Prepare for the next XC Season!

Summer Running / Fitness Opportunity

Join us this summer for 9 weeks of group runs and strength / flexibility  in preparation for the fall XC Season! Coach Katie Pugh will be overseeing the program this summer  with help from Jordan Stone and Sienna Collier.   Coach Cherie will be out the first week just to help get things started and will pop in from time to time with Coach Chuck.  This is an excellent way to get in your long runs, increase your flexibility and core strength, and get ready for the fall season.  There will also be games, snacks, fitness logs, and other fun activities throughout the summer.  This program is open to boys and girls.  Please reach out to crozetcrew2024@gmail.com and / or call / text Coach Katie (434) 466-1469 at any point if you have any questions. 

Participation Requirements

1. To participate, each runner must have a current, active  AAU Membership. It is easy to sign up. Make sure you indicate that you are associated with the Crozet Crew club when prompted. If you have a membership, please check to see when it expires as you may need to renew it soon. 

2. The cost of the program is 150$ for the whole summer, or 100$ for 4 weeks. Please Venmo to @crozetcrew2024. Please indicate the name(s) of your child when you send the Venmo. 

3. Please fill out this google form to provide more information to the coaches about your runner(s)

Coaches' Information

Coach Katie Pugh: Katie has been coaching XC at WAHS since 2005, and is also a former WAHS distance runner. You can reach her at (434) 466-1469, katiexc@gmail.com, and crozetcrew2024@gmail.com

Jordan Stone: Jordan is a UVA student who ran for WA and was a part of multiple state titles. She, along with Sienna will be overseeing the program while Coach Katie is traveling with her family. You can reach Jordan at (434) 242-0372, jordanqstone@gmail.com, and crozetcrew2024@gmail.com

Sienna Collier: Sienna is a collegiate runner at Rhodes College. She is also a graduate of the WAHS distance program. She can be reached at (540) 446-5404 and crozetcrew2024@gmail.com

Schedule

We will be meeting 3 mornings a week at 7am  for 9 weeks, from June 10- August 10. The schedule is as follows:

Tuesdays: "Couch" (the intersection of Dick Woods Road and Miller School Road)

Thursdays: Crozet Park (meet under the Pavilion)

Saturdays (locations vary):

6/15: "Ridge Road" (the intersection of Ridge Road and Garth Rd.)

6/22: "Millington" (the intersection of Millington Rd and Clark Rd--we run on Clark)

6/29: "Sugarhollow" (we meet at the gravel parking lot across from the Piedmont Store in Whitehall)

7/6: Ivy Elementary School (we run on Decca / Ridge Road)

7/13: Ridge Road

7/20: Millington

7/27:  We will meet at 7am at Mint Springs Farm.  This is the property of a former WAHS runner, and they are very generous to let us run here a few times a year. If you are being dropped off, please drive slowly down the driveway and drop off in front of the house. If you are parking, please drive slowly down the driveway to the back of the house and park in the field. We will be running some on trails behind the house, and also up the road to Mint Springs Park or into Crozet. After our run, we will do some stretching / flexibility exercises and go swimming in the pool.  Pick up is at 9:30-9:45.  To bring:

--bathing suit, towel, water bottle, yoga mat if you have one, SOMETHING TO EAT after your run. 

Link to MAP 

8/3: "Sugarhollow" (we meet at the gravel parking lot across from the Piedmont Store in Whitehall)

8/10: Ridge Road

Natalie Wildermuth is making a name for herself in the sprints.  She placed 2nd in the 100.  Finleigh Broadbent set a new personal best in the 400, running 68.1 and finishing 4th.  Finleigh and Natalie returned after a long wait to join Lulu Hitt and Sofia Montini to finish 3rd in the 4 x 400.

In other news, Thibaut, the team mascot paid a visit to the team on Monday.  It was his 6 month birthday and he enjoyed the adoration and the company during a bit of the distance run.  

Will Broadbent had a great first meet running personal bests in the 100 and 200.  He was the first 6th grader in the 200 and the second 6th grader in the 100.  Looks like the Broadbent's have several years to go of hanging out at track meets on the weekends.  The team as a whole did an excellent job warming up and cooling down, being on time for their races and staying warm between events.  

Adidas Nationals!

5K Relays at VMI

Middle School State Meet

Ragged Mountain Cup

Spirit Week Activities

Anything but a Water Bottle

We also had Neon Day, and a scavenger poker game.  One of the favorite snacks this week was baked oatmeal with strawberries.  Be sure to put this one on your list to make because it was delicious and had lots of great ingredients.  You can make it ahead and just heat it or eat it cold.  Click above for the recipe.

Crozet Crew Runner-Up at FUMA MS Meet

The Crozet Crew Girls' team finished second at The FUMA Middle School Meet by just 2 points.  The girls put 3 in the top 6 with Sofia Montini in fourth, Maddie Fritts in fifth, and Cole Arbour in 6th.  Ruby Carlson also medaled by finishing 16th.  Lily Fontenot rounded out the team running steady throughout the race.  The course was very hilly and is by far the toughest course the team will race on all season.  It was also a 5k, which allowed the team to demonstrate their strength.  

Volunteering at Walnut Creek with CalTri

There are only a few precious days left before school starts and we had several team members and parents get up super early to volunteer at Walnut Creek for the CalTri Triathlon.  They had to be there at 6 am and worked till 12:30 ish.  Thankfully the weather was good.  Last year we cleaned up in a thunderstorm.  This year it was perfect weather for August.  It was actually a little cool in the morning.  The team cheered on the athletes throughout the morning and then helped to clean everything up.  Thanks to Sarah Jane and Robert Broadbent, Carter & AJ Torrence, The entire Appicella Family, Emmerson Ritter, Kinley Callihan, Hazel  Johnson, Emma Schmitz, and Anneliese Fuller.  

Day One of Fall MS Program

Crozet Crew at NB Nationals

4 x Mile team of Hailey Hodson, Grace Cook, Jordan Stone and Emma Schmitz

Middle School Enjoys a Meet of their Own

The pair of Becket and Elliot ran solid times in the 1600, running 6:17 and 6:44 respectively.  This was a first time for Beckett in the 1600.  Elliott knocked off 23 seconds from his previous best.  Beckett came back in the 800 with newcomer Colin Pipkin to run 2:57.17 and 2:59.87.  Beckett managed to shave off a few tenths which is impressive since last time he ran this event fresh.  Colin did an amazing job, especially since he just joined us this past week.  

Middle School Team Opens up at Monelison Invitational

In that same race Sofia Montini placed third.  In the boys race Brady Sowers and Elliot Newell placed 6th and 7th.  

While I was so sorry to miss this first meet, I heard great things about the runners as far as sportsmanship.  I appreciate all the parents chipping in to help get the kids there.  Big thanks to the Hodson's for guest coaching.  Hailey Hodson seems ready to take over my job at a moment's notice.  Not at all surprised.  Super proud of the work these athletes are putting in.  Can't wait to see them race.

Adidas Nationals 

Western sent the 4 x 200 team, Maddie Hill in the freshman 60m, Caroline Hill and Klarisa Amos in the high jump and triple jump and Elizabeth Strobach in the pole vault to Adidas Nationals in Virginia Beach.  

 The 4 x 200 team had some bad luck during the second hand-off where the baton was knocked out of Emmy Batista's hand.  Jordan Henderson and Maddie Hill got things off to a good start, but then Emmy had to pick up the baton and lost more than 5 seconds doing so.  Meghan Hundley ran a blazing last split of 26.75, but the team finished well back of their usual.  Meghan came back to finish 19th in the 400 in 60.55.  

In the Freshman 60 m dash, Maddie Hill ran an 8.42 which converts to a 7.85 in the 55 m.  She finished 16th out of the 31 finishers.  In the Pole Vault, Elizabeth Strobach finished 10th in the National Elite section, vaulting 11-5.75.  

In the the high jump Klarisa Amos and Caroline Hill finished 11th, clearing 4-10.25.  They also competed in the triple jump where Caroline finished 16th and Klarisa 33rd out of 50 jumpers.  

This was the first time at any type of Nationals for most of this crew and they all gained valuable experience.

4 x 800 Caps off Nationals with a 9 second season best in the 4 x 800!

Hodson Hodson led off almost tying her season best despite being boxed in for 2 of the 4 laps.  She finally broke out and took the lead in no time.  She did a great job all weekend staying focused and getting pumped up for all three of her races.   Her competitive nature is infectious and we appreciate her ability to  set the tone of each relay. 

Jordan Stone ran a strong leg to keep the team near the front managing to float around the track without conflict.  We may have to start calling her untouchable.  She had an amazing weekend.  The coaches couldn't be happier to have her as the calming influence on the team always staying so humble. 

AJ Torrence, ran a spectacular leg, running a 4 second personal best to split 2:25.59.  Her last 100 she hit a turbo speed we have never seen out of AJ.  It was thrilling to see her come alive on the big stage and to see her handle it with resolve.  She was determined to get the job done and it showed.

Carter Torrence ran her season best relay leg, splitting 2:20.23 putting us back in front and shutting the door at 9:29.86.  What an outstanding meet she had.  Each race she became more and more relaxed and it was nice to see her enjoying herself  on the last day.

The next heat finished and still our time had not been beat.  We would have finished somewhere in the middle of the third heat, and even beat one team in the top heat.  Next year's goal . . .   Make that top heat.  We finished 16th out of the 43 teams entered.  A nine second season best and just 0.5 seconds off the school record which was set at NB Nationals in 2017 at The Armory.  

Carter Torrence Places 6th in the Freshman 800 with Personal Best

In Carter's third race of the weekend, she competed in The Freshman 800, running a 2:19.07, placing 6th from the second to last heat.  She ran a smart race, going out conservative in 69.4, coming back in 69.7.  She is still figuring out how to race that distance and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be threatening that outdoor record this spring.  That school record was set by Tasmin Fanning who ended up running for Virginia Tech, finishing 3rd in the NCAA Division 1 XC Championships in 2008 and also making it to the finals in the 5000 at The Olympic Trials in 2008.  

Strobach and Fitzwater have Strong Performances at Nationals

  Elizabeth and Raina made the trip to Boston and got to see what it was like to vault with some of the best vaulters in the nation.  Senior, Elizabeth Strobach, matched her personal best, vaulting in the midst of music playing, pyrotechnics, and non-stop hype going on all around her.  She kept her focus and ended up finishing 23rd out of the 40 vaulters competing.  Raina cleared 11-6 and gained some valuable experience which will server her well in the future as she is just a sophomore and has several more opportunities to compete at the High School level.

4 x Mile Sets School Record!

Emma, Hailey, Jordan & Grace Post Race

If you told me that we would lose the top two milers from last year's team and still run faster this year in the 4 x Mile, I may not have believed it possible, but that is just what they did.  Grace Cook took it out splitting a 5:22.64, Last year she ran a 5:27.82 at Adidas, which was a 1600.  It convert to a 5:29.72.  She ran a full 7 seconds faster this year.  I say this to highlight the point that you compare where you are now to where you were this time last year in order to really see your growth.  Both Grace and Hailey ran the 4 x 1600 last year and they were both approximately 7 seconds faster this year.  That is part of what made the difference in this year's team.

The other part was the fact that the entire team ran within 1.2 seconds of each other.  So we had a more balanced team. 

Keeping it Fun!

 Another big boost came from senior, Jordan Stone.  She had only run the mile or 1600 twice in all her high school running career.  Her PR was 5:45, but after running such a strong 1000 at the state meet, we knew she was up for the challenge.  She ended up running the fastest split in 5:20.76.  Emma also ran a strong leg, after running 6.5 seconds faster than last year's MS time at Adidas  in her open mile, (with the conversion), she came back and split a 5:22.95 in the relay.  Just running two solid races after being away from racing 4 months is impressive, but to run a personal best just gives you an idea of how hard Emma plays when she plays basketball.  It was a pleasure to watch the girls race and move up with each leg.

The final time was 21:28.10 which now stands as the School Record.  

After warming down and a team photo shoot, the girls were able to have some fun, and so did their parents.  Grace and the girls hustled their way into a game of pool as everyone got a much deserved meal and some time to unwind.  Only one race for Saturday and that will be the 4 x Mile.