We will have our year end team celebration/varsity awards on Monday March 19th.  We will have a pizza party for all athletes (athletes only, not families) who completed the season at 5:00pm in the freshmen cafe.  The cost will be $3 per athlete to cover pizza and supplies, I will be using the Buffalo Wild Wing fund raiser money to cover the rest of the cost.  Please get me (Coach Ruskie) the money by this Friday which will serve as your RSVP so I know how many pizzas I need to order.  I will be in the weight room from 4:30-5:00 this week so find me there to get me the money and I can check you off the list.

We will also be doing our Varsity Awards presentation following the team pizza party.  All athletes who earned varsity letters this year were notified through your school email this weekend.  The awards will begin at 6:30 pm in the Frosh Cafe.  Families are invited to attend the Varsity Awards portion, and I am asking each athlete/family bring a dessert item to share during the presentation.  Athletes can dress casual.  See me/email me with any questions.

The Boys' Winter Track Team advanced three individuals and the 4x400m relay team to the Group IV State Championship meet.  Matt Bacchi ran a season best in the 400m to earn 2nd place.  Josh Cella ran a PR time of 7.90 in the 55m hurdle finals to take 6th place.  Chuk Oruebor ran a PR time of 6.60 in the finals of the 55m dash to capture 5th place.  Bacchi ran a strong anchor leg to come from behind and lead the 4x400m relay team of Oruebor, Davis Wittenburg, Hamza Shehata, and himself to 5th place in the relay.

Thank you to all who came out to support the team at our Buffalo Wild Wings Fundraiser Night, it is greatly appreciated.

After a disappointing performance at the GMC Relays, the Boys' team rebounded in a big way, winning the GMC Championship for the first time since 2014.  Matt Bacchi led off with a 2nd place finish in the 400m.  Next, Amael Audibert ran a big PR in the 1600 to place 5th.  Josh Cella ran a nice PR time of 8.31 in prelims of the 55 hurdles to make finals, then dropped a monster PR of 8.0 in the finals to win the gold medal and score 10 huge points for the team.  Greg Lanzalotto ran a nice indoor PR, kicking to place 4th in the 800m.  Arvindh Subramanian continued his strong winter season with a 5th place in the the high jump.  Jared Budhu returned to form with a season best 10' and a 6th place finish in the pole vault.  Chuk Oruebor added 6 points with a 3rd place finish in the 55m dash.  With the meet on the line, Brandon Diaz dominated the 3200m run with a first place finish, while Dario Epifania ran a PR to add a 5th place finish in the 3200.  The 4x400 team of Adam Gorka, Cella, Oruebor, and Bacchi clinched the win with a 2nd place finish.  In the end, the Vikings won by 17 points over both Edison and Piscataway (55-38).  Overall, it was an excellent night for the whole team, with 10 different athletes scoring points, highlighted by 1st place finishes from Cella and Diaz.  The Vikings next prepare for the Group IV State Relays on Jan. 19th.

The boys' team had a well balanced effort at GMC Relays, scoring in every event, but falling 6 points short behind East Brunswick.  The shuttle hurdles team of Josh Cella, Phil Espinell, John Defraitis, and Majid Howard-Baker earned the only Gold Medals of the night for the Vikings.  Majid led all Vikings in points, placing 2nd (w/Arvindh Subramanian) in high jump, and 4th in the sprint medley (w/Matt Bacchi, Ibraheem Adeyemo, and Greg Lanzalotto).

A small group of athletes went to the Len Pietrewicz Invitational at the Armory, with the goal of breaking school records in some of the non-traditional length races.  The boys accomplished this goal, setting two school records.  Matt Bacchi broke the school record in the 600m race, with a time of 1:26.19, placing 6th place.  The 2nd record broken was in the 300m dash, with Chuk Oruebor running a time of 36.56 seconds.  Congrats on the two new records!  

The Vikings Freshmen Boys completely dominated the competition at the 2017 Egg Club Invitational meet at the Bennett Center in Toms Rivers Friday night (12/22).  Majid Howard-Baker started things off with a gold medal in the 55m hurdles, the first of four gold medals he would win, and first of 14 gold medals the team would collect.  Majid would go on to win the 55 meter dash, high jump, and combine with Jordan Folkes, Adam Gorka, and Davis Wittenburg to win the 4x200m relay in convincing fashion.  Adam Gorka also scored in the hurdles (5th) and would win another gold, edging out teammate Davis Wittenburg at the line in an exciting 300m race.  Davis added a bronze medal to his gold and silver, placing 4th in the 55m dash.  The distance medley team of Vidhur Polam (1200m), Charles Katona (400m), Richard Jerry (800m), and Raj Joshi won an exciting race over rival Old Bridge.  In the 1000m run, Raj would win his second gold in another thrilling race, with Vidhur placing 3rd, and Josh Gumber placing 6th.  Charles added a 5th place medal in the 600m run.  Joe Carlson scored 10 more points for the team with his winning shot put throw.  In the end, the Vikings freshmen scored a whopping 103 points, leaving state power Union Catholic in a very distant second place.

Several upperclassmen also attended the meet.  Arnav Batra and Matt Hutchinson won their first ever pole vault medals in the novice pole vault division, while Jared Budhu took silver in the varsity pole vault.

Sign up for Remind messages by texting @sbwt2018 to 81010 or send blank email to sbwt2018@mail.remind.com.  I am missing too many athletes, this is the only way I can relay important information, like unexpected cancellations and weather related issues.

How Bad Do You Want It by Matt Fitzgerald.

I've been reading this book about the importance of "mental fitness" to the success of an endurance athlete.  The book talks about how one's mindset can affect their performance in races, and offers strategies to improve one's mental approach to racing.  I highly recommend reading it, as it has a direct correlation to what we are trying to accomplish as competitive distance runners.  Below are links to a preview of the introduction, and a preview of one of the chapters.

 -Coach Ruskie

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9KNdwmkqesNVnpRamRrbmRDSk0/view?usp=sharing

https://www.velopress.com/strengthen-mental-fitness/

Athletes/Parents,

The school has a membership to CoreCourseGPA.com for any student athlete interested in playing Division I or II college sports.  Eligibility guidelines are changing and it is important for students to make sure they are on track to be eligible to meet the NCAA clearinghouse for athletes.  This website helps students monitor their core course GPA and eligibility.  Go to the following website and enter the information below when setting up an account if you are interested.

http://www.clearinghousecalculator.org/login.php

School ID: 310802

School Code: 751788991

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9KNdwmkqesNb2hteG1ITldkUXM/view?usp=sharing