Cottage Grove Boys Take Home 3rd Place Trophy!

First boys track and field state trophy since 1977!

Final Notes for the Season

Thank you to all of you that took the time to check the update each week, I hope that it was a valuable resource to help keep you informed.  Thank you for supporting the student athletes and our program.  It truly takes a community to foster success, and our kids have phenomenal support!

Pictures (Including the state meet):  Please be sure to see the photos from the season HERE, including some AMAZING shots from the state meet.  Thank you to Jayden Tucker, Cole Kishen, and all the others that took pictures this season.

Awards Night:  Tuesday, June 6th at 6pm in the CGHS cafeteria.

Equipment Clean Up:  Monday, June 5th right after school.  This will be the last chance for squad points and we will reveal the winning squad at the awards night.  

Uniform Return:   We are still collecting uniforms!  Since we had many uniform items this year due to the purchase of new gear it can be a bit confusing about what needs to be turned in.  The PDF linked HERE provides pictures of the gear that needs to come back as well as items that athletes can keep.  Athletes will be charged for any gear that isn't returned. Thank you in advance for helping with this giant task by bringing back washed items as soon as possible.  All athletes that turn in uniforms by June 2nd will earn squad points!

BACK TO BACK DISTRICT CHAMPIONS!

District Meet Recap

Photos from the district meet can be found HERE.

(Scroll down for the weekly update)

The Lions are making a habit of having outstanding performances when it matters most.  For the second year in a row the boys team was not the favorite to win heading into the district meet, but yet again, they came out on top.  Brennen Murphy's 34 points paved the way for the win, but it was a total team effort to top Marshfield by only three points. Hayes Valley also had monster performances in four events to pick up an additional 22 points for the team.   The Lions may have only had one first place finish, but they packed three athletes on to the podium in seven events to score big points for the team.  The girls didn't want to be left out of the action as they exceeded expectations and scored enough points to help give our program the coed win!  It's the second year in a row that Cottage Grove has taken home two of the three trophies at the district meet.  Congratulations to our state qualifiers:

1. Brennen Murphy - Triple Jump, 400m, 200m, High Jump

2. Carter Bengtson - 3000m

3. Brycen Cameron - 300m Hurdles

4. Jaden Owens - 1500m, 3000m

5. Wyatt Pepiot - 800m

6. Tyler Russell - 110m Hurdles

7. Hayes Valley - 110m Hurdles

8. Eli Williams - Shot Put, Discus

9. Tayler Bentley - Discus

10. Maddison France - 3000m

Week 13 - (May 26 - 27) - State Championship Week

The boys are in position to fight for a top four finish at the state meet this week after missing out on a trophy last year by one point.  If they are able to sneak into the top four, it would be the first state track and field trophy for the boys since 1976.  It's going to be an exciting week!

Uniform Return:   We are still collecting uniforms!  Since we had many uniform items this year due to the purchase of new gear it can be a bit confusing about what needs to be turned in.  The PDF linked HERE provides pictures of the gear that needs to come back as well as items that athletes can keep.  Athletes will be charged for any gear that isn't returned. Thank you in advance for helping with this giant task by bringing back washed items as soon as possible.  

Awards Night:  This is still TBD, but will take place sometime after the State Championship (May 26-27).  We will push info out as soon as we know the date, time, and location.

Monday:  We are asking athletes that competed at the district meet to show up for practice for a brief meeting.  We would like to recognize many of them for outstanding performances, and cover a few quick details about the end of the season.  There may even be some treats involved!  We will have normal practice for our state qualifiers.  State qualifiers should bring their uniform to practice for a photo shoot so that we may get some pictures to create state championship graphics.  

Tuesday:  There will be a team dinner for state qualifiers at Coach Vogel's house after a brief practice.  We will give more info to those athletes at practice.

Friday/Saturday:  State Championships at Hayward Field! Bus leaves at 7:00am on Friday and 7:30am on Saturday. We will go over more meet details with the state qualifiers.  Spectator information may be found HERE.  The link includes information about tickets, the meet schedule, and the stadium clear bag policy.  Let's get as many spectators as we can to Hayward to support these athletes! 

Week 11 Recap

(Scroll down for week 12 update)

Week 12 - (May 15 - 20) - District Championship

JV athletes wrapped up the season last week with a strong showing at the JV district meet.  Many of those athletes were instrumental in helping with our big meet on Friday.  Last week we communicated with athletes about who would be continuing with the season.  

Uniform Return: After school on Monday we will be collecting uniforms out at the track from athletes no longer competing.  Since we had many uniform items this year due to the purchase of new gear it can be a bit confusing about what needs to be turned in.  The PDF linked HERE provides pictures of the gear that needs to come back as well as items that athletes can keep.  Athletes will be charged for any gear that isn't returned and we are awarding squad points to every athlete that turns in everything on Monday.  Thank you in advance for helping with this giant task by bringing back washed items on Monday.

Awards Night:  This is still TBD, but will take place sometime after the State Championship (May 26-27).  We will push info out as soon as we know the date, time, and location.

Picture Reminder:  There are still athletes that have not stopped by room 109 to pick up pictures.  

District Championship Info:  This is a two day championship meet that is unlike anything we have attended all season.  We will be covering a lot of information this week at practice, but some important details for athletes and families can be found below:

• Entries for the district meet were due on May 13th.  At this point we are no longer allowed to add or move athletes, we may only scratch athletes from events.  There will be a handful of strategic scratches that we will be making, and we will discuss those with athletes this week.

• Friday/Saturday at North Bend High School (hosted by Marshfield).  A full event schedule can be found HERE.  The bus will depart at 7:15am on both days.  Note that the prelims for the girls 100m hurdles and the 800m have been scratched for Friday.  Due to low number of entries all of those athletes have been moved to the finals on Saturday.

• You may find a copy of the meet program with heats and flights HERE.

• Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students each day and will be cash only.

• Why two days?  Field events will be spread out over the two days with prelims and finals of those events happening on the same day.  For all field events except pole vault and high jump there will be three attempts in the prelims with the top 9 athletes advancing to finals for three more attempts.  The 3000m final is on Friday, and all other running event finals are on Saturday.  All running events other than the 1500m and both relays will have prelims on Friday (UPDATE: There will be no prelims of the girls 100m hurdles or 800m.  All runners advance to the finals on Saturday). Athletes running in prelims will need to qualify to advance to the final on Saturday.  This means that in an event with two heats an athlete must finish in the top three or have one of the next two fastest times.  

• How does the team scoring work?  We are allowed three varsity entries per gender, per event, at the district championship.  We will only enter athletes that are capable of competing at a district meet level, which means there could be some cases where we left some spots vacant.  At the district and state championships the athletes that finish in the top 8 in each event score points for their respective teams as follows: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  The team with the most points wins!  At the district meet the top 8 finishers will be recognized on the awards podium (medals to the top two places and ribbons for 3-8).  The boys are looking to defend their district title from last year as well as defending the coed crown (combined boys and girls scores).

• How do athletes advance to the state championship?  At the district championship the top two finishers in each event final automatically qualify for the state championship at Hayward Field.  There is one at-large bid that will go to the top third place finisher from all six district meets in each event.  Additionally, an athlete may qualify if they hit an auto qualifying mark, which is not too common.  Auto qualifying marks can be found HERE. 

• Facility map: The map is not as detailed as I had hoped it would be, but you may access it HERE.  Please be sure to stay behind flagging and be aware of evets in progress as you move around the facility.

Varsity Lettering Criteria Reminder:  You may view the full criteria in our team handbook (linked above).  In short, athletes need to hit a certain mark or time during the season, or place in the top 8 at the district meet.  Please note the requirement of attending both days of the district meet.

Week 11 - (May 8 - 12)

Last week we wrapped up the middle school home meet schedule with our athletes running all of the field events.  Many of our athletes also traveled to North Bend high school for a meet that was a preview for the district championships.  We're heading into another busy week with JV districts and our big home meet, the Wally Ciochetti Invitational.  The Ciochetti Invite has become one of the premier meets for 4A schools due to the level of competition, meet location, the time of the season, and how smoothly the meet typically runs.  The meet is capped at 16 teams and this year we had to turn away requests from 11 interested teams.  Teams travel from as far as Prineville and Klamath Falls for this event.  

As mentioned last week, practices are getting shorter due to training volume being reduced this time of the season.  Our focus becomes quality of work, recovery, sleep, hydrating and good nutrition.  

Pictures:  Pictures are now in!  Please have athletes that ordered pictures stop by my classroom (109) to pick those up.  I don't take pictures to practice because athletes often forget them or leave them behind.  It is safer to have them picked up in the building.

Monday:  Entries will be posted at practice for the JV district meet.  We will have an opportunity to make adjustments if needed prior to the 8pm deadline.  Seniors will also get a form to fill out for our senior recognition that happens on Friday (more info on that below).

Tuesday (JV districts @ Marist):  Who goes to this meet?  Our goal is to make sure everyone gets at least one track meet this week.  If we aren't 100% sure that an athlete will qualify for our invitational then we are taking them with us on Tuesday.  Some athletes will compete on Tuesday and again on Friday.  Tuesday may be the last meet of the season for others.  Departure time will be 1pm.  Due to transportation issues they need to bring us to the meet early so that they may return to run the normal bus routes.

Wednesday:  We're asking that all athletes attend practice for at least the team meeting portion of practice.  At that time we will recognize athletes for exceptional performances from Tuesday, explain who will be continuing with the season until Friday and beyond, and assign volunteer jobs for our Friday meet.  We will also discuss the plan for turning in uniforms.  For those that are done competing, they may either head home after the meeting or stay to practice.  After Wednesday, we ask that only athletes that will be competing come to practice as our reps and coaching focus needs to shift to the remaining athletes.  We will have a pretty good idea about who will get in to the meet for Friday, but there may be some athletes on the cusp that we won't be able to make official until the 8pm entry deadline.

Thursday:  We will know for sure who has been officially accepted to compete at our home invitational.  There may be some athletes that do not compete at our invitational, but they will compete at districts the following week.  There will be some other athletes where the opposite is true.  It all depends on times, marks, and the combination of events that we enter athletes in for each meet.  

Friday (Wally Ciochetti Invitational - HOME):  Field events start at 2pm and track events start at 4:30pm.  There is a cash entry fee ($5 for adults/seniors and $3 for students).  Athletes competing and some others helping will be dismissed from school at 12:30pm.  If an athlete isn't competing until later in the afternoon and they prefer to stay in class to take care of academics that is fine.  A full schedule can be found in the meet info section on athletic.net.  Just a reminder that the track events will be on a rolling schedule and will run ahead of schedule if possible.  We do need a considerable amount of help from our athletes not competing, and we will assign some of these jobs at practice on Wednesday.  

Senior recognition will happen for all of our seniors (competing on Friday or not) at 3:30pm.  We ask that seniors and anyone escorting them line up in lane one in the front of the 50 yard line just before 3:30pm.  

Saturday:  The district meet entry deadline was moved to Saturday at noon.  Each team is allowed three varsity level athletes per event.  The coaching staff will have to make some difficult decisions based on what puts our teams in the best position possible.  Since it is a two day meet there will be multiple athletes in event combinations that they may not have been in at normal one day meets.  Once these entries are submitted we are not allowed any additions or substitutions, only scratches.  For this reason it is critical to communicate with coaches by Friday if you know in advance that you will not be able to attend the district meet. Athletes will find out at practice on Monday (5/15) which events they will be competing in.

Week 9 Recap

(Scroll down for week 10 update)

Week 10 - (May 1 - 5)

This week will be a little less hectic with our meet schedule.  Tuesday is a district meet preview for athletes that will potentially be competing at the district championships in a couple of weeks.  Athletes will know on Monday if they are attending the Tuesday meet, and JV athletes will not have a meet this week.  The final JV event will be next Tuesday at Marist.  Just a reminder that we use the term "varsity" to help distinguish between groups of athletes, and that earning a varsity letter requires meeting specific criteria (team handbook is linked above).

This is the time of the season where practices are ending a bit earlier on many days, but coaches are still on site until 6pm.  We are entering the championship time of the season and the amount of work we need to put in during practice is decreasing.  Please help us encourage athletes to focus on the little things that help with recovery such as sleep, good nutrition, and stretching/rolling.  

Monday:  Entries for the meet on Tuesday will be posted at practice.

Tuesday (North Bend Varsity Meet):  Students dismissed at 11:30am so they have time to get food and/or eat, and the bus will leave ON TIME at NOON.  The information we have right now shows field events starting a little earlier at 3:30pm with running events scheduled to start at 4:30pm.  There will be NO PRACTICE FOR ATHELTES NOT ATTENDING THE MEET.

Wednesday (Home Middle School Meet):  We will meet for practice at 2:30pm in the gym like we did last time there was a middle school meet.  We will recognize athletes for Tuesday performances and designate jobs for running the field events for the middle schoolers.  Athletes should be dressed for practice as we will go through a quick warm up before we help with the middle school meet.  Please plan ahead and bring appropriate clothing for cooler weather.

Friday:   Normal practice schedule.  Athletes that will be attending the JV district meet next week will be signing up for events on Friday.

Looking ahead to week 11 and beyond:

JV Districts (5/9):  Primarily for athletes that may not qualify to run at the Ciochetti Invitational at home.  This will be the last meet of the season for many athletes.  There may be some athletes that compete here, don't compete at the invite, but then come back to compete at districts.

Wally Ciochetti Invitational (5/12):  This is a 16 team invitational with most of the best 4A teams in the state.  Each team is allowed a maximum of three entries per event, but fields are capped at 24 in most events.  Entries are due on Wednesday, May 10th and athletes will know Thursday if they made it in.  There will be some athletes that don't qualify for this meet that will compete at districts.

Districts (5/19 - 5/20): Entries for the district meet are due by Sunday (5/14) at noon.  Each team is allowed three varsity level athletes per event.  The coaching staff will have to make some difficult decisions based on what puts our teams in the best position possible.  Since it is a two day meet there will be multiple athletes in event combinations that they may not have been in at normal one day meets.  Once these entries are submitted we are not allowed any additions or substitutions, only scratches.  For this reason it is critical to communicate with coaches if you know in advance that you will not be able to attend.  

Week 8 Recap

(Scroll down for week 9 update)

It was a busy week for the Lions with team members representing our program at three different meets.  Jaden, Carter, and Brennen had impressive performances at the Oregon Relays (more details below).  Over 30 athletes qualified for the Meet of Champions on Saturday which featured over 45 schools in the 1A to 4A classifications.  The boys team placed 2nd and the girls team placed 15th.  Brennen was the champion in the 200m and triple jump, while Jaden took the win in the 1500m.  Cottage Grove had a strong showing with podium finishes (top 8) in 14 different events.  The boys team is emerging as one of the top five teams in the state.  It is an elite group which also includes two other teams in our league. 

Week 9 - (April 24 - 30)

Another huge thank you to all the parents that were at the school for pick up after our meet at Marshfield!  Also special thanks to Meghan and Coach Tucker for taking so many pictures at the meet on Saturday.  We were able to post many on social media, but many more will be posted online soon.  Check the quick links above for Season Photos.

Grade reminder:  Athletes were notified last Tuesday if they had an F on the progress report, were not passing at least five classes, and/or were below a 2.0gpa.  Any athletes that still have an F need to attend academic Wednesday school this week from 1pm to 2pm.  Any athletes with a GPA under 2.0 will become ineligible on Wednesday until the grades are fixed.  To be removed from the academic list athletes need to pick up a grade slip from the office, have it signed by a teacher of the class with the fixed grade, and return it to Mr. Bridgens or Mrs. Twyman in the office.  Please continue to help us encourage our athletes to take care of business in the classroom.

Monday:  Athletes that were at practice last Friday signed up for events for the Tuesday meet at Junction City.  Entries will be posted at practice and athletes are responsible for communicating about any changes.

Tuesday (JV league meet at Junction City):  Athletes will be dismissed at 1:25pm and the bus will leave ON TIME at 1:45pm. While everyone is eligible to compete in this meet we will not be taking all of our athletes to Junction City.  Our goal is always to put athletes in the best possible situation to be their best at the END of the season, and a small group (10-15) of athletes will be better served long term by staying at school to practice on Tuesday.  This will allow us to maximize training and minimize travel for this group of athletes this week.   Coaches will communicate with these athletes at practice on Monday and they will have a short practice on Tuesday.  The rest of the team (which will include a few of our top athletes) will benefit from some specific event work at the JC meet.  

Wednesday:  Our entries are due for the Stayton Invitational on Wednesday evening.  For this meet we are only allowed two entries per event, which means we will take fewer athletes.  Obviously, this will impact the boys team much more than the girls team because of the large number of boys we have out.  Unfortunately, because of our depth in a few events, several athletes that qualified for the Meet of Champions may not be attending the Stayton Invitational.  Athletes will know on Wednesday if they are competing on Saturday.  Athletes that are not able to attend the meet will need to let us know by the end of practcie on Wednesday as we are not allowed to make entry changes after Wednesday evening.

Saturday (Stayton Invitational):  Leave time TBD, but it will be early.  We will be stopping to eat in Albany on our way home.

Track and Field Athletes Giving Back

(Week 8 update below)

In addition to the boys winning our home track meet last week and the girls taking second, our athletes had a busy week of giving back.  Athletes officiated and ran all of the field events for the middle school home meet.  Many of our athletes participated in the Lion Pride Pageant last week which raised money for the Children's Miracle Network.  Congratulations to Logan for taking home the crown!  More than 20 athletes showed up at the Grocery Outlet to support the fundraising effort for the Heather Cunningham Bridgens Endowment Fund.  It was a wonderful week to see some sunshine and for our athletes to connect with community. 

Week 8 - (April 17 - 22)

We are looking forward to another amazing week of track and field.  There is a lot happening, so thank you for taking a moment to read through the details.

Grade reminder:  Teachers submitted grades for progress reports on Friday and we will know on Monday where athletes stand in the classroom.  Any athletes that have an F will be required to attend academic Wednesday school.  Any athletes with a GPA under 2.0 will have one week to raise their grades before they become ineligible.  Please continue to help us encourage our athletes to take care of business in the classroom.

Picture Update:  We had our team picture taken last week.  If athletes forgot to grab a picture packet you may still order pictures online by using THIS LINK.  If you select the TEAM option from the top of the page it will prompt you to enter the first four letters of our school name (COTT).  I don't believe our track photo is posted online yet, but it should be soon.  The only other information we know about pictures is that they will show up at school at some point to be distributed.  Please direct all other picture questions to Northwest Sports Photography.

Monday:  Our new jerseys have arrived and we will issue those at practice on Monday.  We learned last week that we will only be allowed six entries per event for our meet on Tuesday at Marshfield.  Coaches will be making the decisions on entries and will make an effort to get athletes in events that they prefer.  However,  there will be some cases where athletes may be trying something new.  We will make sure every athlete will compete in at least one event and entries will be posted on Monday at practice.

Tuesday (@ Marshfield):  Students will be out for lunch at 11:45am and the bus will be leaving at 12:15pm.  Once again, we will leave on time and any student not on the bus will be left at school.  We will not be stopping to eat on the way home, so students will need to plan accordingly with food.  It is a school night and we hope to get everyone home as soon as possible.  Thank you for being at the school for pick up when our bus arrives home.  We expect that every athlete will be in class for first period on Wednesday regardless of what time we get home Tuesday evening.  

Wednesday:  We will know on Wednesday who has been accepted to compete at the Meet of Champions on Saturday.  There are 45 teams participating and events are capped at a certain number of total entries per event (18 competitors for each field event and 24 for each running event).  Between Wednesday and the start of the meet on Saturday there will also be occasional scratches from teams that may open additional spots for some of our athletes.  We will notify athletes as soon as possible if they have been selected as an alternate to compete.  It is a real privilege to have the opportunity to compete at the Meet of Champions, and our boys team will be defending their team title from last season.

Friday:  Brennen Murphy, Carter Bengtson, and Jaden Owens have been accepted to compete at the Oregon Relays on Friday at Hayward Field.  To be accepted as individual competitors for this meet is a big honor.  We will post estimated race times on social media when we know which heat they will be competing in.  We will also do our best to post to our social media accounts during the day so you may follow along.  Races will most likely be taking place during the school day.  Any athletes choosing to miss school to watch the races will need to be excused from school by a parent, and will be responsible for their own transportation and ticket to the meet.  Meet details, including ticket information can be found HERE.  Practice will still be at the normal time and we will be signing up for events for the April 25th meet at Junction City.

Saturday (Meet of Champions @ Sweet Home):  The bus will depart at 8:45am.  All of the meet details can be found at athetic.net (quick link above) in the meet info section for the Meet of Champions.  Estimated race times should be relatively close since the meet has a set number of heats.  HOWEVER,  be aware that they could run ahead of schedule.

Week 7 - (April 10 - 14)

Athletes did a fantastic job last week of taking responsibility to get signed up for events and being prepared to leave for the meet.  All 85 athletes that competed on Tuesday were loaded on the buses with time to spare.  These small details help our program run smoothly and it is greatly appreciated.  Also, a HUGE thank you to all the parents that were there to pick up athletes when we arrived home on Tuesday night!  Words can't express how grateful the coaching staff is when they don't have to stay extra late with athletes that are waiting for rides.  THANK YOU!

Uniform reminder:  We are excited to have issued our new warm up sweats last week.  Just a reminder that warm ups are to be worn only for track meets and not other times like practice or to school.  This is one way we are able to make our uniforms last.   Uniforms will need to be returned at the end of the season to avoid a fine.  However, athletes are free to wear the old warm ups as they wish.  The new jerseys should be here this week, and we are excited to distribute those when they arrive.

Grade reminder:  Grade checks will be happening at the end of this week.  Any athletes that have an F will be required to attend academic Wednesday school the following week.  Any athletes with a GPA under 2.0 will have one week to raise their grades before they become ineligible.  Please help us encourage our athletes to take care of business in the classroom.

Another opportunity to give back:  The Grocery Outlet is sponsoring a fundraiser for the Heather Cunningham Bridgens Endowment on Saturday, April 15th.  For those not familiar with the endowment, the goal is to be able to make sports free for students in Cottage Grove.  The Bridgens and Cunningham families have provided tremendous support for the track and field program over the years and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to give back.  We will have more information this week about how athletes will be able to sign up for shifts to help with different events that will be happening at The Grocery Outlet during the day.  We're excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this event!

Monday:  Last Friday athletes should have signed up for events for our upcoming home meet.  Entries will be posted and athletes will have a chance to check in with coaches to correct or change entries prior to the end of practice.   

Tuesday (Home meet):  Athletes will be dismissed from class at 2:45pm and should be changed and ready to warm up at 3:10pm.  Field events start at 4pm and track events start at 4:30pm.  If you haven't been to the end of a track meet then it can be difficult to understand the team concept.  Tuesday is another opportunity to hear the roar of "The Sea of Blue" on the final turn during the 4x400m relay.  Thank you for supporting your athlete as they stay until the end of the meet.  Reminder that there is a quick link above for order of track events, field event schedules can vary from week to week.  Details for each meet schedule are often posted in the meet info section at athletic.net (See video above for tutorial).

Wednesday (Middle School Home Meet):   It is the responsibility of the high school program to help host the middle school home meets.  Our athletes will be running all of the field events and are expected to stay until they are dismissed from their assignment.  Since it is an early release day our team will meet at 2:30pm for a short practice before hosting the middle school events.

Thursday (Picture Day):  Picture packets will be available for pick up at practice starting Monday and pictures are scheduled for 3:30pm.  ATHLETES SHOULD BE DRESSED IN THEIR FULL UNIFORM.  We have had a lot of support in purchasing our new uniforms and we would like to express gratitude to some donors such as Eugene Silkscreen for donating our warm up pants by sharing a team picture with them.  If athletes forget to wear their warm ups for the picture this really creates a problem.  PLEASE be sure to remember your uniform!

Friday:  Normal practice time and we will be signing up for events for our meet the following week at Marshfield.

Week 6 - (April 3 - 8)

Track and Field Athletes Volunteer:  A huge thanks to our group of athletes that volunteered to serve at the Family Relief Nursery fundraiser on Saturday.  It was an excellent opportunity to give back to our community and another wonderful way to represent our program. 

Monday:  Athletes that were at practice on Thursday of spring break signed up for events to participate in at the Junction City meet this coming Tuesday.  Athletes that were not at practice last Thursday will need to get signed up for events on Monday at practice.  It is the responsibility of the athlete to sign up for events on Monday.  Our entries are due Monday evening (not like other team sports where we show up the day of with our lineup), so athletes that don't sign up prior to leaving practice on Monday will not go with us to the meet on Tuesday.  Entries for those that signed up last week will be posted so that we may make changes or corrections, and reminders will be given multiple times at practice.  Athletes that weren't at practice on Thursday of spring break and are gone again on Monday (4/3) should most likely not be competing anyway, and will not go with to the meet.

*Athletes that have been injured and have not had multiple practices prior to the Tuesday meet will not be traveling with the team.  

Tuesday:  League meet at Junction City.  Students are released at 1:25pm and the bus will leave at 1:45pm.  Just like all other league meets, field events are at 4pm and track events are at 4:30pm.  The track and field buses leave for meets ON TIME and any athlete not on the bus at the scheduled departure time will be left at CGHS (We will obviously never leave an athlete at the site of a meet).  Athletes will be reminded of this at practice on Monday.  Athletes are allowed to ride home with their own parent/guardian, but are not allowed to ride with other parents/guardians without both parties clearing it through the office ahead of time.  Athletes are still expected to stay  until the end of the meet, and should check out with the designated coach prior to leaving the meet.  We will not be stopping for food on the way home, so athletes should plan to pack food.  It is difficult to predict the exact time we will arrive home, but we will have a close approximate once the meet is over.  We will remind athletes to communicate arrival time, and please do your best to be at the school when we arrive.  We all want to get home to bed at a reasonable time on a school night.

Wednesday:  On Wednesday at practice we will let athletes know if they will be competing on Saturday.  Many already have a good idea if they will be going, but the results of the Tuesday meet will impact many positions.  

Friday: Athletes will be signing up for events at practice for our meet on April 11th.  

Saturday: Philomath Invite.  The bus will leave for Philomath at 9:15am.  Field events start at noon and track events start at 1pm.  Again, athletes will know on Wednesday if they will be competing at this meet.  If athletes competing on Saturday missed checking out new warm ups on Friday then they will need to be at the school by 8:45am.  

Personal Apparel Update:  Many athletes have still not picked up sweatshirts and/or sweats that they ordered.  Please see Coach Knutson in room 109 during school hours to get your gear.  

Uniform Update:  We're keeping our fingers crossed that we may be able to pick up our new warm ups this week.  At this point it looks like Saturday may be the earliest meet where we may have access to those.

A few pictures from our first ever track and field team potluck and squad competition night.

(Weekly update below.)

Week 5 - Spring Break(March 27 - 31)

Week 4 Recap:  The first meet of the season went as well as we could have hoped given some of the challenges that were out of our control.  The boys earned the win over Thurston and Willamette, while the girls took second.  Our first ever track and field team potluck and squad competition night was a success.  Loads of food and lots of fun!  Thank you so much to everyone that contributed food, it was quite a variety of amazing recipes shared!

Personal Apparel Update:  The apparel order was ready for athletes to pick up on Friday.  Many athletes picked up their orders after practice and many forgot.  Please remember to check with Coach Knutson to pick up your items at practice.  The beanies did not come with our first wave of apparel and will be picked up during spring break.  We will distribute the beanies as soon as we have them.

AMAZING NEWS!  Eugene Silkscreen has been the primary uniform and apparel provider for the track and field team for the last 12 years.  They have provided quality products and first class service.  When we placed our order for new warm up jackets and other apparel items they generously offered to donate a set of warm up pants to go with our jackets!  Due to additional cost we had not originally planned to replace our warm up pants, but now our athletes will have brand new pants to go with the jackets.  A HUGE THANK YOU to Bryan Cunningham at Eugene Silkscreen for donating pants that would have cost our program $5,000!  If you know of anyone in need of custom apparel please be sure to direct them to Eugene Silkscreen.

SPRING BREAK - Practice Reminders:  Just a reminder that spring break practices will be from 9am to 11am on Monday through Thursday of the break.  Practices are required, but we understand some people will be out of town for some or all of the week.  No need to send messages about missing days, we will keep track of attendance.  All athletes that miss practice will spin the conditioning wheel twice for each day, and do the exercises together with other athletes that missed days.  We won't yell at you, we're not going to be mad at you, you won't miss a track meet, you won't be alone, but we just need some sort of accountability for the week.  Athletes have spent four weeks training and a week off at this point is not optimal for individuals or our team.  We will clarify any questions about this at practice. Remember that the back entrance to the gym by the track will be the one unlocked during practice time over the break.

Practice Time/Pickup Reminder:  We make sure to honor our practice schedule and have athletes out by 6pm.  Thanks to those of you that are picking up your student athletes in a timely manner after practice.  There have been many evenings where athletes have been on campus until after 6:30pm on practice days, which requires coaches to stay longer for supervision purposes.  Thanks for doing your best to help us out.  

Pictures:  If you would like to access photos taken by school yearbook photographers you can check out the link HERE.  Thank you to Coach Tucker for making those pictures available to all.

Meet Our 2023 Squads 

(Weekly Update Below)

Week 4 (March 20 -24)

There is a lot to recap from last week, and several important notes about this week.  We have our first official meet of the season on Thursday!

Fundraiser Update:  A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone that has been helping with fundraising!  We reached the 10k mark with the online donations which enabled our program to pick up an extra 5%!  Between online donations, and the cash/checks we were able to raise over $15,000!  We met with our apparel provider on Friday to work on finalizing an order for jerseys, warm up jackets, and shorts.  Many athletes also earned items such as jackets, pullovers, short sleeve shirts, and long sleeve shirts by meeting individual and team fundraising goals.  While we will have to start the season using our old uniforms and warm ups, we hope to have the new uniform items in the next few weeks.  Any extra money after the purchase of uniforms and other apparel will be used for items that directly impact our athletes (food, equipment, clothing).  Several people have asked if it's too late to turn in money. While our "competition" portion has concluded, cash and checks may still be turned in to Mrs. Twyman in the main office.  Athletes will also be receiving a list this week of who donated online on their behalf if a name was listed with the donation.  We are encouraging each athlete to reach out and personally thank friends and family for their support.  It's tough to put the gratitude into words, but what amazing support from friends, family and community!  Together we are stronger!

Giving Back:  We are already making plans for how our program can give back!  If you have any ideas for some potential community service projects that our team could help with during spring break please contact Coach Knutson (ricky.knutson@slane.k12.or.us).

Personal Apparel Update: The deadline to order personal apparel was Friday, March 10th.  All orders were submitted that weekend and we expect those orders to arrive in the next couple of weeks.  In previous years, the order has been completed during spring break.  We do not make any additional orders for personal apparel during the season, there are too many other things happening once the season really gets going.  

Squad Meet:  We held our squad meet last Friday, and it was a fantastic day of competition with excellent weather.  Unlike all of our other meets, results from our squad meet are hand timed and not posted on athletic.net.  Updates on squad points will be announced at practice on Monday.  After we reveal the points from Friday you will be able to find a live version of squad points in the quick links above.   The squad competition is a season long event where squads earn points for a variety of reasons (squad competitions, fundraising, attendance, being good teammates...).  The winning squad's name will be put on the squad champion plaque for all of eternity and their squad picture will be on the plaque for the year.

Monday:  Athletes will be signing up for events for our Thursday home meet.  Athletes will only be able to sign up for events if they have returned their signed form from the back of the team handbook.  They have had three weeks to complete this task.  Athletes that have not turned in the form by the end of practice on Wednesday will not compete in the meet.  All entries are due on Wednesday evening and we will not be entering athletes in events the day of the meet.  Printed copies of the team handbook are available at practice and a digital version can be found HERE.

Tuesday:  The distance team will be taking their last off site training trip of the season.  They will depart for Mt. Pisgah at 3:55pm and return at approximately 6:15pm.  We have been extremely fortunate to be able to provide this training opportunity for our distance runners.

Thursday:  Home meet vs Willamette and Thurston.  Athletes will be dismissed from class at 2:45pm.  Field events start at 4pm and track events start at 4:30pm.  You may access a meet schedule HERE at athletic.net.  It will be a rolling schedule which means we don't necessarily know the exact start time of each event, so use the schedule as your guide.  Also, a reminder that we ask all athletes to stay for the entire meet.  We place a HUGE emphasis on supporting one another, and there will be teammates competing until the end.  Thank you for understanding.  

Friday:  Our first ever track team potluck with mini squad competitions will be in the CGHS cafeteria.  We do not require team activities outside of practice time, but we hope athletes will choose to attend.  We will end practice at 5:15pm so athletes can change and/or get home quickly.  Athletes may stay on campus if they wish.  We will start the potluck at 6pm and the squad competitions will follow.  This has never been attempted before, but we anticipate a finish time between 7:30pm and 8:00pm.  We will provide plates, utensils, napkins, and Gatorade. If you are able to contribute to the potluck please use THIS LINK to sign up.  If you aren't able to access the sign up page, athletes may check in with Coach Carly Tucker at practice and she will add items to the list for you.  Don't worry if some items are doubled up as we have a large group.  We are looking forward to a fun evening of team building!

SPRING BREAK!  Just a reminder that spring break practices will be from 9am to 11am on Monday through Thursday of the break.  Practices are required, but we understand some people will be out of town for some or all of the week.  No need to send messages about missing days, we will keep track of attendance.  All athletes that miss practice will spin the conditioning wheel twice for each day, and do the exercises together with other athletes that missed days.  We won't yell at you, we're not going to be mad at you, you won't miss a track meet, you won't be alone, but we just need some sort of accountability for the week.  Athletes have spent four weeks training and a week off at this point is not optimal for individuals or our team.  We will clarify any questions about this at practice.  

A side note on relays if you're interested:  We will have a run off this week with a few athletes to determine who will be on our short relay (4x100m) teams for Thursday.  We typically only run one short relay team per gender at each meet, but we often run multiple long relay (4x400m) teams.  Relay teams are fluid and change based on athlete health, importance of meet, and other factors.  Athletes that want to compete for a spot on the short or long relay teams are encouraged to run the open 100m or open 400m races to establish an official time.   We will run our fastest and most cohesive relay teams at the championship meets at the end of the season.  It may take a while to establish what these final teams will look like in order to make sure athletes have a fair opportunity to make a team.  Thanks for your patience during this process and please ask questions if you have them.

Week 3 (March 13-17)

Thank you to everyone that showed up to the parent meeting last week and a HUGE thank you to everyone that has helped out with our fundraiser.

If you haven't already, please connect with us via Remind to get important updates: sign up by texting @cgtrack23 to 81010

Academic Reminder:  Thursday is the last week of the trimester.  Athletes need to make sure they are taking care of business in the classroom.  Athletes must pass five classes in order to continue the season.  An athlete that passes a minimum of five classes and is still under a 2.0 will not be eligible to compete until they show a GPA above 2.0 on the first progress report.  We're not interested in just achieving the bare minimum, and know most of our athletes performing at high levels in the classroom.  

Fundraiser Update:  We are off to a great start!  The link for online donations (https://buynowcc.com/edge) will be open until midnight on Thursday, March 16th.  Feel free to copy and paste the link and share on any of your social media platforms.  Please be sure that any cash or check (payable to Cottage Grove High School) is in an envelope with the athletes name so that the athlete can receive credit for the donation.  Thank you for all of your support with this!

Giving Back:  We are already making plans for how our program can give back!  If you have any ideas for some potential community service projects that our team could help with during spring break please contact Coach Knutson (ricky.knutson@slane.k12.or.us). 

Monday (3/13):  We will announce our eight team captains at practice.  Captains only will meet at 1pm on Wednesday to draft squads.

Tuesday (3/14):  The distance team will travel again to Mt. Pisgah for a workout during practice time.  We may be a touch later getting back in order to detour around the sloppy trails that we encountered last week.  Athletes will get more details on Monday at practice.

Wednesday/Thursday (3/15 - 3/16):  During the last part of these practices our athletes will meet in their squads to game plan for the Friday squad meet.

Friday (3/17):   No school.  Squad Meet.  Athletes should report for a 3pm start.

Week 2 (March 6-10)

It was a fantastic start to the season as 95 athletes joined us this week!  Below is some important information that is specific for week 2.  If you missed the first email you may want to read through additional information below under Week 1.  

If you haven't already, please connect with us via Remind to get important updates: sign up by texting @cgtrack23 to 81010

Monday (3/6):  The form is open for athletes to give input about the selection of captains.  Athletes must be logged in using their school email account.  Email addresses will be used to ensure that each athlete only votes one time, but information will be confidential.  Athletes may access the form HERE (Closes 3/9 at 8pm).

Tuesday (3/7): The spring sports parent meeting will be in the cafeteria at 6:15pm.  Please make every effort to attend as we will be covering some important information about the track season.  

Fundraiser Info:  We have been using the same uniform jerseys since 2016 and the same uniform jackets since 2011.  We are in need of some help with replacing these items and with a team effort this is a very doable task.  Below are some key points about the fundraiser, but I will cover additional details and answer questions at the parent meeting on Tuesday.  To be clear, there is not a requirement for raising a certain amount of money, but if each athlete is able to raise $100 then we can meet our goal to update our uniforms.  A team effort makes this easier for everyone.

1. Athletes collect names and numbers of people that may consider a donation.  The form was distributed at practice, but a copy can be accessed HERE.

2. Athletes will turn in the list on Tuesday to ensure that we are ready for the fundraiser on Thursday.  

3. We will conduct the fundraiser on Thursday during practice from 5pm to 6pm in 2-3 classrooms.

4. If people would like to donate without using the links that will be sent out on Thursday that is no problem.  Athletes would need to collect the cash or check (written to Cottage Grove High School) and turn the money in labeled with their name so that they receive credit for the funds.  We are providing incentives and want to make sure athletes get credit for any money raised.

5. The links will be live for one week and will then close.

Friday (3/10): Due date for anyone wishing to order apparel, but it is NOT required.  We make an effort to keep apparel the same from year to year so that athletes don't feel the need to have to purchase each year.  Items are also priced at our cost, so we don't make any money off of athletes purchasing apparel.  Order forms were made available at practice, but you may also access a form HERE.  The completed form and payment must be brought to Lena Twyman in the main office by Friday at 4pm.

Friday (3/10), as well as 3/14 and 3/21:  We have secured transportation for our distance runners to do some training off site.  On the these three dates athletes that have regularly trained with the distance group will have the option to be bussed to Mt. Pisgah for training runs during practice time.  The bus will depart at 4pm and return by 6pm.  We are excited to provide this fantastic opportunity for the first time ever.  It enables our athletes to train on softer surfaces, away from traffic, and on different terrain.  

Other reminders:

The end of the trimester is March 16th and our student athletes should be focused on being students first.  Please be diligent in making sure work in the classroom is being taken care of.  Athletes must be passing five classes in order to be eligible to continue the season.  They must also have above a 2.0 for any grade checks in order to compete.  We encourage our athletes to be well above these minimal standards that are set by the OSAA.

Athletes must turn in the signed last page of our team handbook in order to compete at the first meet.  Hard copies have been available at practice, but a digital version is available HERE.

Date Correction: Team pictures are scheduled for April 13th (NOT March as previously listed).  Packets will be distributed at practice prior to that date.