TURTLE!!!

So Abilene Christian's men and women cross country teams came down to Canyon a few weeks ago to run in a different atmosphere and hang out with our guys and gals. We ran down at Palo Duro Canyon Saturday morning and it flooded while we were down there which left us stranded and completely muddy...it was pretty awesome!

The day before, one of the Abilene runners found a massive snapping turtle in their hotel room! Jarret Kachel, who is a wildlife biology major, was saying that these turtles aren't native to Amarillo, TX and someone more than likely brought it here and left it. This thing was huge! I must admit, I didn't think it was really much when Coach Burroughs called me and told me about it, but I was wrong...this thing was massive.

We went bowling that night and he showed me the pics of it and that is when I realized that this thing was the real deal. Check out the pics:

We have our home meet this week, and will be testing out the new course. The women competed last week and had some great individual performances at Midwestern, but will be looking for a better team outcome in the weeks ahead. Aries Bazaldua finished 3rd overall in the 4k race with a time of 15:52. Nicole Hudgens also had a good day finishing 9th overall with a 16:08. This week will be the opening race for the men's team and will be a good test of where everyone is at right now. We have a long season ahead...stay strong, stay healthy!

New Beginning!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated this thing. We have been up to quite abit here at West Texas A&M. We have around 65 student athletes coming to campus that will be competing for WT's first Track and Field program since 1985! We will be talented, but very young.

Cross country is upon us and the guys and girls have been working to build their fitness over the summer. Again we have some new faces and will be young on both sides. Patience is the key at this point...we want to develop all of these young athletes to be strong for the future. Our women will compete this thursday at Midwestern and then both teams will be competing at our home meet on Sept. 12th. Should be a fun season. Hope to see you out there!

Flowers

Training Focus

We are now approximately 6 weeks out from our first indoor meet and everyone seems to be rounding into descent shape. Being a new track and field program, we will not be competing with full squads this year although we plan to be very competitive with the individuals we put on the track. I was officially hired as the new track and field coach Oct. 9th and have been working with those athletes who have shown an interest in track and field along with the distance and mid distance athletes ever since. My long distance runners will look more towards outdoor and have transitioned back to general preparation and base building. They will train through indoor and possibly run a few developmental races. My mid distance athletes use cross country as general prep for indoor and we will be moving to more specific preparation in the next few weeks and over the holidays. The sprinters, jumpers and throwers have been in general prep and have been in the weight room this fall. We have worked out about 4 times per week and will soon transition into more event specific training.

This is a very exciting time for West Texas A&M athletics. We just passed a student athletic fee that will fund a brand new track and field facility. We are heavy on the recruiting trail right now and hope to have a good deal of commitments come February. Below is the article about the new facilities:

Students Say "Yes" to Sports Complex

Proposal to go before Texas A&M System Board of Regents for approval



Michael McBroom

Nov. 20, 2008

CANYON, Texas – Students at West Texas A&M University voted yes for a recreational sports complex and no to an expansion at the Jack B. Kelley Student Center (JBK). The University will now take the proposal to The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents for approval.

“We wanted the proposals to be decided by our students, and they have spoken,” Dr. Don Albrecht, vice president for student affairs, said. “The students have voted for the recreational sports complex and against the expansion at the Jack B. Kelley Student Center. We respect their choices and appreciate them taking an active role in the decision process. The University’s efforts to improve campus facilities will always take into account student preferences, and we will continue to seek their input and opinions to ensure that the very best in educational opportunities and experiences are available at West Texas A&M.”

WTAMU students voted Tuesday and Wednesday to decide whether the athletic fee and student center fees should be increased for the addition of a recreational sports complex on the north side of the campus and for an expansion at the JBK. In the vote for the recreational sports complex, 964 students voted yes, while 760 voted no. In the vote for the JBK expansion, 739 students voted no and 691 voted yes.

“This is a very rewarding day,” said Michael McBroom, WT Director of Athletics. “I am pleased and very thankful that the students of WT supported such a large project that will dramatically change our campus and the opportunities available for students. Recreational sports will be able to offer a full intramural program with more sports and teams to more participants. Campus life in general will be improved, as will the overall aesthetic on the North side of our campus.’

If the sports complex proposal is approved by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the WTAMU athletic fee will go from $10 per semester credit hour to $15 per hour beginning in fall 2009 and to $20 per hour in 2010. The athletic fee would help pay for more than half of the estimated $40-$51M construction costs, and donations will be sought to help complete the project.

Construction of the facility will commence upon approval by The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. Plans for the complex include playing fields for soccer, flag football and varsity baseball and softball as well as tennis courts, sand volleyball, outdoor basketball courts, a track and a practice field for the WTAMU marching band.

“This is the first step of our facilities projects,” said McBroom. “We can now focus on raising the funds necessary to construct the Athletics Fieldhouse, which is the final piece of our puzzle. The Fieldhouse will provide centralized service and support to our teams, with locker rooms, weight rooms, training rooms, coaches offices and academic support services under one roof. It will match the Recreational Sports Complex as a first-class venue, and I’m certain we will meet this mark, as well.”

Regional and National Championships

Sorry this update is coming in so late. Things have been very busy transitioning from Cross Country to Indoor.

The Men and Women closed the season out with some strong individual performances, but fell short in the team standings. The Men had some personal best performances by Jose Velasquez and Isai Saucedo in San Antonio at the regional championship.

Competing over a 10 kilometer course, Jose Velazquez (senior, Hereford, Texas) led the Buffs with a 74th place finish and a time of 34:12. He was followed by Isai Saucedo (soph., Bovina, Texas), 97th, 35:04; Thomas Harris (sophomore, Amarillo, Texas), 105th, 35:28; Andrew Striley (freshman, Amarillo, Texas), 107th, 35:34 and Jarret Kachel (junior, Hooker, Okla.), 122nd, 36:43. Also competing, but not counted in the team scoring were Matt Kopansky (fresh., Toronto, Ont.), 131st, 37:39 and Erik Huerta (soph., Hereford, Texas), 139th, 38:42. The team finished 19th place overall.

The Women were led by Jennifer Cherono and Kristie Hartsfield with Cherono finishing fifth to qualify for the National Championship meet.

Cherono led the Lady Buffs' with a time of 21.37, 50 seconds better than her previous best time at the distance. She was followed by Kristie Hartsfield (junior, Perryton, Texas), who finished 36th with a time of 23:11 and Allie Reyna (freshman, Ralls, Texas), 55th with a time of 23.53, Belinda Castanon (senior, El Paso, Texas) was 63rd overall (24:13), Becca Rapstine (sophomore, White Deer, Texas), placed 97th (25:23) and Tara Shields (freshman, Spearman, Texas) finished 113th with a time of 27:25 in the 130-entrant field. The team finished 8th place overall.

Cherono finished 62nd at the NCAA Division II Championships in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. The weather was not ideal with snow and freezing temperatures, but I guess everyone had to run in it. Either way Jennifer had a great season and the future is looking bright for WT cross country.

Lone Star Conference Championship

Kingsville, TX Oct. 25th 2008

The trip was long to say the least for the men who drove down to San Antonio on thursday and headed into kingsville on friday. The women flew out early friday morning and arrived about the same time as the men. We ate many different places (chili's, china bear, golden corral, kingsville caf, t-bell on the way back).

Saturday morning was pretty warm and the course was flat, but the footing wasn't the best I've seen. Either way both teams raced well. The women came away with a 2nd place team finish and finished three in the top 20.

8 of the 10 runners on the men's team set personal best's in the race, but finished 8th overall as a team. The Lone Star Conference is loaded with talented teams. Four of the top men's teams averaged under 5:12 per mile throughout the race. This race was a great measuring stick to see where we need to be in order to be successful in the future.

Jeniffer Cherono (junior, Iten, Kenya), was the top Lady Buff finisher, placing third over the 6k course with a time of 22:21. Following Cherono for the Lady Buffs were Kristie Hartsfield (junior, Perryton, Texas), 11th with a time of 23:50, followed by Belinda Castanon (senior, El Paso, Texas), 18th, 24:16, Allie Reyna (freshman, Ralls, Texas), 24th with a time of 24:47, and Becca Rapstine (sophomore, White Deer, Texas), 28th with a 25:13. Also running but not scoring was Tara Shields (freshman, Spearman, Texas), who placed 51st with a time of 27:06.

Leading the Buffs' efforts on the 7,700 meter course was Jose Velazquez (senior, Hereford, Texas), who finished 28th with a time of 25:55. He was followed by Thomas Harris (sophomore, Amarillo, Texas), 36th with a time of 26:32, Andrew Striley (freshman, Amarillo, Texas), 41st with a 26:45, Jarret Kachel (junior, Hooker, Okla.), 50th with a 27:36 and Isai Saucedo (soph., Bovina, Texas), 51st with a time of 27:39. Also competing but not scoring were Erik Huerta (soph., Hereford, Texas), 56th, 28:15, Matt Kopansky (freshman, Toronto, Ontario), 62nd, 28:43, Jesse Maldonado (fresh., Hereford, Texas), 65th, 29:07, Jarred Murray (freshman, Odessa, Texas), 66th, 29:07 and Luis Flores (soph., Booker, Texas), 67th with a time of 29:48.

Pics from Texas Tech Invite 08

Better late than never...

Flotrack videos of OSU Jamboree

Here are the videos of both the men and women's college races in Stillwater:

Women's 5k

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Men's 8k

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