Last week was crazy! Thank you to everyone who attended one of three meets at Claremore, Jenks, and Claremore again to see our athletes compete. We had a TON of event winners, PR performances, and even some XC girls trying high jump for the first time! There was also an Art Show and Prom so I’m looking forward to things calming down a little. For all my fellow Prom dads, I did encourage the girls especially to follow my three Prom rules: 1. Wear running shoes and not high heels, 2. You can wear a fancy dress but make sure you have a Track/XC hoodie and running pants over it, and 3. Don’t go to Prom. My daughter chose not to follow my rules. I hope you guys had better luck!
We will only have one meet this week. Our Varsity runners will go to Bentonville West on Thursday to race in AR. Runners not going to the meet will be done with practice at 2:45. Friday is Good Friday, and we are out of school. We will get back late on Thursday, so we are going to let the runners sleep in and go for a Recovery Run on their own. We will still have practice from 8:00 to 10:00 on Saturday for our weekly Long Run.
As we near the end of the season, it is time to start thinking about our summer Striders program and the Fall 2025 ORXC season. We should have a Gear Store up and running in a few days. The gear ordered from this store should be here before the start of the season. We will have another store in June, but it will be limited to whatever Nike has left in stock after the Track season. That gear will most likely arrive a few weeks into the season. We will have a final last chance store in August but will likely have limited selections, and it will take a good portion of the season to arrive. I encourage runners to purchase gear now if possible! As with Track this season, if runners have a uniform, shorts, and a warm-up set from XC last year, they do not need to order new gear, but athletes are only allowed to wear Owasso Cross Country to meets.
I have also attached a link to the summer Striders and ORXC schedules. The competitions are subject to change, but practice days are set and will not change. If you can, please try to plan vacations around our breaks so athletes don’t miss training with the team. I know that can’t always happen, but it is hard to stay consistent when runners miss and consistency is the key! We have a Parent Meeting on May 5th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. for the Striders Summer Camp. Registration is open at www.owassostriders.com.
Summer running is essential for distance runners! It takes runners 20-24 weeks of consistent training to truly benefit from their work. Oklahoma doesn’t allow cross country to start until July 15th, which doesn’t give athletes nearly enough time to gain the fitness they need to compete at the State level. Striders fills in the gap by providing runners a steady training progression before the season starts so they can compete with the best teams in the area. We highly encourage our JH and HS runners to get involved in the training and the camaraderie they’ll develop with their teammates over the summer.
Thank you for everything you do and GO RAMS!!!!
Week Twenty Schedule
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uw7EpCsllGYHYmL3ux1rRnsSme5uVA8jK2Gf9K5d3Pc/edit?usp=sharing
ORXC/Striders Schedule
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NC0upeM2gFTHLiRf-nQCzCWsZ9B6UIArACL6wrJy9bU/edit?usp=sharing