VC Express Youth Cross Country

http://vcexpressyouthcrosscountry.blogspot.com/

2011-09-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

go to the address above for up-to-date vc express news and info

2011-09-07T12:08:00.000-07:00

Meet this Saturday is at Pierce College. Walk through at 8. We are asking all families to donate a 2 1/2 gallon jug of water for the water station. Don't forget your sunscreen and plenty of liquid! Also, our VC Express tents will be used for the water station so you'll need to provide your own shade this meet, too.

change in schedule

2011-09-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Our first (pre-season) meet at LA Trade has been moved up to this Saturday, Sept 10, 2011. See Coach Wright at practice for more details and directions.

2011-08-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

2011 Practice Schedule

Monday thru Thursday
4:30pm to 5:45
@ Arroyo Verde Park

Registration is still open..just look for the orange shirts!

Facebook Group

2011-08-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

for the most up to date information on VC Express please join our Facebook Group

2010 Practice Schedule

2010-08-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Practice and Sign-ups will continue this week at Arroyo Verde Park this Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 4:30.

All levels are welcome from 7 to 15 years of age!

Practice and Sign-Up

2010-08-16T06:20:00.000-07:00

We will have Sign-ups this Wednesday and Thursday (Aug 18 & 19) at Arroyo Verde Park 4:30.

We are still deciding dates and times for practices.

If anyone is interested in coaching please let us know we could use the help.

See you Wednesday and thank you for your patience.

2010 Season

2010-07-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you for interests in youth Cross Country - we have received many inquires about the team and this upcoming season. We in the planning stages for the season we need to work out locations for preseason practices, days we will practice and other minor conference things.

Here is some important dates and information.

We will start the preseason on Monday August 16
Pre-season practice location & time - TBD - (previous years we have started at the beach.)
Regular season practice will be at Arroyo Verde Park 4:30 to 5:45 (Days - TBD)
Boys and Girls 6-17

Stay tuned for more information. If you have questions please post them using the comments below.

We will start the season in on August 16, sign ups will be during the first 2 weeks of the season.

Last week of Practice

2009-11-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

This is the first season that we have practiced beyond the time change, sunset is a little after 5 and the park closes at dark. So we will practice today at 4:30 but will finish around 5:15 not 6:00. Do not forget to wear your costume,

Tomorrow we will practice from 4 to 5:15.

Thursday is our Team Party at Ventura Bowling Center on Thompson Blvd at 4:30 to 6:00.
Cost is $11:00 per bowler include pizza, soda and bowling.

Friday is the final Middle School Meet at Arroyo Verde Park, it the Championship and I think they have medals for top finishers.
Girls arrive at 3:00 (3:30 race time)
Boys arrive at 3:30 (4:00 race time)
Both time are different that previous Middle School Meets.

Saturday is our final meet at Pierce College.

More Photos

2009-11-02T08:28:00.001-08:00

Upcoming Meet and Post Season

2009-10-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

We have 5 meets left this season 3 Middle School meets at Arroyo Verde and 2 league meets. They are in order

Thursday Oct 22 at Arroyo Verde Girls arrive 3:30 Boys 3:45
Saturday Oct 24 - O'Melveny Park, Granada Hills Conference Finals (We need 6 Volunteers to pull Stickers See Coach Andrew or Robert)
Thursday Oct 29 - Arroyo Verde Girls arrive 3:30 Boys 3:45 (Need Volunteers Course monitors - Tag pullers See Coach Andrew or Robert)
Friday November 6 - Arroyo Verde Girls arrive 3:00 Boys 3:15 (DIFFERENT TIME!!) Ventura Middle School Championships.
Saturday November 7 - Pierce College - SCYTFC Cross Country Invitational

Post Season information - SCYTFC site

AAU Championship Information Packet

Today's Practice it Canceled!!

2009-10-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

The rain has made the trails a mess and we could use a little break. Have a great day, see you Thursday - remember there is a High School meet at the park. It is a great opportunity to cheer on your high school and watch some VC Express Alums run!!

The Year in Pictures - So Far

2009-10-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Thank You

2009-10-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

Great Meet on Saturday! Iwould like to thank all the parents who made our home meet a success! Several coaches from other teams thanked me and told me we ran a great meet. Well Done !!

Thank you again - if you have any pictures please email or give me a CD and I will make a slideshow and publish it to the site.

This week we have a meet on Thursday in Ojai at Matilija Junior High School (Ojai) Girls 3:30 (race @ 4:00) Boys 3:45 (race @4:30)

If you can not drive we will try to organize car pools, please let me know if you need a carpool or have extra room in your car.

Routes for Saturday's meet

2009-09-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

Gremlin 2k course

Gremlin 2k course
Find more Runs in Ventura, California

Bantam & Midget 3K course
Bantam & Midget 3K course
Find more Runs in Ventura, California

Y&I 4K course
Y&I Course

Meet this Saturday

2009-09-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Our meet this week is at Corriganville Park - Simi Valley, CA

Please arrive at 8:00 am for the walk thru.

Our home meet is next week and we will have volunteer assignments either tomorrow or at practice on Monday.

The park is located at the east end of Simi Valley, just at the bottom of the Santa Susana Pass/Rocky Peak.
Take the 118 freeway to Simi Valley and exit at Kuehner Drive.
Go south approximately 1 mile and turn left on Smith Road.
Proceed 1/2 mile to parking area.

Balboa Meet Canceled

2009-09-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

Tomorrows meet at Balboa Middle School has been canceled.

The plan as of right now is to have practice tomorrow at 4:30 in Arroyo Verde Park.

If the situation changes I will post it here.

If you have any questions call me at 805-794-6333

Ventura Middle School Cross Country

2009-09-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Great job yesterday to all of our runners! If you have any photos that you would like to share I will be making a Picasa account for the team. I will pass the account to anyone interested - Coach Andrew

Update!! Results from Saturday's meet

As you know (I hope) we are participating in Ventura County Middle School Cross Country Meets. We Participated last year, it was fun for all and also a good Thursday workout.

The meet times are earlier that our regular practices (3:30) and some of the meets are in different locations. This week's meet is at Balboa Middle School, an upcoming meet is in Ojai. On the day of the Middle School meets we will not have our regular practice. If you can not make it to the meet please do not drop your athlete at Arroyo Verde.

The meet are optional - we encourage all of our runners to participate however we understand if the logistics can not be worked out.

The Middle School Schedule is to the right >

Next meet - Oak Park

2009-09-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

Great job by all at Thursday's meet - We are sorry if you did not run. We will have more Jr. High meets coming up - Look to the right for the updated schedule and we will post more about the Jr High meets this weekend.

Saturday's meet is in Oak Canyon Community Park in Oak Park, which is located near Agoura Hills, it should take about 45 minutes to get to Oak Park.

One of the best parts of cross country is the "walk thru" which starts at 8:00 am sharp. We will walk the entire course with your son or daughter will run. Parents, siblings, friends, neighbors are welcome at the walk thru. This is an excellent time for the kids to lose a few butterflies and to enjoy the company of all the VC Express families.

We can not wait for you to experience the cross country season.

Directions and Map (Remember never trust Google maps or MapQuest) call Coach Andrew if you are lost at 805-794-6333

Take the 101 south and exit at Kanan Road.
Turn left on Kanan Road and proceed north approximately 3 miles.
Turn right at Hollytree Drive.

Map

View Larger Map

All Comers 2K & 5K Cross Country Run

2009-09-10T14:52:00.000-07:00

2K RACE AT 8:00 AM - OPEN TO ALL
5K RACE AT 8:30 AM - OPEN TO ALL
5K RACE AT 10:00 AM - COLLEGE ONLY
4 MILE RACE AT 10:30 AM - COLLEGE ONLY

Registration Fee: $5.00 per athlete. Registration begins at 7:00 AM.
Medals awarded to age groups 0-8, 9-13, 14-17, 18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60+.
All proceeds benefit the Southern California Youth Track & Field Conference National Team.
For more information contact Dimitri Lagos at (805) 297-6336.

Directions

Pierce College
6201 Winnetka Ave
Woodland Hills, CA 91371

101 South
Exit at Winnetka Ave
Go to the Calvert/Brahma Entrance and Turn Left
Go to the Stadium area.

Map

Happy Labor Day

2009-09-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

No practice today but of course it would not hurt to run a little.

We will have a mandatory Parent meeting at the end of practice this Thursday around 5:30 to discuss what is expected at meets & of course to answer any questions you may have. We are also going have parents sign up for positions for the meet we will be hosting on OCT 3. The meet is one of the few but most important volunteer effort you are required to fulfill.

This coming Saturday's meet is open to parents. Meet info

2009 Season Underway

2009-08-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

It is not too late to register for the upcoming season. If you or someone you know is interested please stop by practice at Arroyo Verde Park - Monday, Tuesday or Thursday from 4:30 to 6:00 and sign up. Bring the Registration Form.

I would like to thank all the parents for coming out and running with the kids.

Here are the Age divisions and Race distances for the upcoming season.

Division - Birth - Year - Race - Distance
Gremlin - 2001-2003 - 2000 meters - 1.24 Miles
Bantam - 1999-2000 - 3000 meters - 1.86 Miles
Midget - 1997-1998 - 3000 meters - 1.86 Miles
Youth - 1995-1996 - 4000 meters - 2.48 Miles
Intermediate - 1993-1994 - 4000 meters - 2.48 Miles
Young Men/Women - 1991-1992- 4000 meters- 2.48 Miles

Oxnard State Beach

2009-08-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here are directions to Oxnard State Beach from Ventura

Take Victoria towards Oxnard (south)
Right on Wooley Rd
Left at Harbor Blvd
Oxnard State beach is about 3/4 of a mile on your right.

We will meet in the parking lot. Then go as a team to the beach to start out run.
If you are late we will be on the beach and it will be very difficult for you to find us because we already running.

Practice is very short about 30 minutes.

Google Map of Oxnard State Beach.

View Larger Map

Practice and Registration

2009-07-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

The season is a only a couple of months away! Our sign ups are going very well, if you are interested becoming part of our team it is not to late. We can take new athletes up to our first meet in September, of course the sooner the better.

Optional practice will start for returning runners Tuesday August 3rd 4:30 pm at Oxnard State Beach - Bring your Orange Shirt.
The optional/returning athlete practice will be held at Oxnard State Beach at 4:30 on the following days:

Thursday Aug 6 run 6 min out and back - 12 min total
Monday Aug 10 - run 7 min out and back - 14 min total
Tues Aug 11 - run 8 min out and back - 16 min total
Thursday Aug 13 - 10 min out and back 20 min total

These practices will be shorter than our regular practices. The workout will be light. We are getting back into shape do not run hard - it is a light conversational run. If you feel hurt stop.

Regular season practice will start on Aug 17 at 4:30 to 5:45 at Arroyo Verde Park. We will practice Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for the entire year.

Good luck and continue to enjoy your summer!!
Coach Andrew

Next round of Sign Ups

2009-06-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

if you missed the first Sign up here is your chance.

Tuesday July 7th we will have another sign up at Arroyo Verde Park. We will be in Orange shirts, a our picnic table just past the first parking lot on your right. Boys and Girls ages 8 – 16 are welcome. The season runs August to end of October.

Our season schedule is almost confirmed, one bit of good news is we will hold a meet this year!! Mark your calendar Saturday October 3rd, of course we will need all the help we can get, course monitors, timers, snack bar. If you interested please use the form to the right.

Sign Up for 2009 Season

2009-05-01T10:14:00.001-07:00

Welcome everyone track season is coming to a close not to worry - that means youth cross country is right around the corner. If you are not familiar with VC Express we are a small organization (compared to Tigres) we have had anywhere from 20 to 40 runners in a season. 90% of our athletes are in Tigres or some track program. Our coaches have either Tigres or High School coaching experience. We compete in the Valley Conference and we also participate in some Ventura Middle School Cross Country meets, in fact some of our runners ran for their middle school last year. Finally, we welcome all levels of athletes, from beginner to National AAU ruuner. We like to have fun and run - take a look at some to the older posts to the right - don't miss the halloween photos. Pracitce will start sometime in August with beach runs, we will pass information along once we have finalized dates and times.

If you have any questions please contact Andrew VanConas vanconas@gmail.com or 805-794-6333

We are doing something different this year - a preliminary registration.

The 2009 Season preliminary registration will begin on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 4:30 PM at Arroyo Verde Park

If you have not downloaded the forms on the right please do so and bring to registration. We add a medical waiver form so a total of 4 forms.

In addition, please bring

Copy of the athlete's Birth Certificate
check made out to VC Express for $100.00.

The fee includes practice tee shirt, meet singlet and entry to all meets.

April/May News

2009-04-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

I know it is still Track & Field season and some of us have not even begun our summer planning but I wanted to share some exciting news. First we will have a Spring registration in a couple of weeks!!! The next bit of news is that I think we are going to host a meet a Arroyo Verde Park this fall season!

Of course this means we will need parent involvement which is never a problem with our team.

Stay tuned and I will have more information soon.

If you need to contact me please feel free to use vanconas@gmail.com

Halloween

2008-11-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

VC Express Twilights

2008-10-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

VC Express O'Melveny Park

2008-10-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

VC Express Ventura Middle School Meet

2008-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

Photos from Central Park

2008-10-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

Photos from Oaks Canyon Park

2008-10-13T15:52:00.001-07:00

Photos from VYC Invitational

2008-10-03T17:25:00.001-07:00

Balboa Meet

2008-09-22T11:48:00.001-07:00

Directions to Pierce College

2008-09-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that the Google Map directions to Pierce College take to the wrong area of Pierce College. Here are the correct directions.

PIERCE COLLEGE - WOODLAND HILLS
6201 Winnetka Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91371
101 Ventura eastbound to Winnetka Ave, turn left (north). Continue on Winnetka for about .75 miles to Calvert and turn left into the school. Follow the road until it ends and make a left turn. Follow the road past the football stadium. The parking lot is just past the football stadium.

Corriganville Meet

2008-09-20T16:48:00.001-07:00

Nice work VC Express!!! Everyone Ran Great!!!
To view the results click on the meet schedule on the right.

Here are some Photos!!

Meet 1 -Corriganville Regional Park, Simi Valley, Ca

2008-09-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Meet Time:
Plan to arrive by 8:00 am
Course Walk Through: 8:15 am.
First Race: 8:30 to 9:00 AM.
Approximate START time: Gremlins 9:00, Bantams 9:30, Midgets 10:15, Youth & Intermediate 11:00.

PARENTS: You may want to bring shade and chairs for yourselves, you are encouraged to sit with the team and supervise your own children.
Parents are allowed to watch runners out on the course.
Just cheer, don’t interfere.

UNIFORMS: Orange Jersey and black shorts.

Coaches Phone #
Robert Wright
c 805-340-8154
Andrew VanConas
c 805-794-6333

Directions
Corriganville Regional Park, Simi Valley, Ca
Take the 118 Hwy east, to the last Simi Valley exit at Kuehner Road. Right on Kuehner, left on Smith into park area. Parking along road.

Week 2

2008-08-25T14:00:00.000-07:00

This week we will continue to work on our Base. We will have our first tempo run on Monday along with a long run. Tuesday will be the core workout - Thursday will be our first 800 day!

We are still accepting new athletes - come to our practice at Arroyo Verde Park - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday at 4:30.

Don't forget you log books!!

Parents Meeting and Sign Ups Continue

2008-08-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today is our parent/athlete meeting from 4:30 to 5:00 at AVP. This is a chance for the coaches to pass information about the upcoming season. It is also an excellent time for parents to ask questions and get to know the coaches.

Sign ups will continue if you are interested in joining our team please stop by practice M, Tue, Thur at Arroyo Verde Park - first parking lot on the left - look for the orange shirts!

First Practice and New web address

2008-08-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

Great first practice- it was fun to see all the returning and new runners! Don't forget to eat right (No sweets) drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep.

We have a new web address http://www.expressxcountry.com/ you can still use http://vcexpress.blogsport.com/ either will take to you this site.

Sign-ups continue this afternoon and Thursday at Arroyo Verde Park at 4:15 - First parking lot on the left - look for the orange shirts!

Sign Ups Today!!

2008-08-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

The first sign-up will be today at 4:00 pm at Arroyo Verde Park first Parking lot on the left. Look the guy with a table and boxes of bright orange shirts.
If you do not make it to todays sign-up we will have sign-ups next Monday and Tues.

If you have not downloaded the forms on the right please do so and bring to registration. We add a medical waiver form so a total of 4 forms.

In addition, please bring

Copy of the athlete's Birth Certificate
check made out to VC Express for $100.00.

The fee includes practice tee shirt, meet singlet and entry to all meets.

Season is a go!!

2008-08-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

I attended the conference meeting last night - it looks like another exciting cross country season! This years AAU Cross Country National Championship will be in Decatur, Al on Dec 6.

I tried very hard to get a home meet this year but the season schedule had been finalized - I will work hard to get a home meet next year. The schedule is to the right -->

I was reviewing some information from past seasons and I noticed we started practice at 4:30 in the past. Therefore I changed the practice times form 4:00 to 4:30. If this time does not fit your schedule please let me know.

As most of you know Coach Wright is a busy man and travels quite a bit. He will not be at many practices and so far I am the only 'full-time" coach. We need all we can get. If you are interested in helping coach please let me know.
Coach Andrew

Sign ups

2008-08-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

We are hoping to have sign ups next week (Tues Aug 12 and Saturday Aug 16). We will pass along the times an location soon. Practice will start on Monday August 18th at 4:30 pm in Arroyo Verde Park - look for the orange shirts!!! We meet next to the first parking lot. Take a look at the schedule to the right.

If you are not familiar with "Blogs" you can leave comments or questions for us. Try it - It is an easy way to ask a question and we can share the answer.

I will be attending the Valley Conference coaches meeting and will try my hardest to get a home meet - we are over due!!

Age Divisions and Race Distances

2008-07-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

Division	Birth Year	Race Distance
Sub-Bantams	2000 & under	2000 meters	1.24 Miles
Bantam	1998-99	3000 meters	1.86 Miles
Midget	1996-97	3000 meters	1.86 Miles
Youth	1994-95	4000 meters	2.48 Miles
Intermediate	1992-93	5000 meters	3.1 Miles

First Post - 2008 Season

2008-07-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost over and it time to start thinking about cross country season!! We will have sign ups during the next couple of weeks, we are working on times and locations. Practices will be at Arroyo Verde Park on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday starting at 4:00 pm and ending at 5:45.

We welcome all youth cross country runners from age 7 to 16!! More information to follow!!

Coach Andrew