 27:42 - 0.46

104 Morgan Svensson, 29:18 + 2.45 

Our second of three races against the Sierra Valley Conference schools of El Dorado, Vista Del Lago, Consumnes Oaks, River City and including Division IV rivals, Liberty Ranch and Galt was held yesterday.  Our Freshman boys kicked off the event and with strong performances by Adam Benouar and Austin Cordero.  The 98 degree heat got the best of Devlen Whisler but he still managed to complete the race.

Our Varsity Boy's started their day with their sights on our Division IV rivals and were not to be denied a fourth place finish overall but besting both Liberty Ranch and Galt with strong performances by our top three runners in Makana Kauhaahaa, Will Winter and Troy Maxfield.  All three improved on their race times earning PR's and all managed race times under the 20 minute threshold.

Finishing up the day was our Varsity Girls.  Everyone felt and looked strong despite the heat once they got into the race and it was nice to see Michelle Gonzalez back in the swing of things with a 10th place overall finish.  Freshman Elise Piazza continued her string of PR's she's earned with each race since our season opening time trials.

 Our next race is Saturday, October 13th at the Bronco Invitational to be ran at Willow Hills in Folsom.

Some of our Cross Country Team attending the "Lights, Camera, Action, Homecoming Dance.  As one of the Mom's said..."they do clean up nicely"...especially given some of them did run nearly 9 miles earlier in the day.  Pictured left to right is Spencer Nelson, Allison Babbage, Makana Kauhaahaa, Elise Piazza and Aaron Jonas.

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”

-Crowfoot

Union Mine had the privilege of hosting the El Dorado County Sports League's Cross Country Race today.  UM's Cross Country team got it's very first try at hosting a large meet with over 300 elementary and middle school runners.  Coach Indgjer designed brand new courses in distances of .75 of a mile, 1.0 mile and 1.5 miles after hearing from past middle school runners opinion of not liking the old courses.  Despite a few obstacles we feel it was a successful event and one we learned a great deal from and hope to be awarded the honor of hosting the event next year when we plan to make it even better and smoother.  The visiting schools, their athletes, coaches, parents and family were incredibly gracious.  Thank you each and everyone for your participation.  Race Results will be posted soon in our "Handouts" section of the website.

Coach Indgjer

Today marked another opportunity to see just how our miles of running and training are progressing.  We split our runners into Girl's Frosh/Soph, Boy's Frosh/Soph, Boy's Varsity and Girl's Varsity teams.  While we only had two girls for the Frosh/Soph Race, Freshmen, Allison Babbage took 1st Place and Elise Piazza broke into the top ten with a 9th Place finish.  We had teams for the other races and each took 5th for Conference and 2nd for Division IV results.  UM's Makana Kauhaahaa and Michelle Gonzalez both placed 13th overall in their respective races with William Winter right on Makana's heels with a 14th Place finish and Mikaelyn Praker managing a top twenty-five overall finish of 23rd.  Aaron Jonas crossed the finish in 24th Place in the Frosh/Soph Boy's race.  Race results will be posted in the "Handouts" section of our website.

In The Land of Giants:  The Del Oro XC Invitation had 16 school entered with One Division I, Six Division II, Seven Division III and Union Mine the sole Division IV plus One Division V school.  We were truly a David among a virtual plethora of Goliaths.  We approached the race with the attitude to go out and win the battle and leave the war for later in the season. 

We gave our Frosh/Soph runners the chance to complete as individuals in their respective races.  Despite some distractions like one of our boys running shoes being taken by someone during school that morning and another feeling ill yet these four gave their all and had terrific performance and dropped their average mile paces from our time trails 2 ½ weeks ago showing improved performances and positive results from our training.

Next were the upper classmen consisting of 7 boys and 6 girls which gave us the ability to compete with 2 teams and take the approach with this young team (only 2 seniors) by competing in the Jr. Varsity race and the results were encouraging to say the least.  The Boy’s took 3^rd Place beating Granite Bay by virtue of a tie score (80 to 80) being broken because our 6^th man finished ahead of their 6^th man.  It’s not just the fastest that are important to a team’s success; it’s even the guy running his heart out towards the back of the pack.  The Girl’s did the boy’s one better by tanking 2^nd Place and beating the host team, Del Oro girls by 1 point with a score of 65 to 66.  Almost everyone showed improvement over their time trials average pace.

I’m very proud of everyone and we did what we came out to accomplish for this season and that is to compete and win as a “team”.  We will address and reward individual performances along the way but for now we’re a team with a bright future.

Workouts & Mileage:  While there are workouts listed each day of the week if you're new to running please do not run every day but do take advantage of the cross training days.  If you miss a day do not makeup for a previous workout, just do the workout listed for the current day.  For those going for the 300 or 500 Mile Club's I recommend taking at least 1 day off from running each week and adjust your miles to accomidate the change.

Running Attire:  Weather can affect how you run and given the unusual temperatures we're experiencing I thought a little clothing talk worthwhile.  When it's cold it's better to have things like long sleeves and/or sweats and not need them rather than need them and not have them.  Dress for temperatures approximately 10 degrees warmer than the outdoor temperature, i.e. if the outside temperature is 58 when you're running it will feel like 68 so dress for 68.  You're largest muscle group is in your legs and therefore they generate the most heat so sweatpants while running generally are for temps below 40 but DO wear them before and after and during warm-ups.  Here are the Rules of Thumb:

Temps below 40, Sweatpant and Sweat Tops, Gloves
Temps 41 - 54, Shorts and Long Sleeve and/or Sweat Tops (gloves optional)
Temps 55 - 72, Shorts and Short Sleeve Top
Temps 73 & Up, Shorts and Short Sleeve, Tank/Singlet
Rain and wind can affect the above so adjust accordingly.

Water on Runs:  Hydrate throughout the day.  Bring water to every group run but don't show up to a group run expecting to hydrate yourself during the run.  Side aches are generally a good sign you've not come already well hydrated.  While you are welcome to carry water with you during the run we usually will have water available at the beginning and end our our run and until we start doing longer distances carrying water in your hand as opposed to a waist strap or something is not recommended.  Also don't eat just before a run and avoid drinking milk right before a run also.

Fartlek's:  If you are unfamiliar with this type of workout it is when the runner varies the pace significantly during the run.  If I list "2 on 1s" that means you run fast for 2 minutes and slow for 1 minute or "1 on 1s" means 1 minute fast and 1 minute slow.

Filling out Mileage Log:
Location - If running from one of the locations listed on our website just put the 3 or 4 letter code I've included.  Otherwise just put a simple word for where you started from like "Home" or "UM Track" or "On Ship"... some of our kids that are currently on cruises will be doing that...if running at the Lord's Gym or on a treadmill just put "LG" or "Treadmill"
Mileage - If unsure of mileage put approximately how far you ran otherwise the actual mileage.  If using a Garmin or Polaris list the exact mileage the device calculated.
Time - Make sure you wear a watch when running or if leaving from home check the clock when you left and when you return.
Alone or Group - Circle "Alone" if you ran by yourself or if with someone else or with a group circle "Group".

How Far Did You Run?

I recently emailed information on the Website "Map My Run" who's link is provided for calculating the distance of your runs.   A Group called "UM 300 Mile Club" has been established on the site.  Use this site to figure out how far you've run if you don't have a GPS device.

7 of us joined the other 1053 entrants in the Run 4 Independence event.  When the dust settled in the 5K Race/Walk portion EVERYONE had outstanding races, some their very first 5K.  ALL placing in the TOP 10 in their respective age groups.

Our girls placed 2nd & 6th in the 13-15 age group & 3rd in the 16-18 age group.
Our boys placed 3rd & 9th in the 13-15 age group & 7th in the 16-18 age group.
Coach* placed 2nd in the 50-59 age group

Congratulations to our boys, William Winter*, Keis Verleur and Jonathon Detillion
of 237 men (all ages) in the 5K they finished in the top 17%.
Congratulations to our girls, Allison Babbage*, Elise Piazza and Marissa Indgjer*
of 475 women (all ages) in the 5K they finished in the top 8%.
(* Medalist) Although teams were entered for recognition purposes there wasn't actual scoring for placement of teams but if there was we scored 168 and I've requested results of others teams to use as an example of performance in a typical invitational race.

I'm proud of each and every one of you and it was Allison's Birthday, Happy Birthday Girl!

Each month our runners submit mileage logs they've kept of their running for the month.  That boy and girl who ran the farthest win a $10 Jamba Juice Gift Card for their efforts.

Jonathon ran 22 days, averaged 4.59 miles with a long run of 10.5 miles totaling 101.00
Keis ran 22 days, averaged 3.94 miles with a long run of 7 miles totaling 86.73
Will ran 19 days, averaged 4.08 miles with a long run of 9 miles totaling 77.52
Aaron ran 20 days, averaged 3.62 miles with a long run of 8.05 miles totaling 72.40 

Allison ran 25 days, averaged 3.11 miles with a long run of 5.1 miles totaling 78.3

That means our Union Mine runners combined for a total of 412.55 miles in the month of June.  Way to Go and Congratulations Jonathon and Allison for winning this month's Mileage Award for the boys and girls.    

As we approach the start of our season I am requesting our summer runners to provide me a timed run to establish a base pace from which I'll setup practices once our official team practice start August 13th.  Everyone will do a run on the El Dorado Trail starting near the County Jail entrance down to the parking lot at the trailhead across from Wal Mart.  The distance is 2.63 miles.  I want you to pace yourself but do this run as fast as you feel you can.  Please email me your times as soon as you're able to do this run and remember to do at least a 1 mile warm-up and drills before starting this timed run and then do a 1 mile cool-down.  As we go through the season we'll see how these times drop and just how effective our training is and we'll have everyone set a goal time they want to hit by season end.

Times so far:
Sophomore, Aaron Jonas 19:04, Avg Pace 7.14, Goal Time ???
Old Guy, Coach 19:08, Ave Pace 7.15, Goal Time 16:30

Thank you to those of you who have attempted to get a membership at the Lord's Gym for the purpose of using their facility for some of our cross training practices and found yourself being asked to wait until the manager had returned from overseas.  Good news, I spoke with them today and was able to secure a deal for our club and team so we can all move forward on getting everyone signed up.  Here are the procedures you'll need to follow.

Overview:

All members of the Union Mine Summer Running Club and Cross Country Team are eligible to sign up at the Lord's Gym "without" having to pay a setup fee.  The monthly membership is $5 a month and includes "full use" of the facility during open hours.  We will be using this membership bi-weekly during pre-season & cross country season practices or when inclement weather would keep us from otherwise practicing.

Procedures:

1) Download the handout membership application (or pickup at gym) and complete and make sure parents sign the authorization portion.

2) Go to the Lord's Gym with your first months membership $5 and the application and tell them you are signing up at part of Union Mines Cross Country Team.  They have a copy of our current Roster and will check that against who is signing up and waive the normal setup fee.  If your name does not appear on the Roster you will have to pay the fee.  (This is a privilege to be only used by our club & team).

3) You will be given a access card/key ring card which must be swiped upon entering the gym every time you use the facility in the future.

Note: Check out the Roster tab on this site and if you're name does not appear on the list you are not eligible for this membership benefit.  If you or someone you know is not currently on our roster and is planning on joining the cross country team please contact Coach Indgjer to see about being added to the roster.

We will be using this membership for the entire season which would be a total cost of $20 through November. If for some reason you are not able to cover the $5 cost please feel free to talk to me confidentially.

We're overdue a bit but we have our July Mileage Winners and they'll be given their award at tomorrow's practice, a $10 Jamba Juice Card

For the Boy's Will Winter did an impressive 120 miles with a long run of 12 1/2 miles.
For the Girl's Allison Babbage was our winner with 74.7 miles and a long run of 6 miles.