Hello everyone. I hope you are all enjoying Homecoming Weekend - sounds like it as a great game last night and Bobby Wenger got some good sprinting in.

MISSING OR STOLEN ITEMS:
Before getting to schedules and racing I've got an important piece of news and request.

Apparently, at the meet vs. Interlake and MI this past week, several Newport athletes noticed that cash and other personal items were missing when they left. A few athletes lost money, one lost a camera and another actually lost a wallet.
I would very much like to assume that the culprit in this incident is not from among our squad because we have made it through this entire season without any similar incidents at practice. However, if a Newport XC athlete did steal from their own teammates I would find that terribly upsetting. As a result of this I'm asking everyone to do the following:
- If the person responsible for stealing these items happens to be you - please come forward and make this right. At the very least return the personal items that your teammates are missing.
- If you have any information about the incident please let one of the coaches know.
- Take preventive action from now on - be careful what you bring to a meet! Anytime with compete against other schools there are going to be lots of people there that you do not know. Try to avoid bringing valuables with you, and if you must bring them try to hid them well.

CALL FOR PARENT VOLUNTEERS:
-This Wednesday October 10th we race the Bellevue City Meet. We were initially meant to host this meet, but Bellevue HS has volunteered to take the responsibility as some parts of our course are tight and can be dangerous if four teams are racing. However, since we do have some responsibility for making the meet run smoothly it would be fantastic if we provide the Bellevue coaching staff with as many parent volunteers as possible. We will be meeting in the parking lot at Kelsey Creek Park at about 3 to see if Coaches Nixon and Hill need more help this Wednesday.

- Next Thursday October 18th we will be racing the Kingco 3A Championships at Lake Sammamish State Park. The League asks that we provide at least 2 parent volunteers. Since we have the biggest squad in the league I'd like us to make sure we have at least that many. The best case scenario would be for us to have at least 4 - 6 volunteers from among parents of kids who will race at different times. (JV Girls, Varsity Girls, Varsity Boys, JV Boys). The meet schedule is below.

1:00 PM Packets available at finish area
1:30 PM Coaches Meeting at finish area
1:45 PM Volunteers Meeting at finish area
2:00 PM JV Girls Race
2:45 PM Varsity Girls Race
3:15 PM Varsity Boys Race
3:45 PM JV Boys Race
4:45 PM Awards Presentation

THIS WEEK IN RACING:
It's nice to have a Saturday off to recover from all of the racing we've been doing lately. :o)
As a result we don't have quite as much racing news this week.

Wednesday vs. Mercer Island and Interlake
BOYS
Brent Magnusson was the most recent of a series of boys to get very sick with the bug going around Newport. As a result, the boys had to face a very tough Mercer Island squad without him and were defeated. However, the boys were victorious vs. Interlake. Neil Baunsgard had a fantastic day, running what would be equivalent to a big PR and finishing right behind MI's #1. Jacob Dance and Andrew Coover ran tough races to hold off several competitors and, Neil Walton and Sam Staples both ran equivalent to season bests as well following Alex Poplawski to the finish line. Michael Hutchins led a pack of sophomores including Steven Soroka and Alex Bell to hit times equivalent to their sub-18 goals.
Several boys ran times that put them into the sub-20 group so we are excited to see that list grow once we get on 5k courses at Bell City and Kingco.

Bentley Altizer and Jonathan Pyke were recognized by the coaches for their significant PR races.

GIRLS:
The girls faced their toughest competitor in Kingco - MI this week, but showed just how strong they are, putting 4 Newport girls in front of the first runner from both MI and Interlake and only scoring 18 points. Jillian Altizer and Emily Albrecht ran fantastic racing, hitting times that would be equivalent to their sub-19 goals. Christine Dollard followed close behind, also running one of her best races yet. Jillian Raftery had a GREAT day to hold off the entire MI and Interlake teams, and Katrina England and Emily Meyer put themselves right with the top MI and Interlake girls. Lindsay Brooks also had an awesome day showing that she is getting really fit even though she was running with a nasty cold.

Several other girls had their best races of the year including Taryn Blache, Steffi Terasaki and Maya Graue. Steffi broke into the top 14 for the first time this year!. Rachel Sherman ran a 3 minute PR for 3 miles!!!
And Kristen Hecht was recognized by the coaching staff for running a particularly good race and being very competitive with the MI and Interlake athletes she was racing!!!
The girls' sub-20 list is also going to grow a whole lot over the next two weeks.