Evaluating Your Season

At the end of the season it is very important to take a deep breath and evaluate your season. I think it is always good to write down the things that went well and the things that didn’t go so great. As a coach every year you will need to make minor adjustments. I want to emphasis the word minor. After a really good year we may want to ignore things that can grow into problems if left unchecked. On the other hand after a horrible year we might want to reinvent the wheel. I believe it is important to make a few select changes. If you make too many changes it will be hard to figure out which changes enhanced your program or exacerbated your existing issues. In addition it is wise to include your assistant coaches in this process. They can bring a different perspective and a fresh pair of eyes that can really help in pushing your program forward.

One of the key issues I have had is forgetting some of the small things we used to do that strengthen our program in the past. Last year we didn’t have a day were we expressed our set rules to the group. Needless, to say two seasons ago we had a lot of issues with personalities and kids taking advantage of the program. This year we clearly stated the rules and it made a tremendous difference in the discipline of our group. Did it fix every issue? No. You will always have athletes that test your patience and your limits but the overwhelming majority of the kids were much better.

Evaluating your performance is something all of you should and must do as a coach. When looking at performances there are a number of things you must consider. We all know a number of factors influence our statistical outcomes for a particular season. Weather, motivation (Athlete/Coach), training plan, talent recruitment (walking the hallways), commitment to training, injuries, rehab, and competition all play a role in our statistical outcomes. One of the best ways to check how you are doing is compare your own program year to year. Take a look at your team from the previous years and see how you stack up. I always use bench marks for my program to measure improvement and overall season’s best. For example, in the 200 dash I want to see how many girls I have less than 28 seconds. Every year you’re not going to have a ton of big studs but the more kids you can get under a certain goal time each and every year the better. It shows you are not just recruiting talent but developing it too.

Another way to evaluate your season is to compare your team top to bottom with a similar program you respect. For example, many of you who read this blog often read Latif Thomas or maybe even bought his videos! Latif actually coaches at a school almost the exact size as my school. He coaches at Bishop Feehan High School and I coach Parkway Central High School. Since we all know and respect Latif I figured his school would be useful when evaluating how my kids did in a given year. Even better would be to compare our two programs over a number of years.

Are schools are similar in size, academics, extracurricular options, and both schools have enthusiastic coaches. Each of our schools has enrollments of 1200 kids. Having a little over a 1000 kids gives you the chance of a decent sized team. However, not a so large you can just grind kids leaving only the strong to survive. Academics are important at both schools every year Parkway Central has a dozen or more national merit finalist. Bishop Feehan has earned similar awards. Both of our schools offer everything from robotics to underwater basket weaving. This means in order to maintain a certain level of success we are in constant competition with other programs are our school. Finally, I think it is fair to say both Latif and I are both enthusiastic about the sport beyond even some of the most obsessed track geeks.

When you evaluate your team versus someone else’s it is important to clarify the differences. The differences between programs often give you answers to the disparity between events. For example, our schools are different in the sports we compete against, private vs. public, weather, and competitive seasons. The first difference between our programs is girls’ soccer. In Massachusetts girls’ soccer is in the fall. In St. Louis soccer is king, has deep roots, and girls soccer is in the spring. If you have a fast girl in your school its extremely likely they played soccer at some point in their childhood. Given a choice many of our girls choose soccer. Soccer’s popularity hurts our numbers especially in long distance. Another major difference between Latif’s and my program is the length of our season. As many of your know living in the Northeastern corridor indoor track is a big deal. In Missouri we don’t have an official indoor season and only a handful of indoor meets are kids can run during our coldest months. To make matters worse we are not allowed to coach those kids at those meets. On the flip side our spring months tend to be better for outdoor track definitely sprinters. Enclosed below are the top performances between both programs in comparable events. You will notice that Bishop owns us in distance. At the same time we show our strength in the horizontal jumps, sprint relays, and 100 high hurdles.

100HH Bishop Feehan High School

17.13 Yoder, Tereasa Massachusetts (MIAA)

18.40 O’toole, Caitlyn MSTCA Girls Coaches

18.63 Mulligan, Bridget Catholic High School

18.64 Harmon, Maddie Eastern Athletic

19.92 Copley, Jenna MSTCA

100HH Parkway Central High School

16.08 Booker, Alissa Class 4 Sectional 2 2013-

16.80 Frazier, Tasha Class 4 Sectional 2 2013-05-

17.12 Riordan, Raven Lindbergh Classic 2013-

17.70 Abernathy, Kayla Kimball/Wintermeyer

18.34 Walton, Rae Parkway Quad 2013-03-28

100 Dash Bishop Feehan High School

13.03 Luongo, Megan MSTCA

13.08 Scharland, Riley Massachusetts (MIAA)

13.30 Whall, Danielle Massachusetts (MIAA)

13.33 Bruno, Arianna Catholic High School

13.45 Mahoney, Jess 46th Glenn D. Loucks

100 Dash Parkway Central High School

12.91 Jones, Amia DeSoto Dragon Invitational

12.94 Thompson, Taylor Parkway Quad 2013-

13.02 Hayes, Jasmine DeSoto Dragon

13.24 Nelson, Paige Red & Black Time Trial

13.32 Frazier, Tasha Holt Invitational 2013-03-

200 Dash Bishop Feehan High School

26.71 Murphy, Julia Massachusetts (MIAA)

26.89 Silveira, Morgan Catholic High School

27.85 Scharland, Riley MSTCA

28.03 Bruno, Arianna Bishop Feehan

28.34 Mahoney, Jess Eastern Athletic

200 Dash Parkway Central High School

26.84 Jones, Amia Lindbergh Classic 2013-04-06

27.50 Thompson, Taylor McCluer-South

27.69 Mogley, Peyton DeSoto Dragon

27.90 Hayes, Jasmine Holt Invitational 2013-03-

28.04 Foster, Taylor Northwest JV Quad 2013-

Two Mile Bishop Feehan High School

10:47.69 Mcnulty, Abbie Massachusetts (MIAA)

11:23.24 Cutillo, Jackie Massachusetts (MIAA)

11:45.51 Svensen, Kate Massachusetts (MIAA)

12:14.87 Amato, Sara Massachusetts (MIAA)

12:26.46 Berube, Elena Massachusetts (MIAA)

3200 Run Parkway Central High School

11:23.31 Friesen, Kayla Class 4 District 4 2013-

12:23.17 Gibson, Elizabeth DeSoto Dragon

12:40.53 Stark, Kara Suburban South

13:17.64 Howe, Teresa DeSoto Dragon

13:48.54 Goldman, Julia Kimball/Wintermeyer

400 Dash Bishop Feehan High School

1:00.84 Silveira, Morgan 46th Glenn D. Loucks

1:03.89 Murphy, Julia 46th Glenn D. Loucks

1:04.71 Butler, Meredith Bishop Feehan /

1:05.33 Kawa, Ellie Bishop Feehan /

1:05.45 Luongo, Megan Catholic High School

400 Dash Parkway Central

1:04.06 Jones, Amia Kimball/Wintermeyer Girls

1:04.23 Mogley, Peyton Lindbergh Classic 2013-

1:05.02 Hamill, Jillian Class 4 District 4 2013-05-

1:05.83 Okpara, Anyaku DeSoto Dragon

1:06.54 Thompson, Taylor Red & Black Time

4×100 Bishop Feehan High School 49.60

4×100 Parkway Central High School 48.66

4×200 Bishop Feehan High School 1:48.57

4×200 Parkway Central High School 1:45.14

4×400 Bishop Feehan High School 4:18.86

4×400 Parkway Central High School 4:15.31

4×800 Bishop Feehan High School 9:29.47

4×800 Parkway Central High School 9:54.23

800 Bishop Feehan High School

2:20.40 Harum, Brynna Eastern Athletic

2:20.60 Hannon, Elizabeth Eastern Athletic

2:31.40 Wood, Julia Eastern Athletic Conference

2:32.37 Spellman, Meg Massachusetts (MIAA)

2:32.48 Santoro, Adrienne 46th Glenn D. Loucks

800 Parkway Central High School

2:23.72 Madsen, Sarah Class 4 Sectional 2 2013-

2:28.42 Stark, Kara Kimball/Wintermeyer Girls

2:31.94 Friesen, Kayla DeSoto Dragon

2:46.95 Mcdowell, Tyler Kimball/Wintermeyer

2:47.37 Jeong, Hanna Suburban South

Mile Bishop Feehan High School

5:13.30 Mcnulty, Abbie Eastern Athletic

5:13.46 Harum, Brynna Massachusetts (MIAA)

5:22.74 Santoro, Adrienne Bishop Feehan /

5:25.45 Hannon, Elizabeth Notre Dame Rt. 228

5:34.35 Carmody, Meghan MSTCA

1600 Meter Parkway Central High School

5:27.60 Friesen, Kayla Kimball/Wintermeyer

5:41.88 Stark, Kara Suburban South Conference

5:49.77 Madsen, Sarah Kimball/Wintermeyer

6:05.00 Gibson, Elizabeth Northwest JV Quad

6:07.29 Sartori, Danielle Suburban South

Discus Bishop Feehan High School

92-7 O’toole, Anne Eastern Athletic Conference

88-11 Smith, Jackie Massachusetts (MIAA)

67-1 Collins, Michaela Catholic High School

64-3 Bessette, Megan Eastern Athletic

60-0 Gaughan, Sarah Bishop Feehan /

Discus Parkway Central High School

109-11 Majee, Rumbi Class 4 District 4 2013-05-

78-8 Bleyer, Marge Kimball/Wintermeyer Girls

74-9 Davis, Diane Lindbergh Classic 2013-04-06

69-5 Olivier, Jamie Kimball/Wintermeyer Girls

68-1 Bobo, Kenisand Suburban South

High Jump Bishop Feehan High School

5-3 Yoder, Tereasa Massachusetts (MIAA)

4-2 Mulligan, Bridget Bishop Feehan /

High Jump Parkway Central

4-8 Frazier, Tasha Hillsboro Joe Mccraith JV

4-8 Nelson, Paige Parkway Quad 2013-03-28

4-4 Rother, Piper Henle Holmes Invitational

4-3 Abernathy, Kayla Holt Invitational 2013-03-

4-2 Wilson, Ashley Suburban South Conference

Long Jump Bishop Feehan High School

15-1.5 Luongo, Megan Eastern Athletic

14-8.5 Donahue, Lauren Catholic High School

12-0 Teixeira, Cassidy Catholic High School

Long Jump Parkway Central High School

17-8.5 Hayes, Jasmine Parkway Central vs.

17-2.25 Frazier, Tasha Class 4 Sectional 2 2013-

16-2.5 Abernathy, Kayla Parkway Quad 2013-

16-0.5 Nelson, Paige DeSoto Dragon Invitational

14-0.5 Love, Janat Parkway Quad 2013-03-28

Shot Put Bishop Feehan High School

31-10.25 O’toole, Anne 46th Glenn D. Loucks

31-6.5 Smith, Jackie Eastern Athletic Conference

27-3.75 Collins, Michaela Eastern Athletic

24-6 Prosper, Kyla Eastern Athletic Conference

20-2 O’neill, Kathleen Bishop Feehan /

Shot Put Parkway Central High School

34-7.25 Thompson, Taylor Lindbergh Classic

28-4 Majee, Rumbi Kimball/Wintermeyer Girls

27-10 Bleyer, Marge Northwest JV Quad 2013-

27-5 Davis, Diane Lindbergh Classic 2013-04-06

26-11.5 Monroe, Marilyn Holt Invitational 2013-

Triple Jump Bishop Feehan High School

33-5 Harmon, Maddie Eastern Athletic

32-8.5 Bruno, Arianna Bishop Feehan /

30-5 Mulligan, Bridget Eastern Athletic

29-1.5 Teixeira, Cassidy Catholic High School

Triple Jump Parkway Central High School

38-8.75 Nelson, Paige Class 3 & 4 State Track &

36-6 Hayes, Jasmine Class 4 District 4 2013-05-1

34-1.5 Abernathy, Kayla Suburban South

27-3 Schmitt, Eleni Suburban South Conference

27-3 Truong, Amanda Suburban South

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Ryan Banta

Ryan is a successful high school coach. His athletes have achieved 76 school records, 2 top four finishes at the state championships, 3 district championships, 107 state semi-finalist (sectionals), 63 state qualifiers, 2 state records (3200 and 4x800), 14 national ranked events, 34 all state performances, 8 state champions, 7 runner up performances, and 2 Gatorade athletes of the year. Ryan is a USATF level II coach in the sprints, hurdles, relays, and endurance and recently earned a USTFCCCA track and field technical coaching certification.