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Dietler Family Pics McKinleyville 08/2004 Photo Album |
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Favorite weather web sites Weather.com Yahoo Weather I especially like the Doppler radar on Intellicast's site: Intellicast Doppler Radar This web site has weather watches, warnings, etc. CA Watches, Warnings, etc. |
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| Cross Country 2002 On October 15th, James went to his first cross country practice for the Buffalo Chips running club and loved it so much he begged in parents to let him participate in the cross country meet that Sunday, October 20th, in Reno. James got "cold feet" just minutes before the race and had to be coaxed into running. Teammate Nathan Paddeck gave James a pep talk on the start line and off they went. Much to everyone? surprise, James came in 3rd in the Bantam Boys division ('92 and'93 birthdays) on the challenging 3k (1.8 miles) course and won his first medal. James takes 3rd place in his first Cross Country race!  Buffalo Chips Youth Running Team in Reno James' second meet was Friday, October 25th. This race was not part of the regular season (the Buffalo Chips participate in the USA Track and Field cross country season and race against other teams in their division) - it was the Placer Invitational High School meet at Sierra College. James ran in the 4th/ 5th grade boys mile race. There were approximately 50-60 4th and 5th grade boys lined up on the starting line that day. James again surprised everyone when he came down the final stretch in 1st place having led the way through the hilly course. He was out sprinted at the finish by teammate Zach Welz (a 5th grader) but received a 1st place medal as the first 4th grader to finish. His time was 5:43 ? James' goal had been to break 7 minutes ? no one imagined he would break 6! James was so excited and proud to have earned medals in his first two races that he had to be coaxed in to taking them off at bedtime. The next race was a regular season cross country meet in Vallejo where James took 3rd place with a 13:21 finish receiving his 3rd medal. The cross season begins wraps up with the Pacific Association Championships and Regional 14 Championships in November and Nationals in December. On November 17th, James ran in the Pacific Association Championships, the qualifier for Region 14 Championships (Regionals). The first 25 finisher in each age group receive a medal and advance to Regionals. James came in 7th with a time of 11:17 ? he was the first of the 12 Buffalo Chip Bantam Boys to cross the finish line that day. On the following Sunday, Regionals were held in Pleasanton. This meet is the qualifying meet for the National Cross County Junior Olympics (Nationals) in Carrolton, GA. The top 20 receive a medal and advance to Nationals. James came in 9th with a time of 11:32 easily qualifying for Nationals. The National Cross County Junior Olympics is the culmination of the USA Track and Field Cross Country season and draws the best youth cross country runners from all over the country including Hawaii and Alaska. Race day was Saturday, December 14th. James and his family left for Georgia on December 12th with about 40 other Buffalo Chip youth runners drawing a lot of attention and interest along the way from other travelers, flight attendants and even the pilots. The day of the race was cold (in the 30's), wet and windy. James had woken up with a horrible cold and complained of a sore calf during pre-race warm-ups. Despite all that, James finished 51st out of 272 and, once again, finished first for his team. James' time was 12:56 over the hilly, muddy, wet 1.8 mile course. What a terrific finish for a 9 year old who started running just two months before Nationals! For more information on the Buffalo Chips Youth Running Club go to www.eteamz.com/buffalochips. James wearing his 5 medals  |