NEWS: 6/22/08:

Hope everyone's summer has got off to a good start.  Summer workouts will start Monday 6/23 at 8am at LRHS.  We will meet in the courtyard area where the picnic tables are between the gym and cafe.
        I hope everyone will do their best to make it to as many , if not, all of the summer workouts this summer.  This is when we start building our team and the entire team should start working out together as much as possible.  I know several people will miss some due to vacations, work, etc. and I understand that completely.  I just ask for everyone that is available to come.   I do realize some of the athletes like doing workouts at Umstead and other places but try to do those on Tues, Thurs, and Sat. when we are not having practice at LRHS.
     [Detailed workout are delivered via email only. They do not appear on this website.] I have  4 groups: A Group, B Group, C Group, and NEW Group.    A, B, & C groups are athletes that have been running and are not completely new.   The NEW group applies to all NEW athletes that have not been doing much running at all.  Grouping athletes is important to ensure that athletes do not get injured.  All athletes should be prepared to tell me how much they have been running on a daily basis when they come to practice tomorrow.   Also... I need to know of any injuries.  Athletes should be HONEST about how much they have been running so they do not get put in a higher group.  Getting put in a higher group will almost certainly result in big problems down the road.
       If you are not able it to make it to the workouts this week, PLEASE EMAIL me and let me know how much you have been running and we can figure out what group you need to be in.  

     I know we might have a few athletes that might not fall into any of these groups and if you think you do not fall into any of these groups please email me and we can come up with different workouts.

Finally..    if you do not understand any of the workout info. below please feel free to email me!  Most groups have a range of time to run in LSDs..  Girls should typically run at the lower end of the range of time.   LSD times associated with groups may change once I see what everyone looks like after this week.

I need a Physical, Permission to Treat Form, and Off Campus Running Form before you are eligible to practice

REMINDERS:

Attached is a list of boys/girls that are signed up so far for cross country.   If you or your child is interested in running cross country and his/her name is not listed, then they need to email me so I can make sure they have the proper paperwork turned in to practice this summer.    Please have a physical, permission to treat form, and an off campus running form turned in ASAP.  Please have these turned in before June 20th even if you are not attending summerworks so all paperwork can be processed BEFORE our first mandatory practice.   Paperwork can be turned in at LRHS main office and they can put the paperwork in my mailbox.
        The list attached is a list of athletes signed up.. NOT a list of athletes that are cleared. 

To answer any future questions about distance coaching....    I have NO intentions of trying to hire a distance coach at this time.   The only reason I have bent over backwards to get  distance coaches in the past 4 years was to take a little pressure off me since I was taking on the role of head coach for boys and girls for 3 separate seasons.     BUT...in doing that it has created the exact thing that I have wanted to avoid.....INCONSISTENCY and turnover.    I am more than excited about taking on all responsibilities with boys and girls cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track for the 2008-2009 year.  The only thing that can get in our way from finishing in the top 4 in the region and making it to the state championships will be lack of work ethic and effort on the part of the athletes.   We WILL have one of the best distance programs around!  We have a great group of kids returning and we need to make sure EVERYONE is doing their part this summer to ensure we have a GREAT season.

I look forward to one of our best season yet in cross country!!

I briefly mentioned over night trips/meets at the track banquet and I know several of the cross country kids/parents were not there , sooo.... here is the situation we have....
I know we have not been allowed to have over night trips/meets for the past 3 years at LRHS. This is an administrative ruling. The only option that I see at this point is having a couple of parents organize these trips and be in charge. I am not able to use a school activity bus to drive the kids to a meet the day before so here is what we will need a couple of parents to do if we are going to attempt these meets...

1. Organize reserving hotel rooms for all the athletes that would be competing at the meet and collecting the money from those athletes/parents to pay for the rooms.
2. Organize a team meal on that Friday night.
3. Organize the transportation to the hotel on the Friday afternoon from school, transportation to the meet on Saturday morning, and transportation home from the meet.

I know this is a lot to ask. I know our kids want to and deserve to go to some of these meets in Charlotte and other locations. I currently have the UNCW meet scheduled. I also have a couple of other dates open to run but I have not filled any meets since I do not know what we will be able to do. The UNC-W meet should be an overnight meet like it was last year. Last year MOST of the kids pretty much stayed at the same place but I think individual parents took care of their own kid. I would like for these trips to keep the TEAM together as much as possible.

I guess the first place to start is by seeing if we have 1 or 2 or even 3 parents that are willing to work together and be in charge of these trips. Of course I will take care of meet entries, meet costs, and of course I will be there.... but I have to be HANDS OFF with the over night issue. IF ANY PARENTS ARE INTERESTED IN BEING IN CHARGE OF THIS ISSUE ...PLEASE EMAIL ME AND WE CAN GET TOGETHER AND WORK OUT THE DETAILS.

If you did not attend the XC meeting in May you HAVE to come and sign up with me before school is out.  YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SUMMER WORKOUTS OR THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE IF YOU ARE NOT SIGNED UP!!!   I have to check eligibility for all athletes and if you are not signed up, you are NOT eligible.

LRHS Track will be OFF LIMITS to everyone until mid-Jun and maybe even longer.  The crew started resurfacing the track yesterday and will be working over the next week or so to complete the job.  Even after the track is completed NO ONE should even walk on the track surface until further notice to make sure the surface has time to completely dry and cure.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON RUNNING CROSS COUNTRY OR YOUR CHILD IS PLANNING ON RUNNING CROSS COUNTRY....
YOU NEED TO TAKE A MINUTE AND READ THIS...

The 2008 cross country season is coming up soon and there is a lot of work to be done over the summer to get ready!! 
Summer workouts will start on Monday, June 23rd at 8am here at LRHS.  The summer workouts will be emailed each week for those athletes that might be out of town or unable to attend a practice. I STRONGLY encourage all athletes that are in town on summer workout days to attend practices at LRHS. You are much more likely to do the workout properly if you are surrounded by your teammates. What you do during the summer months will determine what you accomplish in October and November!!!! Summer workouts will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until the first MANDATORY practice on Monday, Aug. 4th.       

Brian Jackson and several others are planning on attending a cross country camp this summer. Please contact Brian for more info.   He will also email everyone with more info. PLEASE do not think that this is just a summer camp. Please do not think that you can be completely out of shape and get benefits from cross country camps.   You have a greater chance of getting injured by going to camp if you are out of shape.

Please read the general info. about the summer workouts and tryouts. 

Here is a list (with links) for items that every athlete must have cleared with Coach McLamb before they can start summer workouts OR try out in August.
1.  An up to date physical on file with our athletic trainer at LRHS.
2.  A NEW "Permission to Treat" turned in to Coach McLamb or the athletic trainer.
3.  A NEW "Guidelines to Off Campus Running" turned in to Coach McLamb
4.  Must be signed up with Coach McLamb so I can check grades/attendance for eligibility.

Please note start time changes and distance changes for some of the meets.  Due to new guidelines we are not allowed to run 5k races in Wake County until September.  We are not allowed to start any races until 6pm until after Labor Day.    We are also not allowed to practice between the hours of 10am and 5pm during the summer or August.   As updated guidelines from NCHSAA & Wake County are introduced over the summer I will keep everyone on the email list informed about them and how it will impact out workouts and season.  
      
We have a great opportunity this upcoming year to get our cross country back to the state championships were we belong!!!   The coaching staff will do everything we can to help athletes accomplish their goals and we will be quick to remove anybody that might interfere with the team's success.  

The first day of Cross Country practice will be on Monday, August 4th!!  I will let you know the exact start time of practice at a later date.  

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    PLEASE do your part in recruiting new athletes that can make our program stronger.  Please forward any emails and this web site address with upcoming 8th graders (or their parents) that you think might be interested in running OR anyone that is already at LRHS that you think might be interested!!!