The Dairy State Passion for Track & Field :)

So I'm bored here sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane to head back to WI after spending almost a week here in Cleveland, OH for the 2010 NCAA DIII Track & Field Championships. It's been a fun experience, and Cleveland really is better than most people think it is when you mention the city. Got a lot of "ouch, you have to go THERE?" when I told them where Nationals was, but we stayed in a nice hotel and Berea (where Baldwin Wallace College is) had a lot of restaurants and did a very good job hosting! Other than not enough food at the banquet (which, ironically was the biggest banquet facility I've ever seen...) it was a very fun, positive Championship experience overall!

That being said, as I was sittin here bored, I was looking at local news coverage of Nationals back in the state of WI, or rather, pretty much the lackthereof coverage! I decided to compile a list of all the athletes from Wisconsin colleges that became All-Americans, both state school and private schools (which just so happened to be only St. Norbert,Carroll, and Concordia).

On the men's side, there were 27 Wisconsin All-Americans out of a possible 176 (44 events with 8 All-Americans each). This was about 15% of all possible AA's. Here they are:

100m: Kendall Wade UW-Stout, 7th
200m: Wade, UW-Stout, 6th
400m: Aric Hoeschen, UW-La Crosse, 6th
800m: Adam Lang, UW-Stevens Point, 3rd
10,000m: Kevin Hall, UW-Eau Claire, 8th
400m Hurdles: Ben Zill, UW-Oshkosh, 2nd
3,000 steeplechase: Chris Wirtz, UW-Eau Claire, Champion
4x100 Relay: UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Carroll University, 7th
UW-Platteville, 8th
4x400 Relay: UW-La Crosse, 4th
Carroll University, 5th
Long Jump: Kellen McCrary, UW-La Crosse, 2nd
Isaac Vasquez, UW-La Crosse, 7th
Triple Jump: Vasquez, UW-La Crosse, 6th
James Simms, UW-Oshkosh, 8th
Discus Throw: Sean Larson, UW-Stout, Champion
Shaun Davis, UW-Whitewater, 4th
Lewis Prior, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Shot Put: Kyle Scofield, UW-Stevens Point, 2nd
Andy Novak, UW-La Crosse, 3rd
Pete Delzer, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Bill Warren, UW-La Crosse, 8th
Hammer Throw: Larson, UW-Stout, 4th
Javelin Throw: Brock Solveson, Concordia University of Wisconsin, Champion
Decathlon: Solveson, CUW, 4th


On the women's side, there were 24 Wisconsin All-Americans out of a possible 176, or about 14% of overall AA's. Here they are:

100m: Camille Davis, UW-Oshkosh, 7th
200m: Davis, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
400m: Natasha Arnold, UW-River Falls, 7th
800m: Emily Schudrowitz, St. Norbert, 6th
10,000m: Jenny Scherer, St. Norbert, 4th
Megan O'Grady, Carroll University, 5th
3,000 Steeplechase: Stephanie Perleberg, UW-La Crosse, 3rd
Hannah Humbach, UW-Eau Claire, 4th
4x100 Relay: UW-La Crosse, 3rd
4x400 Relay: UW-River Falls, 4th
UW-Platteville, 6th
UW-Stevens Point, 8th
Long Jump: Ashton May, UW-La Crosse, 2nd
Triple Jump: May, UW-La Crosse, 2nd
Shot Put: Jecel Gerner, UW-Oshkosh, 2nd
Holly Ozanich, UW-Oshkosh, 4th
Ellie Sitek, UW-Oshkosh, 6th
Discus Throw: Sitek, UW-Oshkosh, Champion
Brittany Frederick, UW-Eau Claire, 2nd
Hammer Throw: Ozanich, UW-Oshkosh, Champion
Sitek, UW-Oshkosh, 5th
Javelin Throw: Amanda Trieloff, Carroll University, Champion
Pole Vault: Hayley Suckow, UW-Eau Claire, 3rd
Heptathlon: Jenna Starck, UW-La Crosse, 7th

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that Wisconsin is quite dominant on the DIII Track & Field scene!!! If you take all 176 All-Americans and divide that by the 48 contiguous states, you'd find that if each state was represented equally, they'd own 3% of the number of total All-Americans. Wisconsin has over 5 times that percentage of athletes represented!

I was recently told the WIAA (Wisconsin's High School Athletic Association) State Track & Field Championship, held in the first weekend in June, has the 3rd best attendance of any meet in the whole nation. I believe it! There is definitely a passion for the sport in this state and I hope we can continue a tradition of excellence! Must be all that milk and cheese... strong bones helping us run, jump, and throw very fast, high, and far! ;)

My Nationals Realization

I have been reflecting on Thursday night's race. After watching my teammate miss finals for the 400 meters yesterday, and a few other senior athletes at Nationals miss Finals in their respective events, I truly am recognizing that no race, season, or year can ever be taken for granted when it comes to running, or any sport, or even life really. You have to be thankful for what you have at that point in time, because there are NEVER any guarantees. I wish I could've come to realize this a little earlier in my career -- it would have saved me quite a few "pouting" type moments where I was way too harsh on myself and didn't savor what I had just accomplished. I have a tendency to compare times from last year to this year WAY too much when in reality, as I said, a lot of things change in a year, some that can't ever be explained or prevented. In my case, I felt FLAT on Thursday night, and I think part of it may have been my IT band injury. It has been very frustrating and has resulted in a LOT of time spent in the pool -- probably too much time in there. My eating habits are also quite atrocious-- not eating enough and going on binges of, among other things, Life cereal, at times. So, I need to get my nutrition figured out -- need to eat balanced so that I can get the most from my body ALL the time. I need to have a smart summer of training where I give my body a chance to recover.

I am SO thankful for the 8 times I have accomplished All-American status. It's an accomplishment I never ever in my wildest dreams could've imagined sitting on a bench in a St. Norbert basketball uniform my freshman year. Remembering that again helps me gain perspective and realize, hey, I've come pretty far, and that I need to be appreciative of what I have accomplished and not be too disappointed with missing out on that National title on Thursday night.

All in all, I of course REALLY wish I was running that 5K today, like I did last year, but I can't compare last year to this year, because there have been a lot of changes. And I think NOT running the 5K this year has helped me recognize the changes I need to make to be a better runner, and person :) By NOT running the 5K, I have learned a couple really valuable lessons, that I believe, in the long run (no pun intended ;) ) will give me a chance to take my running to that next level... perhaps to that National title I've always been seeking in my final XC season this fall, or perhaps beyond that in to the world of post-collegiate running. We'll see... only time will tell, and between now and then, I'm going to give my body a few days BREAK from running, because it desperately needs it, and then get ready for a spectacular and SMART summer of training!!!!! :)

Oh, and I cannot wait to cheer on my teammate, Emily Schudrowitz, in the 800m finals today!!! She was the 2010 NCAA Indoor Champ in the 800 & I definitely believe she can make it a sweep by winning it outdoors today! :]

A few great quotes I found... can you tell I love quotes? ;)

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present. ~Babatunde Olatunji

Life's a journey, not a destination. ~Aerosmith

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. ~Abraham Lincoln

Till next time... Happy Running!
~Jenny, aka KnightRunner
(couldn't be prouder to be a Green Knight!!!!)

It's CONFERENCE week!

Hey Everyone!

Well, I should be studying right about now, as tomorrow starts the first day of finals week, but I'm feeling particularly reflective today, so I think it's a good time to write in this thing since it's once again been a month since I've last written!

I started off the day with a nearly 2 hour "long run" in the pool. It's a brutal thing to have to do - very boring and monotonous, but the one good thing about it is all the reflecting I can do while going back and forth. I thought about a lot of stuff in that pool today. I thought about how I got started running and the journey I've had as an athlete here at St. Norbert. I thought about injuries, and how I've been so very fortunate to not have many at all compared to a lot of runners I know. I thought about how I'm going to get past the somewhat recurring IT band problems I have been having, and that I can't let it frustrate me too much no matter what, because as my Coach put it, if I check out mentally, then it's all over.

That's just not me. I don't check out mentally. I am going to stay strong through whatever it really is that's wrong with my IT band. I'm going to be smart with it and keep taking it one day at a time. That was another thing I reflected on in the pool today. How valuable it is to live in the present! I can try and compare my times to last year, or I can look ahead to Nationals and think about how I'm going to perform there, but what does that really do for me in the here and now?!? Absolutely nothing! I've got to do what I can to help myself now, which today was going to the pool instead of running outside, and studying for exams so I can do well on both of them on Monday and Tuesday of this week!

Feeling like I wanted to do even a little more reflecting, I decided to take about a half an hour walk along the Fox River Trail in Green Bay after I got done at the pool. It was so gorgeous and so peaceful! After a disappointing steeplechase race last night in about 42 degree weather, I was very frustrated with how I raced and how my IT band has continually been tight the past couple of weeks. Well, by the time I finished walking outside this afternoon, I was truly ready to move on. Again with the living in the here and now -- what good is it going to do for me to dwell on last night's race? I've got a race to prepare for again already on Friday at Conference, and that matters a lot more than last night's race ever will. Would it have been nice to PR and provo? Of course it would have been. But life isn't always going to be easy, so I take a little bit of time to "pout" (as my Coach puts it) and then move on. Today is a new day!

Phew, does it ever feel good to get some of those "thoughts" out! This is why I love blogging!

Oh, and by the way, if any of my "followers" have any advice on dealing with IT band issues, besides stretching and icing, I'd really appreciate it! I have had 2 appointments with a chiropractor thus far for the Graston Technique, and it really hasn't done anything. My guess is it needs a little more time to go in to effect, but needless to say, I'm not a very patient person :-/

Off to study for exams - hopefully I'll be able to finish out the semester with a bang! Leaving for Conference down in Jacksonville, Illinois (7+ hour drive, woo hoo!) on Thursday morning at 7 am. Got a lot to accomplish before then, but it's still super exciting to be able to officially declare it's CONFERENCE WEEK!!!! :) Amazing how fast this season has gone by! Oh, and graduation is on Sunday. Whoa. I'll worry about that AFTER exams and a successful Conference meet! :)

Hope ya'll have a great week... be positive, smile and laugh often, and live life to its fullest each and every day!

Remember, “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” So find your passion and get after it! :)

Till next time...
~KnightRunner

P.S. -- Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there... and to MY mom, YOU'RE THE GREATEST!!! Don't know what I'd do without you! Love you so much!