There will be a meeting for anyone interested in running cross country next season on Monday, May 20th right after school.  It will be held in room 2413, the Math ASC.  We will discuss summer training.  Hope to see everyone there!!

The boys cross country team is once again working at the GO! St. Louis Marathon sponsoring one of the water stations.  We have done this for the past several years and it is always a fun event to be a part of.  Last year our numbers were kind of low and I would like to make sure we have plenty of volunteers this year.  Any family or friends of Longhorn cross country who are willing to help would be much appreciated!

For those who like to plan in advance...

The weather cooperated this morning and we had a nice turnout (30) for the annual event.  It was a great opportunity to visit with friends and meet some old Longhorns.  We had three coaches, four parents, one future Longhorn, one Lady Longhorn, 8 present Longhorns and 13 alumni attend.  Many went for a run and all enjoyed hot chocolate, bagels and conversation.

Hopefully we will increase the numbers next year.  The tentative date will be Saturday, December 21 at 10:30.

Thanks to all that attended, and thanks to all that exercise on a regular basis.

Grant Aden - Future Longhorn
Maddy Brown - Lady Longhorn
Philip Aden - Present Longhorn
Andrew Osborne - Present Longhorn
James Liao - Present Longhorn
Ali Ahsan - Present Longhorn
Chris Carter - Present Longhorn
Sonny Jadali - Present Longhorn
Kevin Koboldt - Present Longhorn
Trey Osterholt - Present Longhorn
Alex Poppen - 2012
Nick Ingle - 2011
Andrew Reilly - 2011
Sean Duddy - 2010
Jake Lamke - 2010
Thomas Campbell - 2009
Eric Fernandez - 2008
Paul Chisholm - 2007
Evan Halsey - 2005
Bob Garrett - 1994
Matt Peters - 1994
Ben Davis - 1992
Mark Brimer - 1991
Mr. Aden - Parent
Juan Fernandez - Parent
Greg and Joyce John - Coach John's parents and Longhorn Supporters
Kevin John - Present Head Coach
Kristen Witt - Present Assistant Coach
Dale Shepherd - the old coach

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR...GO LONGHORNS!!

Last year we had a record 30+ attend the Alumni Run.  It would be great to have 40+ this year.

It was agreed  that we would meet on Saturday, December 22 at 10:30am in the upper parking lot at Queeny Park.  You are welcomed to come up and run or just visit or both.

We will have hot chocolate and bagels.

If you are going for a real long run you might come early and get your run in before 10:30.

I look forward to seeing many new faces this year...PASS THE WORD!!

If you have any questions you can reach me at sdshepherd@mindspring.com or 636-227-9063.

Coach Shepherd

 

I very much enjoyed the 2012 Longhorn Awards Banquet and wanted to thank the team and the parents for the banner and the gift card.  Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated.

Eric Fernandez (2008 West grad) and Thomas Campbell (2009 West grad) finished their  cross country careers at Arkansas and Lewis University earlier this month..

Thomas ran four years at Lewis University (located in Illinois just south of Chicago) and was a big part in the continued improvement of the Flyer Cross Country program.  Thomas  ran his last cross country race, the regional meet,  with a personal best of 32:27 for 10,000 meters and helped lead his team to their highest finish in the four years he competed.

Although Thomas did not have all of the individual honors that his former teammate, Eric, accomplished, he would, I am sure, tell you that he has no regrets about participating in cross country for four more years.  In fact, Thomas mentioned that when he finished high school he felt that there was just more that he wanted to accomplish with his running.  In addition, Thomas commented on the importance of the friendships that were developed from being a part of the team at Lewis and how important those friendships were in his college experience. 

Eric had a very successful cross country career as a Razorback and earned many individual honors along with helping his team place tenth in the 2012 NCAA National Championship Meet in Louisville earlier this month.  During his years at Arkansas (he was injured and reshirted in 2009), Eric was one of their top runners in '08, '10, '11, and 2012.  Eric's accomplishments include:  three SEC First Team Honors, 2011 SEC Individual Conference Champion,  four All-Regional honors (top 10 finishes), four trips to the NCAA Championships and All-American honors in 2011.  Eric had best times of 23:36 for 8K and 29:29 for 10K.  Eric learned to deal with adversity through his 2009 season and then this year while warming up for the regional meet he stepped on a hedge ball and twisted his ankle.  He raced but was on crutches after the race.  At the national meet the next week, his ankle was heavily taped but that did not keep him from competing and helping his team to that tenth place finish.

When asked about his thoughts on running in college, Eric said that it was really an honor to run for a program that possessed so much tradition and it was cool to be a part of something bigger than oneself.

Congratulations Thomas and Eric...the Longhorns are proud of you.  

The Longhorns finished up their season on Saturday at the State meet in Jeff City.  It was a beautiful morning for a race and the Longhorns finished the season off with a really good performance.  Nobody ran spectacular for the Longhorns but all 7 guys ran within themselves and did their jobs.  My favorite stat of the day was seeing the Longhorns were in last place as a team at the mile, and moved all the way up to 8th over the next 2.1 miles.  

Reminder to all members of the cross country team that today is our end of season meeting to turn in uniforms, vote for award winners, and vote for captains.