It was a bright and sunny day, with a high temperature of 72 degrees fahrenheit. There was also a slightly cool breeze, blowing at approximately 5 mph. If you haven't guessed by now, this is Mike Levin posting about another big 1600m PR. As the race began, Mike knew that Township would likely "sit and kick," as many other teams have done to East. If he was going to run fast, he knew that he needed to do it by himself. Leading the first lap in a blistering 68 seconds, Mike set a pace that even the Township runners would be hard pressed to continue. Relinquishing the lead on the homestretch of the second lap, Mike knew that the hard work was still ahead of him. Before the race began, Mike told himself "2:20, third lap hard, then race," and as the second lap came to a conclusion, he knew that he must push the third lap to have any shot at a PR. As his teammate Wilfred Omari passed him, and a gap opened between Township and East, Mike knew that he had to make a move. With a few quick steps, Mike passed Will to reclaim 4th place. As the third lap came to a close, in 70 seconds, with a 1200m time of 3:30 (a 1200m PR itself), Mike knew that he had to close the gap between himself and the 3 Washington Township runners ahead of him. Mike did just that, missing 3rd place by only a few meters, giving Washington Township a big scare. When all was said and done, Mike crossed the line in a 9 second PR of 4:47. In one fell swoop, Mike regained the title of fastest East miler, becoming the first Cherry Hill East runner to run sub 4:50 since Brad Silnutzer did so during winter track 3 years ago. Mike Adler also ran a 4 second PR, of 4:50, and Wilfred Omari ran a 10 second PR, running 4:50 as well. Although East lost the meet, hopefully Mike showed the team that good things come to those that challenge themselves. As always, keep on running, because someday, you too may "be like Mike."
-Mike
In the 800, Craig Fishbein led the attack with a 2:16, followed by Jesse Herrmann in 2:18. In the 3200 Dan Fuentes PR'd with a 10:45, followed by Dave Berger in 10:55. We did not enjoy the same success as last week in the 4x400m relay, with Brandon Cohen running 59 seconds, followed by Nate Burt in 65, Dino Adler in 63, and Mike "the greatest living person on the face of the earth" Levin in 60.
-Brandon
23 comments:
Does anyone besides me find it both ironic and disturbing that we faced such harsh scrutiny from the coaching staff for engaging in petty arguments during cross country season, and now in spring track the rest of the track team disparages the distance team. This behavior is not just condoned by the coaching staff, it is at times encouraged. Our coaches have repeadetly told us that "we should give everything for our teammates". I guess that message doesn't apply to the people without the "football mentality", which I did not know involved the estrangement of the "heart and soul" of the team as he once called it.
nah joe oliver is cool. ive talked to him recently and he did admit that running distance is just insane and he does have respect for us. he admited he would never run it. but ya today he was a little off edge.
this isnt about joe oliver. Kids can handle being bullied around or given a hard time, especially to be motivational. its about the strange and, to use brandons line again "ironic and disturbing" approach that the leaders of the team are taking
and some coaches as well
The main problem with the team is the "football mentality" that has recently been encouraged by the team leaders. Clearly, distance runners are not motivated in the same way as football players, and do not respond well when they are yelled at to "score some F***ing points today." Most people do not realize it, but with the rare exception, the distance team has the highest retention rate of any part of the track team. Although we do not have a Mike Drake or Sean Corey who is guaranteed to score us points, we have remained comitted to the team. Most of us have run every season since cross country our freshman year, and those who have not have had at least shown some consistence with their running. While most sprinters/jumpers/throwers will give themselves a few weeks to show results, distance runners realize that in the long run (no pun intended), if they stay comitted, the results will come. We have worked too hard and have become so much like a family to just throw away our careers. In our hearts, we know that we are the most dedicated athletes in the school, our own seperate breed. No matter what anyone else says, WE ARE EAST DISTANCE, WE ARE EAST TRACK.
Bring Back Jarrett
Bring Peace And Fun To The Team
You guys are right. We work too hard to be pushed and kicked around like this. The work is there and we are doing the best we can. We definately are the most committed team out there. While everyone else gets the day off we are the team out there in the rain or cold running like theres no tomorrow. Unfortunately, people have yet been able to understand that. We are not getting the respect we deserve.
theres a reason why we went 3-3 in cross country and we're 0-4 in track. Not that 3-3 is amazing, but its obviously not the distance runners fault that we're 0-4
the one thing that angers and confuses me the most is the definition of the word "team". we work hard evreryday, yet our fellow teammates treat us like trash. we are usually left out of everything the rest of the team does, and are expected to do everything on our own. whenever we do what we think is right, it always seems to get us in trouble. if we are part of a "team", then i dont think we should be insulted and threatened by our fellow teammates.
Was I the only one who had fun doing jumping jacks? Is that not one of the reasons why we do this? To have fun? Would we not perform better if running became enjoyable again? Yes, the "football mentality" sucks, but if we all started to see how rediculous it is and had fun again, this season might actually amount to something other than complaining to the coaches again. Because that clearly doesn't work. Complain all you want, but unless the entire team decides to do something it's all a waste of time.
We are a family guys and we need to stick together. Team distance must be strong and stay alive. Many people have been talking about quitting...including the underclassman, the future of our team! All i have to say is that no matter what we can get through these hard times, and come out even stronger. We just have to unite as one team...team distance.
Oh trust me im not complaining, im merely pointing out a discrepency in the attitude of certain members and coaches of the team. This isn't something where we have to "band together to fight". They don't affect my enjoyment of the sport... I actually find the whole thing hilarious. Whoever had fun doing jumping jacks, you are a smart man (i think it was Adler?)
Complaining will not get us anywhere. We are just going to have to accept that fact that noone is going to be there for us when we fall. Let the unfortunate events that have brought us down be a motivation for us to get up, work harder, run faster, and most importantly prove everyone wrong. We arent a disgrace. We are a great team.
"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement. Having a true faith is the most difficult thing in the world. Many will try to take it from you." -Pre
i just wish our coach could give us his full attention instead of being forced to divide it with the weight team. not saying he hates us er anything like that, cause he really doesnt have a choice, but its frustrating when u dont PR at least once every other race, and the only thing u have to go on is your self, the coaches short inspirational speech and some team mates who unfortunaly are struggling themselves to make the best of themselves.
i agree with the other person though, i think if we could make this season as fun as xc was, we would not worry so much and run with a lot more confidence.
this isnt about the distance/weight team coach. today i saw him stick up for us. its some of the others............
wat happened?
btw, i think i mite have pissed him off after the meet was over...cause im a stupid pathetic freshmen.
Please don't turn this into a conversation about whether or not Coach Cieslik spends enough time with the distance team or not. Today, when the other coaches seemed content to have Joe Oliver chastise the distance team, Coach Cieslik stood up for us, and made sure that Oliver would not harass us anymore. As long as we stop complaing and start to enjoy running again, we will all benefit. I will leave you with an interesting idea that many great athletes obide by. It holds especially true for distance running, where there a plethora of different training methods, all with their own advantages and supporters. What matters most is not what type of training you do, or how you do it, but that you TRUST the training program, and BELIEVE that it has put you in a position to succeed. Even if the training doesn't seem appropriate or targeted enough, you still need to have hope, and keep a positive attitude. What has hindered the team in the past is the idea that "we suck, and no matter what we do, we will always suck." Instead, we need to believe that we can succeed, because once we believe, good things will happen.
word
whoever made that post is god, wise beyond all of us
we should be free to say whatever we want on this blog regarding the east distance team, well not everything but, saying that east distance is better than forrest gump should be allowed
guys, this is steve. i'm going away to dallas for a few days so i'd like to leave a few thoughts of mine concerning what you guys have been talking about. You guys are right in that you should all stick together because 1) its more fun and 2) long distance is a yearlong commitment and you guys are gonna need each other all year long. I dont really know if its true or not but the underclassmen should not consider quitting. Despite my recent absence from the team, I still love running and do not regret joining the team four years ago. It has, in fact, been a defining point of my life. And even if your not getting the results you want, at some point, ur gonna reach a point of realization, and i can't really explain it but once u get there, the results come.
Some of you weren't on the team then but freshman and sophmore year, I really wasn't much of a competitor on the team. I kind of just came along for the show because there were other guys there to step up and score the points at meets. But junior year, all it took was one good race for me to change my mentality. And this wasn't even an amazing race. I believe i ran a 20:30, which wasn't even a PR but in the first race of the year, i beat people that i had never beat before. Now after that race, i found that I expected to beat certain people and when coach stuck me in the varsity workouts, it wasn't that big of a deal. In races, being in the back just wasn't acceptable in my eyes. I'm not sure what happened, but sometime in junior year cross-country, come race day, i was a completely different runner.
I know u guys have heard coach say this numerous times but all it takes is one event, one runner, for the entire team to do better. Get that drive and thought that it wouldn't be ok to lose to that guy, even if that guy is your teammate. I'll take levin for instance. we all know he hates losing to adler. you guys remember that race in winter where levin edged out adler. Well you gotta admit that somewhere in levin's head, levin's dislike for adler and the "cockiness", if you will, came out to give him the edge. You gotta have that kind of cockiness.
Ok, this is long, but like coach said, in workouts we are getting the work done. In our own little comfort zone, we are performing. But as someone else mentioned in their comment, we have the "we suck" mentality in our head. We see another runner and automatically assume their better and that when the race starts, we should let them set the pace and hope to hang on rather than dictating the pace. You guys know during workouts that its more comfortable to lead because ur controlling the pace.
Track team can never really be a complete team because the differnt aspects are entirely different. Our sport takes months to build up to a level while sprinters can show up on race day w/o training 7 days a week and win the glory. they can step up to the line and not have to say to themselves, this is gonna hurt, but thats wats its gonna have to take to win. that's wat separates us.
Me and jarrett can't be out there running with you guys but we still care. so i leave you with one last line.
Next time you see someone run something amazing or unexpected, dont think "how'd they do that" but "why not me".
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