Pictures Wanted

I am collecting pictures for the end of the season slide show. If anybody has pictures that they would like to share with the team, please send them to me. You can e-mail them to me (mattloi@yahoo.com), send me a link to a web site where they might be stored, or give me a CD of the pictures. Thank you for all of your help and I look forward to seeing you on December 4.

End of the Season Pizza Party

We will hold our annual end of the season pizza party on Tuesday, December 4. All cross country runners and their families are invited to attend. We will have food, awards, and our end of the season slide show.

The pizza party will be at 6:30 in the PHS cafeteria. Each class should bring the following:
Seniors: desserts
Juniors: salad
Sophomores: drinks
Freshmen: bread

Please let me know if you are attending and how many of your family members are coming so that I can order the correct amount of pizza.

New England Championship Results

On a cold and windy Maine day, Jeanne Theleen ran the last race of the Pomperaug Cross Country season. With a fast start, Jeanne finished 63rd with a time of 20:16 over the rolling 5K course at Twin Brook Park in Cumberland, ME. Jeanne was the 19th Connecticut girl to cross the finish line. Congratulations to Jeanne on a good race and an excellent season.

State Open Results

On a perfect day for racing, Harrison Katz and Jeanne Theleen had their best races of the year at the 2o07 State Open Championships.

Harrison lead off the day by moving through a very fast pack of boys to finish 31st, the highest finish for a Pomperaug boy since 1999. Harrison knocked 40 seconds off of his time at the Class L championships to finish with a 16:47 over the 5,000 meter course at Wickham Park. Congratulations on a great race and a very successful season.

Jeanne followed up by racing through a quick girls field to finish 16th and qualify for the New England Championships. She is the first Pomperaug girl to qualify for the New England Championships since 1997. Jeanne knocked over 40 seconds off of her time at the Class L championships to finish with a time of 16:19 over the 4,000 meter course at Wickham Park. Good luck next week at the New England Championships.

The New England Championships will be held on Saturday, November 10 at Twin Brook Park, Cumberland, Maine. Jeanne's race will be held at 11:30. Information about the race can be found at the New England Championships web site.

State Opens

Jeanne Theleen and Harrison Katz will be competing on Friday in the State Opens. This race includes the best runners from Saturday's Class championships. The boys race will begin at 2 PM and the girls race will be at 2:45 PM.

Anybody who attended Saturday's meet is welcome to join us on Friday to cheer on Harrison and Jeanne. The bus will leave after E-block and we will meet outside of the new gym. I have sent a notice out to all of the teachers so they should know that you are missing, but talk to them about making up any missed assignments.

Directions:
Take I-84 east to exit 60. At the end of the exit, take a left. The park will be on your right, about a 1/4 mile down the road.

I look forward to seeing all of you on Friday.

Class L Championship Results

In the mud and the rain yesterday, our Pomperaug Cross Country teams raced their final races of the year. The boys finished 7th while the girls finished 9th.

In our first race of the day, Harrison Katz once again lead the boys. Harrison finished in 17th place with a time of 17:26. This performance qualifies Harrison for the State Opens. Phil Critelli was our second runner, finishing 34th with a time of 18:07. Jake Critelli finished 51st with a time of 18:26 while Eric Brenn was close behind him in 52nd place with a time of 18:29. Marc Romano finished 62nd with a time of 18:39 while Austin Delaney finished 77th (18:56) and Matt Letho finished 86th (19:23). Congratulations on a good season and a strong finish.

In the girls race, Jeanne Theleen finished 5th, earning her second straight All-State honors. Jeanne ran the muddy course in a time of 17:00. Following Jeanne was Katie Whitney (50th, 19:11), Katie Noel (55th, 19:18), Jessi Johnson (61st, 19:35), Olivia Lawson (64th, 19:38), and Kizzy Donnelly (93rd, 20:32). The girls 9th place finish is their highest finish in Class L since 2002 and their lowest point total since 1999. Congratulations on a good race and a good year.

With Jeanne Theleen's fifth place finish, she becomes the first girl since Ann Culluagh (1985 - 1987) to finish in the top ten of a championship race two years in a row. Jeanne and Ann are the only two girls to be named All-State runnes on two separate occasions. Congratulations Jeanne on a well deserved honor. Jeanne will be running on Friday at the State Opens at Wickham Park.

Class L Championships are still on

The Class L Championships are still on for today. I look forward to seeing all of you at the meet.

Class L Championships

On Saturday, we will be running our Class L championships at Wickham Park. (In Manchester, CT.) The boys will be racing at 11:30 while the girls will be racing at 12:00. The bus will leave Pomperaug at 9:00. Everybody is invited to attend, although only varsity will be racing. Anybody who attends the meet on Saturday is eligible for leaving school early the following Friday to watch the State Open championships.

Directions:
Take I-84 east until exit 60. At the end of the exit, take a left. The park entrance will be 1/4 mile down the road on the right. There will be a $7 parking fee.

JV Championships

Hard to believe, but today marked the end of the cross country season for most of our team. For some of our seniors, today marked the end of their high school cross country career. This made today a bittersweet day.

We had many good performances today at the JV Championship race. It began with a strong showing by the boys. Marc Romano lead the way with a 6th place finish (17:54). Following Marc was Mitch Delaney (8th, 17:56), Nic Bebe-Center (16th, 18:21), Matt McDonald (31st, 18:43), Tyler Kniery (43rd, 19:05), Jon Bauer (45th, 19:09), and Chris Greco (52nd, 19:23).

The girls were lead by Jessica Urquhart's 13th place finish (19:23). Following Jessica was Kathleen Riedel (14th, 19:24), Mel Urquhart (37th, 20:22), Chloe Laverack (48th, 20:58), Casey Volanth (74th, 22:16), and Chelsea Lawlor (75th, 22:17).

Congratulations on a good race and a good season.

Sub Varsity Championship Race

On Tuesday, October 23, the JV runners will have thier last race of the season. This JV championship will be held at Bethel High School. The boys race is at 4 PM and the girls race is at 4:30 PM. I hope to see all of you there.

Directions:
Take 84 West to exit 9. Take a left and go under Route 84. Go to the stop sign, take a right onto Route 6. Go to the traffic light (past the garden center), take a left at the light onto Old Hawleyville Road. Go to the second stop sign and take a right onto Plum Tree Road. Go by Blue Jay Orchard, at next traffic light take a left. Go up the hill to the school.

SWC Championships

Congratulations on a good finish to the SWC season. In two competitive races, the boys and girls had a good showing today. The boys finished 3rd overall while the girls finished 6th. We had two runners make the All-Conference team and three runners were the second team All-Conference.

In the boys race, Harrison Katz lead the way with an 8th place finish and a time of 16:29. Following Harrison was Matt Letho (16th, 17:06), Colin McCrory (18th, 17:10), Eric Brenn (21st, 17:17), Phil Critelli (34th, 17:52), Austin Delaney (35th, 17:53), and Jake Critelli (36th, 17:55). The 3rd place finish is the boy's best finish since 2004.

In the girls race, Jeanne Theleen lead the way with a 3rd place finish and a time of 15:58. Following Jeanne was Casey Ciaccio (30th, 18:02), Katie Whitney (41st, 18:35), Katie Noel (42nd, 18:36), Jessi Johnson (43rd, 18:39) and Olivia Lawson (57th, 19:04). Congratulations on a good race.

While this ends the SWC season for varsity, we still have the JV championships and Class L championships to look forward to. Good luck at the remaining meets.

SWC Championships

The SWC championships are this Thursday at Bethel High School. The boys race is at 4 PM and the girls race is at 4:30 PM.

Directions
Take 84 West to exit 9. Take a left and go under Route 84. Go to the stop sign, take a right onto Route 6. Go to the traffic light (past the garden center), take a left at the light onto Old Hawleyville Road. Go to the second stop sign and take a right onto Plum Tree Road. Go by Blue Jay Orchard, at next traffic light take a left. Go up the hill to the school.

Nonnewaug Results

Congratulations on an inspiring day. From the JV races to the varsity races, we had very impressive races. We had three individuals winning their races (Harrison Katz, Jake Critelli, and Kizzy Donnelly), the girls varsity team finished 2nd and the boys varsity won the invitational. It doesn't get much better than this.

The day began with the girls JV team roaring out and setting the tone for the rest of the day. Kizzy Donnelly and Jessica Urquhart lead the way with a one-two finish in their race. (Kizzy ran a 23:39 and Jess ran a 23:41 over the 3.1 mile course.) They were followed by Kathleen Riedel's 3rd place finish (23:59), Mel Urquhart's 5th place finish (24:43), Victoria DeRosa's 6th place finish (24:44) and Chloe Laverack's 12th place finish (25:11). This lead the girl's JV team to win the JV race.

If that wasn't impressive enough, the boys JV team dominated their race by taking the first five places in their race. Jake Critelli lead for the entire race, winning with a time of 17:57. He was followed by Matt McDonald's 2nd place finish (18:30), Mitch Delaney's 3rd place finish (18:38), Nick Bebe-Center's 4th place finish (18:38), and Tyler Kniery's 5th place finish (18:48). Also medaling in the JV race was Chris Tinley (13th, 19:31) and Jason Adams (14th, 19:32).

Our varsity teams continued with the inspiring performances. With a strong finishing kick, Harrison Katz passed Kyle Courtney of Litchfield in the final straight away to win the Nonnewaug Invitational in a time of 16:51. He was followed by Matt Letho (6th, 17:16), Phil Critelli (7th, 17:28), Colin McCrory (13th, 17:46), Eric Brenn (16th, 17:51), Austin Delaney (17th, 17:54), and Marc Romano (20th, 18:02). With these times, the boys won the Nonnewaug Invitational, their first since 2003.

In the final race of the day, the girls team raced to a 2nd place finish. Jeanne Theleen lead the way, finishing 2nd with a time of 19:15. While she was battling Anna Shields for the lead, the rest of the girls fought their way through the field to beat out Nonnewaug for second place by one point. Jessi Johnson finished 19th (22:13), followed by Emily Pattison (20th, 22:19), Katie Whitney (25th, 22:35), Casey Ciaccio (31st, 23:05), Olivia Lawson (32nd, 23:12), and Katie Noel (42nd, 23:59).

While the top runners were the most visable signs of our success at Nonnewaug, it was the performances of all of our runners that was a true indication of our success. Many of the JV runners ran races that were faster than most of their races this year. We had ten girls run this 5K course in under 25 minutes while seventeen boys ran their race under 20 minutes and 27 boys were under 22 minutes. Our Pomperaug Cross Country program has matured into a strong team, from top to bottom.

I am proud of all your performances and how well you behaved at the invitational. Enjoy your accomplishments and remember how you felt today as you finish up your season over the next few weeks.

Here is a link to the results of the Nonnewaug Invitational.

Nonnewaug Invitational

The Nonnewaug Invitation will be this Friday (October 12) at Nonnewaug High School. Everybody is running at this meet. This is always a nice meet (especially when it doesn't rain) and a good tuneup for the SWC and JV championships.

Race schedule:
3:15 - Girls JV
3:45 - Boys JV
4:15 - Boys Varsity
4:45 - Girls Varsity
5:15 - Awards ceremony

We will be back by 6 PM.

Directions (taken from www.pomperaug.com):
Take Route 6 North. Go through the middle of Woodbury. Go by the North Green. Go one to two more miles. Middle Road Turnpike is on the right. Turn right. Stay on Middle Road Turnpike. Take your first left which is Minortown Rd. Nonnewaug High School is on the left.

New Milford Results

Today we finished up our dual meet season with two wins and a loss for both the boys and girls teams. It was a fast course, with many runners having personal bests today.

The boys lost to New Milford 15 to 48 but beat Weston 23 to 38 and Notre Dame 15 to 50. Harrison Katz lead the way with an 8th place finish (16:19). Following Harrison was Matt Letho (16:23, 9th), Phil Critelli (16:36, 12th), Eric Brenn (16:36, 13th), Colin McCrory (16:45, 14th), Marc Romano (16:58, 15th), and Austin Delaney (17:07, 16th). With these victories, the boys finish their season with a record of 11-2, their best record since 2003.

The girls lost to New Milford 21 to 40 but beat Weston 23 to 34 and Notre Dame 23 to 36. Jeanne Theleen won the race with a time of 14:52. Following Jeanne was Emily Pattison (16:22, 8th), Jessi Johnson (16:40, 14th), Casey Ciaccio (16:41, 15th), Katie Whitney (16:50, 18th), Katie Noel (17:05, 21st), Olivia Lawson (17:09, 23rd). With these victories, the girls finish their season with a record of 9-4, their best record since 2005.

Congratulations on a successful dual meet season. As we enter into the championship season, we are hitting our peak and improving up all of our performances. This is the most exciting time of the year. Good luck to all of you over the next few weeks.

New Milford Meet

We will be running at New Milford on Tuesday. As always, the boys will be running sometime between 4:30 and 4:45, with the girls starting about 30 minutes after the boys. As long as they haven't changed the course, the New Milford course is fan friendly and flat. Here are directions to New Milford High School:

Take Route 67 West toward Roxbury. Follow 67 to the end. Take a left onto Route 7 (south) The school is on Route 7 on the right.
or... Take I-84 west. Take exit 7. Take Route 7 North For 20 minutes. The school is on Route 7 on the left.

Wickham Invitational Results

On one of the hottest days that we have ever seen at Wickham Park, the Pomperaug cross country team had some good, tough, and in some cases, painful, performances. With temperatures around 87 degrees, 14 runners (from other schools) were brought to the hospital with dehydration and the championship races were cancelled due to the heat. These were the conditions in which we ran.

The highlight of the day was Jeanne Theleen's 4th place finish in the seeded race. Jeanne ran with the lead pack throughout the race and finished with a time of 17:02. This helped propel our girls to a 14th place finish. While the heat did affect the girls, the varisty put in a gutsy performance. Casey Ciaccio finished 64th (19:31), Jessica Urquhart finished 94th (20:06), Jessi Johnson finished 118th (20:32), Katie Whitney finished 120th (20:34), Emily Pattison finished 124th (20:38), and Katie Noel finished 124th (20:38).

While the boys were not at full strength, they still performed very well and finished 7th in the seeded race. Phil Critelli lead the way with a 38th place finish (19:00). He was followed by Jake Critelli (48th, 19:14), Austin Delaney (51st, 19:17), Matt Letho (64th, 19:31), Matt McDonald (92nd, 19:54), Marc Romano (113th, 20:08), and Eric Brenn (267th, 22:14).

There were also strong performances in the JV races. For the girls, Hannah Holbrook lead with a time of 21:03. She was followed by Kizzy Donnelly (21:25), Mel Urquhart (21:33), and Ashley Koenig (27:28).

The JV boys were lead by Jon Bauer's 51st place finish (19:34). Closely following Jon was Mitch Delaney (53rd, 19:45), Jason Adams (99th, 20:27), Chris Greco (101st, 20:30), and Tyler Kniery (108th, 20:37).

On a brutally hot day, we performed well. I know that we are placing ourselves in a position to run well in our championship races.

Full varsity results are posted at www.mysportsresults.com.

Wickham Invitational

The Wickham Invitational will be held this Saturday at Wickham Park. The bus will leave the school at 9:30 and the race schedule is as follows:

11:50 - Girls JV
12:10 - Boys JV
2:15 - Girls Varsity
2:45 - Boys Varsity

We should be home between 5 and 5:30.

Directions: Take I-84 east towards Hartford. Take exit 60. At the end of the exit, take a left. The park entrance will be on your right after crossing over the highway.

October 2 Results

Today we passed a few milestones. Harrison Katz won the first boy's race for Pomperaug since Eric Brenn in 2005 at Stratford. Also, the boys have surpassed their win totals from the past two seasons. The girls also suprassed their win total from last year.

The boys beat both Immaculate and Masuk by a score of 16 to 47. Harrison Katz finished 1st with a time of 17:07. The rest of varsity was Matt Letho (17:26, 2), Eric Brenn (17:37, 3), Phil Critelli (17:45, 4), Colin McCrory (17:50, 7), Austin Delaney (17:55, 8), and Jake Critelli (18:14, 9).

The girls lost to Immaculate 27 -30. The girls beat Laurelton Hall 20 - 1 and Masuk 19 - 48. Jeanne Theleen finished 2nd with a time of 16:11. The rest of varsity was Emily Pattison (18:19, 7), Casey Ciaccio (18:23, 8), Olivia Lawson (18:50, 10), Katie Noel (19:04, 12), Jessi Johnson (19:04, 13), and Kizzy Donnelly (19:05, 14).

Congratulations on a good race.

October 2 Meet

The meet on October 2nd will be at Tarrywile Park in Danbury. Below are the directions:

Take I-84 East or West to Exit 3. (Route 7 South - Danbury Airport).
Take 2nd right for Danbury Airport.At light at end of ramp, turn left.
At next light, take left onto Wooster Heights.
Go 9/10ths mile and turn right onto Southern Blvd. Go 6/10ths mile and Southern Blvd. will make a sharp right turn.
The Park & Mansion entrance is 100 yards beyond this turn on the right

Bethel Invitational Results

Yesterday, we had another strong showing at the Bethel Invitational. Due to the performances and the depth of our team, the boys finished 2nd, while the girls finished 4th. This is the second straight year that both teams finished in the top five at Bethel.

The day started out with a strong showing in the girls JV race. Cynthia Wells lead the way with a 9th place finish (19:54). Following her was Victoria DeRosa (20:05, 10th), and Chloe Laverack (20:36, 16th). In the boys JV race, Chris Tinley lead the way with an 8th place finish (19:08). Right behind him was Nick Bebe-Center (19:09, 9th), and Chris Greco (19:12, 11th).

In the girls varsity race, Jeanne Theleen lead the girls with a 3rd place finish (16:07). Other top varsity finishers were Emily Pattison (18:26, 44th), Casey Ciaccio (18:54, 60th), Katie Noel (19:01, 66th), Olivia Lawson (19:03, 68th), and Katie Whitney (19:04, 70th).

In the boys varsity race, Harrison Katz once again lead the boys with an 11th place finish (16:44). Close behind him was Phil Critelli (17:08, 20th), Matt Letho (17:19, 23rd), Eric Brenn (17:31, 29th), Austin Delaney (17:34, 32nd), and Colin McCrory (17:36, 33rd).

Yesterday shows us that we are steadily improving and working towards our goal of finishing high up in both the SWC championships and the Class L championships. Your hard work will pay off in a couple of weeks.

Bethel Invitational

The bus for the Bethel Invitational will leave the high school at 7:45. The times and directions to the invitational are found in the post below.

9/25 Home Meet Results

Today was another good day for the PHS Cross Country Team. Both the boys and girls finished the day 3-0. Already, the boys have equaled last year's win total and the girls are one win behind last year's total.

The boys beat Joel Barlow 20 - 43, Bethel 19 - 44, and Bunnell 15 - 50. The boys were lead by Harrison Katz's 2nd place finish (17:07). The rest of the varsity runners include Phil Critelli (17:27 - 4th), Matt Letho (17:29 - 5th), Jake Critelli (18:11 - 6th), Eric Brenn (18:15 - 7th), Austin Delaney (18:16 - 8th), and Colin McCrory (18:25 - 9th).

The girls beat Joel Barlow 27 - 28, Bethel 22 - 39, Bunnell 19 - 44. The girls were lead by Jeanne Theleen's 1st place finish (15:33). The rest of the varsity runners include Emily Pattison (17:06 - 5th), Casey Ciaccio (17:29 - 9th), Katie Whitney (17:36 - 10th), Olivia Lawson (18:06 - 13th), Katie Noel (18:10 - 14th), and Hannah Holbrook (18:18 - 15th).

Congratulations on a good day. You have made good progress throughout the season. With half the season over, now is a good time to check to see how you are progressing and determine a goal for the rest of the season. Nice work and good racing today.

Bethel Invitational

The Bethel Invitational will be held on Saturday, September 29 at Bethel High School. The meet begins at 9:30 and the races will go off about 30 minutes apart. All of our runners will be running in the race, either in the varsity race or the JV race. Here is the order of races:

• Girls Junior Varsity
• Boys Junior Varsity
• Girls Varsity (12 runners)
• Boys Varsity (12 runners)

Directions: Take 84 West to exit 9. Take a left and go under Route 84. Go to the stop sign, take a right onto Route 6. Go to the traffic light (past the garden center), take a left at the light onto Old Hawleyville Road. Go to the second stop sign and take a right onto Plum Tree Road. Go by Blue Jay Orchard, at next traffic light take a left. Go up the hill to the school.

I hope to see all of you there.

Pasta Party September 24

There will be a pasta party at Katie Whitney's house on September 24 at 6:00 PM. The Whitneys will supply the pasta, but the following classes need to bring food:

Freshmen: Desserts
Sophomores: Drinks
Juniors: Bread/Garlic Bread
Seniors: Salads and Dressings

Everybody needs to bring a lawn chair or ground blanket and dress for the weather.

184 Bates Rock Road
Southbury, CT

Nonnewaug Invitational

The date of the Nonnewaug Invitational is on Friday, October 12, not on Saturday as was originally posted. I'm sorry about the confusion.

The schedule of the races is as follows:
Girls JV: 3:15
Boys JV: 3:45
Boys varsity: 4:15
Girls varsity: 4:45

9/18 Home Meet

Congratulations on another good meet. We are improving with each meet, and today was no exception. Our times are dropping from the beginning of the season, and compared to last year.

To begin with, Harrison Katz lead the boys to victory over Newtown, Stratford, and Oxford. Harrison finished 2nd with a time of 17:07 (a new Pomperaug team record). Phil Critelli was second with a time of 17:27 (a new sophomore team record). Rounding out the top seven for the boys were Matt Letho (17:29 - 4th), Eric Brenn (17:44 - 6th), Austin Delaney (17:56 - 8th), Jake Critelli (18:04 - 9th), and Marc Romano (18:06 - 11th). Congratulations on a well deserved victory over Newtown today.

In the girls race, Jeanne Theleen won the race with a time of 14:56 (a new junior team record). Rounding out the top seven for the girls were Emily Pattison (17:04 - 9th), Jessi Johnson (17:09 - 11th), Casey Ciaccio (17:31 - 15th), Katie Whitney (17:37 - 16th), Katie Noel (17:54 - 18th), and Olivia Lawson (18:00 - 20th). Although the girls lost to a very talented and deep Newtown team, they had a very successful day. We had our entire varsity team running at 18 minutes or faster, where last year there were only three runners who broke 18 minutes. We are getting better and it will show at the end of the season.

For everybody, I was very impressed by your performances. We had numerous personal bests today, with some people having to set new goals for themselves since they have already reached their season goals.

Your times are posted to the left, but there is a problem with the boy's times. Since some people did not remove their numbers and give them to Coach Wargo before leaving the chute (there were people from all teams who did this), some of the times are not correct. Tomorrow, we will attempt to fix this, so try to remember which place you are for tomorrows practice.

Once again, nice work. We are getting better with each race and I can't wait to see how we are performing by the end of the season.

Windham Invitational Results

Congratulations on a very good first invitational of the season. We had many gutsy performances and personal bests today, and we had a strong showing by both the boys and girls teams. The girls finished 8th in their race, while the boys finished 9th.

The day began with Colin McCrory finishing second in the freshman boys race with a time of 12:15. Melanie Scott lead the freshmen girls with a time of 18:58. Casey Ciaccio was the first girls JV runner to cross, with a time of 15:34. These three races were over a 2.15 mile course. The boys JV team was lead by Tyler Kniery's 19:17 over the 3.05 mile course.

Harrison Katz once again lead the boys with a 16th place finish and a time of 16:44, beating his time from last year of 17:48. The rest of the boys team of Phil Critelli, Austin Delaney, Matt Letho, Marc Romano, Matt McDonald and Jake Critelli bested their times from last year by an average of over one minute.

Jeanne Theleen had an impressive race, leading the girls with a 3rd place finish in a time of 15:29, beating her time from last year of 16:23. The rest of the girls team of Jessi Johnson, Emily Pattison, Katie Whitney, Olivia Lawson, Jessica Urqhuart, and Morgan Caffrey are about 45 seconds ahead of where they were last year.

Today is a great start to the invitational season. With too many people to mention here who did well, I just have to say that I'm proud of all of your performances.

The times are posted in the updated results. The places are in yet. Once they are posted on mysportsresults.com, I will update the list.

Windham Directions

If you would like to come to Windham to watch the invitational, here are the directions.

Take I-84 east through Hartford to Route 384 (Exit 59). Pick up Route 6 in Bolton. At intersection of Route 6 and 66 in Columbia, continue (left) on route 6 toward Willimantic. Take second exit marked for Eastern Connecticut State University/ Route 195. At end of ramp, turn right onto High Street. As you crest the hill, Windham High School will be on your left.

Parents are allowed to bring thier children home after their child's race.

Windham Invitational

Saturday is our first invitational, the Windham Invitational. This is a large race, with over 60 teams competing. All of our runners will run on Saturday. The bus will leave the high school at 8:45 and return around 6:00. Although we will stop for food on the way home, everybody should come prepared with their own food for the meet.

The race schedule is as follows:
Boys freshman - 11:20
Girls freshman - 11:45
Girls JV - 12:10
Boys Varsity - 12:55
Girls Varsity - 1:25
Boys JV - 2:25

If you cannot make it, please let me know.

Snack and Drink List

One of the traditions of Pomperaug Cross Country is parents supplying snacks and drinks to the runners after their race. We have many runners, and this takes many families to help supply their fuel. At the pot luck dinner, we had a list of dates to sign up for food and drink. Although many signed up, there are still more opportunities for people to help out. We need about 2 to 3 families to help (we have around 90 runners). Below is the link for the snack and drink list and it can be found on the left. If you would like to add your family to the list, please e-mail me and I'll add you to the list. Thank you and have a good day.

Snack and Drink List

September 11 Meet

Congratulations on completing the first meet of the season. This is a good start to the year. Both the boys and girls finished the day 1 and 1. The boys beat New Fairfield 20 to 43 while losing to Brookfield 29 to 28. The girls beat Brookfield 19 to 44 while losing to New Fairfield 23 to 34.

Harrison Katz lead the boys with a 2nd place finish and a time of 16:16. Rounding out the top seven were Phil Critelli, Eric Brenn, Matt Letho, Jake Critelli, Austin Delaney, and Colin McCrory. We had nine boys under 18 minutes and nineteen boys under 20 minutes. Many people had dramatic improvements from the time trial on Friday. This is a good way to begin the season.

Jeanne Theleen lead the girls with a 1st place finish in a time of 16:48. Rounding out the top seven were Jessi Johnson, Emily Pattison, Katie Whitney, Olivia Lawson, Katie Noel, and Hannah Holbrook. We had nine girls under 21 minutes. There were many girls who decreased their time by significant amounts. Good start.

Remember how you performed in this meet as you continue to run throughout the season. You should improve from week to week and remember how today felt as you get faster this season. Congratulations to all of you on a good start to the season.

Time Trials

We had a very good day at the time trials. Our performances were strong, many people had personal bests for our course, and we all walked away with a good feeling about the upcoming season. This is a good start to the season. The results are posted to the left under XC results. Have a good weekend and I'll see you Monday.

New Sites for the First Two Meets

It is official, the first two meets have been moved to new sites. The meet on September 11 has been moved to New Fairfield. The meet on September 18 will now be at our course. Hopefully these are the only changes that we will have to the schedule.

Timed Mile Results

We had a good day yesterday, with our first timed event of the season, the timed mile. We had many good performances and a few surprises. We have had a strong start to the season. All of you are working hard and pushing yourselves and this will pay off at the end of the season. The coaches and I cannot be happier with your performance so far this season. Keep up the good work.

Remember to take a day off from running to recover from your work this week. You should run at least once for 30 to 40 minutes this weekend. Anybody who has been running over the summer should get in a distance run on Saturday or Sunday of between 45 and 70 minutes and then do a normal 30 to 40 minute run on Monday.

Enjoy your vacation and see all of you on Tuesday.

Timed Mile Results (with last year's times)

Cross Country Apparel

You will have a chance to purchase sweatshirts, warmups, and T-shirts that support the cross country team.

Attached is the information

XC apparel letter

XC apparel order form

Pot Luck Dinner 9/4

We will have a Cross Country family fot-luck dinner on Tuesday, September 4. It will be from 6:30 – 8:00 in the PHS Cafeteria. Each class is responsible for bringing the following foods:
Seniors – Main Dish
Juniors – Bread or Salad
Sophomores – Desserts
Freshman – Drinks

The entire family is invited to the dinner.

I look forward to seeing and meeting everybody that night.

First Day of Practice

Our first day of practice is on Monday, August 27. We will meet at 2:30 behind the cafeteria. Be ready to run. We should be finished by 4:30. I look forward to seeing all of you on Monday.

Course Clean Up on August 24

We will have our annual course cleanup on Friday, August 24 at 9 AM. We will meet behind the cafeteria (where we meet for practice and meets). Most of what we need to clean up is to clear out overgrown brush and a few trees (small ones) that fell on the course. The biggest project, though, will be the repair of our bridges, and replacement of one of the bridges.

If you can, please bring any of the following equipment:
clippers, rakes, shovels, buckets, gloves

We should be done by noon. I hope to see all of you there on Friday.

Coach Loiseau

Week of July 30

Hard to believe that we are starting our season in less than a month. It has been nice to see many of you throughout the summer, getting yourselves ready for a good season. Although many have been running, it is time for all of us to pick up the pace of our training. If you truly want to be in shape for the season, you should be running between 4 and 6 times a week, each time running at least 4 miles. This is the only way in which you will have a truly successful season.

This week we will be running again on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at the Audubon park in Southbury. We will meet there at 6PM. On Saturday we will run at the Bridal Trail in Southford. We will meet there at 9AM. I hope to see many of you out there running.

Enjoy and have a good day.

July 17 and 19 runs

We will be meeting at the Bent of the River Audubon park in Southbury on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The runs will be at 6PM. I hope to see you running.

If anybody has good ideas of places to run besides the Audubon park and the Bridal trail, please let me know. I am trying to avoid having all of running on the road, so if you know of any place near Southbury or Middlebury that has good running trails, please let me know.

Directions: Take 172 in Southbury. At the South Britain General Store, turn onto East Flat Hill Rd. The park is on your left about a 1/4 mile down the road.

Thursday, July 12 Run

We had a good turnout for the first group run of the year. 18 people showed up for a run on a hot and humid night. Despite a small group getting lost, it was a good start to our summer runs together. I look forward to more of these nights.

Our next run will be on Thursday, July 12 at the Bent of the River Audubon park in Southbury (directions below). We'll meet at 6PM and will be finished by 7PM. Most of us are running for about 30 minutes, while there is a group who ran yesterday for 45 minutes. I look forward to seeing all of you out running this summer.

First Runs of the Summer

If anybody is interested, I will organizing runs this summer on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. These runs are open to anybody who wants to join us. Cross country runners, friends, and family. This is a chance to go and run together.

Our first runs will be on Tuesday, July 10 and Thursday, July 12 at the Bent of the River Audubon park in South Britain. This will take place at 6PM.

Directions: Take 172 in Southbury. At the South Britain General Store, turn onto East Flat Hill Rd. The park is on your left about a 1/4 mile down the road.

I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Summer Training

Cross Country is an endurance sport, requiring a strong base of training to succeed. Fortunately, it is easy to train for cross country. All that is required is a pair of shoes and dedication. If you train over the summer, you will have a successful 2007 Cross Country season.

If you truly want to get the most out of your summer runs, aim for 30 to 50miles of running a week. The more miles that you run, the greater the base you will have to survive the difficult runs. Begin with mileage that you can handle and slowly increase it over the summer.

The basic philosophy of training is to spend the first four or five weeks building your endurance and then spend the next four weeks building your strength and speed. Throughout this time, you should build up your muscle strength with core workouts and strides.
Knowing that it is easier to run with friends then by yourself, many of us will meet and run with the team three times a week throughout the summer. I will keep you posted on this website about when and where we will meet.

Finally, a few guidelines for training:

• We follow the easy-hard-easy philosophy of running. By alternating easy and hard days, you can work your body and then give it some rest to recover and repair. Do not have two hard workouts back to back.


• Standard runs should be about 10% to 15% of the total miles run that week. (If you are running 40 miles a week, a standard run should be around 4 – 6 miles)


• Distance runs should be about 20% of the total miles run that week. (If you are running 40 miles a week, distance runs should be 8 miles)


• Standard and distance runs are run at a normal training pace. (Race pace + 2:00)


• Easy and recovery runs are run at a slower pace and run the day after a hard workout. (Race pace + 2:20)


• Tempo runs are run at a comfortably fast pace for 20 to 30 minutes. (Race pace + 0:30)


• Fartleks are runs where you alternate fast and slow paces within the run, usually on a 1 to 1 ratio. (For example 2 minutes fast, 2 minutes easy and repeat for x number of minutes)


• Do not increase your mileage more than 10% a week. (If you are running 40 miles a week, your increase should be no more than 4 miles for the next week.)


• Once you have finished two weeks of training, alternate core workouts and strides after each workout.


• Core workouts are crunches, pushups, etc; anything that will increase your abdominal and thoracic strength.


• Strides should be 5 to 10 sets of 20-second sprints to increase your turnover rate.

Good luck with your training and I hope to see you running this summer.