Hamilton West Track and Field

Sectionals

2014-05-28T06:55:00.003-07:00

It really is amazing what our boys team was able to accomplish in four years. It has required a great deal of hard work, but I hope that it has taught us what it takes to be successful. Again, I congratulate all of the athletes who placed including the seniors who sacrificed a chance to break school records in order to run in the relay races and give our team a chance to win.

We knew going into the meet that we needed to be perfect in order to win a sectional championship and we finished 22 points away. We know that we left some points on the board, perhaps some points that may have helped us win - so is life. We also know that we gave our best effort, that we were prepared and just fell short. It has been a great ride this year. I just want to thank everybody.

Elvis shared some photos with us

Carl Lewis Relays

2014-05-19T06:08:00.001-07:00

Reminder: Bus Leaves at 2:15 today. You need to go to 9th period class and will be called out at 2:00. Good Luck to All!

Bus list boys

Malik Snead
Pierre Laguerre
Thurmon Leach
Devon Mendoza
Derycs Miranda
Tyquan Gibson
Marvin Ashmore
Pascal Maignan
Sebastian Cwalina
Davidson Celidor
Nnamdi Nnaijafor
Austin Jenkins
Efrain Garcia
Deonte Noncent
Jeff Meckel
Joe Miscascio
Ben Cheriser
Darius Colon
Daryl Hardee
Tyree Adams
Bashawn Smith
Moe Manuel
Malik Craig
Stevan Garcia
Marcus Hall
Conor Brown
Bashshawn Smith
Vi\jesh Jadoo
Dercys Miranda
Freddie Simmons
Christian Charleston

Bus List Girls

Girls
Claudia Olsen
Mercedes Mendoza-Dye
Marissa Flim
Christina Davermann
Carlee Smith
Jessica Escobar
Gabby Berrios
Gibscious Zarkar
Sibyl Ndeh
Hannah Donker
Tatiana Saffron
Kristine Babyak
Elischa Dessalines
Rachal Desane
Becky Walker
Yohanney Rodriquez
Arleanna Lea

2014 Season

2014-05-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Boys Team finished off the 2014 Track Season with two more wins. Take the weekend to relax, heal and enjoy the County Championship. I remember four years ago standing in front of the team and telling them that I was proud to teach and coach at this school and that I believed in the talent that walked the hallways. You guys have proved that we do have plenty of talent to compete in any sport. It is great that our baseball team made the Mercer County Championship game. I do think that West is Best.

Efrain has been in the program for 4 years

The girls had a rough meet on Wednesday and need to continue to take it in the chin in order to learn their lessons. We have great girls with a tremendous amount of talent, we all just need to step up to the plate and be more aggressive - get that swagger so you can close out meets. You have all the ability to compete for a county championship next year.

Saturday is the Freshmen and Sophomore meet for both the boys and girls. (Bus leaves at 7:00) It will be interesting to see who steps up in the meet to prove that they will be someone we can count on next year. Talk to the older guys and girls about their medals and times - and try to beat them.

Doubters...there will always be doubters out there. Many people are genuinely excited for the program and the County victory. Others tell me that we were lucky and won on what was a down year in the county. Little do they know that we did not even have our best performance. At the meet on Wednesday, we improved our performance in the 100, 200, 800, 1600, Long Jump, Triple Jump, and Discus. We continue to get better and will undoubtedly put another performance on the table for the State Sectional Meet next weekend.

Photos from Hopewell/Allentown - Thanks Mr. Jenkins, who has been taking great pictures for 4 years, we will miss running to the site to check them out after meets. You have been a great supporter of the program.

County Champions

2014-05-12T20:20:00.001-07:00

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_fl9RWd4a-gZWRncENRcTBfeXM/edit?usp=sharing

I really am not sure what my expectations were for the two-race finish to the county championship on Monday, but I couldn't have imagined that we would come up as big as we did. I am so proud of the 4x4 team for putting an exclamation point on "Round 2", breaking the school record and giving the Hamilton West Boys their first Mercer County Championship in a long time.

It was nice to have the girls there to celebrate the victory. We truly are a family and it was nice that a lot of us were there to cheer our runners on to victory. It was a lot of fun and the culmination of hard work. We talked all week about creating "moments" and these are the moments that we remember much more than the hard work.

Keep working hard to achieve our goals. Stop underestimating how good we can be. And be proud of your accomplishments.

P.S. Congratulations to the seniors. Especially those who have been there since it all began - boys and girls. I really appreciate the hard work that you have put in and sticking with the program.

Hamilton West 4x4 relay team comes through big time to win title - Tony Piscotta - Fish4scores
Hamilton Boys set school record in 4x4 to win Mercer County Meet - George O'Gorman - The Trentonian

Schedule

2014-05-12T19:35:00.001-07:00

Tuesday - Practice After School
Wednesday - Meet @ Hopewell vs. Hopewell/Allentown (Bus leaves after school)
Thursday - Practice After School
Friday - Girls Frosh/Soph Meet @ Hopewell (cancelled)(no practice all boys - junior senior girls)
Sat - Boys and Girls Frosh/Soph Meet @ Steinert (no practice girls - junior and senior boys), bus leaves @ 7:00 a.m.
Monday - Carl Lewis Relays (bus 2:15) varsity meet, check back for roster
Tuesday- Varsity Practice (All uniforms should be returned for Frosh/JV)
Wednesday - Practice
Thursday - Practice
Friday - Sectionals @ Monmouth Regional/Bus T.B.D
Saturday - Sectionals @ Monmouth Regional/Bus T.B.D

Wake Up Call

2014-05-06T20:24:00.003-07:00

You Better Be Ready

It is easy to just walk into meets and feel like a victory is guaranteed. I have always wanted to coach a team with that type of swagger. I have had the opportunity to have been part of teams with that confidence, but I haven't coached one. Just remember that that swagger does not come from getting off the bus and just expecting to win, but comes from the work that you put in that gives the feeling that if you put your best out there you will not be beaten. We are blessed to have a group of seniors that have a singular purpose in mind. They have grown up together and share many moments and memories. I have said it over-and-over again: "You only have so many chances to do something special" and if you all buy in and hop on board you will always look back fondly on the accomplishments. You may forget some of the hard work that got you there, but you will take that work ethic with you in life. You will always know what it takes to succeed. We only want people who share that sense of purpose, we don't want anyone to get in our way. Get ready, there is a lot of competition coming - I hope you are all up to the challenge.

Thanks to Mr. Jenkins for the Pictures

Seniors

2014-05-02T10:37:00.001-07:00

Finish What You Started

Yesterday was one of those days where I look around the track and I am sincerely proud of you guys. On an afternoon where we allowed some of the seniors have some fun and compete in different events. I saw TONS of healthy competition. This consistent competition has forced many to step up - and they have. I have to say it all comes down to a great senior class. Many years the seniors let outside distractions prevent them from finishing, preventing them from maximizing their potential - but not this year. Look at our lineup and you will see that we are counting on senior everywhere. We have Counties in one week and State Sectionals in two weeks. It is up to these seniors to make this year something special. It is up to the younger guys to help the seniors on their way out and follow their leadership. You never know how many times you will have the opportunity. Stay focused and finish what we have started.

For the girls, we can easily say that they are a year behind. The girls are loaded with juniors and they need to begin to mature, get focused and take their performance to the next level - day-in and day-out. I remember at counties last year the boys had a disappointing day in the rain and let outside influences get in their way. It was a turning point. Yesterday, there were some juniors who did not step up. If the girls want to take it to the next level and compete for a county championship next year, the talent is absolutely there, but we need to see the desire and work ethic to follow if you really have your goals set high.

Thanks to Mr. Jenkins for the Photos

Adams has big day jumping, running in West boys' win - Tony Piscotta - Fish4Scores

Hornet girls fall to Rams but Olsen has impressive day - Tony Piscotta - Fish4scores

Let It Burn

2014-04-23T06:45:00.001-07:00

We have now completed the first round of a three round fight. For the boys, you can score round one for Nottingham. This is an important part of the season. Bad teams will focus on making excuses. They will blame coaches, officials or each other. Bottom line is that Nottingham was the better team yesterday and is the better team right now. What good teams will do is use this as motivation as we move forward this season, they will use it to motivate them each day of practice to get better. I can't say I wasn't frustrated walking off the track yesterday and seeing their team taunt us, but it helps knowing that the season is not even close to over - let it burn.

Congratulations to the girls team. I think they are beginning to understand the concept of team and picking each other up. This was a great team win. So many girls stepped it up yesterday that it was difficult to single out an specific girls. Marissa is becoming the type of girl that the team can count on to lead the team and Aaliyah and Mercedes stepped up big. In the throws we have so many girls that are improving and are close to "breaking out". There are two images on the girls side that stand in my mind that epitomize success. The first is Shaye, who didn't want the run the 3200 sucking it up because Christina is injured and gutting out a third in her first time running the race. The second, is Jessica making up a good 50 meters in the 4x400 as the girl from Nottingham hit the wall and turning the tide in the race that essentially won the meet. So many kudos to go around - great job.

Get Ready

2014-04-17T17:12:00.002-07:00

Go Time

Not the best performance on Wednesday for the boys team but we were able to cruise to two easy victories, which raises our record to 3-1. I looked at our schedule and it looks like Nottingham High School is next. I will take a look at their team over the weekend and see how it shakes out by Monday. Let's just focus on taking the break to let our bodies recover a bit and use our practice time to improve.

For the girls, it was a close loss to Princeton that really stings. It seems like the team is coming together, but is not young anymore. This is the type of meet that some of the juniors and seniors need to step up if they want a victory. That's what needs to happen if you want to take it to the next level. The girls will travel to Nottingham as well on Wednesday where we will focus on becoming more consistent and raising our performance level.

Photos - Mr. Jenkins

A Great Day

2014-04-13T20:42:00.001-07:00

The emergence of 'Hamilton Airlines'

I think we were all excited before Saturday's meet, but I knew we would win and medal in multiple events. Everybody really stepped up and competed hard and we had a great day. You all realize what it is all about this year and you know that we have to continue to work hard to enjoy the type of success we had on Saturday we need to continue to get better and look towards our matchup with West Windsor South and Princeton on Wednesday. For the boys, these are two teams that we narrowly beat last year, while the girls look to tack some more wins to the record.

Congratulations to all the gold medal winners on Saturday. Daryl and Tyree did what they set out to do, while Vijesh and Derycs continue to improve. The unheralded gold medal duo of Dakota and Bashawn didn't get any interviews or pictures, but they will have plenty of opportunities as the season progresses. Elischa and Tatiana get a gold medal after medaling their freshman year.

There were many personal bests and standout performances on the day. Too many to mention. Medals also went out to the boys 4x4, shuttle hurdles and 3x400m hurdle squads. School records in the 4x1600, meet record in the triple jump, and Distance Medley all added to a great day.

Dominance..

West, stars boys prep for a big dual meet with big efforts - Fish4scores - Tony Piscotta
Hoopsters turned javelin throwers put on a show at Mercer Relays - Fish4scores - Tony Piscotta
Adams, Hardee lead Hamilton renaissance at Mercer Relays - Trentonian - George O'Gorman
Boys Results - njrunners
Girls Results - njrunners

West Has Arrived...

2014-04-10T11:16:00.001-07:00

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." Vince Lombardi

It has been four years now that this coaching staff has been working together for the boys and girls programs and it now seems that we have finally arrived. The seniors can acknowledge the changes that have occurred during their time here at West. It was a great feeling watching the boys and girls compete on the track with two very good programs and we need to realize that this is only the beginning.

While the losses to Notre Dame are certainly disappointing it does not change our resolve. Each day we will continue to fight and work hard to win each and every meet. There were so many great performances yesterday and I still know that we are nowhere near peak performance level, we are nowhere near perfection, but we will continue to chase it, we will continue to strive for it and we will surprise ourselves how great we can be.

Attached is Fish4scores article and photos from Mr. Jenkins

Fish4Scores Article

Link to Photos from Mr. Jenkins

Scrimmage Cancelled

2014-03-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

The scrimmage vs. Steinert scheduled for today is cancelled. They just don't make kids as tough as they used to...

Princeton University Students after a snowball fight in 1893

News and Events

2014-03-27T06:35:00.003-07:00

Key Dates and Times to Remember

- Saturday Scrimmage @ Steinert 9:00 a.m. bus, 10:00 a.m. scrimmage
- Clothing Catalog Orders are Due to Canaan by Friday
- If you would like a Warm-up go to: Catalog, orders are due by Monday
- Monday Pictures (Remember Your Uniform)
- Please follow on Remind101 (Directions)

Finding Another Gear

2014-01-27T06:11:00.001-08:00

Pierre "the Guerre" keeps pace in the 400

There were a great deal of positive to take from yesterday's meet, but for the first time this winter season the competition rose. We went against the best in the County and Mercer County is one of the most competitive counties in the state of New Jersey. In the past expectations were low and getting points in a county meet was a success - not anymore. I made a list of top county times before the meet so that we can set goals and begin to work for sixth places and eventually first place finishes.

The fact of the matter is that we are not at the level that we need to be, but we can get there by the spring season. For the boys, I looked at the results and Notre Dame and Allentown would beet us in a dual meet right now, that can't happen. We need to get better in the 800, close the gap in the 1600 and 3200 and improve in the throwing events. We need to continue to work hard and add some pieces and we can beat any team on our schedule.

For the girls, expectation have been raised as well. We have to work harder at practice to gain the confidence to compete on the higher level. For some it will come with experience, but the juniors need to step up and stop performing like underclassmen. The potential for a great spring season is there, but the margin of error is small.

ALL OF US NEED TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT GEAR!!!

I posted links to pictures (thanks Mr. Jenkins), Boys and Girls times and results (look at them and set some goals moving forward), and the write up on Fish4scores.

Fish4Scores

Pictures

Mercer County Boys Results

Mercer County Girls Results

Goals

2014-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

As we enter what is an uncertain week following the holiday and now the snow storm we know that a great deal will be placed on the individuals of the team. While it may seem a bit corny to show a quote from MLK, I always like to look at others who have achieved greatness and understand exactly what makes them great. We need to move forward. This week it will be counties, then sections and then the spring season. Use each day to move forward to achieve your goals, when you reach them begin to raise the bar.

Congratulations to Efrain Garcia, who broke the school record in the 400. It is certainly something to be proud of - but not satisfied. Efrain knows he has two to three more chances to lower his time and put his best out there for the next person to shoot for before he moves onto the record for Spring Track.

This week, go to the gym if you can and work out. We cannot practice if there is no school, but we need to do whatever we can to improve in the days ahead. Runners should get out and run if they can, throwers, vaulters and jumpers can do some drills and mentally go through their technique. I have attached a graph for the county meet. It lists the top time and the sixth place time in 2013 and the top and sixth place for returning underclassmen as well as some goals that I made for the team. Look at them and set your own goals, both short and long term. Once they are set, take your first step to achieve them.

Also attached are links to Fish4scores articles and distance workouts. There is some interesting information in the workout about stretching and warmup that ALL runners can benefit from and for some it may be that little edge that will help you possibly break a school record.

Counties Breakdown

Distance Workouts

Efrain Garcia sets Hamilton indoor record in the 400

Hamilton has strong efforts at Bill Reid Memorial meet

Great Beginning

2014-01-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

BOSSES

In our first taste of Winter Track both our boy's and girl's teams had a great day at Peddie. In my first close look at our girls, I came away really impressed. It is obvious that they are going to make some noise in the spring and have a good showing at Mercer Counties. It is tough to gauge exactly where we sit because I can't compare our times to other programs as the races were different and the track slow, but they were competitive. We should be re-energized as we move forward and can focus on peaking by counties in two weeks. Friday showed us that we still have worked to do getting into shape and refining our technique, but we need to keep working hard...and NEVER quit.

Congrats to Christina on breaking the school record and Carlee with a PR in the high jump at 4-10 (she was a self-proclaimed "boss"). There were many other good performance by other athletes as well.

I provided links to the updated schedule, pictures (Thanks to Mr. Jenkins), Fish4scores article and a link to the clothing store, which closes tonight.

LINK TO PICTURES

UPDATED WINTER TRACK SCHEDULE

ARTICLE FISH4SCORES

LINK TO CLOTHING STORE

Winter Track is Back

2013-12-01T19:02:00.002-08:00

Welcome back, it's time to get to work. Everyone is excited about getting the Winter Track Program back now let's make the most of it and bring this program to the next level. Make sure all paperwork is handed in ASAP. There will be extra conditioning for those who do not have it in by Wednesday.

Once you have your physical and are cleared to practice you will need the following forms:

- Media Release Form

- Sports- Related Concussion and Head Injury Fact Sheet and Parent/Guardian Acknowledgement Form

- Hamilton High School Athletic Emergency Card

- Athletic Handbook Signature AND Steroid Testing and Consent to Random Testing (Copy of Handbook on bottom of the page)

2013-2014 Athletic Handbook

2013-10-17T09:37:00.001-07:00

"Ninety-nine percent of the failures comes from people who have the habit of making excuses" ~ George W. Carve

I hear too many excuses why we "cannot" do things. If you come up with reasons for failed experiences they become excuses, if you address these reasons and work hard to remedy them you will figure out what makes people successful in life. If we continue to create reasons for why things do not or have not happened it gets easier and easier and you will find what prevents you from succeeding in life.

Thanks Again to Mr. Jenkins for the photos.

The Prep Schools

2013-10-15T06:02:00.002-07:00

A bit of a different race on Saturday, but more wins for the Boy's and Girl's C.C. Teams. The big one is Tuesday when we square off against the cross town rivals from Nottingham. We better put forth our best efforts, I want to see P.Rs up-and-down the lineup.

New Blood on the Boy's Squad

Here are the photos from the weekend

Team Building

2013-10-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Boys and Girls team on their second wins of the season. It is hard not to be happy with the results as there were many great times posted up and down the lineup. The next step is developing a TEAM. Looking at the teams yesterday my goal would be to get to the level to beat a team like Allentown. This would require us to take a little pride in Cross Country and help us build on what we have as the girls are off to a great start, the guys need an influx of young talent. We need more competition at practice, we need people to push themselves and those around them so that we can begin to get some wins. We need to take pride in every aspect of what we do. We need to have some pride in our Cross Country program.

Thanks Again to Mr. Jenkins for the photos.

First Win

2013-10-04T11:11:00.001-07:00

Congratulations Hamilton West Boys and girls Cross Country teams on a big victory over the Lawrence squad. You can see how far the West Cross Country program has come, it is really nice to see the young talent on the team develop their identity as the older guys and girls hold down the fort. We know that we need to continue to grow to compete you need to push yourself on each drill and each run to get better. It is easy to give in when our legs get tired, we get winded or cramp; you don't always feel strong at practice. Just know that the winning runners compete every day, we find that energy in meets from practicing with intensity. Develop goals and work to achieve them.

Quote: "A goal without a plan is just a dream"

Doug showed the ability to dig deep by catching a Lawrence runner, essentially winning the race.

Thanks to Mr. Jenkins for the photos - GO WEST

West Win vs. Lawrence

Sectionals

2013-05-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

I will update all Sectional schedule changes this weekend on this website:

We will be called out of class at 12:30 today and leave at 12:45
Saturday you should be here at 7:30 and the bus will leave at 7:45

Please dress warm and bring changes of cloths, the weather will be cold and rainy.

Goal Reached

2013-05-07T18:47:00.001-07:00

At the first meeting this year I set the goal of a .500 record and while I am not sure that it resonated with everyone on the team yesterday was a big day for the program. Wednesday, the team was given a day off to enjoy it. Reflect for a second, if you recall after an 0-2 start it seemed the the team was headed down the same path we had been down before. I stood in front of the team and talked about setting goals for ourselves and having dreams, I talked about how it often becomes difficult and that many of us are all to willing to quit, to make excuses, to say "I don't care". All too often this is what happens when things get to hard and we have the rest of our lives to regret it. But this didn't happen. While many on the team had their ups and downs this year - we made it. We worked through the adversity and I'm proud of all of you.

Dominating

Thanks again to Mr. Jenkins to the photos.

LINK

Confidence and Consistency

2013-05-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

There was a great deal of disappointment after yesterday's 74-66 loss to Hightstown - and there should be. All told, there were some great efforts throughout the track. Right now we are at the point where we can compete with any team in Mercer County, but we are not good enough to win unless we bring out best. The fact of the matter is that Hightstown brought their best yesterday and we did not. I will chalk it up as a learning experience. Right now we have one more meet on the schedule and it is next Tuesday against Ewing. We need to avoid all of the distraction and focus on winning that meet so that we can finish above .500 for the first time in awhile. That was the goal that we set as a team on day one.

Ughh!

Here are some photos from Mr. Jenkins, thanks again.

LINK

On the Right Track

2013-04-18T19:17:00.004-07:00

Pole Vaulter extraordinaire Will Dyott

It is a great feeling to see that we are figuring out how to be a successful team on our way to becoming a successful program. We had our best performance of the season on Wednesday, but I still think that there is a great deal of room for improvement. I talked to some athletes on Thursday who were unhappy because they took seconds and thirds and it made me happy. There is more and more competition within our own team and that only makes us better. We need to continue to push each other each day in practice to see where it can lead us. Just comparing last years times I was surprised to see how much we have improved and how well our Freshmen are doing.

Click on the link below the photo to check out some of the pictures from Mr. Jenkins. There are some of the throwers.