Good morning all! We have a busy week ahead-practice and our first meet! Practice has been going very well, we have concentrated on strength and core work the first couple of weeks as well as introducing our athletes to events. More information about the meet this week: Dismissal from school: EVERY CHILD MUST HAVE A SIGNED DISMISSAL REQUEST FROM HIS/HER PARENT. This note must be turned in to the school secretary the morning of the meet. School secretaries have access to the carpool spreadsheets on Google so that they know carpool drivers/riders. Carpools- if you didn't get my earlier email, we have to utilize carpools for transportation to our first meet. Please use this link to either volunteer to drive ( MUCH APPRECIATED!) OR sign up your child to ride in a carpool. IF YOU DO NOT SIGN UP YOUR CHILD IT IS ASSUMED YOU WILL BE DRIVING HIM/HER TO THE MEET. If you did not get the link to Google Documents, please email me back and I will invite you. Carpools will leave East and West Sylvan at 3 pm. I would like all athletes to arrive by 3:30-3:35 in order for us to have a team warm up. Your child will be coming home with a maroon bracelet with a number on it. That is their number for the season and should be worn at EVERY meet. The numbers are used for recording results. I told the team just to keep the bands on at all times, that way they won't worry about leaving it at home!! Event: Each athlete may compete in a total of 5 events ( see link below for listing) I strongly encourage our athletes to try new events at this meet- for example, if you are a "distance" runner-try long jump or shotput-you might like it! Please note that for our first meet I am STRONGLY encouraging only seasoned hurdlers to hurdle. We haven't had adequate time to prepare the majority of our runners to hurdle due to the slick conditions during practice the last 2 weeks. The high jump will use the bungee cord for the first meet, making it fun for first timers! Coach Jide and Hutchinson will coordinate the relay teams. I have included a link to the meet schedule below. Meet schedule http://www.runner2runner.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:order-of-events&catid=40:ewmstf&Itemid=37 There will be food at this meet-bagels and fruit. I have talked to our team about this. Please encourage your child to eat a healthy snack on the way to the meet and NOT FILL UP ON FOOD once they arrive! Encourage your athlete to pack their track bag the night before the meet, check it to make sure they have layers of clothing, hat, gloves, water, snack, etc... We expect the team shirts to arrive on Thursday morning. It would help to have 4-5 parents help hand these out at the meet! Please email Missy Parkel, parkel@comcast.net , apparel coordinator if you can help. I appreciate Missy's help in taking care of our apparel for our team. We have a large team-105 athletes- a wonderful group of dedicated athletes as well as 17 amazing coaches ( including EWS alumni now at LHS.) We look forward to a fun season with you all!! I will try to answer your emails in a timely fashion this week but forgive me for a bit of distraction, we are in the middle of moving between 2 residences and the moving company is at my house this week. See you all at the track!! Best, Melissa

Spring flowers bring May flowers? We should have plenty of beautiful flowers coming soon! Seriously, the forecast for the next 10 days is for rain and showers and cool temps. PLEASE have your athlete pack their track bag for rain and cold temperatures. Updated schedules for East West Sylvan and Cardinal track teams have been posted. Please check Running Programs, and your team page for the updated schedules. If you have any questions, please email me at runner2runner@gmail.com.