We caught up with Urbandale coach, Dan Davis, to discuss his squad. The Urbandale squad was second in 2014 at the State Meet tallying 82 points. They are in a unique position as their entire varsity squad were juniors in 2014. The group enters their senior season with high goals.
Top Returnees from 2014 XC Season (4K Times)
| 1) Elyse Prescott | 14:33.90 | |||
| 2) Trina Moreno | 14:39.80 | |||
| 3) Julia Noah | 14:48.40 | |||
| 4) Neanagit Malow | 14:55.00 | |||
| 5) Mickey Cole | 15:09.00 | |||
| Average Time: 14:49.22 Total Time: 1:14:06.10 1-5 Split: 35.10 | ||||
| 6) Carly Klavins | 15:28.00 | |||
| 7) Casey Middleswart | 15:33.00 | |||
Top Returning 3000m Times from 2015 Outdoor Season
| 1) Trina Moreno | 10:23.96 | |||
| 2) Julia Noah | 10:35.69 | |||
| 3) Elyse Prescott | 10:44.75 | |||
| 4) Carly Klavins | 10:55.48 | |||
| 5) Mickey Cole | 10:58.07 | |||
| Average Time: 10:43.59 Total Time: 53:37.95 1-5 Split: 34.11 | ||||
| 6) Casey Middleswart | 11:22.52 | |||
| 7) Katelyn Foster | 11:47.86 | |||
Top Returning 1500m Times from 2015 Outdoor Season
| 1) Trina Moreno | 4:42.19 | |||
| 2) Julia Noah | 4:46.73 | |||
| 3) Mickey Cole | 4:54.40 | |||
| 4) Elyse Prescott | 5:05.36 | |||
| 5) Carly Klavins | 5:09.07 | |||
| Average Time: 4:55.55 Total Time: 24:37.75 1-5 Split: 26.88 | ||||
| 6) Casey Middleswart | 5:10.46 | |||
| 7) Avery Peterson | 5:28.15 | |||
How has summer training been going for the Urbandale
squad? What does your team focus on during the season?
We had a good summer.
We had a lot of girls putting in the miles and getting to the weight room, so
they’ve set themselves up to have a great season.
It sounds cliche, but we really do take it one
meet at a time. Many days we’re just focused on getting through that day.
What are some staple workouts that you
use during the season?
Hills, distance runs, and
lactate threshold runs are our most frequent workouts, but we like to keep it
fun, too. We have some fun days mixed in where we have a scavenger hunt,
we have an annual Pride Run, and we’ll join the boys team one day where we’ll
run our team posters to local businesses.
Who have you been most impressed or
surprised with their improvement and/or fitness from their summer training?
I’ve been impressed with the
whole team. This is one of those rare years where just about everyone on
the team seems to have made a nice jump forward this summer. It should be
fun to see what the girls can do when we get the meets started.
Who are your team captains or leaders
and what stands out about them as examples for the rest of their teammates?
We don’t have team captains
this year. We’ve put the entire Senior class in charge of leading the
team. It’s something we’ve never done before, and something I’d be terrified
to do most years. But this Senior class has a lot of kids who lead in so
many ways, I feel confident that they’ll do a great job of leading the way.
What will be the biggest obstacle or
challenge facing your team this season?
Staying healthy is probably
every coach’s biggest concern. If we can avoid injuries, I think we can
do some pretty special things. But even one injury or illness can
instantly change the look of any team.
What will be the biggest reason why your
team is successful this season?
In my opinion, it all goes
back to the summer. These kids did a great job of preparing themselves
for the season by consistently getting out to run this summer, and we’re
already seeing the results of that in our first week of practice. They’re
a dedicated group, and they’ve put themselves in a position to run as well as
they ever have this season.
What are your goals for the team this
season?
With us going from 4K to 5K
this year, the girls have made it one of their team goals to have every girl
improve her time by at least 30 seconds from her first meet until her last
meet. We’re hoping to see our JV team finish in the top 3 at every meet,
and we feel we have a team that can compete for a State Title.
What meets will your team focus on this
year?
Whichever meet is next is the
one we’ll be focusing on. We have a nice mix of upperclassmen with
experience and a lot of new kids with none. So we’ll just work through
the schedule one meet at a time on work on getting better each meet.
You have two runner-up finishes to your
name so far including one last year. You return the entire squad from
that 2nd place finish - is getting that state title something the team is
shooting for this year?
Definitely. We came
close last year, and I think that just made the girls hungrier to go for a
state title this year. But we’re realistic enough to know that there’s a
lot of work that needs to be done to get there, we need to stay healthy, and we
have to have fun along the way.
Rarely do we see an entire team from the
same grade - how did that happen and what is it like to have a group of seniors
lead the team?
It’s definitely unique to
have 7 seniors returning from a state qualifying team. What’s interesting
is how differently they all got there. Four of them were mainly JV
runners until last year. Three of them have been varsity runners from the
start. What they have in common is an unbelievable drive and dedication
to get better. They’ve put a ton of work into getting themselves
here. When you put together a combination of talent and great work ethic,
like these kids have, they’re able to do amazing things.