HAPPY ST PATTYS DAY

Shane's 400

So sorry ladies and gentlemen to forget this precious nugget earlier in my posting. At the UC Davis Aggie Open this past weekend, the beloved Shane "Redneck" Brookshire (and his neck really was red from a long day in the sun) led the way for the Stanislaus mens 4x400 relay B Team. There was almost a crisis on our hands when 5 minutes before the race someone realized that the B Team didn't have enough people to run for some reason or another. Coach Taylor was quickly approached by Coach Bradshaw to see if anyone from the distance squad was able to suffer through a quick quarter. I believe, but I can't be sure, that Shane was specifically requested; but if not, you know he had to volunteer right off the bat because, well, he's Shane, and he's awesome.

After several hours of rest following the 5k earlier in the day, Shane laced up his distance spikes once again. After approximately two strides of a length of 50 meters, Shane was ready for action. Of course, he was the anchor, because he's Shane, and he's awesome.

To start the race, Solomon Granillo ran a great leg of around 51 seconds after just finishing pole vaulting, and brought us in about 6th place out of 8. From there 'Renzo took over, and his massive torso ate up 4 opponents in a matter of 150 meters. He brought the baton into Luther Bell in 2nd place overall. Luther maintained his position and handed off to Shane about 15 meters behind the leader. We all knew Shane was in for a great race, because he's Shane, and he's awesome.

As Shane left the exchange zone, something terrible happened. It seems as though a school to remain unnamed (Hogwarts) had put reverse steroid cream all over our baton. Our first three runners were unaffected because the cream only kicked in after 3 minutes of use. As Shane rounded the first curve onto the backstretch, his legs were vehemently bewitched by the cream, and he actually started running backwards. He couldn't help it, and no one blamed him. How could he beat magic anyway? As this happened, all the other runners passed Shane, simply because they were going in the correct direction. Shane fell behind quickly, but kept fighting, and finally overcame the power of the magic Hogwarts cream with about 50 meters to go. Shane finished strong and brought in the baton proudly in 8th place, but showing that Hogwarts ain't got nothin on us.

After the race, leaning against his red Ford F-150 with his shirt off, Shane had this to say: "Them boys from Hogwarts got some funny magic up them sleeves o' theirs, I tell you what. But betcha sure I ain't gonna let that slow me down, no sirree, cuz I'm Shane, and I'm awesome."

Aggie Open Results

Well, track fans, the 2009 UC Davis Aggie Open has come and gone, but not without some spectacular performances from the Warrior Distance Squad. Saturday the 14th was a great day for funning (a combination of running and having fun, mainly in response to running well) as the weather was in the high 60's-low 70's with plenty of sunshine. It was a bit windy, but not enough to throw any Warriors off their game.


The Half Mile Heroes led the women's side with a 1st, 3rd ownage of the medal stand in the 800. National Threat April Montgomery won the event, running an NCAA Division 2 provisional time of 2:14. Rubye "Yukon" Foldager followed closely behind, running an impressive pr of 2:19, and only separated from April by a U San Fran girl. Marissa Hager ran a 2:24 to seal the deal and make the statement that the Half Mile Heroes are here and ready to take on all challengers. Watch these three to make a big impact as the season continues.

Earlier in the day, the women's 5k saw action from Clarissa Rivera and Lindsey Viltrakis, running excellent pr's of 19:22 and 19:32 respectively. As well, Chelsea Deerinck, Andrea Johnson and Cat Jaureguy finished the 1500 in that order on the team, fighting hard against a very tough field.

For the he-man-woman-haters, it was all Gunes, and by that I mean Eric GUtierrez and Joey NuNES stole the show. Joey started us off with a 2nd place finish, 30+ second pr in the 5k, posting a 15:18, definitely good enough to get into Cal-Nevas, and proving that this once 1500 specialist may be bumping up in distance as he bumps it up in age. To cap it all off, he exhibited a great kick, actually passing someone on the last lap and holding his position with over 200 to go. Congrats Joey!

In the men's 1500, a scorching fast first heat left Eric to duke it out in the second heat. But never fear, Silent Ninja is here! Eric ran a brilliant race, holding back from the lead for the first 3 laps, taking it early in the 4th lap, only to be cowardly ridden and kicked by some retards from a magical school to remain unnamed. (However he did beat some runners from this magical school, way to go Eric, stick it to Slytherin.) Eric finished 3rd in his heat with a time of 4:03 to match his personal best from his Stagg High School days.

Not only did the Eric show continue, it continued with tenacity! In the 800, Eric ran like a devil out of hell and finished in 2:01, an impressive double for so early in the season. Terrance "Non-Affiliated" Ellis also ran in the 800, but was battling a virus and crossed in 2:04.

Not to forget our other Warriors, Senor Marteen Ramos ran a 15:36 in the 5k, Shane Brookshire crossed in 15:56, and Palmer finished in just under 17. A great workout for these guys who didn't taper at all and completed some nasty Steeple Gauntlets just days ago.

Overall a great meet on a soft track with a lot of fans and competition. Couldn't ask for more, see you at UCLA!

UC Davis Aggie Preview

All right track fans, after a two week hiatus from competition, the Warriors are back on the oval this weekend, March 13 and 14, at the UC Davis Aggie Open. The goal for this meet: hit times for entry into Cal-Nevada Track Championships on March 28-29. Cal-Neva's is a high profile meet with stiff D1 and D2 competition, so it's going to take some fast times to gain entry into these races. Aggie should be a great place to hammer down some excellent marks. After a 14 day no race period after the Chico Relays, both the men and the women have hit the roads hard and are ready to start the real season of CSUS Track.

On the men's side, the 5k will be the event to watch, with Palmer, Joey, Martin, and Shane battling it out. As of this posting, it looks like a sub-15:20 or so will get into the best heat at Cal-Neva's, based on the current race entry times. Eric will be competing in the 1500, trying to ratchet down a sub-4:03, which would make for a nice pr going into the heavy part of the season. Anything around that fast will surely get him down to UCLA in two weeks. Dawson is sitting this meet out due to missed training after a DBAB contusion on his heels from the Chico steeplechase.

For the women, it'll be a lot of the same. This will be senior April Montgomery's outdoor debut. She has spent the last couple of weeks trying to qualify for Indoor Nationals, but fell just short of hitting a provisional two weeks ago in Seattle. Not to be discouraged, she ran an incredible 2:15 on a 300 meter track, and was only 1 second away from hitting the standard entry mark. Look for big things out of her this season, along with the other Half-Mile Heroes. Freshman Rubye Foldager is coming of a win at the Cal Berkeley Open meet in the 800, and experienced Captain Marissa Hager is hungry to some incredible things in her final season.

You can view the Cal-Nevada entries at:

http://www.flashresults.com/flashwest/

As well as the specific information for the Aggie Open here:

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/ucda/sports/c-track/auto_pdf/AgReg09

See you in Davis!

Steeple Lovin'

Here's the video of the Wildcat Relays Men's Steeplechase, enjoy the glory and majesty of track's craziest event!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL7SqKJVIq0

Wildcat Relays Results

There was plenty of magic on the track this past weekend as the Warriors competed at the Chico Wildcat Relays. The first event was the 3k Steeple for Denali Foldager, Martin Ramos, Palmer Thiele, and Dawson Vorderbruegge. This race was a first for all the steeple-virgin freshman, and it sure showed in the men's race. Both Dawson and Palmer looked good over the barriers and most of the water jumps, but battled late in the race with fatigue and inexperience. For their first race, though, it was a positive experience, and it finished with Dawson crossing in 10:17 and Palmer in 10:50. Senor Martin gave a great preview of an exciting season to come, finishing in second place in 9:43, an excellent time for so early in the season. Be on the lookout for a provisional and maybe an auto-qualifier from this bad-boy Warrior. Denali had a fantastic race, crossing in 12:17 and running like a pro over all the barriers.

The next event for the Warriors would be the Distance Medley Relay, consisting of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 legs to make up the race. The women fielded three teams, taking the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots in the race, and posting some good times for such an early season meet.

On the men's side, Team Get Some was disbanded due to Dawson's inability to run because of bruised heels in the steeplechase. So, the men collapsed into one super-team consisting of Eric, Saul, Shane, and Joey, complete with matching canary headbands. Eric ran the most impressive leg, hanging with Chico's front runners for all of 1200 meters and kicking strongly at the end to hand off the baton in excellent position. Team Get Some Headband ended up finishing in 10:49, an impressive time.

Finally, the day concluded with another team-wide 3k. Joey "And-1" Nunes was the top Warrior and the first non-Chico finisher, crossing in 9:01. Dreamweaver Deerinck was the first women's Warrior to cross in 11:23.

STEEPLE LIFE