Run-Down Forums

Hammer · Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:23 pm Post subject: Hammer Update

I know that I haven't posted here in a long time but I found myself with some free time and so here goes.....

First off I have been known as an antogonist (deserved title) and I am not trying to pick a fight.

My New Mexico High School Coaching career has been pretty successful since I last typed in these spaces. I have had a few individual state champs and a couple of strong teams but no more team titles. My runners have been getting faster and I have been getting slower. I am now a head Track Coach as well as a Head XC coach. (And Dan will love this) The older I get the more speed (anearobic) my middle distance runners run.

Well we will see where this goes and I hope that some the "old pros" remember the Hammer.

Dan · Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:34 pm Post subject:

Nice to hear from an old friend. Wink

Congrats on the continued success. I'm now coaching HS, too, but being a few states removed, we're hardly rivals...

Hammer · Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:07 am Post subject:

During the spring (track) my distance runners 800-3200 are weekly running 50/50s, fly-ins, sticks, and ins-n-outs.

Now they still do run what many would consider "Big Mileage" but I have added a lot of faster reps to our workouts.

I have a girl runner who could attend a D-1 school next fall but she wants to run for Adams State. Her average mileage is above 55 mpw but she is able to run on our 4x200 and she almost qualified for state in the 200 (by accident).

At my small school the runners have to be versitile for us to be successful. Last year at the District Championship most of our runners competed in 5 events and my boys 4x200 team was made up of distance runners. They finished 3rd with 3 of them running the 800 open in the previous event.

Dan · Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 8:36 pm Post subject:

Adams State is every bit as good as a DI school...

In Oregon, kids are limited to 4 events per meet and only two at 800m or longer. Almost makes it a challenge to run them into the ground.

Mixing intensity and volume, that's what I've long been a proponent of. Thumbs Up

Dan
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Hammer · Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 8:48 am Post subject:

Our kids can compete in 5 events and 3 of them can be over 400m (1 of the 5 would have to be a field event.)

I do not utilize the "distance triple" until the championship season and we only have 2 weeks in the season when we have to run 2 meets. NM allows for 10 meets during the track season (January 16-May 5 [state]) We can use our some of our meets for indoor which usually only leaves about 8 regular season meets. Our regular season lasts 6 weeks because of basketball. My school only has 250 students from 9-12 so we have to share kids.

Hammer · Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:03 pm Post subject:

The "HomeTownHammers" or Pecos Panthers have had some successes early in the season. My best boy distance runner has qualified for state in two events (1600 and 3200). My #1 Girl runner is suffering through plantar faciates and she will be making her debut this weekend. I also have a boy qualifying in the High Jump which is rare for our school. Check out the Pecos athletes @ http://www.nmact.org/ and check out the Class AA State Track & Field Championships - Unofficial Entries.

Dan · Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:05 pm Post subject:

Do you have time-based qualifying? Confused

Our qualifying is top 2 in each event per league, with an additional time qualifier if they hit a mark that's something like the average 6th place finish from the previous 5 years.

Dan
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Hammer · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:12 am Post subject:

We do have a time based qualifying system. Every HS meet can be a qualifying meet (as long as the meet meets the some specifics). The 2A times are pretty pedestrian compared to our big school compeditors but they do produce a fair Meet. We also can qualify at our District meet (the penultimate meet of the season.) The top relay frome each district automatically qualifies as do the top 2 in individual events. The Panthers are the 2nd best team in the District (in both boys and girls) but we dominate the middle distance events. We usually take 4 of the 6 scoring positions. The New Mexico scoring system favors sprint laden teams. We do not have a 4x800m relay but we do have a sprint medley (2-2-4- Cool

the usual 4x100, 4x400 and a 4x200. Relay winners earn 10 points while individual winners only earn 7.

Dan · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:25 am Post subject:

Wow, your system has a ton of differences from ours! Our only relays are the 4x100 and 4x400, and no difference in point scoring for relays and invididuals (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for everything). I like the Texas approach of scoring relays double, since they take away options for top individual athletes who have to choose between team glory and maxing out their individual events.

Are you only 2-3 weeks into the competitive season like us?

Dan
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Hammer · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:18 pm Post subject:

Our state starts T&F the 2nd week of January. We don't have a seperate indoor season so teams can use 1 indoor meet as a scrimage. But if an individual attends more than 1 indoor meet after Jan 16th then that athlete must count the meet as one of their 10 for T&F. Many of the larger schools started their outdoor season on the last saturday in Feburary or the first Saturday in March. Because most of our athletes participate in Basketball, we didn't start our season until March 18th. So this Saturday, April 1, will be our 3rd meet of the season. I schedule our meets for the weather. At higher altitudes we can get snow as late as May so we run as many meets as possible in Albuquerque which is 5,000ft in elevation. Pecos is at 7,000 and we travel to Carlsbad which is about 2,000.

Dan · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject:

Your season can start up to 4-5 weeks earlier than ours. I guess that makes sense with time-based qualifying and such a range of weather -- get the most opportunities possible for good times.

Dan
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Hammer · Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:28 pm Post subject:

Here is a quick update for those who remember me: My Boys XC team finished 3rd at the state meet and my #1 kid was runner-up.

I also picked up a new job writing articles for Dyestat.com. I am the editor for the Southwest region and was able to attend the Nike Team Nationals in December. (Hey Dan I was actually up in Oregon..I should have looked you up and we could have gone out for a run.) I still have that job so I will be back in Oregon next year. So check out my articles on Dyestat and let me know what you think.

Dan · Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:10 pm Post subject:

I must say, I didn't expect to see your name alongside the new post flag! Congrats on the State placings. Thumbs Up

Help me out here... I found the SW Region section on Dyestat, but where would one look for your articles?

http://dyestat.com/?pg=reg6

I opted not to attend NTN, so you would have missed me at the meet. Ironically, one of our favorite meets, the Nike Jim Danner Invite, has been moved to the site of NTN for next year, making it a pre-nationals meet. Everyone I've talked to is quite unhappy with the change (lousy course compared to where it was, higher entry fee, screwier entry standards), but it'll probably appeal to a lot of teams from around the country. Will you be up here to cover that (9/29)?

Dan
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Hammer · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:08 pm Post subject:

Dan- That is the correct site. Scroll down and check out all the articles by Sal or Salomon Gonzales. The dyestat gig is still only a side thing so I won't be up in Oregon for the Danner meet. I am thinking about traveling to Denver for the Liberty Bell meet but I would take my team with me. My boys would probably end up in the small school division but it will still be fun.

It is pretty easy to cover XC and never watch a meet. I met many of the runners and coaches I was covering for the first time in Oregon.

The Portland Meadows Course is NOT one of my favorites. It works for NTN because of the telecasts and location near NIKE but I don't think it is a CHAMPIONSHIP course. I would like to see them find a venue where they could have at least 800m for a straight start, a couple of real hills and then they could throw in the hay bales and the little roller coaster hills.

Dan · Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:44 pm Post subject:

Ah, now I see... Quick glance at your SW NTN preview looks pretty thorough.

One location that would fit that bill is Ft. Vancouver, just across the river. They've held several USATF championship meets there in recent years. Several long, straight shots for the start/finish area, modest sized loops for good spectating, and several respectable hills.

Dan
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