2016 Rampart Track and Field Team Packet
Head Coach: Robert Young (Distance)
Assistants: Kelly Coomes (Sprints), Steve Rex (Jumps), John Shevland (Throws),
Pat Bloemen (Hurdles), Emily LaValley (Mid-Distance)
Team Philosophy:
1. We are a TEAM first. We are here to make everyone better and our expectation is that all members
will put the team first.
2. Every member of this team is valuable and can contribute to our overall success.
3. Each of us is expected to grow throughout the season. Each day is an opportunity to get a little bit
better. We will grab each opportunity to make ourselves grow as much as possible.
Coaching Staff Truths:
1. The track team is for everyone! There is an event for everyone and our goal is to get you in the best
place to help our team.
2. We will believe in our athletes. We trust you to make good decisions and choices in all situations. We
understand that you are both a student and an athlete and will support your success in both areas.
Coaches Expectations of Rampart Track and Field Athletes:
1. Take pride in what you do. You are a representative of yourself, your school, your community and your
coaches. Your actions matter and will be noticed by others; keep that in mind every time you make a
decision. Make sure you can be proud of the decisions you make. If you make decisions that do not
make your coaching staff proud they reserve the right to dismiss you from the team.
2. Be a student-athlete. Notice that the “student” comes first. Take care of your studies and grades first.
You cannot compete and help your team if you aren’t holding up the student part of the studentathlete equation.
3. Rise to the challenge! Track is a physically challenging sport. Your coaches will do everything they can
to provide you with challenges that are appropriate for you. Even if you don’t think you can do it, at
least try. Rise to the challenge!
4. Trust your coaches. We spend hours making sure that we get you the best training and competition
opportunities for your development. Sometimes you may not always see what our plan is but trust us,
we have one and are trying to get you to be your best.
5. Communicate with your coaches. In order to provide you with the best training and opportunities to
meet your goals the coaching staff needs to know how things are going. This includes both in training
and life.
6. Every single member of this team is a leader. We all have stock in how well each other does. Every
member can teach every other member something and every one can lead. You are the ones who truly
help each other get better.
7. Team is first. Track is a team sport. What we do, we do as a team. If we succeed, we do it together. If
we fail, we do it together. As a whole, we are greater than any individual and even greater than the
sum of our parts.
8. Take care of the “little things” (see section later in packet). American distance legend Bob Kennedy
once said that every decision you make will affect your running, some bad, some good, but they all
have an effect. He said this in reference to the “little things” that make a huge difference in your
overall performance (sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress, health, self-discipline, etc). It will be your
responsibility to make quality decisions about these things as they will happen mostly away from
practice.
Practice and Meet Expectations:
1. You are expected to be at practice on time every day. We will practice every day including most
Saturdays if we don’t have a meet. Practice will normally be from 3:10 to 5:30 on weekdays and will be
in the morning with time to be announced for Saturdays. If you must miss or be late to practice you
must let a coach know prior to practice and/or bring a note. If you miss a practice without a good
reason you will not be allowed to compete in our next meet.
2. During practice you will be expected to give your best effort to complete the day’s workout
tasks/activities to the best of your ability. If you feel you cannot handle what is being asked of you talk
to a coach so your training can be adjusted to an appropriate level.
3. Practice is for our team members only. Anyone not on our team will not be allowed at practice and
can wait for you elsewhere.
4. Public displays of affection during practice and meets are not appropriate and will not be tolerated.
When we are at team functions your focus should be on our team and PDA is an unnecessary
distraction for you and others.
5. Practice and meets don’t end until a coach tells you that we have completed the day’s activities. Do
not leave until you have been excused by a coach.
Daily Practice Schedule:
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3:10pm: Full team warm-up
Quick team meeting
Event group specific practice
Dismissed by event coach
General meet schedule:
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Arrive to meet venue, approx. 1-1.5hrs prior to start of competition.
Establish team camp, set up tent
Full team warm up (in Rampart Track and Field gear)
Event specific warm-up and competitions
Actively support all team members while not in competition yourself
Conclusion of meet
Team cool down lap (in Rampart Track and Field gear)
Brief post meet meeting including nominations for “The Horns”
Clean up camp and return to bus
Team warm up:
1. 2 laps easy jog (on grass when possible)
2. Split to warm-up drill groups (on grass when possible):
a. 2x Walk on heels (pigeon, duck)
b. 2x Walk on toes (pigeon, duck)
c. A walk
d. A skip
e. Shuffle
f. Carioca
g. Backwards run, small steps
h. Backwards run, long steps
3. Jog to middle for quick meeting
Varsity Letter Requirements:
To receive a varsity letter you must meet two of the following three criteria:
1. Compete in >50% of varsity meets
2. Average 1 point scored per varsity meet. Relay points will be divided equally among team members.
3. Score at least 1 point at the CSML meet or compete at the state championship meet
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Athletes completing four years in good standing in the program will be awarded a varsity letter.
Coaches reserve the right to give a letter on borderline situations. Attendance and behavior will
be utilized as a part of these decisions.
An athlete must finish the season in good standing to receive a letter. (Injuries will be evaluated
on performance up to the point when the injury occurred.)
Junior varsity letters will be earned if the above standards are not met and the athlete finishes
the season in good standing.
In some circumstances, only a certificate of participation may be given.
Information about a few of the “little things”
Sleep- Sleep is the part of the day when your body does the most recovering so in order to be at your best it
is essential that you get enough of it. 8 hours is often the number that is recommended but research
shows that teens actually need more than that and if you consider that you are not only a teen but an
athletic one the number of hours of sleep you need could be much higher. With your busy schedule,
from academics to XC to social life 8+ hours may not always be possible. However, research shows that
athletes that don’t have time to sleep enough perform better if they at least have a consistent bed time.
Therefore, attempting to go to bed at the same time each day is in your best interest as a runner.
Hydration- Hydration plays a big role in many aspects of training. If you are hydrated you will feel better
while running and be able to run faster. Being hydrated will allow your body to respond by sweating as
necessary which allows you to perform at your best. Hydration also plays a key role in recovering from
hard efforts. Water is obviously key to hydration but most any fluid will work. Try to avoid high sugar
beverages like soda as they will not hydrate you well, especially immediately prior to running. On a
related note, being hydrated while you sleep really helps you recover. If you ever wake up at night
feeling hot it is because you are not properly hydrated and ultimately you aren’t recovering and
rebuilding as needed. It is better to wake up to go to the bathroom from being hydrated than to not
recover from being dehydrated. A good rule of thumb for how much you should be drinking per day is
1oz of fluid for every 2lbs of your body weight. You should always have a water bottle with you.
Nutrition- Runners often use the analogy that their bodies are like a furnace. Food is merely put in as fuel
for them to burn while they run. This is largely true and should cause you to think carefully about your
eating habits. First, it means EAT! and eat enough. A furnace with no fuel goes out and if your furnace
runs out of fuel on a run it is very unpleasant. Second, it means consider what you are putting into your
body carefully. Not all fuel is created equal. Make sure the majority of the food you are eating is
wholesome “good for you” type food. A balance of types of food is best but the two types of food to
make sure you are getting enough of are carbohydrates and proteins. You primarily burn carbohydrates
when you run so replacing each days used fuel is important. Proteins are heavily involved in repairing
damaged muscles. Each day when you run you damage your muscles and each day they must be
repaired (this is how we get stronger). Runners should consume about 1g of protein for each pound of
body weight a day. Also, don’t skip on fruits and especially vegetables as they provide valuable vitamins
and minerals that runners use up and sweat out at a faster rate than the average person.
Stress- Too much stress is not good for any person and will directly impact a runner’s ability to perform. As
students there will be times when stress is high, learning to find a way to manage and reduce stress is
important to running your best. Stress is one of those things that can cause seemingly unexplained
poor races. Communicate with your coaches when you find yourself feeling “stressed out” as they may
be able to help.
Health- Health for runners has two fronts. First, it is important that you do everything you can to avoid
getting sick during the season as being sick will cause you to train and/or race poorly for a period of
time. The other “little things” can help you avoid getting sick and if you notice that you are getting sick,
stepping up health preserving measures like taking vitamin C or getting extra sleep can really make a
difference. Second, avoiding injuries is key to successful distance running. The more continuous and
consistent your training is the more rapidly you are likely to improve. Listen to your body and
communicate with your coaches when you feel pain. Some pain is normal and to be expected but some
is not. Communicating with your coaches can help you determine if what you are feeling is ok and can
also help you stop an injury before it sidelines you. There is nothing worse than being the fittest
spectator at your target race. Watching and wondering what could have been hurts, don’t let it happen
to you! Some types of pain will also indicate to your coaches a weakness in the training plan that can
fixed ultimately making the whole team better.