Sac. State Results

Sorry for the late update Warrior fans, but here's the recap of the Sacramento State Hornet Jamboree of Sep. 12, 2009.

The course was fantastic, I was a huge fan. All on dirt, several decent hills, long smooth trails that were wide enough to pass people. Good spectator viewing, well marked miles, good crew and officials, I just can't say enough. Well done Hornets.

The men lined up for a 4 mile alongside the D1 likes of Berkeley, Davis, Sac St, Santa Clara, USF, and Saint Mary's, along with D3 William Jessup. Dawson "Karl Marx" Vorderbruegge was first across the line for the Warriors, finishing in 20:26, good enough for 13th place overall. Joey "Flava Flav" Nunes was next in 20:35, rounding out an impressive top-two for the Warriors, putting 2 in the top 20 at a D1 meet. Shane "Denis the Peasant" Brookshire and Terrance "Rally-Do" Ellis were third and fourth for the Warriors, finishing together in 21:43 and 21:44, good enough for 59th and 60th overall. Ivan and Palmer also crossed consecutively in 22:16 and 22:25, followed by Kanwar Dhaliwal in 23:01.

As a team, the men were 6th of 8, beating out Saint Mary's and William Jessup, and only losing to USF by 30 points.

The women raced a 5k, and Denali "She-Beast" Foldager crossed the line first for the women in 27th place with a time of 18:50, a great time for her. She was followed by Rubye in 19:28, and then Andrea in 19:50. Mary, Chelsea, and Al-Face all finished together consecutively in 20:01, :05, and :07, exhibiting some excellent pack running technique. Lindsay Garcia crossed in 20:24, followed by Elena in 22:11, rounding out the Lady Warrior crew.

Besides the official team, Turlock Elite sent some runners to the meet, and had an impressive showing. Jose Morales, Mosquito Blaylock, Martin Ramos, and Stephen Lenz ran in the men's race, and all helped pace the Warrior men. Marina "Crazy Face" Ghabbour ran unattached in the women's race and helped pull the Lady Warriors to some impressive times.

Suck State XC Hornet Jamboree Preview

This Saturday, September 12, the Warriors will make the drive up to Sacramento to compete in the Hornet XC Jamboree, hosted by Sacramento State. The course is at Sacramento Granite Regional Park. This is the first time CSUS has been up to the Hornet Jamboree in a few years, and we aren't too sure what the course will entail.

The day involves Varsity and Freshman High School races, as well as men's and women's Collegiate Open races. The Women's 5k race kicks off at 9:15 am, followed by the Men's 4 mile at 9:45 am. The Jamboree will be the premier NorCal XC race this weekend, featuring teams from Sac State, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, USF, Fresno State, San Jose State, Sonoma, UoP, and Nevada. Stanislaus will be the only D2 school in the men's race, and one of two D2 teams in the women's race. Thus, the competition should be fierce, and there will be a lot of hard runners there to push us along.

For the women, Sophomore Denali "She-Beast" Foldager is looking to follow up her win last week at CSUMB with another impressive performance this week. She will most definitely have some girls to push with, which will force her to respond and hang tough if she wants to show she can compete outside the D2 level. Her twin Fubye will also be looking to have an breakout race, as she has had some injury trouble the last few weeks. Newcomers Mary Courtright, Al-Face Thiele, and Liz "808" LaMadrid are anticipating a big pr this weekend, as their heavy summer and altitude training should be yielding early results. Returners Andrea Johnson, Lindsay Garcia, and Dreamweaver Deerinck should have good races as well, using their experience to guide the team up towards the front of the secondary pack in the race.

For the He-Man-Woman-Haters, Joey Nunes and Dawson Vorderbruegge are prepared to make a name for themselves among the ranks of Nor-Cal's best D1 XC teams. They both hope to hang onto the back of the lead pack for as long as they can and then finish strong. Shane Brookshire is hoping to close the gap between he and the front runners as he gets into better and better shape with time. Palmer, Ivan, Tyler, Terrance, and Kanwar are looking to run as a strong pack and move up the ranks, picking off many runners by working together and pushing as a unit. Overall, the goal for Saturday is to post some fast times, and prove that D2 ain't a joke.

Besides the current team members, Stan is sending some unattached runners to the race. Stephen Lenz and Jose Morales will make their 2009 XC debut, both itching for a fast race after a summer of hard training. Also, freshman redshirt Marina Ghabbour will be running with the women, and she should place well for her first collegiate race.

We'll see ya in Sac-Town!

Monterey Bay XC Invite

Before you continue reading this recap, realize just one thing. It just doesn't matter. Even if we won, even if we lost, even if every runner got mortally injured, even if every runner qualified for world XC championships, it just doesn't matter.

That being said, it was a fascinating day as the Warriors lined up for their first race of the year on Saturday September 5 in Monterey, CA. The weather was great, cool but sunny, and the Warriors were ready to get back in racing form after training all those long and lonely miles over the summer. CSU Monterey Bay, East Bay, Notre Dame de Namur, Sonoma State, and San Francisco State were all there to see where they are at this early in the season as well.

This was the first time CSUS had traveled and competed at the CSU Monterey Bay Invite, so we had no idea what to expect from the course. As it turns out, not much. I'll list a few pros and cons I observed from the course and let you make the call:

Pros:
1. Almost exclusively dirt or sand. In other words, no concrete.
2. All on trails
3. Well marked and maintained

Cons:
1. A lot of very thick and heavy sand, so it was hard to get good footing on a lot of crucial turns and coming off big downhills
2. The trails were narrow, nearly impossible to pass people in most spots.
3. The trails were very twisty and winding between mile 2-3, very hard to go fast in such a technical twisty trail
4. Turn a corner and finish 20 meters onto cement with no time to react or initiate a kick. The finish line wasn't visible before this, so it was hard to judge how much of the race you had left.

Anyway, I can complain more, but I'll leave it at that. To CSUMB's credit, it was a very traditional XC course, which is fun in an age where XC races are becoming more and more like road races with a bit of grass thrown in. They did a great job of organizing and running the meet, there were no problems I observed, and it would have been an accomplishment to go the wrong way or miss a turn, as they had great volunteers and directors. It just wasn't a course made for speed, which is actually nice every now and again.

Moving on, the Lady Warriors had a strong showing despite a few injured or redshirting runners. Denali "She-Beast" Foldager won her first collegiate race, coming in ahead of the field in the 2.75 mile race. She looked really strong down the stretch, and is showing she will be a force to be reckoned with in the CCAA. She was followed by teammates Rubye, Mary, Al-Face, Andrea, Chelsea, and Lindsay Garcia to round out the top 7 for the Lady Warriors. All had a good first race, and there are more exciting things to come.

In the men's race, Joey "Portuguese Man-o-War" Nunes also won his first collegiate XC race, coming in first for the men's 4 mile in a time of 22:05. Joey took the lead at mile 3 and brought it in strong to hold of a SFSU runner and teammate Dawson "Man-Beard" Vorderbruegge for second and third places, respectively. Palmer, Shane, Ivan, Tyler, Kanwar, and Terrance brought in the rest of the points for the Warriors in that order.

Overall, the times were slow on a junky course, and nobody really felt like they ran the best they could, but it's freaking September 5th! Unlike a lot of schools, the Warriors are exclusively concerned about peaking and running our best on October 24 and November 7, when it matters. It was a good tune up race, and provided a fun day of racing for everyone involved.

But remember, it just doesn't matter!

CROSS COUNTRY SEASON BEGINS

THE FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON BEGINS ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH AT MONTEREY BAY, STAY TUNED FOR RESULTS.....GOOD LUCK WARRIORS!!

CONGRATS JOEY NUNES

11th Place Finish at Wharf to Wharf 6 mile race. Official time of 29:46.

4th of July Racing Report

Several of our Warriors raced on Independence Day this year, and posted some pretty impressive times.

First, Joey Nunes won the Run San Ramon 5k in the Bay Area in a time of 15:20, a fantastic time for mid-summer race in the midst of strength training. Joey said, "I felt really good and smooth. It felt like leftover speed from track season." Congrats Joey!

Dawson Vorderbruegge placed second in the Ka'ena Point Firecracker 10 miler, a trail race on the North Shore of O'ahu, Hawai'i. Dawson ran the flat but technically challenging course in 65:10. "It was hard to get good footing on the rough trails, but it was a fun race."

Results here for Ka'ena Point: http://www.hurthawaii.com/

Rubye and Denali Foldager ran their traditional mid-summer classic, the Mount Marathon race in Seward, Alaska. It is an up and back race to the top of Mount Marathon and back down to the sea port town. Denali was 23rd out of the women, and Rubye was 81st. Congrats ladies! Also, kudos to Patty Foldager, who was 30th!

Results can be found here: http://www.sewardak.org/index.asp

P.S.- Seward wins the award for coolest freaking website ever for a tiny little town.

If I missed some, let me know, and happy running...

Summer Interview #4: Jaydeep Bhatia

For our next summer interview, WXCD caught up with team manager JaaDeePoo Bhatia.

WXCD: Hows your summer going?

J: It was going really well, but some stuff happened with our family that kind of blew it off track, but it's getting better.

WXCD: What are you looking forward to this upcoming XC season?

J: Basically seeing the team placing at Regionals. A lot of fresh faces and a lot of laughs. Also an obscure trip somewhere cool.

WXCD: So, you are going to be the manager this season, what are your duties?

J: I'm probably going to be timing, just for the sake of timing things. I'll be writing a lot of numbers, I won't even write times, I'll just write down some numbers so coach thinks I'm writing stuff. I'll be passing out a lot of cold towels, runners need cold towels. I've got a sweet idea to make a t-shirt. It's a really cool design, it has a hawk on it. Even though we are the warriors, I wanted to incorporate a hawk. A warrior killing a hawk. And later in the year I'll be attending the Annual Managers Meeting in the Mountains (AMMM), doing managerial things, like tabulating how many cold towels I passed out.

WXCD: Sounds like you've got your hands full?

J: Yep, that's the name of the game.

WXCD: Your friend and former teammate Kanwar Dhaliwal will be trying out for the Stan State men's team this year.  Tell us about Kanwar?

J: He's definitely a good kid.  He has really clean teeth and he's pretty fast.  He and I have ran a lot together.  He runs kind of like an antelope or an ostrich sometime.  But seriously he's a good runner and he'll fit in well with the team.  I love that kid.  And I'm going to try to keep him away from Palmer and Tyler, because they will literally eat him alive.

WXCD: What was the highlight of this past track season?

J: The day I almost caught Eric in a 300, when he ran a 46 and I ran a 48.  Even though that's not even close to catching him, I had no idea my legs could run that fast.  It felt like I was on a spaceship.

WXCD:  You are a self proclaimed movie buff.  Favorite movie, actor, and genre?

J: Favorite movie is "Almost Famous" which is about a young journalist.  My favorite genre is comedy, I love a good laugh.  And I love comedies, I love a good laugh.  And I like George Clooney.  Fun fact, he is also a spokesman for the U.S. to the United Nations, and he has a masters degree.

WXCD: What do you want to be when you grow up?

J: 1. I want to write the theme songs to short lived sitcoms.

    2. I want to be a war journalist.

    3. I want to have some type of job in the White House.

    4. If all else fails, I'll sell crack.  But I won't be a mean crack dealer, I'll be a nice one and say, "Hey, you, want some crack?"

WXCD: Final question: Who is your hero?

J: My hero is my father, who went from working at a gas station for $3.15 an hour to owning a multi-million dollar gas station.  And George Clooney.