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

Visit Flotrack For More Videos

Men's 8k

Visit Flotrack For More Videos

Women Take 1st at ASU Meet, Men Finish 6th

The men and women of West Texas A&M continue their run to the conference championship with a tune up at the ASU Blue & Gold Classic. The women's team won with Jeniffer Cherono (19:04) winning easily and Kristie Hartsfield (20:35) finishing in the top ten.

The rest of the team had solid finishes:

11. Belinda Castanon (20:50)
15. Becca Rapstine (21:24)
25. Tara Shields (23:28)

The men's team continues to improve with returners bettering their times by 30 seconds to 1 minute from last year. Pijo (Jose Velazquez) led the way for the Buffs by running the 5 mile course in time of 27:31 and a 13th place finish.

Buff Finishers:
13. Jose Velazquez (27:31)
20. Thomas Harris (28:00)
42. Isai Saucedo (29:19)
50. Jarret Kachel (29:52)
52. Matt Kopansky (29:58)
56. Erik Huerta (30:15)
60. Jarred Murray (30:43)
63. Jesse Maldonado (31:11)
65. Luis Flores (31:49)

Men Improve and Place 10th of 27 teams at Jamboree

The training for the men is really starting to payoff as the returners from last year improved anywhere from 35 seconds to 1:30 from last years competition at the Jamboree. The men competed well and some of the freshmen came out and ran well for their first time over the 8k distance. Jose Velazquez finished 25th in a time of 27:04. Thomas Harris (27:49), Andrew Striley (28:22), Isai Saucedo (28:35) and Jarret Kachel (28:53) rounded out WT's top five and led the team to a 10th place finish. The Buffs will be headed to Angelo State on Oct. 14th to run as a tune up for the Lone Star Conference Championship that will follow.

Cherono Wins! Lady Buffs Take 9th at OSU Jamboree

Photo by: Mika Matzen- Amarillo Globe News

On a perfect October morning in Stillwater, OK, the Lady Buffs toed the starting line against a very solid field. Facing one of the most challenging courses in the nation, everyone knew they had to run smart in order to move up throughout the race. Jeniffer knew she had a chance to win in the College Division, but also knew there would be challengers. We talked about her going out aggressive and pushing the pace early. We have yet to do speed work, but know she is strong aerobically which is why we decided to get out and set a solid pace. I didn't get her exact split, but I believe she was just over 11:30 at the 2 mile mark. Butler's Patrober Murindat and Oklahoma Christian's Sylvia Chirchir were in pursuit for the majority of the race and even caught Jeniffer with around 1000 meters to go. Jeniffer's fast early pace took the kick out of the others' legs and she sprinted across the line with the victory in a time of 18:31 and a 1 minute improvement over last years time on this course.

Lady Buffs Kristie Hartsfield (19:41) and Belinda Castanon (20:37) also had strong days finishing 17th and 56th respectively. The Lady Buffs will be running again at Angelo State on Oct. 14th before competing in the Lone Star Conference Championship.

Cherono takes first at Incarnate Word Invite

The women of WT traveled down to San Antonio to preview the regional course this past weekend. Jeniffer Cherono continued her impressive season with a first place finish over the 6k course in a time of 22.26.4. The team placed 2nd out of 8 teams with a total of 55 points. The Men and Women travel to Stillwater to run in the OSU Jamboree on Oct. 4th. This will be the first big test for both teams and a chance to see how the runners stack up with other conference and regional teams.

Solid Effort by Men's Squad at Texas Tech

The Buffs traveled to Lubbock, TX this past weekend with only 5 to run the 8k course. The 8k course was three loops with a tough uphill finish. Haron Lagat blazed the difficult course in a time of 24:27.57 to a first place finish in front of the 109 runners. Both the men's and women's teams are training extremely hard right now.

44 Harris, Thomas West Texas A&M 28:14.31 35

51 Striley, Andrew West Texas A&M 28:38.90 42

63 Saucedo, Isai West Texas A&M 29:13.82 49

65 Kopansky, Matt West Texas A&M 29:19.13 51

68 Kachel, Jarret West Texas A&M 29:38.50 52

Cherono receives LSC runner of the week honors

Jeniffer Cherono was named female runner of the week for the Lone Star Conference after finishing 3rd at the ACU classic and clocking a time of 18:19.07 over the rolling 5k distance. Cherono is a junior from Iten, Kenya

Men Finish 3rd at ACU Classic

The Men of West Texas A&M had a strong season debut finishing 3rd behind defending national champions Abilene Christian and South Plains. The first place 4 mile time went to ACU runner Cleophus Tanui in 18:49.27.

WT Finishers:

13 Velazquez, Jose West Texas A&M 21:54.56
17 Harris, Thomas West Texas A&M 22:33.18
18 Striley, Andrew West Texas A&M 22:36.53
20 Huerta, Jose West Texas A&M 22:52.42
22 Kachel, Jarret West Texas A&M 23:13.25
23 Kopansky, Matt West Texas A&M 23:13.27
29 Saucedo, Isai West Texas A&M 23:46.54
40 Huerta, Erik West Texas A&M 25:24.25
44 Maldonado, Jesse West Texas A&M 26:13.19
45 Flores, Luis West Texas A&M 26:14.86

Women Win ACU Classic

It was a great start to the 2008 season with the Lady Buffs defeating 7th ranked Abilene Christian on their home course. The final score was WT 40 and ACU 49.

The winning 3 mile time went to Winrose Karunde in 17:46.69

WT Finishers:

3 Cherono, Jeniffer 18:19.07
5 Hartsfield, Kristie 19:44.85
11 Castanon, Belinda 20:26.32
12 Reyna, Allie 20:32.71
14 Rapstine, Becca 20:50.06
17 Shields, Tara 21:10.40

Rolling start

Just wanted to update those of you who are following the Buffs and Lady Buffs through the 2008 cross country season. The athletes have had a solid three weeks of training and some individuals are really starting to emerge as front runners. We had our 2 mile time trial on a dirt road outside of town two weeks ago and the top spots shook down like this:

Women:
Jeniffer Cherono (11:45)
Kristie Hartsfield
Allie Reyna
Belinda Castanon

Men:
Jose Velazquez (10:25)
Jose Huerta
Thomas Harris
Aaron Hibbitts
Jarret Kachel
Isai Saucedo
Andrew Striley

Unfortunately our home meet the Buffalo Stampede was canceled due to extremely wet conditions so we didn't get to assess how everyone is responding to the training thus far. Everyone is relatively healthy with the exception of your everyday aches and pains. We are headed to Abilene Christian this weekend to compete so we can assess where we stand as a team. I will post results on Saturday evening.

Time To GO!

The summer has been long and hot at times, but training has gone very well for both the men and women, and everyone has made it through relatively injury free. The men and women will be reporting next week and the preparation will begin for what is to be a monumental season. There will be some familiar faces and a host of new young talent that will compete in cross country and anchor the new track and field program. Below are the distance and mid-distance rosters for the 08-09 season:

Women

Belinda Castanon SR El Paso, Texas (Del Valle)
Jeniffer Cherono JR Iten, Kenya (Cowley County CC)
Sharen Diggs SR Hamlin, Texas (Hamlin)
Kristie Hartsfield JR Perryton, Texas (Perryton)
Becca Rapstine SO White Deer, Texas (White Deer)
Allie Reyna FR Ralls, Texas (Ralls)
Tara Shields FR Spearman, Texas (Spearman)


Men

Luis Flores SO Booker, Texas (Booker)
Thomas Harris SO Amarillo, Texas (Caprock)
Aaron Hibbitts SO Amarillo, Texas (Canyon Randall)
Erik Huerta SO Hereford, Texas (Hereford)
Jose Huerta JR Hereford, Texas (Hereford)
Jarret Kachel JR Hooker, Okla. (Garden City CC)
Matt Kopansky FR Toronto, ON (Birchmount Park CI)
Jacob Lopez FR Canyon, Texas (Canyon)
Albert Maina FR Eldoret, Kenya (Magereza Secondary)
Jesse Maldonado FR Hereford, Texas (Hereford)
Ben Montemayor SO Hart, Texas (Hart)
Jarred Murray FR Odessa, Texas (Permian)
Thomas Sang SO Lubbock, Texas (South Plains, CC)
Isai Saucedo SO Bovina, Texas (Bovina)
Andrew Striley FR Amarillo, Texas (Tascosa)
Jose Velazquez SR Hereford, Texas (Hereford)

The women were ranked fourth in the LSC preseason poll and the men were ranked eighth, but we realize that none of this matters. Speculation is merely that, and all that matters is how everyone finishes. We understand what it takes to build a successful program and we will approach everyday with the big picture in mind. We truly believe that this year will establish the foundation of what is to be an exciting time in West Texas A&M athletics. The time is now...

I will be updating this blog as frequently as possible during the season and hopefully bring to you some training and racing video, so you can really get to know what these student-athletes are all about.

Summer Training - Destination 100 miles

Our guys and gals have started their summer base training and I hear it is going well so far...since we cannot have much contact with them over the summer. It is frustrating as a coach, because the preparation that is done in the summer can ultimately determine how well we do throughout the season and we are limited on how much involvement we can have in that preparation.

At this point in the summer, most of the veteran guys should be around 70-80mpw, while the veteran girls should be around 50-60mpw. I really try to emphasize running on soft surfaces like dirt or granite trails while getting your body used to the volume. Here is an example of what one of the weeks may look like during this early phase of summer for our guys (this is from my personal log, I am following a similar program):

May 26th
M 9 easy w 4X30sec strides 5-10k pace, felt a little tired from the day before
T 7 easy AM, 4 easy PM felt pretty good both runs
W 8.5easy, legs felt light, stomach hurt after
T 6 easy AM, felt ok breezy, 5.5 PM Hot Windy, took it easy, stopped for water in the middle
F 2 Shakeout AM, 6 Fartlek PM 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1min w/1min recovery extremely hot 95+, ran controlled, legs felt good
S 5.5 easy AM, 5.5 PM felt great
S 14.5 Canyon, hot picked it up towards the end felt good
Total 73.5 miles

It is only a matter of time before we are up to 100mpw...this week should be anywhere from 80-90mpw.

Article About the 2008 Signees

Here is the latest article talking about a few of the new guys that will be joining the cross country team next year.

Strength Program for Distance Running

This is an instructional video covering some of the drills and exercises we use to help our athletes become stronger and stay healthy throughout the season.



Music by:

Beats Antique
The Vitamin String Quartet
The Greatest Beats on Earth

UTA Results

We drove, registered, warmed up, ran, cooled down and drove home (12hr round trip)
University of Texas at Arlington
1500m
13. Jose Huerta 4:11.57
16. Aaron Hibbitts 4:16.63
18. Darren Flowers 4:22.08
22. Isai Saucedo 4.30.98

We are going to take a couple of weeks really easy, finish up our finals and then on to summer training. We will putting a ton of miles in this summer and will be racing periodically throughout the summer as well...keep you posted.

Something in the air at Lubbock

I don't know what it was about the air, but there were people coughing all throughout the meet. After we finished running the 1500m, my lungs were on fire and I didn't stop coughing the rest of the night. Jose and Hibbitts had the same reaction. I would say it was a somewhat successful day, with some doing better than others. The wind was kicking up when the track meet started, but calmed down towards the evening time.

The 1500m had an extremely talented field of 2 or 3 guys who had broken 4:00 in the mile. Jose hit a PR for the season of 4:16.08 and I wasn't far behind at 4:24.13.

New freshman transfer Aaron Hibbitts made his debut at 3000 steeplechase. When this kid gets in shape, he could do some damage.

Pijo had a great night with a PR of 16:03.84 in an extremely fast 5000m.

We are going to spend the next week and a half training hard and then taper before we hit our last meet of this season at OBU May 2nd and 3rd.

Texas Tech Results
3000m Steeple
12. Aaron Hibbitts 11:13.55
1500m
17. Jose Huerta 4:16.08
19. Darren Flowers 4:24.13
24. Isai Saucedo 4:34.49
5000m
12. Jose Velazquez 16:03.84
19. Thomas Harris 17.22.66
20. Erik Huerta 17:29.05

Running and Training in Canyon, TX

Being hired to coach at West Texas A&M has been a great experience this year. Canyon has proven to be a great spot to train and the runners that I have worked with have shown great interest and enthusiasm for their sport. We basically started from scratch this year with a new staff and a new squad on the men's side. We only had four runners during the fall which made it impossible to score in any cross country meets. We will not declare track and field as an official sport until next year so we can only compete as an off-season activity during the spring. Things are looking up for next season though. We have a really great group of kids coming in next year (some still yet to be determined). The current runners' mileage is anywhere from 50-80 miles a week, we are hitting the track anywhere from 2 to 3 times a week, and usually lifting 2 times a week. We only have 4 more weeks remaining in our off-season so we are cutting back on volume some and running fast. I am anxious to see how everyone runs at Texas Tech next week. If everyone stays healthy, I see no reason why we can't continue to improve. We will run out at Palo Duro Canyon this Sunday anywhere from 14-16 miles...hopefully I can get some video of what it is like out there and post it next week.

Continuing to improve at OBU

The Men of West Texas A&M traveled to Shawnee, OK Saturday, March 29th to compete in the Bison Invitational. Everyone improved and had solid performances despite the wind.



1500m
13. Jose Huerta 4:16.25
15. Jose Velazquez 4:22.23
17. Isai Saucedo 4:28.57

5000m
4. Darren Flowers 16:55.43
6. Erik Huerta 17:09.11

Historic Day at Tarleton St.

The Men of West Texas A&M stepped on the track for the first time in many years Thursday, March 13th in Stephenville, TX. Everyone came out and showed great effort. Buffalo So. Jose Huerta finished 6th overall in the 1500m with a time of 4:17.91. Isai Saucedo finished in a time of 4:32.35.

Thomas Harris fought a field of 43 competitors in the 5000m and finished with a time of 17:22.58.



These guys are training hard and continuing to improve. Next stop, OBU!

WT Men and Women Tune Up in Valentine's 5k

The Men and Women of WT went out and had their first training race of the spring season...everyone made it through injury free. Jose Huerta won it for the men and Kristie Hartsfield won it for the women.