See You At The State Meet

We had a beautiful evening last Friday for the District Track Meet in Cedar Falls. Linn-Mar finished third out of eight teams, making it their highest District finish in school history. Congrats to the entire Lion team for a great performance!

Linn-Mar had eight individuals or relay teams qualify for the State Track Meet in DesMoines this week. Josh and Jon both ran in the 4x400 relay and set personal records. Shawn West and Wes Shetterly also ran legs on the relay team. Way to go guys! The 4x400 team qualified with a time of 3:27.69.

The following individuals or teams also qualified:

• 4x800 Relay - Shawn West, Matt Kearney, John Rigby and Zach Braff
• 110 Meter Hurdles - Jake Klopfenstein
• Shuttle Hurdle Relay - Grant Mahoney, Erik Frana, Cam Perry, Jake Klopfenstein (fastest qualifying time in the state)
• 400 Meter Hurdles - Jake Klopfenstein
• Distance Medley Relay - Clayton Chavez, Grant Benton, Shawn West, Wes Shetterly
• 800 Meter Run - Zach Braff (fastest qualifying time in the state)
• Long Jump - Cam Perry

It's been a great track season, in spite of the weather in April. Congratulations to the Linn-Mar track team, coaches and parents. See you at the State Meet.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

Senior Recognition Night

Linn-Mar hosted the Lion Relays tonight at Armstrong Field. It was a beautiful evening for a track meet, especially after the cold and rain we had earlier in the season. Mid-way through the meet they paused to introduce and honor all the seniors on the team. It was a great joy and honor to be introduced as the parents of Josh and Jon Pagel. You guys are the best! You can click on the picture above to see some pictures of the Senior Recognition.

A special thank you to Roger Braff who took the photos. I plan to return the favor to Roger and Diane next year when Zach is a senior.

The Linn-Mar team ran well tonight and won the meet. You can click here to see a slide show of some of the action.

It's hard to believe that Josh and Jon's high school career is coming to a close. They were three years old when we moved to Iowa! And now, fifteen years later we recognized their many accomplishments and future plans. This evening was Senior Recognition Night.

Champions

I had a great time at the Drake Relays on Friday evening and Saturday. There were some incredible individual and team performances at the meet, led by Alan Webb who ran the fastest outdoor mile in world at 3:51.71 on Saturday!

Other performances and records of note:

• The Drake Relays sold out on Saturday for the 42nd consecutive year!
• 17 Drake Relays records were broken or tied during the weekend - the most number of records broken since the 1985 Relays.
• Minnesota ran the fastest women’s outdoor 4x1,600 relay time in world this year at 19:07.75 on Saturday.
• South Alabama’s Mulzat Ajoke Odomusu, a native of Nigeria, ran the fastest women’s outdoor 400 hurdles in the world at 55.37 on Saturday.
• Northern Iowa posted the second best outdoor 4x800 relay time in world this year at 7:22.42. In case no one has noticed, UNI has a great track team!
• Jim Dilling and Jesse Williams posted the third best outdoor high jump mark at 7-6.50. Seven of the ten top high jumpers in the nation competed at the Relays. These guys were amazing!
• Jeff Hartwig posted the fifth best world outdoor mark in pole vault at 19-0.75.
• Minnesota and Baylor women ran the second and third fastest outdoor distance medley relay times in the world on Friday at 11:08.16 and 11:08.88, respectively.
• Minnesota women ran the second fastest outdoor 4x800 relay time in the world at 8:27.42 on Friday.
• Minnesota women won the triple crown, sweeping the women’s distance relay races (4x1,600, 4x800, distance medley), while setting records in 4x1600 and 4x800 relays.
• Baylor became just the second school to win all four men’s university sprint relay titles (4x100, 4x200, 4x400, sprint medley), joining Illinois which first accomplished the feat in 1944.

Congratulations to the Linn-Mar 4x400 relay team for qualifying for the Saturday final and taking seventh place at 3:25.38. Way to go Wes Shetterly, Josh Pagel, Shawn West, and Zach Braff.

It was a record setting Drake Relays. What an awesome experience for every high school, college, university and elite invitational athlete. The weather was perfect and the crowd was electric. The 2007 Drake Relays lived up to its reputation and proud heritage. You can click on the picture above to see a slide show of the weekend.

Only a few athletes walked away from the Drake Relays with medals. But every participant should be proud of their training, preparation and effort. It was a weekend to enjoy incredible competition, crown victors and to acknowledge champions.

Prairie Relays

We had beautiful weather for the Prairie Relays this evening. The sprint medley relay team of Josh, Grant Benton, Wes Shetterly and Zach Braff ran a 3.34.63, a new Prairie Relay record! Their time was also good enough to qualify them to compete in the Drake Relays next week! Congratulation guys.

You can click on the picture above to view some photos of the meet.

Draxton Relays

We finally got a track meet in today! The weather cooperated and we enjoyed a balmy evening at Kingston Stadium at the Draxton Relays. Jon ran the 800 meter race and Josh ran in the 4x200 and the 4x400 relays. Josh ran a 51.73 split in the 4x400, almost a PR for him. The great news is that the team qualified for the Drake Relays winning the event in 3.27. Congratulations Josh! Jon brought his time down in the 800 and looked good. Congratulations Jon.

You can click on the picture above to see a short slide show of some of the Linn-Mar events. It's great to finally finish a complete track meet. Now its on to the Prairie Relays next Tuesday evening.

Spring In Iowa

It's been quite a spring for track. Officials tried to get the Warrior Invitational track meet in tonight but the wind, cold weather and rain eventually led to its cancellation. The meet had been rescheduled due to inclement weather last Saturday. And the meet at Iowa City West last Tuesday was cancelled due to wind chill temperatures around 20 degrees! So far we are 0 for 3!

Before the meet was finally cancelled, I was able to get some photos of guys from our youth group. You can click on the photo above to see a slide show featuring Jon, Josh, Eric Schultz, Matt Kearney, Nathan Menken, Zack Braff, and Wes Shetterly.

The next meet is this Friday evening, so we'll pack up our winter coats, blankets and rain gear until then. In the mean time, run hard, stay warm and keep dry! It's spring in Iowa!

State Track Meet

We traveled to DesMoines today to see Josh run in the State Track Meet at Drake University. Josh ran the 200 meter leg in the Sprint Medley Relay along with John Rehnstrom, Steve Olsen and Zach Braff. You can click on the link to see a slideshow of the race. Our guys ran 3.31.41 and finished fifth out of 24 teams. Way to go John, Steve, Zach and Josh!

Josh also ran the second leg on the 4x400 Relay team. You can click on the link to see a slideshow of the race. Our team of Josh, Wes Shetterly, Steve Olsen, and Zach Braff ran a 3.22.39, the second fastest qualifying time out of the 24 teams! Valley West DesMoines set a new state record running 3.13.80, breaking the old record by over four seconds. The final heat is tomorrow afternoon.

It was a great day! We're proud of how hard both Josh and Jon have worked this season. Give it all you have tomorrow!

The Drake Relays

Josh, second from left

We had a great time at the Drake Relays yesterday watching Josh and the Linn-Mar team run the 1600 sprint relay, competing with 23 other teams from around the state.

John Rehnstrom and Josh ran solid 200 meter legs and Steve Olson ran a great sub 50 second 400 meter lap. And then Zach Braff ran a tremendous 800 meters, blowing by three runners in the last turn to give Linn-Mar a fourth place finish. The team set a new school record with their time of 3.32.11! You can click on the picture above to see a slideshow of the race.

All in all, it was a great day. The rain held off in the morning for the race and we got to see some great track and field events. You can click here to see pictures of a 26 plus foot long jump by USA long jump champion, Miguel Pate. The track and field competition was awesome, the renovated Drake Stadium and blue track was beautiful, and the performance by the 1600 sprint relay team was determined.

Ready, Set ....

Linn-Mar participated in the Wilkinson Relays at Kingston last Friday. I only have one word to describe the meet - cold! I forgot to throw my winter coat into the car and my spring jacket just didn't cut the wind.

Josh and Jon ran in the varsity open 400. You can click on the picture above to see a slideshow of the race. Jon is the one closest to the camera and Josh is the one third from the right.

I'm looking forward to the track season. I just need to remember to pack my gloves and winter coat!