Indoor Track

12/1/23

James Post posted a group update to AHS Indoor Track & Field 2023-2024:


Jumpers and Throwers,

Today we will warm up again with the Sprinters and Hurdlers. Long Jumpers will get some work in at the pits and throwers can get some throws in while working on technique. On Monday, we will get the High Jump mats and equipment out and get some work in. Please refer to the WEIGHT ROOM TRAINING DOC to guide your strength conditioning. We will start on Monday with Phase 1.

12/1/23

Albert Dadario Jr posted a group update to AHS Indoor Track & Field 2023-2024:


Good Morning team, It was great to see you all yesterday !!   Today are workout will be Warmups followed by 2X400 ( Broken) @ 80% 60 seconds rest. 4-5 minute rest between sets. You all need to work hard and put in the effort.  That's how you get better. Thanks, D

12/1/23

Mr. Fusco posted a group update to AHS Indoor Track & Field 2023-2024:


We'll meet as a whole team at 2:45 today in the same location as yesterday.

Mid- and Long-Distance Runners' Workout:
1) Dynamics;
2) Hurdle/Wicket Drills (Girls on Wickets first today);
3) 10min WU jog;
4) Form Drills;
5) 4x100m Strides;
6) 6x60m Sprints (all-out), slow walk around the rest of the Track and back to the start;
7) Cool-down jog: 10min for JV, 15min for Varsity;
Then inside to the Weight Room for:
8) Stretches;
9) Plyos routine (Body Weight ONLY): 3x10 Squats, 2x10 Lunges, 2x10 Step-Ups, 2x10 Box-Jumps, 2x10 Heel-Dip/Raises.

 

Mr. Fusco posted a group update to AHS Indoor Track & Field 2023-2024:


Welcome to the 2023-24 Indoor Track & Field season!
We'll meet for our first practice at 2:40 in the bleachers by the snack shack to go over basic expectations and procedures, and then break into groups for drills and workouts. We'll likely be done around 4:30-4:40 today.

Typical practice structure:
1) Meet as a full team to discuss upcoming practices & meets or debrief about the previous meet;
2) Break into groups by event discipine (usually mid- and long-distance with Fusco, sprinters & hurdlers with Dadario & Nunziata, jumpers & throwers with Post; sometimes jumpers/throwers will warm up with the sprint group);
3) Warm-ups/drills;
4) Main workout;
5) Cooldown/stretching;
6) Weight room lifting/core/plyos. 

 

Mr. Fusco posted a group update to AHS Indoor Track & Field 2023-2024:


-- If you haven't already, please register ASAP! We're in the process of planning out the season, and it holds things up when we don't know how many athletes we have, what events they're doing, whether or not their physicals are up-to-date, etc. So far, 37 out of an expected ~60 athletes have registered. You can register at the link below.

-- If you haven't already, please also fill out the short Google Form below, which will help us know which events everyone will be doing. So far only 10 athletes have filled out this mandatory form.


To view the update, click the link below:
https://avonct.schoology.com/group/7014411280/update/7024892535

Good morning, Athletes and Parents:

Welcome to the 2023-24 AHS Indoor Track & Field season, which should be an exciting and successful season for our individual athletes and for the team as a whole!

In this email, I will lay out our expectations, our tentative schedule, and hopefully preemptively answer any questions you may have. Our Indoor Track & Field program is an important part of Avon XC/T&F, and has enjoyed considerable success, with State, State Open, and New England Champions, as well as Nationals Qualifiers, within the past several years. 

First, though, a couple of REMINDERS:
-- if you haven't yet registered for the season, please do so ASAP. The coaching staff is already in the planning stage of the season, and it holds things up when we don't know how many athletes we have, which events they're doing, whether or not their physicals are up-to-date, etc. So far, 37 out of an expected ~60 athletes have registered. You can register HERE. 

-- Athletes: If you have registered, or if you participated last year, you were emailed an invitation to join our Schoology site; this is where all news, schedule changes (especially due to weather), and results will be posted, so please join ASAP! These will also be communicated via social media on our Instagram account, @AvonRunners . 

-- Also: athletes, if you haven't already, please also fill out this short Google Form, which will help us know which events everyone will be doing, which helps us plan coaching duties, event assignments, etc. So far only 15 athletes have filled out this mandatory form.

-- Finally, if you're looking for a Thanksgiving Day road race and/or want to support our Cross Country program, register for the Falcon 5K Turkey Trot! All the info is on the flier below! Any Indoor Track Distance Runners who participate: I will consider the race a major workout for the Indoor season and adjust your early-season training accordingly. 

COACHING STAFF:
Our Indoor Track & Field team is led by a number of experienced coaches who have helped athletes to incredible achievement throughout their careers.
COACH AL DADARIO (Sprints and Hurdles)  is a CT Hall-of-Fame coach with numerous XC and Track team State Championships and individual champions to his credit; 
COACH JIM POST (Jumps and Throws) not only runs the Field events for our high school teams, but also the Middle School Cross Country and Track program;
COACH STEVE NUNZIATA (Sprints and Hurdles) is a former Division 1 Sprinter and current nationally-ranked USATF Masters Sprinter, and volunteers his time to help the program;
COACH JOHN PROVENCHER (Jumps and Vault) is a former college runner, CCC Head Coach, and is currently a major part of our Fall XC and Spring T&F programs; he occasionally volunteers his time during the Winter to help our valuters and jumpers; 
COACH CJ FUSCO (Distance Runners) is the team Head Coach as well as the Head Coach of the Boys' XC program (which won its first State Championship in 2021). 

PRACTICE SCHEDULE and STRUCTURE:
The Indoor T&F team, which begins its season on Thursday, November 30th, will practice every weekday after school, generally beginning at 2:45 and ending between 4:30 and 5. 

There are special circumstances -- besides half-days, Wednesdays often have Faculty, Committee, and Department meetings for teachers, which might affect start times. When the weather is mild, we might meet outside; if not, we might meet inside, near the cafeteria. Meeting locations and any changes to our usual schedule will be communicated via Schoology. 

This season is called "Indoor Track" because our meets occur on an Indoor Track & Field facility; this does not mean we always practice indoors, however! Actually, we try to be outside as often as possible (especially for the running events), and so athletes should dress accordingly. Pay attention to weather forecasts! The weather has been generally mild through early January over the past couple years, but athletes should make sure to have a hat, gloves, and long-sleeved running gear for colder days. If it is unsafe to be outside, either due to ice or extreme cold, we will have practice indoors -- usually in the school's weight room and fitness room.

We will generally begin each day's practice as a full team and debrief about the schedule, results, coming meets, etc., and then break into groups by event discipline (Sprinters, Throwers, Jumpers, etc.). 

During Winter Break, we will likely schedule a couple of team practices and will likely have at least one meet. We will communicate this information as we get closer to the end of December. 

The "regular season" runs through January 20th. After that point, only athletes who have qualified for Post-Season competition (see below) will be required to attend practice.

ATTENDANCE:
The single best way to improve as an athlete is to be consistent and deliberate in one's practice; in other words, it's important that you show up every day. The team attendance policy is that any athlete who accrues more than 7 excused absences from practice, two unexcused absences, or two absences from meets will be dismissed from the team. An "excused" absence is one for which the cause is legitimate and reasonable -- illness, college visit, family trip, etc. Athletes are expected to inform a coach of an impending absence prior to practice-time in order for said absence to be "excused". 

OTHER RULES:
We follow and defer to the AHS Student Handbook, AHS Athletic Department standards, and CIAC guidelines regarding behavior and sportsmanship.

MEETS and PARTICIPATION:
Generally-speaking, our meets will be held at Hillhouse High School in New Haven on Saturdays beginning December 5th. There are special circumstances which might see selected athletes participate in specific events at other meets; for example, there's a Pentathlon, Pole Vault, and Long-Distance meet in Bethel this season, and there are elite meets like the Yale Classic and Nationals which require athletes to achieve qualifying marks in order to compete. 

We generally try to enter meets which provide as much chance for as many of our athletes to participate as possible, but we are often limited by selection and the meet's qualification standards. Generally-speaking, every athlete has a chance to participate in meets early in the season, and then must achieve qualifying standards to continue competing in the second half of the season and into the post-season.

Every meet during the Indoor T&F season is what one would call "Invitationals" -- there are no "dual" meets. So, each meet will be attended by several (often dozens) of schools, and will involve hundreds of athletes. When we enter athletes into events for these meets, there are a number of different factors that influence these entries: 1) Team need; 2) Meet limitations (oftentimes we're limited to 6 athletes per event); 3) Athlete preference; 4) Cost (we're often charged by entry, and we have a limited team budget).

Spectators generally must purchase tickets to Hillhouse meets ahead of time, on that meet's page on Athletic.net.

POST-SEASON PARTICIPATION:
There are challenging qualifying standards that athletes must achieve in order to compete in the post-season. 

Our State Class M standards are listed in the CIAC packet posted below; only athletes who have achieved these standards will compete at the State Championship meet. 

The CCC Championship standards are generally identical to the CIAC Class S standard; only athletes who have achieved these standards will compete at the CCC Championship meet. 

The State Open qualifiers are the State Champion in each Class Meet plus the next 14 best marks in all the combined Class meets; for example, the field for the 1600m at the State Open will comprise the Class S State Champion, the Class M State Champion, the Class L State Champion, the Class LL State Champion, and the next 14 fastest finishers in the 1600m in the combined Class S, M, L, and LL meets. 

To qualify for the New England Championships, an athlete must be one of the top 6 finishers at the State Open meet. Qualification for Nationals and other "elite"-level meets are met by achieving a specific mark or time rather than finishing place. 

RESULTS: 
Meet results are nearly always posted to Athletic.net, where you can also see our schedule and detailed information about each meet. At times, meet results and analysis can also be seen at MileSplitMySportsResults, and FloTrack. We will also post meet highlights (such as post-season qualifying performances and school records) to our Instagram account, @AvonRunners , and I also try to send out a weekly update with this information via email.

MEET SCHEDULE:

This is subject to change, but our tentative meet schedule is as follows:

Sat. 12/9:
 Hillhouse Developmental Meet;
Fri-Sat 12/15-16: Hillhouse Invitational (events are split between the two days; athletes are only expected to attend one of the two days); 
Sat. 12/23: Hillhouse Holiday Meet (or a TBD different meet during Vacation Week);
Sat. 1/6: Elm City Coaches' Invite (at Hillhouse H.S.);
Fri. 1/12: Hillhouse Varsity Meet (for Qualifying athletes);
Sat. 1/13: Hillhouse Freshman/Sophomore Meet;
Fri 1/12-Sat 1/13: Yale Classic Invitational (at the Coxe Cage in New Haven, for Qualifying athletes);
Sat. 1/20: Bethel Distance/Pentathlon Meet (at Bethel H.S., for Qualifying athletes); note: if there is a meet at Hillhouse this weekend with relaxed qualifying standards with more events, we might split the team between those two meets.

POST-SEASON:
Sat. 1/27: CCC Championships (at Hillhouse);
Mon. 2/5: Last-Chance Qualifier (at Hillhouse, for Varsity-level athletes who are close to, but still need, a State Qualifier);
Sat. 2/10: State Championships (at Hillhouse);
Sat. 2/17: State Open Championships (at Hillhouse);
Sat. 3/3: New England Championship (Reggie Lewis Center, Boston);
3/8-3/10: New Balance Nationals (Boston) & Nike Nationals (New York). 
Thank you for your time, and please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!
-Coach Fusco