Coaches Corner with Girl’s Track, John Barthels
Go Hawks!!
The ReSporter: This is when you earn the Big Bucks, how hard is it in putting the athletes with the events?
Coach Barthels: “This is the time that we take each girl’s strengths and put them in events that can keep as many girls continuing to the area meet as possible.”
The ReSporter: How do you differentiate between running as an individual vs. putting that person on a relay team?
Coach Barthels: “Everyone wants to win the relays, I am guilty as well, but when you look at numbers and points it gets dicey. Four of your fastest girls can get a total of 20 points on a relay, If you were to use those girls in individual events and could place 1-4 that is worth 28 points…not that you could do that, but it is something I consider when putting girls in events for district. We compare times and combinations of girls that have run the relays and figure which girls can A. Get the points you need and B. Place in the top 4 spots to move on to the next meet. So I have a lot of work to do between now and Sunday when our entries are due.”
The ReSporter: What are your thoughts going into next week’s district meet?
Coach Barthels: “I am excited for this group of seniors. I have several young girls that will do well in the future, but this means a lot to those girls who have been in the program or any track program since the 7th grade on. They have a ton of time invested.”
The ReSporter: Will you be at full strength for district?
Coach Barthels: “We are sitting at about 95% I would say, but should be good come next week.”
The ReSporter: Your process has worked well so far this season with some wins, which has not been done before for the ladies, how do you break down the other district teams?
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Coach Barthels: “We do not have any distance runners at all, so those teams are positive points against us for two races automatically so we have to work hard in all of the other events. Cuero has speed, LaVernia has some speed and distance runners, all and all breaking down the teams we will have a battle next week and will have to scratch and claw for every point we can get.”
The ReSporter: I know you hope there are not a large number of girls that have peaked yet, which type of athlete is that harder to tell if they have peaked or not?
Coach Barthels: “We are right where we need to be at this point. The potential is there for everyone to improve on times and field events. Pulling that potential out come race day comes from within the athlete and I can honestly say we have some competitive girls on this team.”
The ReSporter: You have used many of the girls on multiple events and now you decide where and which event they will do in a few days….how important was the practice meet in Dripping Springs?
Coach Barthels: “It allowed me to get times on some girls that have not run certain events so this will give me a few more options come next week for both the Varsity and JV.”
The ReSporter: And what were you looking for in that meet?
Coach Barthels: “Knowing that it is just a “practice” meet makes the girls have to work harder to improve. We did get better today and if we were keeping those times officially, we improved in several races.”
The ReSporter: How do you feel about this team at this time of the year where you are getting ready for that final kick of the race?
Coach Barthels: “I am proud to be the coach of such a great group of athletes. They will do their best next week and I do not make predictions on winning, but I can say we will improve tremendously over last year’s district finish and the girls want to be district champions. I can’t wait to see what happens next week.”
The ReSporter: Thanks Coach and good luck in district!!
