Venture Cross Country 2012

Well, another season of Cross Country has come to a close. We had a great season, although short. The kids all did great and really worked hard. I look forward to seeing them this Spring in Track.

Coach Mills, Parker M., Ethan M.,

Ashtyn K., Ally M.

This particular race Ally and Ashtyn placed in the top 10 for the girls. Ashtyn with a 6th and Ally with a 9th place finish.



Back In The Day

I had a great laugh today. I found myself in my old alma mater this afternoon, Wahlquist Jr. High. I enjoyed going down all of the halls and going down memory lane. I found myself back by the gym. By the trophy display cases. I was surprised to see two of my old track records still up from 1993.They are for the 880 relay and the Medley relay. In the 880 each person runs a 220m leg. In the medley the first two runners run a 220m, then the third leg runs a 440 with the final leg running an 880m.  At first I thought it was just left up there from neglect. No way could I still hold any part of a record from Jr. High, could I? Then I noticed that some of the records were newer, 2004, and even 2012. So, maybe? I gotta admit, I am pleasantly surprised. Guess I was a bit of a speedster, back in the day. Fun discovery.

Cross Country

This Fall Ethan and I embarked on a new adVenture together.

He joined his first Cross Country team

and I coached my first Cross Country team.

I don't know who was more nervous!

We found out in July that the Charter school the kids attend was going to

roll out it's first ever athletics program. Seeing as we didn't have initial funds for gear

or coaches they were looking for some parent volunteers to step up.

I of course stepped up and said, "If you need some help with Cross Country or Track let me know." I figured lots of parents are runners, it will be fun to help out here and there. Well, at Back to School night I was informed that I was it, as in ONLY it, and oh yeah, practice starts in less than a week. By the way, the kids need to be ready to race in less than three weeks!
Good thing I run to alleviate stress! Because the day after school started, we were ALL running!

Because it is our first year with an athletics program all of the seasons are very short. Just to help ease us into the whole thing. We only had two meets, both with Mount Ogden, Highland and Mound Fort Jr. Highs. All of these photos were from our second meet. The first meet I was too busy getting the ropes of this coaching thing and helping the kids learn the course so I didn't lose any of them to be taking any pictures.

It was sure a lot of fun hanging with these kids. We had two other kids on the team but they weren't able to come to our second meet. They were all from 6th to 9th graders.


Of course I enjoyed running next to this kid day in and day out the most.
He did great! I really enjoyed sharing this whole experience with him. We loved hitting
Wal Mart almost every day after practice to grab a Chocolate Milk Refuel.

It was fun watching them all improve. From day one, barely being able to eek out a mile, to running 5 milers and doing hill sprints at the Weber County Fairgrounds. Some of them even got to experience their first trail run!

Ethan's race times:

September 15th at Mount Ogden Park 21:09
September 22nd at Big D Sports Park 17:56
Gotta love earning a Personal Record!
Both races were two miles long.

We are both looking forward to Track and Field in the Spring.
I am hoping the kids will
want me back next Fall for some more Cross Country action.
Gotta admit, I kinda like my new title: Coach.