MAY 21

Congratulations to the St. Raymond Track Team

Our school team of 6th and 7th graders placed 5th overall at the PPSL League Championship Meet this past Sunday. With only 22 athletes on our team, we were significantly outnumbered by 12 of the 15 teams we competed against. Our athletes were very competitive in every event. Most of them achieved a personal best (time or distance) in their events, and every team member earned points and contributed to the team’s strong finish.

Our Cardinals set three new PPSL League records on Sunday:

• The 7th grade boys - most points earned by a single grade, with 86 (of possible 100)
• Nico Robinson - 7th grade boys record for the High Jump (5’5”)
• Joseph Diaz – 6th grade record the mile (5:13.98)
  

Here is a summary of what the entire team accomplished:

• 7th Grade boys – 1st place, League Champions (3 years in a row)
• 7th Grade girls - 4th place 7th Grade combined – 3rd place
  
• Nico Robinson – 1st – High Jump; 2nd – Long Jump (personal best in both)
• Ryan Gaertner – 1st – 800 (personal best); 1st – Mile
• Shane Artim – 2nd – Shot Put
• Michael Tripaldi – 2nd – 400 m (personal best)
• Ryan Karle - 2nd – 200 m; 4th – 100 m
• 4 x 100 Relay (Karle, Gaertner, Tripaldi, Robinson) – 1st
• 4 x 400 Relay (Taylor Chadwick, Michael Kaufman, Robert Smith, Michael Tripaldi) – 1st
  
• Kathryn Leahy - 1st – Mile; 2nd – 800 m (personal best in both)
• Cristina Wedekind - 4th – 100 m; 5th – 400 m
• Kate Bocci - 5th – 200 m
• 4 x 400 Relay (Bocci, Wedekind, Leahy, Quinton) – 2nd
  
• 6th Grade boys – 2nd place, League Runner-Up
• 6th Grade girls – 10th place 6th Grade combined – 3rd place
  
• Joseph Diaz - 1st – Mile (personal best)
• Lucas Lonergan – 2nd – 400 m (personal best)
• Joey Shimono - 3rd – 100 m & 200 m
• Christopher Yancey - 4th – 800 m (personal best)
• Tim Mandema - 4th – High Jump
• 4 x 100 team (Mandema, Shimono, Diaz, Lonergan) – 3rd
• 4 x 400 team (Mandema, Yancey, Lonergan, Diaz) – 1st
  
• Molly Quinton - 1st – 800 m; 3rd – 400 m (also on 7th girls 4 x 400 relay team)
• Lindsay Karle - 5th – 100 m; 7th – 200 m
• Ellie Moutrup - 9th – shot put
  

With this entire team returning next year, and with the addition of our awesome 5th graders moving up with them, our Cardinal 6th, 7th, and 8th grade team will be one of the strongest in the League. We hope you will join your classmates on the team and come out and have some fun! Congratulations Cardinals! Thanks for another great season.

MAY 12

Hi Everyone, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! Some brief track info for this coming week:

• Monday - NO practice; the kids can do a short jog on their own
• Tuesday - track meet at SHP. Start time is 3:45.
  Please have all athletes at SHP no later than 3:30, in uniform and ready to warm-up. We will NOT be running over as a team from St. Raymond.
  We'd appreciate some help with water and gatorade on Tuesday. If two or three families could volunteer to bring a case of water and/or gatorade, we would be in good shape. Also, when the track meet is over, can everyone please do a quick walk around the infield and stands, and pick up/throw out all empty bottles. Our kids left quite a mess on Friday.
• Thursday - Practice, 5:00 - 6:15 at Menlo College. Please note the shortened practice time. This will be a quick speed tune-up for Sunday.
• Sunday - PPSL Championship Meet at Chabot College

Chabot Meet Notes

• 10:00 Start time for Field Events - Shane Artim, Tim Mandema and Nico Robinson need to arrive by 9:40 for their 10:00 events. Ellie Moutrup needs to arrive by 11:15.
• 12:30 Start time for Running Events. (EVERYONE should be at Chabot by 12:00). However, if the 4 x 4 relay is your only event, and you can't be there for the whole meet, please be sure to arrive by 3:45. (Robert Smith, Jack Carmassi, Taylor Chadwick, Michael Kaufman).
• Some specific PPSL rules - NO jewelry, long hair tied back, matching uniforms, relay teams must have identical tops (including undershirts). For the boys on the relay teams, we'd prefer that they not wear shirts under their uniform top. For the girls, please wear either a white tank top or white short sleeve shirt. This rule will be strictly enforced by league officials.
• I'll provide more specific start times for our field event athletes later in the week, but for now, plan on a 10:00 start time.

Also, can we please have a parent volunteeer to coordinate bringing coolers with drinks and maybe some snacks for the kids for Sunday. It's supposed to be a hot day, and the kids will need to keep hydrated. Three cases each of water and gatorade should be more than enough. Good snacks would be pretzels, granola bars, bananas, oranges, etc. We have plenty of track families, so I'm confident we can make this happen.

Looking ahead, the Hershey Nor-Cal qualifying meet will be on Saturday, June 14th. This meet is a qualifier for the national Hershey meet in PA. To be eligible for the Nor-Cal meet, you need to finish in either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place at the 5th grade Invitational or at the PPSL Championship meet. Many of our 5th graders have already qualified, and many of our 6th and 7th graders will qualify on Sunday. One additional determining factor for eligibility is birthdate. So before we discuss participation in this meet with any of the athletes, we need to know their birthdates (MM/DD/YY). It is all based on a two-year age grouping and times. It ends up that 5th and 6th graders may fall into the same age group, or 6th and 7th graders fall into the same age group, so it's all based on who has the best time.

If you would like your athlete to be considered for the Nor-Cal meet, please email me the birthdate and availability.Thanks. See you Tuesday at SHP. Coach Jackie

MAY 7

Hi Everyone,

If it's okay with all the parents, here are the logistics we think would work best for Friday's track meet at SHP.

• The kids should bring their track uniform and spikes in a gym bag to school on Friday, and keep them in their homeroom classroom.
  
• Or, you can meet your athlete at 2:55, and exchange their track stuff for their back-pack.
  
• At dismissal, the kids should change into their track uniforms (not their spikes yet), drop off their back-packs to mom/dad/grandma and meet me at the lunch tables outside the gym.
  
• I will gather all of their gear bags into my car and bring them over to the track.
  
• At 3:15, we will jog over as a team to the Sacred Heart Track, for our initial warm-up.
  
• 7th/8th graders will be instructed to split up so that they are in the lead and the rear of the group.
  
• The team will be given specific instructions; they will jog "double-file" (in pairs) on the left side of Arbor Road, facing traffic.
• They will make a left onto Valparaiso and wait at the crosswalk light. Once they cross, they will jog on the sidewalk/path that runs parallel to the SHP campus, and will make a right into the main entrance of SHP. They will continue jogging to the pathway that leads to the track, and will gather as a group near the long jump area (to the right of the goalpost).
  
• Volunteers - I would really appreciate if we could have 3 or 4 parents available during the jog, and to help me unload the bags at SHP. I'd like to station one parent at the corner of Arbor and Valparaiso, and another parent at the crosswalk. (Jennifer K., Susan M., can you help out with this? ) Please find me at the tables around 3:00.
  
• The kids will need drinks/snacks. I'll try to bring some trail mix and pretzels, and a case of water or gatorade. It would be great if we could have one or two other parents also bring a case of drinks.
  
• We'll get the kids right into warm-up drills, stretching, strides, baton practice, etc. so that they are ready for a 3:45 start. Not a lot of time to dilly-dally.
  
• (If anyone is arriving a little later, no problem. Just make sure to meet up with the team).
  
• Everyone has to stay up on the stands with the beverages and food, except for the athletes who are competing and the coaches.

It will be a fun afternoon and good practice for the kids. There will be some tough competition!

p.s. Sister Ann Bernard will be stopping by at the beginning of the meet. I am confident that our kids will be on their best behavior and will act like the terrific athletes they are!

See you Friday. Thx - Coach Jackie

MAY 4

Hi Everyone,
Great job today by all! We are so proud of every one of our St. Raymond athletes. I should have the final results by Tuesday to confirm who qualified for the championship meet to be held on 5/18 at Chabot. In the meantime, here is the practice schedule for this week. We would like everyone to continue practicing, regardless of whether you think you qualified or not.

I'll be at school tomorrow morning to make a brief announcement at assembly.

• Monday - NO PRACTICE; relax and do your homework.
• Tuesday - Practice, 5:00 - 6:30 Menlo College. Let's get right into warm-ups and stretching, and try to be on the track by 5:30, before the mass of kids from the other schools. This will be a challenging, but very beneficial speed/interval workout. Please try to be there!
• Wednesday - Practice, 5:00 - 6:15 Menlo College.
• Friday - Track Meet at Sacred Heart Prep, right after school (I'm waiting for confirmation of start time from the St. Joe's coach). This is an informal meet, so we don't need to submit a roster ahead of time. You just show up, warm up and stretch, and run a few races. It'll be a great tune-up for us.

Good job, parents, making sure your athletes were well rested, well fed, and ready to go today. They were awesome!

Thanks - Coach Jackie

APRIL 23

St. Raymond Track & Field Update

The St. Raymond track & field team is represented this year by a very competitive group of 5th, 6th, and 7th graders. They are having a great season so far, and have certainly made it known throughout the PPSL that they really like to win. The 5th graders have competed in 3 regular league meets, and one Invitational, and the 6th and 7th graders have competed in 4 regular league meets. All of our athletes are working hard and are achieving some remarkable individual results! Some of them are highlighted at the end of this update, with more to follow in the coming weeks. The team is gearing up for the upcoming Divisional and League championship meets - The Divisional meet is on Sunday, May 4th at Woodside High School, starting at 12:30. If you can, please come by and support your team.

Congratulations to our Fantastic 5th Graders. This past Saturday, they competed at the St. Veronica’s Invitational 5th grade meet against more than 200 other 5th graders from the 15 PPSL schools, and earned the title of PPSL 5th Grade League Champiions. They were impressive competitors and ambassadors for our school, showing great team spirit, comraderie, sportsmanship, and school pride. Our boys and girls teams combined took first place overall with 150.5 of a possible 200 total points. With each place finish earning points (10 for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 7 for 3rd, etc. through 9th place), EVERYONE one of our athletes contributed to the team’s success.

Our 5th grade boys finished in first place, with 85.5 (of a possible 100) total points. They won 6 of the 10 events, and finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th in the other 4 events. Our field event guys had a great day. Philip Myers took 4th in the Long Jump, a very competitive event, with a jump of 11’ 8”, Luke Gardner took 3rd in the high jump by clearing the bar at 3’10” (a personal best for him), and Andrew Robinson took 2nd in the shot put with a throw of 28’ 2”, just shy of 1st. The running events started with our 4 x 100 relay team of Matt O’Dell, Andrew Robinson, Phil Myers, and Adam Greenlow blazing across in 1st place with a time of 59 seconds, just shy of a new 5th grade record (currently held by our speedy 7th grade 4 x 100 relay team). Adam Greenlow ran a 1:09 to dominate the 400, and then won the mile in 6 minutes flat. Matt O’Dell ran a strong 100 for a 6th place finish, adding more points to the team total, and Riley Haught arrived just in time to make a statement in the 200 with a decisive first place time of 30.03. Our 4 x 400 relay team of Luke Gardner, Matt O’Dell, Phil Myers, and Riley Haught finished off a great day of running with their impressive time of 5.10.50. Rudy Diaz was also very strong in the long jump and 100, and was ready to run the 4 x 400 as an alternate, if needed.

Our 5th grade girls finished in second place, with 65 total points. We had one win, 4 second places, and 3 third places. The girls picked up some points in field events, with a second place finish by Catherine Yancey in the shot put, and an 8th place finish by Chloe Owen in the Long Jump. Caiomhe MacRunnels was a tough competitor in the high jump and will be one to watch over the next few years. Our relay teams had great exchanges and ran really strong. Our first 4 x 100 team of Chloe Owens, Mackenzie Doyle, Yasmine El Hage, and Claire Huo took 3rd place overall, against 18 other relay teams. Our second 4 x 100 relay team of Theresa Tiso, Catherine Yancey, Fiona Jackson, and Caiomhe MacRunnels also did well, with a 2nd place finish in their heat. Yasmine El Hage was a strong competitor in the distance races, finishing second in both the 800 (with a 3.01) and the mile (a 7.01), her personal best in both events! Mackenzie Doyle stole first in the 400 by a fraction of a second with a time of 1:17.19, and took 3rd in the 100 against some really fast runners. Claire Huo showed her tenacity by taking 3rd in the 200 with a 32.71, just edging out her nearest competitor at the finish line. The 4 x 400 relay team of Chloe Owens, Fiona Jackson, Caiomhe MacRunnels, and Claire Huo finished the day with a strong 3rd place finish with a time of 5:51.92, a fraction of a second off the 2nd place time. The St. Raymond track coaches are very excited about the talent and great potential of our 5th grade athletes, and we certainly hope they continue with the track program through their years at St. Raymond!

We also want to congratulate our 6th and 7th grade team members for their amazing accomplishments so far this season. They continue to work hard and challenge themselves at practice, and are inspired by the enthusiasm and energy of our 5th grade dynamos. We are also very proud of the excellent role models they have been for our younger athletes! With one more regular league meet left, several of our athletes currently hold the best times or heights/distances in the PPSL for their individual events (that’s out of 15 schools!).

For the 7th Grade:

• Boys 4 x 100 relay team (Michael Tripaldi, Ryan Karle, Ryan Gaertner, Nico Robinson) – 54.15
• Ryan Gaertner – 800m (2:19), 400m (1;02)
• Nico Robinson – High Jump, 5’ 2”
• Kathryn Leahy – 800m (2:37)
• Shane Artim – Shot Put (35’ 3”)
• For the 6th Grade:
• Joseph Diaz – Mile (5.33)
• Joey Shimono – Long Jump (14’ 4”)

Also, many of our athletes are achieving personal bests on a weekly basis, and have gained the confidence to set some very aggressive goals for themselves for their remaining meets. Last weekend, 6th grader Molly Quinton took 12 seconds off her best 800m time with an impressive 2:48 finish. She is also a very tough 400m runner and a member of the girls 7th grade relay teams. Lindsay Karle is our speedster in the girls 100 and 200, and is a spark plug on the 7th grade girls 4 x 100 relay. Sophia Mandema and Ellie Moutrup continue to improve their 100m and 200m times and are representing the 6th grade well in the high jump and long jump. For the boys, Christopher Yancey continues to take seconds off his 800m time, this past weekend clocking a very aggressive 2:52. Lucas Lonergan is also running strong, and his 400 time of 1:09 will be hard to beat. Tim Mandema continues to be a tough contender in the high jump arena, clearing 4’ 2”. Joseph Diaz, while dominating the mile, is also strong in the 400m and 800m races. Joey Shimono not only flies in the long jump, but on the track as well, in the 100m and 200m sprints. And with only 5 boys on the 6th grade team, they are all members of two very strong relay teams .

In the 7th grade, our trio of Kathryn Leahy, Kate Bocci, and Cristina Wedekind continue to frustrate the competition. All three have double duty on both relays, in addition to their individual events. Kathryn likes to run from the front, and currently leads the PPSL pack in both the 800 and the mile, Cristina is running confident and is dominating the 100m and 200m with her deceptive speed, and Kate is the rising star of the 400m and Long Jump with her most recent 1st place finishes. For the boys, Ryan Gaertner is running with a target on his back. With times just shy of the league records in both the 400m and 800m, he is leading the PPSL in both events. He is also a key member of both boys relay teams. Nico Robinson, in addition to his incredible hops at the high jump, is also on both relay teams and is burning up the track with his impressive speed. Ryan Karle is a fierce competitor in the 100m, 200m, and on the 4 x 1 relay team. If you blink, you might miss him! Michael Tripaldi, Robert Smith, and Michael Kaufman have the speed and the hops that make them a threat to any competitor, whether it’s the 400m, the 200m, the long jump or high jump, or when they’re on the track for the 4 x 1 and 4 x 4 relays teams. Jacob Myers and Jack Carmassi have moved up to become strong contenders in the long jump and 200m, and run strong legs on both relay teams. Andrew Latham, a welcome addition to our team this year, has been very impressive in the mile. He has bettered his time each week, and this past weekend clocked his personal best time of 6:23. He is also strong competitor in the shot put. Chayan Tronson also continues to see his time improve each week as well, competing in the 100m and 200m, and presents a real threat in the shot put event. Shane Artim, with a 35’ 3” throw, is currently holding the best throw in the league so far in the shot put. He is also a strong runner in the 200m and 400m events. Lastly, we are very excited that Taylor Chadwick has recovered from his shoulder injury and is back on the track. Taylor adds strength to our team in the long jump, 400m and the mile, and we are looking forward to his success and contribution to the team in those events.

Each of our team members reflects the incredible amount of heart, confidence and determination needed to be successful in track and field. We are proud of their work ethic, competitive spirit, and desire to win. And we define “win” as being more than crossing the finish line first or going the farthest or highest. As they say in the Olympics, “stronger, higher, faster”. It’s all about challenging yourself to find out who you are and what you can do! Our athletes are winners!

We’ll keep you updated on their successes in the coming weeks. In the meantime, please come out and support them! They’ll be at Woodside High School on Sunday, May 4th for the PPSL South Division Championship. The meet starts at 12:30. We hope to see you there.

APRIL 21

Hi Everyone,
What a great weekend of track for St. Raymond. Congrats to our awesome 5th grade team for their first place finish on Saturday at the St. Veronica's Invitational/League Championship. My intent Monday morning, providing I can drag myself out of bed, is to make an announcement at morning assembly to recognize the 5th graders and let them present their plaques to the school!

Congrats to our 6th and 7th graders who really rocked today (against 2 PPSL teams and a non-league team). We had several personal best accomplishments, and the kids are looking really good for very strong performances through the rest of the season.

Our practice schedule will change, effective this week, due to Tuesday night conflicts at the Menlo track.Starting tomorrow, we are now scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights at Menlo from 5:00 - 6:30 pm. Hopefully many of our athletes who had Tuesday night conflicts can now join us on Wednesday. We will be working a little harder at practice to start prepping the kids for peak performances at their division and championship meets.

There is one regular league meet left next Sunday at Burlingame for everyone (5th graders included). The 6th and 7th graders have a divisional championship meet on Sunday, May 4th at Woodside. 5th graders, please come and cheer us on. Then, we're on to the PPSL League championship meet, Sunday May 18th at Chabot College.

In the meantime, we also have been invited to participate at two track meets hosted by St. Joseph's over at the Sacred Heart Prep track. They are on Friday, May 9th, and Tuesday, May 13th, right after school. I'll get you all the details soon - 5th through 8th graders will be competing in events up to the 800m.

Thanks to all the parents who helped us this weekend. We can't get through these meets without you, and we are grateful! See you at practice Monday.Thx - Coach Jackie

APRIL 14

Hi Everyone,
Another great day yesterday for our young athletes. The heat made things a little more challenging, but we're proud of how well all the kids handled it, and the competition! It was really nice to see some of the kids achieve personal bests on some of their events. It just reinforces all of the hard work at practices and helps them believe in themselves. I don't have the final results yet, but I'm pretty confident that each of the grade teams came out on top. Next weekend will be very busy.

On Saturday, we have the St. Veronica's 5th Grade Invitational, at San Mateo H.S., starting time at 10:00. I'm working on finalizing the roster for tomorrow, and will email everyone when it's done so that you can plan accordingly. I think we have 4 or 5 of the kids in field events, and I'll let you know for sure who needs to arrive and what time. Thank you Tom & Janet for letting us borrow your shade tent yesterday - if it's hot on Saturday, can you pls. bring it again? We would also like to borrow it for our meet on Sunday for the older grades. We are hosting it and will need a tent over the scorer's table and chairs.

On Sunday, we have our regular league meet for 6th and 7th graders at Burlingame H.S. Field events start at 12:30, running events start at 2:00. We'll let you know who will be doing field events by Saturday. Parents, we are HOSTING this meet on Sunday, and will need several volunteers to help us out.

Terry & Miyuki, can you help us out by running the shot put event?
Nick & Barclay, can you guys help us out as the starter and the official time keeper/scorer one
We'll need at least 2 more volunteers for timing, and 2 - 3 volunteers to handle the scoring paperwork (maybe a few high schoolers who need volunteer hours).

If any of our 5th grade parents would like to volunteer at our Sunday meet, we'd love your help.Please let me know ASAP if you can help out. I need to make sure we have enough coverage. Thanks - Coach Jackie

APRIL 11

This Sunday's (April 12th) track meet is at Burlingame High School. Same start time of 12:30 for all 5th grade running events, and 6th-8th grade field events. Please arrive NO LATER than 12:00 for proper warm-ups and pre-race drills. It would also help to stretch at home in the morning before leaving for the meet. It will be Hot - please bring/use sunscreen, bring plenty to drink and light snacks for your athlete. If anyone has a fold-up tent, we'd love if you could bring it so the kids can sit under it in between events.

6th/7th grade field event participants for 12:00 arrival:

• Yancey - shot put
  
• Mandema - high jump
  
• Shimono - long jump
  
• S. Mandema - high jump
  
• L. Karle - Long Jump
  
• Bocci - Long jump
  
• R. Karle - long jump
  
• Robinson - Long jump, high jump
  
• Smith - long jump
  
• Kaufman - high jump
  
• Meyers - long jump, shot put
  
• Tronson - shot put
  
• Latham - shot put
  
• Artim - shot put

5th graders - ALL should arrive by 12:00.

We'll need a few volunteers again to help out with timing and one of the field events. On Sunday, can you please let us know by 12:30 if you can help out.

Thanks
Coach Jackie

MARCH 31

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to say CONGRATULATIONS to all of our track team members who competed today. We are so proud of the energy, enthusiasm, effort, and sportsmanship that was displayed by everyone!

All of our athletes should feel very good about how they competed, no matter what place they finished. This was an excellent start for everyone, with some very good times, despite the strong headwinds working against them. It is really nice to see the "fire" in the belly once these kids get on the track, and they showed it today!

We are back to our regular practice schedule this week; Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at Menlo College, 5:00 - 6:30. We would like to encourage everyone now to come to the Monday night practices; it's good to have a solid workout the day after a meet. So on Mondays, distance runners will do a recovery run with Nick, and the sprinters and long jumpers will stay at the track with me. We'll do some speed work, and then practice long jump.

Our meet next Sunday is at Carlmont High School. I've listed the meet schedule again below. Please note that the 5th graders will have their Invitational Meet on SATURDAY, April 19th, starting at 10:00. Please mark your calendars.

• Sunday, April 6th - Carlmont High School 12:00 (5th - 8th grades)
• Sunday, April 13th - Burlingame High School 12:00 (5th - 8th grades)
• Saturday, April 19th - St. Veronica's Invitational 5th grade meet - San
  Mateo HighSchool - 10:00 (5th graders only)
• Sunday, April 20th - Burlingame High School 12:00 (6th - 8th grades, NO 5th
  graders)
• Sunday, April 27th - Burlingame High School 12:00 (5th - 8th grades)
• Sunday, May 4th - Divisional Meet (Qualifier for League Championship) - 6th
  - 8th grades
• Sunday, May 18th - League Championship Meet (all 6th - 8th graders who
  qualified at divisional meet)

Congratulations again. Please let your athletes know that they represented themselves and their school very well today, and we (their coaches) are extremely proud of them! And thanks to all the parents for helping out and for being there for moral support! We hope you enjoyed the show!

Thanks - Coach Jackie

MARCH 17

Hi Everyone,

Due to Easter break, the track practice schedule for the next two weeks is slightly modified, as follows:

Monday, 3/17 - practice for Everyone - Menlo College, 5:00 - 6:30
Tuesday, 3/18 - practice for Everyone - Menlo College, 5:00 - 6:30
Thursday, 3/20 - NO practice

Monday, 3/24 - NO practice
Tuesday, 3/25 - practice for Everyone - Menlo College, 5:00 - 6:30
Thursday, 3/27 - practice for Everyone - Menlo College, 5:00 - 6:30
Friday, 3/28 - possible practice for starts and relay exchances - to be announced

Reminder, our first track meet is Sunday, March 30th at Serra High School, arrival time 12:00 or before!
Volunteers welcome and encouraged! It's a great way to be right there in the middle of all the action.
Please let me know if you can help - just track me down before the meet starts and we'll get you set up.

Also, if you have a high schooler who wants community service hours, the track meets are a great way to earn them.

Thanks
Coach Jackie

MARCH 12

Hello Everyone,

We have arranged for a 20% discount for all St. Raymond track team members at The Runners High, Santa Cruz Avenue, MP (right next door to Baskin-Robbins, one of my FAVORITE places). We thought this would be the most convenient place to pick up a pair of track spikes for your athlete. The staff there is very "runner savvy" and they have a large inventory of what the kids will need.

The 20% discount applies to spikes, as well as all other merchandise purchased in their store, and is valid starting today through Sunday (March 23rd). You can stop in anytime during these 5 days and let them know that you are with the St. Raymond School track team. If your salesperson is not familiar with the arrangement, either ask for Adam or tell them that I made these arrangement with Adam this morning. Also, if you haven't already purchased a good pair of running shoes for your athlete, this might be a good time to do so. They have quite a few selections on sale.

The staff is well qualified to help with the proper selection of track spikes, but we thought it might also be fun to go in as a group, and then I could be helpful as well (if needed). I plan to be there Friday after school, from 3:00 until about 4:30, to help as needed. Any team member who stops in at the store during that time will be treated to a Baskin Robbins ice cream.

If you choose to go in on your own, here are some suggestions for appropriate spikes:

• All 5th and 6th graders - ask for a mid-distance spike. These have a small heel which is better for entry level racers, and will work for the kids for just about any event.
• Lindsay and Ryan K, you are strictly sprinters, and should ask for a youth sprint shoe.
• 7th and 8th graders - Most of you will be competing in sprints and middle distance, so you should ask for a light-weight mid-distance spike as well.

Please don't be discouraged if they run out of your size in your shoe choice. They will make a special order once we're finished, and have the shoes in within a week at the latest. If you plan to come in Friday after school, just drop me a quick note so that I have an idea of how many kids to expect. If you stop in anytime after Sunday, the team discount will be 10%. Just mention St. Raymond School track team.

Any q's, please let me know.
Thanks
Coach Jackie

MARCH 10

Practices:

Mondays (distance runners only); meet at 5:00 at Menlo College track unless notified of alternate location. Pick-up at 6:15 pm. (Sprinters can attend Monday practice only if they have conflicts with Tues/Thurs. practices)

Tuesdays/Thursdays - Everyone; meet at 5:00 at Menlo College track. Be ready to run. Pick-up at 6:15 pm. After the clocks change,
pick-up will be at 6:30 pm.

Bring sweatshirt, running sneakers (NO SPIKES), and water/gatorade. We will not be using track spikes during practices, but will be racing in them at all of the track meets. We will have a "spike night" at The Runners High within the next two weeks. We'll let you know as soon as we have everything coordinated. Coaches will be on-hand to help our athletes select the appropriate racing spikes.

Be sure to bring regular running shoes to all of the track meets for warm-up and cool-down purposes.

Meets:

• Sunday, March 30th - Serra High School 12:00 (5th - 8th grades)
• Sunday, April 6th - Carlmont High School 12:00 (5th - 8th grades)
• Sunday, April 13th - Burlingame High School 12:00 (5th - 8th grades)
• Saturday, April 19th - St. Veronica's Invitational 5th grade meet - San Mateo HighSchool - 10:00 (5th graders only)
• Sunday, April 20th - Burlingame High School 12:00 (6th - 8th grades, NO 5th graders)
• Sunday, April 27th - Burlingame High School 12:00 (5th - 8th grades)
• Sunday, May 4th - Divisional Meet (Qualifier for League Championship) - 6th - 8th grades
• Sunday, May 18th - League Championship Meet (all 6th - 8th graders who qualified at divisional meet)

Track spikes will be used during track meet competition.

We've had a great turnout at our practices so far this week, and the kids are really enthusiastic and full of energy. That's a great way to get our season started! Please encourage your son/daughter to stretch often, especially before and after practices. This is really important to prevent injury and to keep their muscles flexible.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thx
Coach Jackie