News

Happy Easter Rams! I hope everyone enjoyed the day and spent some quality time with their family.

Congratulations to our Bentonville West runners last week! There wasn’t a ton of competition, but we still had several PR times, including amazing races from Rilee Shea and Noah Nelson in the 3200m. Jack Hill and Colton also ran PR times in the 3200m. Ava Cornelius won the 3200m going away and looked terrific! Other PR runners were Ben Campbell with an excellent leg in the 4x800m and Jordan Rabovsky in open 800m. Stella Jones also ran an amazing open 800m. The girls won the 4x800m easily and Bella Nelson won the 1600m with a solid effort.

We are down to our last meet this week for many of our runners. The Frontier Valley Conference will take place this Friday at Bixby. We are limited to three runners per event, but we have two divisions: Freshmen and Varsity. Most of our Varsity runners will only compete in one event. We will get as many runners on the Track as possible. After Friday’s meet, we will determine our Regional team, taking our top three fastest and most consistent athletes to compete on May 10th, back on our home Track. Runners not competing at Regionals will continue to train up until a 1600m time trial the week of State. This keeps everyone on the same training schedule, allows our JV runners to benefit from a short taper period, and sets everyone up well going into our summer training program.

Speaking of summer training. Our Owasso Striders sign-up is open at www.owassostriders.com. Striders is a private club that trains and educates athletes for cross-country and long-distance running. Runners must establish a solid base of training before entering the XC competitive season, and starting on July 15th (the first day we are allowed to start ORXC training) is not nearly enough time to get kids ready. That is where Striders comes in! We will hold our annual parent meeting on May 5th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Owasso 8th Grade Media Center.

We have our first ORXC Gear Store open and ready to go! Runners will need a 1. Nike Jersey, 2. Pair of Black Nike Shorts, 3. Nike Warm-Up Top, and 4. Nike Warm-Up pants. Those can be bought in a variety of options, including sweats, joggers, loose shorts, and tight. If runners have Cross Country gear from last year that is in good shape and still fits, that will work fine. Runners will not be allowed to go to meets wearing Owasso Track gear, Owasso Lacrosse gear, The North Face gear, Wrestle Mania gear, and/or Taylor Swift concert t-shirts. They will only be allowed to wear ORXC gear. If you have it, that’s great. If you need it, here is your chance to purchase gear and have it before the season starts! (Runners, make sure your purchase the correct jersey for your gender.). Middle School runners can purchase from the store as well. We will have BSN gear available when the season starts if you prefer to wait.

Gear Store https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/dAnesoNAmc

Also, here is the link to our summer schedule and the (ever-changing) ORXC fall schedule. I will continue to update as we get closer to the season but most days will stay the same.

ORXC/Striders Schedules https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NC0upeM2gFTHLiRf-nQCzCWsZ9B6UIArACL6wrJy9bU/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you to all of you for attending meets, volunteering, bringing snacks, donating water, and supporting your kids and the program! We appreciate each of you! Go Rams!!!!

Owasso Distance Squad Week Twenty One Schedule https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VTtPc_-IgVZ7qIx7uCHETGN2Av8x0TzO6WjWwVXr93M/edit?usp=sharing

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

Good morning, Rams! We have a crazy, busy week coming up with three Track meets. Our freshmen runners will race at the Claremore JH Meet on Tuesday. The Jenks Invitational from last Friday has been rescheduled for this Thursday. Our Varsity squad will race there against some of the best teams from Tulsa, OKC, and Bentonville, AR. Our JV runners will compete at the Claremore HS Invitational on Friday. Please remind your runners to check Google Classroom so they know which meet they will attend.

We have our monthly Booster Club meeting tomorrow night at 6:00 at the Track/XC Fieldhouse. Everyone is welcome to attend.

We are gearing up for XC already! Next Sunday, I will post information regarding our summer Striders program and the ORXC season in the Fall. I will have gear orders, our Striders parent meeting, the summer schedule, and the XC schedule on the post.

We still need a few more runners to pay their Booster Club fee. If you haven’t yet, please click on the link below. Please speak with a coach if you have an issue or need more time. Thank you for your prompt attention…

Booster Club Fee

https://ortrackfieldxc.square.site/product/high-school-track-fees-2025/5?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=2

As we get closer to Championship season, Graduation, Prom, and summer break, sleep, nutrition, hydration, grades, and time management are more critical than ever. It is human nature to look past the now and on to the next big thing, but we still have work to do. Your encouragement goes a long way! Please help your athletes stay the course and finish strong!

Thank you for all you do. GO RAMS!!!!

Week Nineteen Schedule

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ehJsfND6uN9516eWVPSeadwfo-m1zGbxsWbDMwG7V8A/edit?usp=sharing

Performance Nutrition

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SZrWk5TRBFfHpdTyHmBUki3QD3VgC3UPtie68lnljAA/edit?usp=sharing

Good evening, Ram Family! I hope this weekend has been pleasant and restful for each of you. The last few weeks have been totally whack. Between Spring Break and hosting exactly one thousand home track meets since the second week of March, everything has been out of sorts. I am ready to get back into a routine and coach athletes. This is the time!

Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered their time for our four home meets. I feel like we improved as we went and will continue improving as we figure out the best systems to utilize our new facilities fully. All kidding aside, hosting a Track meet at Owasso after being unable to the last two years was great!

We have one meet scheduled for Friday at Jenks. This will be a varsity-only meet, so we can’t take everyone. Runners on the JV squad and our freshman will have a workout on Friday, but there will be no race for them. Next week, on Tuesday, we will have another freshman meet at Claremore, and then we will go to Broken Arrow on Friday. We will do our best to get as many runners on the track as possible, but it will be up to each athlete to perform in races, keep their grades up, and be consistent at practice to earn those spots. The athlete roster was posted on Google Classroom for the meet this week.

As we move into April, we will send out information regarding our summer Striders program, XC schedules, and our first Gear Store for the 2025 ORXC season. It is hard to believe it is already time to start talking about XC, but here we are.

Most of our families have paid their Track Booster Club fee, but if you haven’t yet, please click on the link below. If you need more time, please let a coach know. These funds cover runners’ meals and snacks and the cost of the end-of-the-year banquet. Thank you for supporting your runners!

Booster Club Fee

https://ortrackfieldxc.square.site/shop/booster-fees/2

We appreciate everything you do and GO RAMS!!!

Weekly Schedule

https://docs.google.com/document/d/126UpQr5pkV9mlQJNKHUUc8kjupyb5sohqRSttHz4Dn8/edit?usp=sharing

Welcome back, friends! We had a great week of practice over the break, culminating in our inaugural Land Run on Saturday. The boys had several PR races, including Ben Campbell in the 800m and Brady Frey and Ryker Morrow winning his heat in the 1600m. At the Texas Distance Festival, Noah Nelson won his heat with a huge PR and one of our fastest freshmen mile times in program history!

For the ladies we had some excellent races from Lillith Johnson, winning her heat in the 1600m, and kicking the meet off by winning the girls 5k, Ava Cornelius finished with a PR and the fastest time IN THE NATION at that distance!

Thank you to everyone who volunteered at the Land Run. We host two more meets this week, so we are looking for more help if you are available. On Tuesday, we have our JH Meet, and on Friday, we have our HS Ram Relays. If you can help, please click on the following links…

Owasso Junior High Meet

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4AA8A92FA1FE3-54828811-2025#

Owasso Ram Relays

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4AA8A92FA1FE3-55716659-2025#

Also, most of our athletes have paid their Booster Club fees, but several haven’t. The fees are past due, so please click on the following link and pay if you haven’t yet. If you need more time or have any questions, please contact me or Coach Parker, and we will work something out.

Booster Club Venmo

https://ortrackfieldxc.square.site/product/high-school-track-fees-2025/5?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=2

Lastly, please, please, please encourage your athletes to stay until the end of the meets on Tuesday and Friday to help clean up. Every time we host, we have a ton of kids who disappear before the meet is over, leaving the few who remain to clean up all the trash, tables, tents, and tarps. If everyone stays, it only takes a few minutes. If everyone leaves, it takes forever. We are all tired and ready to go home, but the day isn’t over until the Track facility is picked up and closed. We appreciate it!

Our program is only as successful as the partnership between coaches, athletes, and parents. If everyone works together, then Owasso Track and ORXC will be the best experience our athletes have in their high school careers and that’s what we want!

Thank you for everything you do and…GO RAMS!!!

Happy Spring Break Ram Family! I hope everyone enjoys a restful time away from school. If you are on vacation, enjoy your time away from Oklahoma. Like our minister said this morning during church, people from Oklahoma who have never been out of state do not realize just how awful this place is! I have lived in Oklahoma all my life, so even though I love it here for its familiarity, it is a nutso place to live and especially difficult for runners. So, if you are away from OK, in the mountains, beach, or jungle, have fun! With all its snow, heat, wind, drought, floods, tornadoes, and general malevolent attitude toward its residents, Oklahoma will be here when you return.

We will have practice this week on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8:00 – 10:00. If runners are out of town, we encourage them to get runs in as much as possible. For runners here, we highly encourage them to be at practice and continue their training. At this point in the season, right before we get into our bigger and most competitive meets, taking nine days off is a huge setback. Studies show that the most critical aspect of runners’ improvement is consistent attendance at practice! We will race on Saturday in the first annual Oklahoma Land Run. We hope to grow this event to rival the Texas Distance Festival in Dallas each year, at least somewhat. That event is held by one of the best programs in the nation and has a history of fast times and excellent competition. However, I believe the athletes here in Oklahoma equally deserve a chance to perform with their peers in a celebration of distance running! I’d love to see several of our runners there having a great time and excited to race. The cost is $10 for runners and $5 for spectators. We will have T-shirts for sale as well. We will need volunteers for ticket sales, t-shirt sales, and concessions. This meet will be much more low-key and less intense than the Owasso Invite. It should be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see who shows up!

Here is the volunteer link… https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4AA8A92FA1FE3-54828886-2025#/

When we get back next week, we also have our JH meet and the Ram Relays, where we’ll need help. These will be the last home meets until Regionals in May.

Owasso JH Meet https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4AA8A92FA1FE3-54828811-2025#/

Ram Relays https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4AA8A92FA1FE3-55716659-2025#/

Thank you for all you do and GO RAMS!!!!

Weekly Schedule https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C8V25DxypnpUfQ6SCThvjPYi_MXJ8_rsGVdxjEqQR8o/edit?usp=sharing

Good evening Ram Family! Sorry for the late post. We just got home from an all-weekend dance competition at Union. Despite my best efforts, the judges would not allow me to be on stage; however, my youngest daughter crushed it. If you don’t mind, I have had all the blaring music, obnoxious announcers, “YAS,” “YAS GURL,” and “OOOOKAY’s” I can handle for now. Maybe you would be so kind as to turn down your hip-hop music and be slow to use those phrases in conversation for the next few days, please?

What an awesome week we just had! Thank you to everyone who helped out at the Owasso Invitational on Friday. It was a little crazy and definitely crowded, but it was fantastic to see a Track meet back on the OHS campus after three years off. We will continue to work out the kinks to give athletes and spectators the best experience possible, but it is good to have one under our belt now.

Now it’s time to brag! We had some unbelievable races at Owasso and for our Freshmen runners at Tahlequah. On Thursday, our 4×800 girls team of Maya Keene, Alexa Thorson, Sophie Hirart, and Emma Sandoval, plus our 4×800 boys team of Noah Nelson, Owen Mietus, Ryker Morrow, and Tristan Mangelson, both took 1st place! Hannah Toews took 2nd and 1st place in the 800 and the 1600 as well! We had strong opening races from Libby Hays in the 1600 and Alexis Thompson in the 800 for the freshmen girls, with Ben Hardesty, Eli McConnell, Sajin Ward, and Connor Hill all paying solid times in the 800 for the boys. Jordan Rabosvky jumped in the 400 after only being at practice for a week and ran great!

On Friday at the Owasso Invitational, our girls Varsity 4×800 of Lilith Johnson, Stella Jones, Erin Hendrick, and Bijoux Milien kicked off the meet strong by finishing 3rd with a sub 10:00 performance. Bella Nelson won the 3200, followed closely by Ava Cornelius in 2nd, with both girls posting top 25 National times! Jade Mangelson posted a solid 800m time, then our girls crushed it in the 1600! Led by Lilith Johnson in 2nd place with a PR performance, we had PR or very near PR races from Reagan Freeman, winning the 2nd heat, Stella Jones, Rilee Shea, Chloe Matheny, Madison Friday, and (my favorite runner) Gwyneth Collins! Not to be outdone, our boys looked great in 1600, with Evan Carter running close to a PR race, plus Jack Hill (PR) and Colton Correa both breaking the 5:00 barrier! We also had a PR race from the Juice Box himself, Keith Nelson. Then they pretty much all ran a 4×400 in the freezing cold and almost died. That’s Track for you. 🙄

We’ll take everyone to Union this Thursday for the Union Invitational. It’s a school day meet so hopefully we won’t be home too late.

I have linked the Spring Break practice schedule below. We will have a meet for anyone in town on March 22nd, the last Saturday of the break, the first annual Oklahoma Land Run! This is a distance festival on our home track for endurance athletes. It should be a really fun celebration of the best events in Track no matter what those dang Sprint coaches tell you! I also linked the info for the Land Run below.

For runners needing treatment from the trainers, please try to utilize the training room on Monday and Wednesday mornings at 7:00.

We need snacks and water! Please consider purchasing a package of water and dropping it off at the Fieldhouse and/or snacks from the following link…

Lastly, we kicked off our annual Track fundraiser last week. Please share the link for TeamFunded via messaging. These funds will benefit our runners this Track season and will carry over to our XC Camp this summer. Our goal is to take as many kids to camp as possible!

Thank you again to all of our parent volunteers who helped at the meet last week! We’ll have more chances to help soon. Thank you for all you do, and GO RAMS!!!!

Weekly Schedule

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xinHNU3t_6PpZ4RBsOEKCY–pEn3Jjnk5T1pOluWWwU/edit?usp=sharing

Spring Break Schedule

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C8V25DxypnpUfQ6SCThvjPYi_MXJ8_rsGVdxjEqQR8o/edit?usp=sharing

Team Funded Fund Raiser

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/teamfunded/id1439897444

Oklahoma Land Run

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18SvQRnziy0Xup66GrVB5aBi8DuPk1DvgFlfTl1Yl9ns/edit?usp=sharing

Performance Nutrition

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SZrWk5TRBFfHpdTyHmBUki3QD3VgC3UPtie68lnljAA/edit?usp=sharing

Congratulations to our athletes for their performances yesterday at Union! We had several fantastic races, including Bella winning the 1600m, Bella and Lil going 1-2 in the 800m, and Erin and Stella finishing in the top 8. Eric, Evan, Ben, and Brendan each posted solid starting times to kick off the season. The most important thing is, according to Coach Graddy, who witnessed each race in person, the races were well run with good energy and high effort. That is our focus at this point.

We have a big week coming up with our first Owasso Invitational in three years! Our last meet was hosted in March of 2021. It has taken A LONG TIME to complete the Track facility, but now that it is done…WOW! It is so nice! For you who remember porta-potties floating in a puddle of who knows what, a concession stand out of a trailer, broken fences, mud, trashed locker rooms, and people everywhere, what we have now is unbelievable. Now we can show it off and see some fast kids run some fast times. I can’t wait! We will kick off the Pole Vault, Shot, and Disc at 12:00, and then Running events and all other Field Events will start at 3:30. Please come by and see our beautiful new facilities and cheer on some fantastic kids! Your runners THRIVE on cheers from the crowd. It is fuel!

Our freshmen this week will go to the Tahlequah Middle School Invitational on Thursday. This meet was rescheduled from Tuesday due to potential severe weather. My understanding is the kids will meet at 7:00 at the Fieldhouse and then leave around 7:20. Those runners will not compete on Friday but will need to be at the meet to help and cheer on their teammates. Coach Parker posted a schedule earlier but we’ll send out another as we get closer to meet day and everything is confirmed.

One last reminder regarding Track and the meet day schedule. Coaches can give you an approximate estimate at best as to when your athlete will run. Track meets last much longer than XC meets, with some events flying by and others taking forever. It is always good to get there early, just in case. It might mean being there for a while, but that is part of the fun of Track. There are so many different events and athletes competing it is exciting to watch.

It is going to be an AWESOME season! Thank you for all you do, and GO RAMS!!!!

Week Fourteen Schedule

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LQrTC5UQsPhDYneRkoJ1t8wf0v0HE33oEDnsd-lN2Oc/edit?usp=sharing

Nutrition Guide

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SZrWk5TRBFfHpdTyHmBUki3QD3VgC3UPtie68lnljAA/edit?usp=sharing

Good evening, Ram Family! I hope that after days of being trapped inside away from freezing temperatures and piles of snow, you had the chance to get out and enjoy the fantastic weather this afternoon! It’s hard to believe, as bad as last week was, that this week is forecasted to be the nicest weather ever in the history of the planet. Welcome to Oklahoma.

We are one week away from our first home meet in two years! The Owasso Invitational kicks off on Friday, March 7th. We need help! If you can volunteer, please consider working a few hours at the meet. It is fun to be with other parents, and you get free entrance into the stadium. Here is the link…

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0F4AA8A92FA1FE3-54828622-2025#

A few weeks ago, I contacted Dr. Jeff Messer, a fantastic distance coach from New Mexico who is now in South Dakota. He was kind enough to share with me the nutrition guide he shares with his athletes. I added some Owasso elements and changed a few sentences to match our program better, but overall, it is the same guide Dr. Messer uses. Training is a three-sided pyramid…1. Running/Lifting, 2. Sleeping, and 3. Nutrition. You don’t have to be perfect in all three categories, but failing to address one aspect of the training means the pyramid crumbles. Coaches work incredibly hard to ensure the pyramid’s training side is strong, but we can’t control sleep and nutrition. Parents partnering with their athletes to keep these two sides of the pyramid strong is the key to a healthy, happy, and fast runner! Check it out, and please let me know if you have any questions…

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SZrWk5TRBFfHpdTyHmBUki3QD3VgC3UPtie68lnljAA/edit?tab=t.0

Thank you for all you do and GO RAMS!!!!

Week Thirteen Schedule

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MG_cjU8lRW4ODhJASAJNvXyAm-1FY6JuSfKFDqDvUXE/edit?usp=sharing

Good Super Bowl Sunday, Ram family! I know our beloved Green Bay Packers aren’t allowed to compete tonight, but let us all remember them in our minds and hearts from now until forever.

We have our monthly Booster Club meeting tomorrow night from 6:00 – 7:00 at the Track/XC Fieldhouse. Anyone is welcome to attend.

Tuesday is another round of home basketball games, so no JH practice. The coaches will be working in the gym.

Thursday will be the final JH Off-Season workout. Tryouts for JH runners start next week. Please fill out the following Google Form for your athletes before then…

https://forms.gle/xLhjuk3b1x9LBYFb6

Thursday night will be our annual HS Track Parent meeting from 7:00-8:00 at the 8th Grade Media Center. We will review competition schedules, gear orders, Booster Club fees, and volunteering opportunities.

Our weekly Long Run for High Schoolers will be at Stone Canyon Elementary on Saturday. We won’t have a bus. Practice will begin and end in the north parking lot of the school.

Please encourage your runners to sleep at least eight hours a night! There is no better restorative practice outside of eating nachos than a full night of sleep for our athletes. Speaking of eating nachos, nutrition is also essential for our runners all the time, but especially as we draw near the start of the outdoor competition season. While Dr. Pepper, mini-Pop Tarts, and Sour Patch Kids are unequivocally delicious, they provide little to no nutritional value for runners. Even in cool weather, hydration is equally important to maintaining a healthy runner. We had a truckload of runners sick the last few weeks. (I say truckload because if they showed up to practice sick, we made them sit in the back of Coach Parker’s truck.) (Also, that is a joke, Amber, so don’t text me about it.) I have a nutrition guide I’m writing for our runners that I will send out soon with some ideas on what to eat and when for our athletes before we start racing. “It is time to lock in!” As the 8th Graders in my classes say, when they see their Art grades. Lock in!

Let’s all have a great game tonight! Thank you for all you do, and GO RAMS!!!!

Weekly Schedule

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ES8smSDD2gkd2j8NAE3CC4wZPbmoSvxPYi8FdgFn2IE/edit?usp=sharing