• A message from the coaching staff to the 2020 KE Bulldog Outdoor Track & Field team:

     

    How quickly things change. Just one week ago we were welcoming you all to a new season of outdoor track and field. The beginning of a season is always an exciting time, filled with endless possibilities and untold promise. For the newcomers, a chance to find your way in a new sport, to grow and thrive in ways that you can’t even imagine, to find your own niche in a team that has room for you no matter your athletic background. For the veterans, the opportunity to continue your careers, to achieve new heights and build off all the hard work that came before. For all, the opportunity to be part of a family, to build bonds and make friendships that transcend and endure beyond the athletic arena.

    One week. It seems like much longer. Again, how quickly things change.

    Now we face an unprecedented challenge, filled with uncertainties, worries, and doubts. The scope of changes that will sweep this country in the months and weeks to follow are beyond our ability to predict – and, in many cases, beyond our ability to control. Therefore, it is more important than ever to focus on the things that we can control. To grasp to old routines, and create new ones, and take comfort in those.

    This is a challenge. But it is also an opportunity. An opportunity that I believe we will rise to meet.

    The season is not over. While the future is murky and constantly shifting, the current plan is for school to resume on Monday, April 20, and for the athletic season to resume along with it. When that date comes, we will be ready for it. This team is equipped to handle adversity. It is blessed with an incredible group of veterans and leaders. Within minutes of the announcement to cancel school, they were already reaching out to one another and to the coaching staff, brainstorming ways to stay strong, stay focused, and stay connected to one another through this difficult time.

    To those leaders, we hope you know how proud it makes us to see you step up, unprompted, to meet this challenge head-on. To have such fine young men and women at the vanguard of our program is a true honor. That spirit, dedication, and determination will set you up to achieve anything you set your minds to.

    The technology of the 21st century is astounding. Although our track family may be divided into a hundred different households scattered across Ken-Ton, we can still communicate with each other as easily as if we were in the same room. Over the coming days, your captains will be reaching out to you and providing training guidelines and suggestions for how to remain a team even though we may no longer see each other face-to-face.

    The first and most important guideline, naturally, is that you stay safe. Follow all recommended health procedures as laid down by national, state, and Ken-Ton officials. Those procedures are likely to change as the situation develops, so please stay aware of all changes. Your health is our top priority. These guidelines include (but are not limited to):

    1) All workouts should be done alone or in small groups (no larger than 10 people). If training in a group, maintain social distancing as much as possible

    2) If you feel sick at all, STAY HOME! Don't risk it! No workout is worth your long-term health (or the long-term health of your teammates)

    We hope that you will see these training suggestions as a way to reassert control over the situation, to take back as much a sense of normalcy and routine as possible, but we understand that each individual’s circumstances are different. Depending on your particular situation, you may choose to do part, or all, or none of those workouts. We support you regardless of your choice. Support does not judge or censure, it does not mock, goad, or shame. Especially in times like this, we must remember that we are a family, and the support of your teammates is no more than a few clicks away.

    Also remember: we are stronger together than we ever could be apart. Please do not hesitate to reach out to your teammates, your captains, or your coaches for any reason.

    Let’s show the rest of Section VI how Bulldogs handle adversity.

     

    Coaches Metivier, Monahan, Norton, Marconi, and Brunger

     

     

    2020 Outdoor Track Coaching Staff

    Coach Metivier (boys head coach): tmetivier@ktufsd.org

    Coach Monahan (girls head coach): monahanl@hotmail.com

    Coach Norton (assistant coach)

    Coach Marconi (assistant coach)

    Coach Brunger (assistant coach)