More L.A.Jets Invitational Photos

Mom and Dad watching Lauren’s 200m final

Good Job!!

   

Doing her Best

 

 Concentration and Focus

 

Talking with Hannah

Just a little further……

Parents relay always a lot of fun…

 

 Smiles For Taisyn’s triple gold

Traveling Tips For National Championships Part 1

 Travel Tips

 I could write a small book on the must do’s and don’t of preparing and traveling in comfort to a  JO National Championship Track Meet. Below are a few travel tips to consider as you prepare for your trip to a JO National Meet.

• Review the itinerary a couple of times so you are completely sure of destination and time /per your Tickets or agent itinerary
• Call the night before to confirm the departure time, and again in the morning 6 hours before departure. Recently airlines have changed departure times unbeknownst to the traveler. The traveler will have to accept the out come of a late arrival even if he didn’t know.Yep!! That’s the truth.
• Discuss with your youth athletes what is expected of them behavior and conduct wise in the airport and on the trip in general. Attitude is everything; expect it to be positive and upbeat.
• Write a packing list  at least a month before departure ,so you won’t forget the most important small things you will want to take on your trip
• If any one in your family is taking prescription medication make sure you have a valid prescription with you.
• ALWAYS look at the airline luggage routing tags that the ticket agent is putting on your checked baggage, and look at your claim stubs too. Don’t just assume they are putting the right tag on the right bag.
• Travel with Sharpie markers and zip-closure plastic bags. They are great for marking and identifying things quickly and your youth athlete may have to give an autograph and you will help the fan get a perfect  autograph
• Don’t travel with gel pens. You could wake up in a pool of ink, as the air pressure changes can cause the ink to burst out.
• Place any items that may leak or bleed into a plastic zip lock bag before placing in your luggage.
• Bring extra large zip lock bags for ice if need for an injury
• Bring pre-printed return address labels with you. They’re great for quickly filling out airline luggage tags and other forms.
• Get a travel pillow that supports your neck. Neck pillows like the Bucky brand are filled with buckwheat hulls and support your neck while you’re trying to sleep on the plane.If your flight is cancelled, don’t wait in the long line in front of the ticket agent to get on another plane. Just step aside and call your airline directly from your cell phone. It’s just like cutting in line, but nobody will get mad at you.

Look for more tips in the weeks to come and if you have a great one  you would like to share please mail me at trackmom1@gmail.com and I will make sure to post hem along with mine in a future article.

Until Next Time

Track Gear From The Pro’s, Jeremy Wariner,Sanya Richards,Lauryn Williams And More

PreraceJitters, Jay Hicks shares a post, Sanya Richards  wrote announcing a very generous and fun give away. Maybe your youth athlete can recieve some free track gear just in time for Championships. Check it out…  

Are You An Aspiring Track Star?

“Well today I want to help you make your dream a reality.”

Every great athlete needs tons of things to get to the next level like an inspiring coach, a supportive family, a decent track and workout facility, and sufficient gear.

I can’t do much about the first three, but I can definitely help with gear!

I’ve been going through my closet and I’ve noticed that I have acquired so much NIKE gear over the past three years! I feel so fortunate to have such a great sponsor and I’d like to share some of my lightly worn gear with some deserving athletes. I’ve also asked Lauryn Williams, Nichole Denby, Marshevet Hooker, Me’Lisa Barber, and Carmelita Jeter and they’re excited to help.

   

 Lauryn Williams

 I don’t want to limit this opportunity to just girls so I have also asked some of my male friends Bershawn Jackson, Wallace Spearmon, Tyson Gay, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson, Sanjay Ayre, and Walter Davis to help as well.”

To be eligible:

-You must be a student
-You must be a part of an organized track team
-You must also write an essay of at least 100 words explaining why you are most deserving of the gear.
send essays to runwithsanya@sanyarichards.net
or mail them to

PO Box 988
Round Rock TX 78680
Deadline June 25th
Thanks and look forward to hearing from you soon
Sanya Richards

Lauryn Williams and Lauren Rain Williams

As you know if you follow TrackMom.com ,my daughter Lauren Rain Williams won a competition at the Adidas Classic on Sunday May 18th 2008 adidas Classic Track Meet And L.A.’s Fastest 8 Year Old and had the privilege to meet the Fastest Women on the Planet !

Lauryn Williams, Allyson Felix and  2007 World Champion Veronica Campbell. All these young women were gracious to Lauren and she was really excited but her favorite , Lauryn Williams took quite a bit of time talking  to her and encouraged her to continue her running. Then she sign a “mini book” as she called it  on Lauren’s  Numbers Bib. Since then Lauren hasn’t been the same,we have watch Lauryn Williams on YouTube many times  and in some way Lauryn has given my Lauren Williams an extra boost of confidence.   Fast forward to yesterday ,my friend  Jay Hicks at Preracejitters .com  shared his post with me that Lauryn Williams wrote a few days ago and she mentioned Lauren in her post…Well that just sent Lauren through the roof. She couldn’t wait to  read it for her self again and again..

Here’s the excerpt of her comments

“Although my 9 race winning streak came to an end there was a Lauren Williams that was not only lighting fast but victorious! I believe she’s 8 but had the composure of an adult as she raced down the track to a first place finish from lane 1. She showed that lanes don’t decipher who wins races heart, training and talent does. I wish her the best in her budding career and hope she continues to represent the Williams name well!”

  Read  what else  Williams had to say..

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR LAURYN WILLIAMS NOW!
Click Here to get your Sub-11 Tattoo or T-shirt Today.

If you would like an autographed picture of Lauryn Williams, please send a stamp addressed envelope with your request to the following address:   P.O. Box 8008 Gray, TN 37615 USA   Please make sure to tell them that you are wanting an autograph of Lauryn Williams and include your email address also. They will do their best to get an autographed picture out to you as soon as possible.

                                                                              

It’s Lauren’s dream to run as fast as the “Big’ Lauryn one day. Here are  her YouTube clips.Thanks to SH for sharing and taking the time.You are an awesome Track Mom!

 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2wFxLEAjj0 

Phoenix Invitational April 6th,2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Jq6DniEBE 

 May 10th 2008 San Diego
 

 Until Next Time

Getting Ready For Championships

Housekeeping, Photos And Getting Ready For Championships

I am humbled by the response to TrackMom.com this week. Thank-you all so much for the e-mails and positive response. As many of you know who visit TrackMom.com regularly, Florida had the BAYTAF track meet this past weekend as well. They have submitted to  eliteyouth  and just as expected the times are dropping and new athletes are appearing. BAYTAF Results 5.28.08  More to follow.  Heads up…

Bantam Girl Daesha Rodgers!!! so far 400, 800 and 1500m

 Congratulations Daesha Rodgers!!

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LA Jets Results 

L.A.Jets Invitational Results 3.27.08

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Elite Youth Rankings

                 eliteyouth  is starting a new program for Championships, Check It out…

Hot News - They are  going to rank the qualifiers for the National J.O. Programs! That’s right, separate rankings for the Junior Olympic programs. This is better than just a performance list for the qualifiers in their local meets. We will take all the kids that run in a qualifier and rank them based on their best performances in ANY meet.  This will mean those that hold back in their qualifiers will show up based on what they are capable of doing, not just what they did at the local J.O. qualifier meet. You can see who’s going the program you’re interested in, and how well they can be expected to do when they need to. You can see where you rank…. you’re best against their best. It won’t be how you’re seeded, but even better it will be what you can expect in the national championships!  

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 Well I am very sure that many of the athletes at the L.A.Jets 24^th Invitational will be at A National  Championship this year….Here are some photos from the meet this past weekend take a good look as I introduce you to a few of the West Coasts Brightest

 

    

8year old  Jay Nailor Bantam Boy Palmdale Bullets  Finalist in 100 m,200m  You can never count him out and he says he going for Gold In July

Khalil Howse Seattle Speed Silver medalist in the 4×100 finalist in the 200m   

 

Hannah Cunliffe Seattle Speed brought the rain with  her and took back 2 Silver medals 100m,200m

Phallish Perkins Bantam Girl 100m Silver Medalist She looks better everytime I see her  

Audrianna Holloway of the Murrieta Marvicks Finalist in the 100m and 200m ,Silver medalist in the Long Jump

 

Paul “The Amazing” Lucas of Do Right Track Club (Arizona) 100m and 200m Champion Bronze medalist in the 400m

 

 Murrieta Mavericks Midget Girls Bailey Romero won the gold and Mackenzie Mahoney won the silver in the Pole Vault.Way to go girls!!

“ Quite Determination “That’s Miget Girl Phenom,  Rising Stars Taisyn Crutchfield 100M and 200m ,4×100m Champion

 Ranked #1 In the Nation 100m and 200m Congratulations 

 

My favorite bantam girl  Quite Fire’s 8 year old Lauren Rain Williams 100m bronze medalist and 200m and 4×100 gold medalist, she never says I can’t  and she’s not giving up. I think the tights helped a little too : )

 Quite Fire’s Janette Paul..Gold medalist 100M ,400m and 4×100 , If any one could triple this season it’s Janette. She never looks like she’s trying…Just Flows

Fire Turned Gold

 

   Want to know more about qualifying for AAU National JO’s Championships or USATF National JO’s    National Championships Around the Corner… Which One Will You Choose?

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Did you know there are World Record’s For Youth Track & Field? Here’s the Link

http://dominique.100free.com/

I know rankings and “World Record times for youth can be a little bit ambiguous and confusing to say the least, but it does give the parent, coach and athlete something to place in front of them and to strive for.  The person who puts these times together is very diligent in confirming and authenticating the ages and  times before he add them to the list. Check It out .

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Don’t forget to sign-up for the Free TrackMom Newsletter .It come right to your e-mail box 2 times per month, with lots of helpful information for you and your youth athlete.  

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 Until Next Time

24th Annual L.A.Jets Invitational Day 2 Wrap Up And Results

It’s Over……We have some how survived another L.A. Jet Invitational. It so ironic how all year teams gear up for this last of the season tune up meet.The spectators and athletes know it’s going to be LONG…..But we still wish it could be shorter??? Makes no sense but it was a great time all the same.  My Best Wishes  to all the athletes that will continue to their respective post season meets.

  HOT OFF THE PRESS  2008  Results

 http://www.ecomallbiz.com/lajets/nss-folder/meetresults/LAJets2008_Results.htm

 

I met so many wonderful parents and athletes this weekend. Parents you should be very proud . I spoke to athletes in interviews and greeting just to say congratulations and every time they we polite and gracious. Track and Field isn’t just about running it’s about character building for  the future. What we do on a regular basis on the weekends of spring and summer is a sacrifice but the dividends are priceless.

Please remember if you every see me at a meet stop and say hi and if my camera is available I can snap a picture of one more member of our “Track Family”

Here are some great pictures from this weekend.Do you recognize any one you know??

Track Moms With Lots Of Smiles

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friendships For A Lifetime     

 

What The Little Girls Do While Waiting To Run

 What The Little Boys Do while waiting to Run

Champion Track Dads 

Stay tuned for interviews of medalist , highlights of TrackMom’s most exciting moments and photos 

Until Next Time

 

L.A.Jets 24th Invitational Day 1

The day of Track and Field started out Horrible….Pouring down rain and you could see in many faces a little dampen spirits too (or was that just me??)  Soon after we finished put up canopies and the like the rain stopped..

By 8am the “track gods” saw fit to clear the clouds and the rest of the day although reminiscent of Seattle , remained dry and cool.(Cold by California standards ) I am not sure of the total athlete count but based on the 100m semi’s alone there was over 700 athletes in the 100m … the estimate is around 2300 athletes in total participating this weekend.That’s a lot of teams and parents too.

The highlight sprint, 100m was great as promised and that was the good news ,the bad news was that from the time the 100m semi’s finished and results for the finals were in and the actual finals were run almost 10 hours later. OHHHH what a wait. It a big meet with lots and lots and lots of athletes it takes time. The relays and hurdles and 3,000,5000 races were in between.

I am going to cover more tomorrow and through out the week including results and commentary.

But a little heads up there were surprises and then again no surprises..this is the beauty of track and field.

As one coach told me after his favored athlete didn’t place place 1st but 2nd in the 100m . “Now I have my athletes full attention, this was good (for the athlete) they will remember this”… others finished as seeded and still others finished first or 5th unexpectedly….This meet is all about seeing where your at and as I said over and over last night leaving the stadium it ’s time to recalibrate…. finish the meet Sunday and get read for Association Regionals and JO’s… 

A few high points… of the meet

 Paul Lucas looking all of spectacular and confident  Midget 100m Champ

(stock photo)

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Jeanette Paul  Bantam girl 100m,400m and 4×100(2nd leg)  Champion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

400m finish Janette holding off the very strong Phalisha Perkins (Long Beach Cyclones)

 

 

Taylor Hall, Janette Paul,Lauren Williams and Shante Robinson 

(Stock Photo)

Gotta run it’s almost time to get Lauren up and ready to go for the 200m later today..

Oh Yeah, Lauren finished 3rd and Pr’ed at 13.85 TrackMom is happy and my 8 year old Bantam is too!

 

Photos taken by Conrad Johnson( Track GrandDad)

Lauren in the semi’s yesterday

Until Next Time

Seattles Best Coming to California Hannah and the Crew…..

Hannah Cunliffe Phoenix Invitational !00m Midget Champion

Those of you that love youth track and field probably already know about Coach Michael Cunliffe, Hannah Cunliffe and the Seattle Speed track team. One word describes this team of champions FAST….Very FAST.

I had a chance to briefly chat  with Coach Michael about  his team couple of days ago and he said they are looking forward to the experience  and competitive level showcased here in SoCal this weekend. Coach Michael has a deep  passion for track and field done in excellence.He believes in good foundational training and skill acquisition at every step of development. From the looks of it, it has paid off big time over the past year of team Seattle Speeds inception and this championship season promises much more.

To bring those of you up to speed on “Seattle Speed” and some of their athletes accomplishments here are the highlights.    

• Samuel Cunliffe (Hannah’s brother) world record holder for 10 yr old boys in the LJ 5.15 meters 16′-10.75″ inches - set in flagstaff on Feb 24^th 2008  note: he did this prior to his 11^th birthday. He will be a sub-midget this year
• Cameron Retherford (midget) 80m Hurdles 12.60 (this year) 12.54 in 2007 - which was 4^th at USATF 07 JO’s, 17′ LJ 5^th in the country at USATF 07 JO’s
• CeCe Jackson (sub-youth) 100m hurdles 15.28 eliteyouth 11^th - 200m hurdles 29.20 eliteyouth 11^th. She was ranked #1 in 07 in the pentathlon and got hurt and was unable to compete at nationals. She isa favorite  going into Detroit to win the pentathlon for sub-youth girls
• Quincy Bannister (midget) 12.39 100 meters 08 at Phoenix Invite - currently 6^th on eliteyouth - 25.82 at the same meet currently 13^th on eliteyouth

Khalil Howse (midget) 12.54 100 meters  08 at Phoenix Invitational 

• Midget boys 4×100 51.59 - Phoenix Invite 08 - currently 3rd on eliteyouth (they are were missing their 2^nd leg, so Coach is hoping the time will improve this weekend with him back in there)
• Alex Luera (midget) javelin 134′5″ Rainier Beach Invite May 3^rd - currently 8^th on eliteyouth, new mark would have him at 5^th
• Chris Halamek (sub-midget) shot put 34′-11″ currently 13^th on eliteyouth
• JaShaun Agosto (sub-midget) middle distance 800, 1500 and mile. 2:25.01 800 last week at a city meet. 5:05 1500 at Phoenix he did these while focusing on basketball. He ran a 4:47 mile for the crew of ABC News found here http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4424970  This was unofficial of course but it was faster than the 11 yr old world record in the mile  of 4:55
• Jonny Locher (Youth) 11.52 Seattle city meet 08 100m 19′-9″ LJ RB Invite May 3^rd 08
• Gavin Robertson (bantam) 14′8″ LJ 08 Seattle city meet. AAU primary champion ‘06 in the LJ - #1 in 07 but missed his check in for the event.

 Coach Michael says he has been training a few more newer athletes on his team, that are promising to perform well this weekend too… All I can say is Wow…  And I can’t wait to see what the weekend holds. Good luck and I will see you all in attendance tomorrow bright and early…

 Until Then

Just Put It On The Track…..The 24th Annual L.A.Jets Invitational Meet

 

                                It’s That Time Again

  A few weeks ago we traveled to San Diego for a meet and more than a few times as I walked by, I heard people talking about the L.A.Jets Invitational. This meet has become over the years the Premier Youth  Track Meet on the West Coast as well as one of the largest and best in the country. In 2006 Lauren was 6 1/2 and I noticed she really like to run. I e-mailed all over the place to find out something for her to do with track and field,Some one e-mailed me back and said take her to the L.A.Jets Invitational….Oh My Gosh… I had no idea what I was  about to get myself into.I drove 50 miles and when we got out the car I was overwhelmed with the number of athletes and spectators that were there. (Someone told me this year they are expecting over 2500 athletes and they have had almost 3,000 some years) This was a baptism by fire…Not the way I would suggest introducing your youth athlete to track and field.Lauren was very scared and almost wouldn’t run.After she won her heat she felt much better….Me too.

Long story short L.A.Jets was the first real track meet she participated in.She finished 9th out of 123 sub-bantam athletes and I decided that  she might just have some wheels as my friend Keith Anderson says : )

Fast forward….

This meet has provided great competition and anticipation for athletes from all over the country.Those of you that don’t live in the area ,at least once in your youth athletes age group career try and make this great track meet.

Many of you will be there ,please feel free to come up and say Hi. At the Phoenix Meet ,I met so many wonderful coaches and parents I can’t wait to see you again and meet many more…

TrackMom  

 

 

More Pictures From The adidas Classic 5.18.08

Lauren is still on a mini high from Sunday and all the excitment.  I have  pictures to share from this great meet.If you are in the Los Angeles area you should bring your kids out next year and share with them what professional track is all about.

Greg Johnson KJLH and Lauren Rain Williams 

 

 Until Next Time

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