Attention Derrick08:

[Otto Mann]

Please have your coach and team look into racing at the Portage Invite in Portage, Michigan (Southwest Michigan).

Pinckney, Michigan will be racing in the D1 race, and they will be the team in the midwest to beat along with you guys. If things go down as they did last year, the #2 and #3 teams in Michigan (Dexter and Fremont) will be in the race, though I have no idea if that match up will happen or not. Regardless, there will be the best competition in Michigan there, and if you want to prove that your team is the best in the midwest, you should go. I remember hearing that this may share the date with some meet in the championship season in Illinois, I really hope I am wrong in that.

The meet is October 6th, 2007.

Please ask your coach about running it.

[Swoosh13]

last year they went to the Sterling Invite on that day, no big deal, but I see that a lot of midwest teams expect the IL teams to go to their meets, how about some midwest teams come and race Palatine, or a Peoria meet. I have to believe Palatine is better than the meet your talking about

[tubbyontherun28]

The main problem is that a lot of schools in IL have travel restrictions. The state itself doesn't have any specific rules, but a lot of districts impose them for financial reasons.

[Osmosis]

I'm sure its expensive enough going to one out-of-state meet (Culver, IN).

[LiL BAnderson]

last year they went to the Sterling Invite on that day, no big deal, but I see that a lot of midwest teams expect the IL teams to go to their meets, how about some midwest teams come and race Palatine, or a Peoria meet. I have to believe Palatine is better than the meet your talking about

The Palatine Invite is STACKED!!!

There are a lot of out-of-state teams at Sterling, idk why its not the greatest meet but we are always there and good compitition is always a good thing.

[Otto Mann]

last year they went to the Sterling Invite on that day, no big deal, but I see that a lot of midwest teams expect the IL teams to go to their meets, how about some midwest teams come and race Palatine, or a Peoria meet. I have to believe Palatine is better than the meet your talking about

Hey, I'm just trying to encourage some good interstate competition, if Pinckney can/does go to palatine, that would be awesome.

The main problem is that a lot of schools in IL have travel restrictions. The state itself doesn't have any specific rules, but a lot of districts impose them for financial reasons.

I see, I know that NV does go to that Indiana meet though. They only have to bring the top 7 guys and a coach and it's a great meet, if I was in the situation, I would be fine with paying if the district wouldn't cover it.

[Derrick08]

Hey, I'm just trying to encourage some good interstate competition, if Pinckney can/does go to palatine, that would be awesome.



I see, I know that NV does go to that Indiana meet though. They only have to bring the top 7 guys and a coach and it's a great meet, if I was in the situation, I would be fine with paying if the district wouldn't cover it.

We do raise some money for trips during the year. But our coach likes to spend it on a charter bus for taking more kids down to state or to Culver instead of just bringing the top 7 somewhere. Also we have a lot of races during the year and the more really important races we add the thinner we spread ourselves. These were the reasons given to me by our coach. Honestly, I would rather run Portage and maybe take it easy or even off at a few other meets, but its not my desicion to make and I have no where near the experience or knowledge of both training and logistics that our coach does.

P.S. He posts here so just ask him (Coach Vandersteen)

[Coach Vandersteen]

Otto Mann,

No easy answers here. I, too, would like to run at Portage but it won't happen this year. Like Chris said, it comes down to logistics such as having enough coaches to supervise the other 140 athletes on our team travelling to Sterling, cash, getting out of school early (I was lucky enough to have our administration support an early dismissal for Culver), and many more variables that would be too long to list here. We got back into the Lockport Invitational the weekend before so we have already added another top-notch invitational. The reason I took the effort to schedule Culver was to give our guys the experience of running out-of-State competition. Last year we got our butt kicked but we loved the meet so we are going back. We will see most of the best Indiana teams at Culver and we will see Pleasant Valley and Iowa City High at Sterling. I cannot pick and choose which meet to go to each year based on where the greater competition may occur. I have to balance what is in the best interest of the program as a whole while also giving our top seven-twelve guys the experience they will need to do well at State and NTN's. All being said, I appreciate you thinking of us :) I know that you are trying to get the best teams together. I can think of 5-6 other Illinois teams that will be just as good or better than us. Maybe one of them will consider Portage, or as stated earlier, maybe we can get some of the top Michigan programs to travel around the lake?

Coach Vandersteen

We do raise some money for trips during the year. But our coach likes to spend it on a charter bus for taking more kids down to state or to Culver instead of just bringing the top 7 somewhere. Also we have a lot of races during the year and the more really important races we add the thinner we spread ourselves. These were the reasons given to me by our coach. Honestly, I would rather run Portage and maybe take it easy or even off at a few other meets, but its not my desicion to make and I have no where near the experience or knowledge of both training and logistics that our coach does.

P.S. He posts here so just ask him (Coach Vandersteen)

[Otto Mann]

Otto Mann,

No easy answers here. I, too, would like to run at Portage but it won't happen this year. Like Chris said, it comes down to logistics such as having enough coaches to supervise the other 140 athletes on our team travelling to Sterling, cash, getting out of school early (I was lucky enough to have our administration support an early dismissal for Culver), and many more variables that would be too long to list here. We got back into the Lockport Invitational the weekend before so we have already added another top-notch invitational. The reason I took the effort to schedule Culver was to give our guys the experience of running out-of-State competition. Last year we got our butt kicked but we loved the meet so we are going back. We will see most of the best Indiana teams at Culver and we will see Pleasant Valley and Iowa City High at Sterling. I cannot pick and choose which meet to go to each year based on where the greater competition may occur. I have to balance what is in the best interest of the program as a whole while also giving our top seven-twelve guys the experience they will need to do well at State and NTN's. All being said, I appreciate you thinking of us :) I know that you are trying to get the best teams together. I can think of 5-6 other Illinois teams that will be just as good or better than us. Maybe one of them will consider Portage, or as stated earlier, maybe we can get some of the top Michigan programs to travel around the lake?

Coach Vandersteen

Ha, so modest. You guys will be really good next year, and will spank the other teams in Ill. I'm not from Pinckney, so I can't really tell you what they will do, they did go to a couple meets in Ohio last year, so maybe they will try to add Palatine to their schedule. If you really want to meet up with them, you could try contacting Coach Carney from Pinckney. If not, they still should meet you at the NTN regional race and hopefully nationals, so the top teams from every state will have the chance to race the other teams in the Midwest. And wow, 140 is a huge team, does that include girls? I assume it does, but that is still HUGE.

[merun4fun]

I assume it does, but that is still HUGE.

im pretty sure it doesnt

[illinirun]

Ha, so modest. You guys will be really good next year, and will spank the other teams in Ill. I'm not from Pinckney, so I can't really tell you what they will do, they did go to a couple meets in Ohio last year, so maybe they will try to add Palatine to their schedule. If you really want to meet up with them, you could try contacting Coach Carney from Pinckney. If not, they still should meet you at the NTN regional race and hopefully nationals, so the top teams from every state will have the chance to race the other teams in the Midwest. And wow, 140 is a huge team, does that include girls? I assume it does, but that is still HUGE.

i highly doubt that

[dangerpenguin]

im pretty sure it doesnt

your right, that 140 is only the boys team.

[longdistrun]

The number is more like 115 runners - but still a very strong program.

[Zoso]

The number is more like 115 runners - but still a very strong program.

No, last year 139 men finished the season.

[kicknback1]

im pretty sure it doesnt

Correct.

Last year they had around 130 boys (total) and approx. 80 girls.

They have an enrollment over 4,100.

[EternalFreshman]

Correct.

Last year they had around 130 boys (total) and approx. 80 girls.

They have an enrollment over 4,100.

just because you have a high enrollment doesn't mean you're going to have a large team...

Stevenson High School: 4,600ish students

XC Team: 30ish guys and probably 25ish girls, maybe less.

[Swoosh13]

No, last year 139 men finished the season.

wow, i had no idea they had that many guys, I think we had like 20 last year

[kicknback1]

just because you have a high enrollment doesn't mean you're going to have a large team...

Stevenson High School: 4,600ish students

XC Team: 30ish guys and probably 25ish girls, maybe less.

I agree.

I wasn't stating that there was a connection between enrollment and size of teams, but just the facts.

If there was, then Morton, Lane Tech and Joliet Twp. should be kicking everyone's ass in XC right ?

[ehof]

just because you have a high enrollment doesn't mean you're going to have a large team...

Stevenson High School: 4,600ish students

XC Team: 30ish guys and probably 25ish girls, maybe less.At some point my high scool had about 3,200 students and 8 guys on the xc team.

[Zoso]

wow, i had no idea they had that many guys, I think we had like 20 last year

That number will really decrease in a few years. Due to overcrowding at Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley, Naperville is building a fifth high school (Matea Valley) that will cut enrollment at each school from +4000 to about 3000. NV and WV are going to lose a lot of great runners to the new school, but depending on how long Matea's team takes to develop (Coach Vandersteen got NV a 4th place finish after just 7 years), they could be another great team from Naperville.

[bbop08]

No, last year 139 men finished the season.

That is pretty disgusting. In Wisconsin, Steven's Point is the powerhouse when it comes to numbers and they get 60-70 guys. The State Champions this past fall had around 19.

[Otto Mann]

That is an amazing number of guys. And your high schools are freeking HUGE. The biggest in Michigan is Pioneer I think, and they aren't over 3000 kids. Dexter isn't even D1 (the cutoff is about 1300 I think?) and Pinckney isn't a large D1 school.

[ehof]

That is pretty disgusting. In Wisconsin, Steven's Point is the powerhouse when it comes to numbers and they get 60-70 guys. The State Champions this past fall had around 19.
York has about 200.

[Trickster0831]

York has about 200.

I thought it was 250?

[Chonka10]

I thought it was 250?

I heard 220ish. Either way they have 60+ more than Neuqua.

[stuntmanxc]

220 kids on a team is just crazy. Like Swoosh said, we had about 20-25 guys finish the season this fall and that was probably the most our school has ever seen.

[spot]

My old HS's team has in the mid 70s to 80s in the couple years and has not made it to state as a team in 39 years.

[OnePoint]

we've had 87 and 85 the past two years. our class of 2008 has been 22-24ish the whole time also

[idontgetit14]

Our school's got 1900 people and we usually start the season off with about 30 kids and end the season with about 20. Typically a bunch either quit or get kicked off. One practice the week before conference every year when we don't have school seems to get quite a few of the freshmen.

[spitfire@OPRF]

3500 I think and maybe 40 during cross country, maybe 8 or nine distance runners for track.