Friday, February 18, 2011

journalism demo



The author of this little piece manages to take shallow to new depths. His use of corporate logos and subtle humor exposes the emptiness behind the strip mall facades of suburbia. As a bonus he gets you to smile while he is calling you a loser.

That takes talent.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

New Website Under Construction

Check out new website at this link: www.ShorewoodHighCC.org. Please note that it is under construction so much work needs to be done.

Monday, August 10, 2009

2009 Season Creeps Up!


The kids have been running all summer and the season is now right around the corner. To kick things off, the coaches want to meet with the parents this Thursday, August 13th at 6:30 pm in the SIS Commons. Tentative agenda:
Parent meeting agenda:
1. Introduction of the Coaches: Sarah Kopplin and Dominic Newman
2. Mission of the Program.
3. Rules of Participation.
4. Parent Support.
5. Dealing with the Athlete.
6. The Team Web Site.
7. Awards Night: SIS Cafeteria. Date
8. Items from the Floor.

The CC Season is as much fun for the parents as it is for the kids. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Are you running yet?


Okay, I'm going to get some grief for this post but the article is too good to ignore.


Runner's world is out with a lengthy interview of Sarah Palin that focuses on her 35 years as a runner. In particular she talks about running in -30 degree weather and running at night and early in the morning in order to stay on track for her goals. It kind of puts our weather into perspective.


Even if you don't like her politics, you should still read the article. If for no other eason than to remember that running transcends politics.




What's on her running IPOD?


"I kick off my runs with the old Van Halen and AC/DC, then I get into my country music, then I always wrap it up with a couple mellow Amy Grant songs."


Cheers,


dash

Monday, January 05, 2009

New season ... new site

Track isn't cross country so it has it's own site... the link is over on the right.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

State Honors for Shorewood Runners...

Note from Coach Dom:
WOW and we all thought the CC season was over with all the Honors? After I send this out I think I can take a break from the season! Congrats goes out to Ben Tyler and Peter Drews for earning Second Team All State in Cross Country. While Emily Bachhuber earned First Team All State. Listed below in red. Another exciting finish to the season is that the top 7 individuals that ran at the State Meet will earn the WCCCA Academic ALL State Awards. This was earned by averaging the top 5 GPA's on the team and if we had a GPA higher then a 3.4 then all 7 will receive a certificates for recognizing their academic achievements. We had a combined GPA of 3.94 for our top five and a 3.76 for our top 7. It just goes to show how Athletics and Academics goes hand in hand. Awards will also be presented to all runners with a GPA of 3.5 or above based on a 4.0 system (I'm Sure that Emily is in there). I'm equally proud of your accomplishments on and off the course. Keep up the GREAT studying habits!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Coach Dom Named Area Coach of the Year!

Coach Dom earned well-deserved recognition from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel by being selected the Coach of the Year. Congratulations Dom and thanks for all of what you do for our kids!

Emily Bacchuber, Ben Tyler Named to First Team; Peter Drews to Second Team
Congratuations also goes out to Emily, Ben and Peter for being recognized as All-Area Cross Country runners by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Here are some links for more information:
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/34561394.html
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/34561384.html
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/34561504.html

Sunday, November 02, 2008

CC Banquet Nov 5th! Also Check Out Girls Sectionals Commentary Below

A little note to let you all know when the cross country banquet is. It will be on Wednesday Nov. 5th at 6:00pm in the SIS commons. Mark your calendars!

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Bittersweet Ending of Season for Shorewood Boys.

David Drews great pictures - really tells the story:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=benxbof.4u9zmrwr&Uy=abndnb&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=791423203009_654523271211&localeid=en_US

My Instamatic camera shots:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dontyler22/2008CCStateMeet#

Results:
http://www.wiaawi.org/results/crosscountry/2008/bd2results.pdf

Shorewood Boys Place 5th; Tyler 5th; Drews 8th; Emily Takes Third!
The boys wrapped up their 2008 cross country season on The Ridges in Wisconsin Rapids at the Wisconsin State Meet in fine fashion. It was a beautiful day; almost like the kids were cheating or something. It's suppose to be raw and windy for state meet. A light breeze out of the northeast, temperature in the low 50s and the sun shining made for perfect conditions for running and cheering.

Some might say that we should be disappointed with a 5th place finish; perhaps that's so. But considering what this rag-tag team had to do to have the rare privilege of making it to state, it's quite a remarkable achievement. This young team had to step up and come together after learning that their state champion runner, Kevin McCollow, was not likely to return. Many teams might have rolled over at that point. Not this young team of champions. They came together like I have never seen before, and truly ran as one, finding more within themselves than they ever thought possible. I believe as they look back as adults on this year, many will point to this season as a formative period in their life. They learned much about coming together as a team; learned about the value of remaining disciplined; and they learned much about the power of believing in themselves. I suspect that most of the boys achieved more this year than than imagined they could. To me, that's the making of a championship team...and most of them are returning next year! Finally, Dom, Alec, the alumni and our co-captains should be commended for their great leadership in shaping, directing and managing this team.

The Rundown
So what do you get when you combine a beautiful fall day in northern Wisconsin, 1,000 of the best cross country runners in the state and 10,000 fans on a golf course that has for its name, The Ridges? A day of energized runners and fans! There is nothing like a state meet experience: for a champion runner, it's running with the best of the best as fans line up four deep to cheer you on; for the fans, it's sprinting across the golf course from one vantage point to another, with a big smile on your face because it is so cool to see these kids reach deep for all of what they've got. What a great day!

The starting line is a wide stretch of lawn at the base of the golf course driving range; just behind the line are six 30 foot stars and stripes banners taking in the surprisingly light breeze. The boys are going through their final warm up drills as the fans line up along the first 400 yard stretch, waiting with nervous energy for the 1 minute announcement. The countdown starts at ten and stops at five when the gun goes off. A mass of 150 runners converge toward the fans as the course narrows.

A Mad Dash for Position
As the runners volley for position and turn east behind team tents (that has the look of a scout jamboree according to one Shorewood dad), a wave of fans run madly across the field for the next best position either at the one mile mark or just above a valley that takes the boys right past you after a steep curving incline.

The elite runners are tightly packed together as they charge this hill, charging the turn and the hill, bumping and jockeying for position. As expected, the two Port boys, Allen and Ross are there along with Lauderbach, Holguin and a surprise contender in the name of Kinnard. Ben Tyler is in the middle of the pack at this point. The masses swarm by with Peter Drews right in the mix, followed by Aidan Mazur, John Taylor, Joe Pendleton, Brendan Vorpahl and as always, followed by Sam Dupuis hanging back for his move later in the race.

At the mile mark, the lead group is pacing at 5 minutes, about what is expected. The course widens as it takes a turn down the long 9th hole fairway. This wide stretch of the course starts off relatively flat but then suddenly drops down a long hill. Watching from the bottom of the hill you hear the crowds first and then you see the lead ATV crest the hill on the horizon. Then, suddenly, the leaders pop over the hill and you can see that the top five or six runners are all running side by side. It's a remarkable scene, watching these top state runners "run as one", blasting down the hill together. Tyler is in the thick of the lead while Drews is not far behind, starting to think about making his move. The Shorewood Core is doing there job in the middle of the pack.

The Sweep Around the Pond
Fans race to the next vantage point on a ridge overlooking a pond. From a distance you can hear the sound of the lead ATV as it approaches the big sweep around the pond. As the ATV pierces the line of trees, the fans see that a lead runner broke from the pack. It was Tyler, breaking away at the 1.5 mile mark as counseled by Coach Dom. Port Washington's Allen is about four strides away. Tyler holds the lead around the pond, through the beach, the woods, up the 18th hole fairway, up into the roller coaster twist and turns past the storage shed and back down the hill toward the pond. The boys drive hard down the hill on their way to the lonely outlying area of the course to the 2.5 mile mark. During this time, Drews begins to make his steady climb to the top of the pack, working on one of his nemesis, Alex Holguin and aiming his sights on Bobby Laabs. As the dedicated Shorewood fans were watching the scene develop, the news was somewhat bifurcated. On one hand, Tyler had the lead with Drews making a strong move to the head of the pack; John Taylor was looking good but Aidan Mazur started slipping and Vorpahl, Pendleton and Dupuis looked solid. The potential outcome was unclear for sure.


The Long Wait....
As the runners stretched out the last 3/4 mile in the distance, the fans rushed and fought for position along the long uphill finish chute. Others ran to the base of the chute, upward toward the long loop around to get a glimpse of the lead runners. As the ATV popped out of the woods, you could see that the lead had changed. Allen was now in the lead with Tyler having a tough time. Kinnard, Lauderbach and Ross were not far behind him. Tyler was still second at the turn toward the chute but you could tell he was in trouble. By the finish line, Ross had sprinted to virtually tie Allen for first and Lauderbach and Kinnard had a kick that blew them by Tyler, who finished fifth with a time of 16:10.

While this dramatic finish was playing out, Drews had plenty on his hands. Always with a strong kick, he was working on Laabs as Holguin was working on him. It was a sprint for all three of them right to the finish with Laabs coming in just before Drews and Drews out striding Holguin. Drews finished 8th with an impressive time of 16:17. Tyler had the third fastest Shorewood time at state.

The Shorewood Core Finishes Strong
As the number 3 runner for Shorewood, Taylor hit the hill hard trying hard to fight off a pack of boys sprinting for position; he finished with an impressive 17:21 (about what Drews and Tyler did last year at State), placing 62nd. Vorpahl did what he needed to do, breaking 18 minutes on this tough course, coming in at 17:59. Same Dupuis was directly behind him at 18:02, and Joe Pendleton at 18:07. Mazur appeared to have lost his stride somewhere at the halfway point and had a very tough, and I know disappointing, finish for him. Of course, there is always a lesson in both good and bad experiences. I remember watching Ben's devastating 3200 run at the State Track Meet last spring. You could tell he was hurting; but he apparently took something away from the experience because he quickly moved on and had a great cross country season. I suspect that's where Aidan will be as well.


And That's the Way it Was...
So we bid adieu to the wonderful season, all the great times and memories and our boys and girls who learned so much about sportsmanship, camaraderie and pushing themselves beyond their limits. Thanks coaches for taking on our projects and helping us shape them into wonderful adults. You've been great! See most everyone next year!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Shorewood Boys Headed to State; Emily Qualifies Individually!

Link to Map of Course:
http://www.wiaawi.org/maps/cccourse.pdf

Link to Schools and Individuals Qualifying for State
http://wisconsinxc.com/D2/D2TeamsQualifiers.php

Link to WIAA Press Release Highlighting the Competition:
http://www.wiaawi.org/releases/2008-09/ccrelease.pdf

Link to Google Map Directions:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=1701+E+Capitol+Dr,+Shorewood,+WI+53211+(Shorewood+High+School)&daddr=2311+Griffith+Ave,+Wisconsin+Rapids,+WI+54494+(Ridges+Golf+Course+%26+Supper+Club:+Pro+Shop)&hl=en&geocode=FY18kQIdi-zC-iGiE9vaLfmq4g%3BCRgYU68GUHLUFVDApAId6Myl-iFWh6Fq5gG4ZQ&mra=pe&mrcr=0&sll=43.74002,-88.845808&sspn=1.430715,2.460938&ie=UTF8&ll=43.687736,-88.843689&spn=1.431947,2.460938&z=9

Note that these directions suggest about 3.5 hours.

Date:
Saturday, November 1st
Location:
Ridges Golf Course, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Parking:
Follow signs for parking; there are shuttle buses between parking lots and the course. Plan on at least 20 minutes from time of parking to arrival to course. There are 8-10,000 fans attending so be sure to get there early!
Schedule:
Boys’ Competition
Division 3: 11:00 am
Division 2: 11:40 pm
Division 1: 12:20 pm
Girls Competition
Division 3: 1:00
Division 2: 1:40
Division 1: 2:20
Awards
Individual and team awards will be presented at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School at 3:45 p.m. Trophy to championship and runner-up teams. Medals to members (7) of championship and runner-up teams and first six individuals.

Dom's Discourse....
Parking will not be allowed at the race site for spectators. There will be a number of shuttles that will transport you to the Golf course.

THE COMPETITION
Boys: Best teams are Port Washington (4), Waukesha Catholic Memorial (5),Tomahawk (1) and Shorewood (2). Any of these teams could Win the State Title!!

THE RATINGS: Garbage!!!!
Here is the Shorewood Secret...........
All too often, fans and competitors equate success with advancing to the State Meet and failure with not advancing to the State Meet......this is ridiculous. Success is performing to the best of ones ability. For some teams, that might be a top ten finish.......for some individuals that might be a top 60 finish. The best team should win.(?????)........... If they don't..... obviously they're not the best team.

The Media has had way too much influence on the public perceptions of success and failure.......if it isn't a world record........if they don't win......if they don't lead the league....if they don't go to State, .....etc, etc.

When the season is over, there will be exactly one team and exactly one individual that didn't lose their last competition. It would be a sorry state of affairs if only one team and one individual had a 'successful' season. Rather, the successful team(individual) is the team(individual) that performs at close to their potential, whatever that might be. The MOST successful team (individual) is the team(individual) that is CLOSEST to that potential. That is our goal....and what ever that gives us will be what we deserve.

OUR PROSPECTS:
I won't be disclosing any individual 'predictions'.
Team-wise, the Boys should/could be in the top 4, with a shot at top 2......But there are 3 other teams that can say the same thing. We will try to control what we can control....our own performance(s). The top four teams are close enough so that all it will take to switch things around is an outstanding performance from any one individual on any one of those 4 teams. Watch the #5 runners from each of those 4 teams. The outcome of the team competition WILL NOT be determined at the front, but rather somewhere around 25th place, by someone's #5 runner. Who's 5th runner will prevail?? Not to mention the possible displacer!

Keep RUNNING-AS-ONE!!!

Dominic Newman

Shorewood Places Second at Sectionals! Emily Girls Champ!

Results:
http://wiaawi.org/results/crosscountry/2008/bmilwlutheransectional.htm

Shorewood Boys Pull Off Another Miracle at Sectionals

Though rated second in state by coaches coming out of last week's great performance, everyone in Shorewood knew what the reality was: that this Sectional Meet was going to be the toughest ever. Prior to last week, Wisconsin Lutheran was consistently ranked top 1 or 2 in state, with Port Washington and Shorewood between 3rd and 5th. Going into the Sectionals we all knew that we had to fire on all 7 cylinders[runners] to sneak a second out of this toughest of all D2 Sectionals. Wisc. Lutheran was a lock; it was PW we had to go after. Given last week's performance, the kids thought they were ready to do just that. However, we all got the wrong script.

Tendick Proves to be a Beast
The forecast called for cool weather, light rain and winds up to 15 mph. It turns out that the rain came through the evening leaving the course soggy and very muddy in spots; but the weather was near perfect with low 50s temperature and a mild breeze from the west.

The starting gun went off at 10:45 am and 16 varsity teams bolted from the long white starting line with over 100 boys fighting for placement as they blasted toward the first turn into a gradual hill going north. The course takes another sharp left to the west and then another turn to the south as the course snakes through the woods. Spectators run through the trees to catch a glimpse of the boys. As the fans settled in, the Greyhounds began maneuvering to the front; Ben Tyler stuck with the 1-2 ranked Port Washington runners, Peter Drews was directly behind the first group, pacing Bobby Laabs of Greendale and Dayton Lueck of Wis. Lutheran.

As the runners came out of the woods, taking a sharp right going west and then another quick sharp left going south, our core group of runners, John Taylor, Aidan Mazur and Brendan Vorpahl, were mixing it up with a pack of Port Washington and Wis. Lutheran boys. At the base of the big beasty of a hill it was anybody's race. But it was soon to become clear that Port Washington knew how to run their home course.

Port Begins to Make Its Move
Shortly after the 1 mile mark (lead runners went out at about 5:10) the pack starting spreading out. Port's Mark Allen made his move down the sweeping downhill toward the open field with Tyler in pursuit and over taking him as they came into the open area of the course. Drews overtook Lueck and continued to set the pace for Laabs, not far behind Ross of Port and Holguin of Cudahy. By the halfway point it looked like this was not about Port Washington's survival but whether Shorewood had any chance of knocking off Wisc. Lutheran. Looking relaxed and confident, Allen established the lead while Tyler was maintaining close behind. Drews was in command of Laabs and working on trying to catch Holguin; but Port's Ross had clear conviction of his position and you could see that he was sitting back waiting for Tyler to come to him. The Shorewood Core were together in a pack battling for their life with the Port and Wisc. Lutheran boys. Joe Pendleton and Sam Dupuis followed suit.

Through the Woods and Into the Beast
As the last half of the race worked it's way back north, then west and into the woods the big question was whether we could hold our positions and take a few more Wisc. Lutheran's boys. Port had all but won the race by this point. As the runners came out of the woods, Allen had command of first place, Tyler second, Ross third, Holguin fourth and Drews fifth, with Laabs breathing down his neck. The Shorewood Core blasted out of the woods last time through, like the first, with a bunch of Wisc. Lutheran kids they needed to beat. Lead positions were held as they slopped through the muck, up and down the hill. Coming into the open field Tyler had gained on Allen but Ross was ready to make his move with 300 yards to go and by the first major turn he had command of 2nd place; Drews had enough of Laabs drafting him and surged ahead with a commanding lead by the time he made the mucked up turn into the open field. Meanwhile, Vorpahl knew he needed to take out the Wisc. Lutheran boy, working on the poor kid up and down the hill; it was all over with 100 yards to go. As it turns out, Vorpahl's final push and determination was one of the major factors that shaped the outcome of this race. Run as one is more than just a slogan!

Taylor Finishes Strong, Mazur Collapses at Finish Line, Vorpahl Closes the Gap
Tyler placed third, Drews fifth and Taylor came in a strong 14th place. As Vorpahl was committed to hanging onto his position ahead of Wisc. Lutheran, Mazur's back broke in the last half-mile and as Vorpahl and the Wisc. Lutheran runner rapidly approached, he did everything he could do before completely collapsing at the finish line (I thought he collapsed just before the finish line!). As the fifth man, Mazur beat out the Wisc. Lutheran runner by less than a second. Between Vorpahl's effort and determination and Mazur's gut wrenching finish it reinforces the importance of our Shorewood Core. They won the meet for us. Pendleton and Dupuis fought it out with Port's and WL's 6-7th runners in case of a tie breaker like a few years back at the Shorewood Invite.

Happy but Not Satisfied
Reality set in on team and fans alike as it became clear that our shot at going to state likely slipped away with Port's command performance. The boys circled up and agreed that while they could have done better, they did what they could and they had a great season...one for the memory books. But the memories were not over. As the girls race got underway there were whispers across the course that it was closer than expected and that while it was clear that Port pulled off a surprise win, it was less clear whether Wisc. Lutheran was going to state. Some said they thought Wisc. Lutheran won by two, while others said it was tied and the sixth runner would determine the 2nd place team.

Fans, coaches and teams had to wait it out until the awards ceremony and as the announcer ticked off the places from last up to third place things got tense. When he announced that third place went to Wisconsin Lutheran a huge yelp let out (think that was me)...Shorewood pulled off another miracle at Tendick, beating Wisconsin Lutheran by two points (57 to 59). Had Vorpahl not held off their fifth man, and Mazur not gutting it out, it would have gone into a tie breaker - which we would have lost. Another close one for the Shorewood boys. Wow, these guys like to make fans sweat it out! Now on to the State Meet!

Link to David Drews' Great Pictures:
Mr. Drews took some great pictures....and including some great captions.....
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=benxbof.81x7wgyz&Uy=3f0p55&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=697369968561_765589851211&localeid=en_US

Link to a couple of pictures I took:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dontyler22/ShorewoodCCSectionals2008#

Girl’s Cross Country Sectionals Meet 10-24-08
brought to you by Tom Bachhuber

Link to Pictures from Tom B.:

http://picasaweb.google.com/DemmersDad/CrossCountrySectional#

Varsity girls took 3rd place at the Milwaukee Lutheran Sectionals Meet in Saukville last weekend. missing the coveted 2nd place finish by 12 points. They will not be going to the state meet as a team this year despite making it last year. “We lost 4 seniors last year and have a young team made up mainly of sophomores and juniors” explained coach Kopplin. New Berlin Eisenhower was their main competition for 2nd place. “They ran with heart and as a team, unfortunately their 2nd and 3rd runners beat our 2nd and 3rd runners.”


Emily Bachhuber continued her dominating performance, again taking the lead early and never looking back. She had a 5:30 first mile breaking with the pack at the bottom of the big hill at the ¾ mile mark and was clearly in the lead at the top of the hill. “It’s hard to run in the lead without anyone pushing you”. If vomiting during or just after the race is any indication, Emily is learning how to push herself just fine. She has been showing great focus and increasing confidence allowing her to go from a sit and kick runner to the runner who sets her own pace. “Unlike a lot of runners, Emily doesn’t over think or let the competition get to her. In fact, she relishes the competition knows in her heart that she can win.”

Chloe Staub had a notable performance, beating out NB Eisenhower’s no. 4 runner to the finish line. Asked what the greatest achievement of the team this year, coach Kopplin waxed philosophical, explaining that each and every girl on that team is excellent students. “They are overachievers and just not satisfied with anything short of excellent. Each one of these girls has had to deal with disappointments and missed expectations. During this process they have jelled as a team; each supporting the next to be as good as they can be.”

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Sectionals This Saturday!

Directions to Tendick Park:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=1701+E+Capitol+Dr,+Shorewood,+WI+53211+(Shorewood+High+School)&daddr=Tendick+Nature+Park&hl=en&geocode=FY18kQIdi-zC-iGiE9vaLfmq4g%3BCcEuflxB6PdoFaNulgIdMPXB-iHwwmA83Ur9dA&mra=pe&mrcr=0&sll=43.202034,-88.026208&sspn=0.8449,1.757813&ie=UTF8&z=10

Link to Course Map:
http://wisconsinxc.com/PortWashingtonInvite_files/image002.gif
Also, see posting and pictures regarding Tendick part to get a take on best viewing. Should be an exciting meet to watch! Go Greyhounds!

Update from Dom:
We will have a bus to take the team up to the Sectional Meet. Even if you are not racing please join us on the bus so that we may have a large cheering section!

Event:
WIAA Division 2 Section 8 Cross Country meet

Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008

Site: Tendick Park in Saukville

Time: Bus Leaves SHS at 7:30
8:00 - Course opens for Preview
9:30 - Coaches meeting
10:00 - Boys Race
10:45 -Girls Race

Parking at the Pavilion is only allowed for the buses. All other vehicles must park at the archery lot. Parking on County Trunk O is not allowed. There will be shuttle from the lot. It is walking distance to the course. No Dogs. The WIAA asks that spectators leave their pets at home.

http://wiaawi.org/crosscountry/assignments.pdf

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Pictures of Tendik Park - Sectional Meet

Sectionals are right around the corner. Click on the headline above to get a feel (as a fan) for the course. Consider watching the meet from the starting line and moving east to the top of the hill at the mile market or walking into the woods west to watch the kids run through the trees.

The girls go up the hill once but come around to the base of the hill in the final stretch. The boys hit the hill twice. From the hill, you can watch the kids run the hill twice, see them run through the open field and come out of the woods. After the boys run the hill the second time, take a quick hike down the hill toward the finish line to cheer them on to the finish.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Shorewood Dazzles Crowd with Sizzling Performance!















Click on link below for results....more to follow.
http://www.pttiming.com/raceresults.php

Click here for a ton of slightly above average pictures from Don Tyler....maybe Mr. Drews will share some of his great shots!
://picasaweb.google.com/dontyler22/WoodlandConferenceKernPark#
Click here for another ton of great pictures from Tom B.
http://picasaweb.google.com/DemmersDad/WoodlandConferenceMeetKernPark101708#

It Was That Kind of Day for Shorewood....
Start with perfect running conditions with cool temperatures and a slight breeze; add a good dose of home field advantage where the kids no when to pull back and where to press; and sprinkle with lots of guts, heart, belief in themselves and enthusiasm. What do you get? A very special day for Shorewood Cross Country kids and the fans watching.

JV Boys Set the Table
JV boys kicked things off by making clear that this last meet of the season was going to be one for the memory books. The big dog of this race was Gavin Schroeder but it seems like everyone had a big day in their own right. Gavin let the rabbits go out fast at the gun and gradually worked his way to the front of the pack with a couple of competitors running close behind. At first blush it looked like Gavin was going to command the lead the entire race but the Whitnall competitor, Beal, hung tough and inched his way up to Gavin and running side by side at the top of Big Bertha. I suspect that at that point Beal thought he broke Gavin; not so; this was Gavin’s race and his course. He knew when to surge and by the second track of Big Bertha he had a commanding 30 yard lead as he went on to dominate the rest of the race, finishing with an impressive PR of 18:09, 12 seconds ahead of the second place runner.

However, this wasn’t just Gavin’s race. Up toward the front of the pack Shorewood had Oliver Heywood, David Stern, Nat Froiland running together with John Johnson trailing slightly behind. Oliver and David ran out together virtually the entire race while Nat hung out with John through the first mile. Oliver and David made their move at the half way point gaining significant ground and runners that were well ahead of them at the first mile. At the finish line Oliver had the stronger kick and beat out David by three seconds, placing 14th and 15th respectively. David said that “it was great to run with Oliver because he had such a great pace and a really strong kick at the end.” Meanwhile, Nat made his move up the pack during the last mile, placing 17th and John placed 26th.

A little further back was Devin Holling, Ian Phillips and Erik Alvin sprinkled throughout the middle of the pack. All had significant PRs. Finally, Colin Brushnahan, Ethan Holling and Ben Pagenkopf closed the door with their own PRs.


Quick Stats on JV Boys:
1 Gavin Schroeder 18:09.65 - 31 second PR
14 Oliver Heywood 18:59.65 - 37 second PR
15 David Stern 19:02.80 - 1 minute, 1 second PR
17 Nat Froiland 19:08.12 - 32 second PR
26 John Johnson 19:44.44
38 Devin Holling 20:12.14 - 48 second PR
43 Ian Phillips 20:22.92 - 1 minute 13 second PR
49 Erik Alfvin 20:45.94 - Not sure
78 Colin Brusnahan 22:35.75 - PR
81 Ethan Holling 22:46.23 - Not sure

92 Ben Pagenkopf 28:19.95 - PR by over 90 seconds!

Varsity Boys Chow Down
JV boys set the table but the varsity boys set the table stakes, going "all in" at this Woodland Conference meet. Coach Dom set the tone earlier in the week letting the boys know they have another good 10 seconds in them on their home course. Too bad for Dom, the boys didn't listen to him. They had much more in them and made sure everyone experienced the result first hand.

The race started fast with a rabbit quickly out in the lead as the two top contenders, Bobby Laabs from Greendale and Ben Tyler from Shorewood kept chomping on his tail. As they approached the 3/4 mile mark Laabs surged down the hill taking Tyler by surprise; he decided to follow. The three were out at a sub-5 minute mile. Tyler decided to take command and surged shortly after the mile mark; it was all over for Bobby.

Meanwhile, Co-Captain Peter Drews maintained his strategy of remaining in the first pack back and began to make his move shortly after the mile mark as well. By the two mile mark Peter was all alone with his sights on the Cuday's top runner, Alec Holguin and Laabs. Peter quickly broke Laabs and began to see Holguin just ahead and surged after him. The two of them fought it out the last 200 yards in true grit fashion; unfortunately, the timing device had Holguin beating Peter by .17 seconds, but by all appearances from objective Shorewood observers, Peter had him at the tape.


Back a bit was the powerhouse that has become the critical backbone of this Shorewood team. This foursome, made up of Aidan Mazur, John Taylor, Brendan Vorpahl and Joe Pendleton, score the critical points that make this such a solid team. Each leaped forward with huge PRs. As typical of their strategy, Mazur, Taylor and Vorpahl ran together as a pack during the first half of the race. As the race progressed it was clear that they had something special to prove. That they did. By the time it was all over, Mazur and Taylor were within shouting distance of breaking 17 minutes while Vorpahl back pedaled and Pendleton surged, meeting halfway with big PRs. Freshman Keith Dodd had a spectacular PR, breaking the 18 minute milestone in a big way, while Co-Captain Sam Dupuis was fighting a tough cold.

I suspect Sam wanted to have his last conference race finish a bit better. But our hat's off to our true senior leader, Sam Dupuis. It's been great to watch Sam lead this team through the years. I personally remember Ben's first race at West Bend, when he didn't have a clue and was a twitchy Freshman. Sam brought him in under his wing. Running together, Sam was there for him, waved him up to run together and then encouraged him to surge forward. What a classy guy.

When it was all said and done, Shorewood dominated the meet, taking 1st, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 12th, 13th and 27th. Headlines? Conference Champions; three Conference champions (Gavin, Emily and Ben) three runners named First Team All Conference; three runners named Second Team All Conference; Course record shattered by 18 seconds; school record broken by 14 seconds; six runners below 17:25, two of which are ranked in top ten fastest D2 times. And they haven't even tapered yet! As coach Dom told the team after the meet, "this is the most impressive race in the ten years I have been here". Enough said. On to the tough stuff now.

Quick Stats on Varsity Boys:
1 - Ben Tyler - 15:44 - PR by 18 seconds
3 - Peter Drews - 16:12 - PR by 38 seconds
8 - Aidan Mazur - 17:04 - PR by 22 seconds
9 - John Taylor - 17:08 - PR by about 19 seconds
12 - Brendan Vorphal - 17:21 - PR by 38 seconds
13 - Joseph Pendleton - 17:24 - PR by about 25 seconds
27 - Keith Dodd - 17:48 - PR by about 26 seconds
42 - Sam Dupuis - 18:22

Shorewood Girls Post PRs All Around!
brought to you by Tom B.
The Greyhound girls saved their best for last in the most recent installment of their winning season. Taking 5th overall in conference this year, they did it with the consistency of their top runners; Emily Bachhuber, Jenny Vrobel and Morgan Baker with the surprise surge of Nora Waters coming in a close 4th place. Every single runner, both in JV and Varsity turned in at least course PRs, while all but 3 turned lifetime PRs! Surprising to their coach Sara Kopplin, was the speed that they showed in this race. “They haven’t even started tapering yet and they’re putting in these times”

There were many subplots in each and every PR and each story deserves more than the few lines given in this article. Erin Hagen, battling a condition known as vocal cord dysfunction has been unable to finish most of her races this year. She’s gone through a litany of tests and has been retraining her vocal cords to prevent the shortness of breath hallmark of this condition. She had a course PR of 21.42. The Erickson sisters, Heidi and Emily, ran across the finish line together in a story of sacrifice and family support. Emily has had problems with a viral infection ever since the Griak Invitational. Missing school and practice, her times had suffered dramatically. Recognizing that she wasn’t going to get her own PR, she focused on getting her sister her PR. Heidi, who started out her freshman year posting a course time >30 minutes finished just ahead of her sister with a a PR of 19.40. and over 1:16 sec better than last week’s performance at the Shorewood Invite.
Freshman Ai Csuka, is a foreign exchange student from Japan who is staying with her aunt and uncle in Shorewood is new to running and loves it. In Japan she attends a high school that specializes in art and music and where there is no opportunity to run. Her father was a runner as a high school student and cheers her on from across the Pacific Ocean. Ai, a name which means love in Japanese, became quite emotional at the end of last race she will run for the Greyhounds. She will be returning to Japan in February.
Hannah Fergal had an inspired run for the JV girls, taking over 2:16 sec off last weeks run with a PR of 18:50. Her coach summed it up well when she said that Hannah runs with an “animal determination”. Having watched Hannah play soccer for many years I can agree with the grit and determination and instinct that she brings to both.
Nora Waters was fighting the PR curse. Over her freshman and up until now her sophomore year she had established her PR on the first race of the year and has been unable to break through during the season up until yesterday’s conference meet. Finally, senior Margo Davis who stepped out of the race due to crohn’s disease acts as an example to the other kids to choose their battles and gracefully accept the limitations that life puts in front of you. She is making lemonade with the lemons life has given her and is actively fundraising for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. If you haven’t please visit her link to the crohn’s web site. Oh, did I forget to mention that Margo is training for a half marathon in the near future! Go MARGO!
Girl’s JV/Varsity Times Shorewood Invite times ()

JV Girls
Hannah Fergal 16th place, 18:50 (2106)
Ai Csuka 19th place, 18:55 (19:34)
Rachael Berg 22nd place 19:03 (19:49)
Heidi Erickson 25th place 19:40 (20:56)
Emily Erickson 26th place 19:41
Holly Garrett 33rd place 20:21 (21:12)
Megan Cole 36th place 20:46 (21:43)
Olivia Doucas 20:50 (21:46)
Erin Hagen 21:26
Maddie Reed 21:33 (23:17)

Varsity Girls
Emily Bachhuber 1st place 14:41
Jenny Vrobel 20th place, 16:16 (16:34)
Morgan Baker 21st place 16:16 (16:51)
Nora Waters 22nd place 16:21 (17:37)
Laura Schroeder 28th place 16:46 (17:21)
Chloe Staub 34th place 16:56 (17:27)
Elana Lubka 53rd place 17:58 (18:40)
Jenny Hillard 57th place 18:07 (18:17)
PR The Personal Record.
by Tom Bachhuber

I was first introduced to the PR when my daughter joined CC in 2005 as a 7th grader at Shorewood Middle School. Being brought up in team sports such as basketball, baseball, football and individual sports like wrestling, I understood that there were winners and losers. Winning felt great and losing didn’t feel so great. That all changed as I got into the first season with Emily. I couldn’t help but ask one of the runners “What is this PR that you all are talking about?” It was a new concept to me that someone could be a loser and still be a winner. The cynic part of me felt it was something created for those who couldn’t compete. I guess I’ve had a change of heart.
Life is rife with analogies to sports. The simplicity, clarity, unpretensiveness and honesty of a hard fought competition inspires us to see the same in the more complicated, confusing, grey world in which we live.
The idea that we live in this black and white world of winners and losers is just plain false. Life is many shades of gray without even considering the introduction of color. As adults where would we be if not for our ability to know ourselves, set our own goals and take responsibility for carrying them out?
This is why the PR intrigues me so. What could be better than a measuring stick that you create for yourself? Don’t tell any of the kids that as adults, for the most part, we set our own rules and standards based upon our own experiences of ourselves.
The PR is literally running a race against yourself. The challenge is to beat your time from the previous meet. Some don’t, some do. For those that don’t there are many reasons; maybe you reached your pinnacle, which is a good thing to know. Maybe your PR was at the easiest course with the best conditions. Maybe you gave up because it hurt your lungs too much or because you are afraid to fail. Perhaps you have a nagging injury that won’t heal. Maybe you dog it in practice and despite running your “best” in the meet; it won’t be your PR.
If you strive to do your best in every practice and meet -win lose or draw- you leave a winner. You learn about yourself in every meet you run. There are no excuses when you run against yourself. There are reasons; decisions maybe, but not excuses.
But if you do get your personal best, it’s magic, it’s the top of the world. You’ve won and it’s real. As real as it gets in this world!
TB

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Cross Country Banquet November 5th!

A little note to let you all know when the cross country banquet is. It will be on Wednesday Nov. 5th at 6:00pm in the SIS commons. Mark your calendars!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Shorewood Boys Pound PRs...7 Kids Under 18 Minutes!

Click on headline for pictures....more to follow.http://picasaweb.google.com/dontyler22/ShorewoodInvite1008#

Click on link below for race results:http://www.pttiming.com/raceresults.php

Placing second behind a very competitive D1 team, Rufus King, Shorewood boys acted like this was the final meet of the season by pounding out one PR after another, after another, after another. Based on their times, one would conclude that coach tapered the boys. Not the case as evidenced by another week of punishing practices. However, the kids did not let that get in the way. Bottomline: these kids have focus, big hearts and are determined to make a statement.

How good is this team at this meet? Better than last year, beating 6 of our 8 times from last year, eight PRs and 7 runners under 18 minutes. Not bad.

2008
1. Ben Tyler - 16:02 - Course & Indi PR by 6 seconds; course record
2. Peter Drews - 16:40 - Course & Indi PR by 3 seconds
10. Aidan Mazur - 17:26 - Course & Indi PR by 8 seconds
11. John Taylor - 17:27 - Course & Indi PR by 24 seconds
16. Sam Dupuis - 17:46 - Course & Indi PR by 14 seconds (from what I recall)
24. Brendan Vorpahl - 17:59 - Course & Indi PR by 5 seconds
25. Joe Pendleton - 17:59 - Course & Indi PR by 3 seconds
33. Keith Dodd - 18:14 - Course & Indi PR by about 15 seconds I believe

2007
2. Kevin McCollow - 16:07
5. Andrew Erickson - 16:30
9. Peter Drews - 17:07
16. Brian Valusek - 17:38
19. Ben Tyler - 18:09
26. Aidan Mazur - 18:27

The point is, we had a really solid team last year; comparing this past meet's performance with last year's, you can see two things: the team is running faster as a whole; and it shows how much improvement has been possible with lots of effort and "can do" attitude. Great approach going into Sectionals in a couple of weeks.

Varsity Recap
The meet began with D1 state contender, David Stilin leading the pack out of the shoot with Ben Tyler riding on his shoulder. The two started relatively fast as they hung together at the mile mark at about 5:05. Peter Drews was part of the pack directly behind Stilin/Tyler at a pace of about 5:10-15. Aidan Mazur, Brendan Vorpahl and John Taylor were together in the middle of the maze as Joe Pendleton, Sam Dupuis and Keith Dodd were testing their legs.

Tyler decided to test Stilin at the base of Big Bertha and found that, for some reason, Stilin didn't have much in his tank. By the two mile mark Tyler held a commanding lead with Stilin a distant second and dying fast. Meanwhile, Drews worked his way up through the crowd and surpassed Stilin at about the 2.25 mile mark while fighting off Rufus King's #2 man. By now Taylor and Mazur broke away from Vorpahl as Dupuis decided to make this his race, surging through the pack to catch up with Vorpahl.

As the race worked it's way into the final mile Tyler continued to stretch his lead out while Drews was battling for second place. Mazur and Taylor continued to work their way to the top while Dupuis, Vorpahl, Joe Pendleton and Keith Dodd continued to make their move. By the time it was all done, Tyler set a new meet record, placing 1st, Drews powered to the finish to place second, Mazur medaled, placing 10th with Taylor right behind him. Dupuis is back in the game with a major PR, Pendleton ran with confidence and Freshman Dodd had a great race and PR.

JV Boys Recap
Wanting to make a point, Gavin Schroeder was the man of the hour breaking out of the crowd early on and keeping pace behind the leader by about 20 yards. He maintained his pace and tried to make a surge to take the leader but could not take him. Schroeder medaled, placing 2nd with a huge PR (he was quite the sportsman at the award ceremony). Speaking of PRs, by my account, virtually every JV boy had an individual PR. This is what I know:

Gavin Schroeder - 18:40 - PR by about 35 seconds
John (aka Ben P.) Johnson - 19:25 - PR by 52 seconds
Nat Froiland - 19:30 - PR?
Oliver Heywood - 19:36 - PR by 12 seconds
David Stern - 20:03 - PR by 1 minute 1 second
Devin Holling - 21:00 - PR by 49 seconds
Ian Phillips - 21:51 - PR by 27 seconds

Not sure about the others, but overall, a very nice job by our JV team!

Girls Rock With a Ton of PRs

Girls JV
Sunny, 60’s and sixteen teams made the invite a memorable one this year. The girl’s JV team was all about closing gaps and pack running. Jenny Hillard broke the top ten with a time of 18:17 and a rank of 7th, the amazing freshman, Racheal Berg, continues to impress with a time of 19:49 and a rank of 29th. Heidi Erickson, Hannah Fergal and Holly Garrett ran as a block finishing 37th, 38th and 39th overall with times of 20.56, 21.06 and 21.12. Megan Cole and Olivia D. rounded out the JV race for Shorewood with times of 21.43 and 21.47

Girls Varsity
For the varsity girls, Emily Bachhuber had to make a tough decision and stayed out of the Invite due to a nagging Achilles tendonitis. Hoping to be at her best for next week’s Conference Meet at Kern she rested her legs. Jenny Vrobel ran with determination and grit and finished 13th overall with a time of 16.34 besting her previous mark set last year at the Shorewood invite by 33 seconds. Her coach, Sarah Kopplin noted,” She ran with the confidence of a winner!” Morgan Baker ran a 16.51 race, only 3 seconds off last years in 18th place overall. Laura Schroeder ran a 17.21 improving from last year’s mark by almost a whole minute (55 seconds). Chloe Staub ran a 17.27 race. Nora Waters, having set a personal goal of 17.30 for the race, came close, finishing in 17.37. She improved by 33 seconds from last years time! Elana Lubka and Ai Chun finished off the varsity girls with times of 18.40 and 19.11. As a team, the varsity girls came in a respectable 3rd place with an average time of 17.10. The second place average time was 16.04 and the first place time was 15.56. Even if Emily Bachhuber had ran, there would have been little chance that they could have taken 2nd place.

Shorewood Parents Excel Too!
On the parent side of the meet, 1st place went to Carolyn Tyler for her incredible organization and hard work putting together the concessions. Thanks to all 20 parent volunteers for your hard work. With the money collected, they were able to break even on the concessions bought. Next weeks conference meet will be 100% profit!

Click on headline for pictures....more to follow.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dontyler22/ShorewoodInvite1008#

Click on link below for race results:
http://www.pttiming.com/raceresults.php

Click on Headline for More Kimberly Photos from Tom B.

http://picasaweb.google.com/DemmersDad/PapermakerInvite2#slideshow

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Try This Link for More Pictures from Griak

Click on headline to link to more Griak pictures...mostly of the girls. I believe this is brought to you by Tom Bachhuber but I am not positive.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Boys Cheat Chilton of 3rd Place at Papermaker

Click on Headline for results or on PT Results link on the right side of the page.

Click on this link for great pictures of the meet brought to us by David Drews:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=benxbof.51ijylrv&Uy=-mc4io1&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=305826848696_269523621211&localeid=en_US

The boys varsity powered past Chilton, beating them by two points, to place 3rd behind Division I teams Brookfield East and Green Bay Preble. This meet confirmed why Shorewood and Chilton have been trading 6th and 7th state rankings from week to week and could be an early indicator of the tough competition if both teams make it to state.

This is the first time the boys and girls have made the journey to the Fox Valley, getting up bright and early for a two hour drive to meet up with some new competitors. The weather was cold but perfect for running...as one can see by David Drews great shots.

While details are unclear, unconfirmed reports suggest that the pace was relatively slow going out. Michael Brice, a Division 1 state contender from Kaukauna and Ben Tyler led the way throughout the 5K, trading places along the way. Tyler hung on to the shoulder of this highly ranked D1 state contender but the 12th grader had a strong kick at the end to take first place.

Peter Drews and Alex Steiner, a state contender and 800 champion from Chilton, had a big shootout as well, with Peter working his way through the pack on his way to battle with Steiner. At the 3 mile mark Steiner had Drews by about 15-20 yards and Drews poured it on with a great kick at the end but Steiner beat him out by a size 10 shoe. Drews had a very competitive meet, posting one of his fastest times of the year. Other varsity runners filled in the gaps with Aidan Mazur finishing 19th at a solid sub-18 minute run, John Taylor and Brendan Vorpahl below 18:15; Joe Pendleton continues to come back, Sam Dupuis and Gavin Schroeder brought up the pack.

Boys JV Place 8th
Keith Dodd led the way for the JV team, taking a 10th place finish for a medal, coming close to breaking 19 minutes (19:05). Dodd was followed by Oliver Heywood, placing 29th with a time of 19:47. It looks like John Johnson continues to be a rising star and is taking a shot at the 7th man position for varsity with a meet time of 20:16.

Emily Dominates Girls Meet
Continuing to strengthen throughout the season, Emily Bacchuber absolutely dominated the girls varsity meet by finishing in first place, more than 19 seconds ahead of second place finisher from Katelyn Stine of Wausau East.