Welcome to our new website!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Hello, Sentinel runners, parents, alumni, and community members!

Welcome to our new website!!! We're very excited to be able to use this website this season and in the future. It's going to be a great tool to add to our program.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Coach Dunne directly at brian (dot) dunne20 @ gmail (dot) com. You can also give Coach Dunne feedback and suggestions by going to the heading where it says "Athletes & Parents" and clicking on "Feedback & Suggestions" when the dropdown list appears. Please note that you will need to be a registered member of the website to access the Feedback & Suggestions page.

Let's begin with the main page. Here's how it's currently outlined:

• First, you'll see our logo at the top. This will change periodically. Currently, there's an advertisement there, but when the upgrade to the Silver package goes through, that advertisement will be gone and our logo will be entirely at the top.

 

• Next, you'll see our header with several different sections. This will be outlined later in this post.

 

• Then, you'll see banners that will change. These will change through the season as we go through meets and new information becomes available.

 

• Occasionally, we'll post announcements. These announcements are only temporary and will disappear after a certain amount of time. These are only used for short announcements, such as when a bus departure time for a meet is, or for a meet cancellation that needs to be immediately announced.

 

• Below that, it splits into two sections:
  • On the left hand side, it will show the five (5) most recent news posts that we've posted.
  • On the right hand side, it splits into three smaller sections. From top to bottom, you will see:
    • The next two (2) upcoming meets.
    • The previous two (2) meets that have had results posted.
    • Documents and/or links section.
      • Note: If you click on anything in this section and are not a member that is logged in, you will not be able to access this.

 

• Underneath that, at the bottom of the website, it splits into three small sections. Left to right, the sections are currently set up as:
  • The left section will show statistics from our database. You'll be able to see how many results have been posted, how many rosters there are, how many athletes, how many log ins we've had on our website, and how many users we have on our website. This will automatically be updated.
  • The center section will showcase random pictures from our Flickr photostream. To see more pictures, you can either click on "View photostream" underneath the picture that is shown, or go to the Links section and click on "Photos".
  • The right hand section will show how many miles have been run, biked, swum, and how many entries have been entered into our training log. Currently, this is set to show all entries since June 9, 2014, which was the start of our summer running season. As our athletes enter their logs, this will be updated.

 

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Now, I also wanted to take the time to outline all of the sections and features we currently have on the header our website. This is going to be a long post, but I hope that you will be very familiar with the layout and features of our website by the time you are done reading this. For the purposes of this, I will go through each section that is listed in the banner at the top of every page you will see on our website.

 

Home
This one is pretty straightforward. Just click this and you'll return to the main page.

 

 

About
This section provides general information about Westmont Cross Country and our program.

 

• News
  Click here, and you'll be taken to a listing of every news post that we've ever posted on this website. You'll be able to sort between school years. The current school year, 2014-15, is the default setting.
  

 

• Roster
  Click here, and you'll see the current roster for the 2014 XC season. If you click on any athlete, you'll be taken to that athlete's page. Throughout the season, as we upload results into the system, you'll see each result from each meet that athlete has run in this season.

 

• Schedule & Results
  Click here, and you'll see the complete schedule for the 2014 XC season. If you click on any meet, you'll be taken to a page dedicated solely to that meet. Here, as the season progresses, you'll be able to access documents and results dedicated specifically to that meet. You'll also see a link to database results when we've uploaded results into that meet.
  
  Some meets may have a "Other Year's Meet Info & Results" link. Click that, and you'll be taken to a list where every other meet that is "related" to that meet. For example, if you were to click on that in the Plainfield Central meet page for this year, you'd see a list of every Plainfield Central Invitational we've been to. Pretty cool feature.

 

• Coaching Staff
  Click here, and you'll see a list of our current coaching staff, in alphabetical order, with their e-mail addresses and phone numbers (if they choose to make that information public)

 

• Database
  Click here, and you'll be taken to the main database page where you can adjust settings to see whatever results you would like. I have created a separate guide to the database and see how you stack up!. You can access that by clicking here.

 

• All-Time Bests
  Click here, and you'll be taken to a page which lists the top ten all-time best results at various distances for cross country from 1975 to 2013 (and 2014 once we start meets). You can adjust the settings at the top of the page and see how you stack up!

 

• All-Time Roster (Boys)
  This takes you to a page where I've created an alphabetical listing of every male athlete who has run cross country in our program from 1975 to 2013. Some years and some athletes are missing, and will be updated accordingly when I get those years' results into the database. New runners for the 2014 season will be added once we start our meet schedule.

 

• All-Time Roster (Girls)
  This takes you to a page where I've created an alphabetical listing of every female athlete who has run cross country in our program from 1975 to 2013. Some years and some athletes are missing, and will be updated accordingly when I get those years' results into the database. New runners for the 2014 season will be added once we start our meet schedule.

 

Records
This is a huge section that lists all of our achievements from 1975 to 2013. This is separate from the database found in the About section, though, and many of these records can be found in the end-of-season yearbooks that are given to athletes at our Fall Sports Awards Ceremony. Here we go:

 

• Boys State Championship History
  Every season the boys team has qualified to state is listed here. Each athlete that ran in that year's state meet is listed, along with their grade that year, their time, place and team points.

 

• Girls State Championship History
  Every season the girls team has qualified to state is listed here. Each athlete that ran in that year's state meet is listed, along with their grade that year, their time, place and team points.

 

• All-State Athletes
  An athlete may earn All-State distinction by placing in the top twenty-five (25) at the State Meet at Detweiller Park each November. Each athlete who has earned such a distinction is listed here.

 

• All-Time Top 25 Westmont Runners at State
  On this page, the top 25 male and female runners at the State Meet are listed by time. Each athlete is listed only once on this page, with their career best time at the State Meet, the grade they were in, their best time, their finish place, and the year they achieved that time.

 

• Top 25 Times at State
  On this page, the top 25 male and female times ever run at Detweiller Park by Westmont athletes are listed. On this page, an athlete may be listed more than once. They are listed with the grade they were in, their time, their place (which is the tiebreaker if more than one runner runs the same time), and then the season they ran that time in.

 

• Top 25 Places at State
  On this page, the top 25 male and female places that Westmont athletes have recorded are listed. On this page, an athlete may be listed more than once. They are listed with the grade they were in, their place, their time (which is the tiebreaker if more than one runner has finished in the same place), and the season they finished in that place.

 

• Sectional Championship History
  Every season that Westmont has qualified to and competed in the Sectional Championship as a team is listed here, with the team's finish position and team points.

 

• Sectional Medalists
  An athlete may earn a Sectional medal in cross country by placing in the top ten (10) at a Sectional meet. Athletes who have done so are listed on this page with the season they earned this honor and the place they earned.

 

• Regional Championship History
  Every season that Westmont has run in the Regional Championship (from 1977 to 1982 it was called Districts, but it is the same round) as a team is listed here with the team's finish position and team points.

 

• Regional Medalists
  An athlete may earn a Regional medal in cross country by placing in the top five (5) at a Regional meet. Athletes who have done so are listed on this page with the season they earned this honor and the place they earned.

 

• Conference Championship History
  Every season that Westmont has run in the Conference championship as a team is listed here, with the team's finish position and team points.

 

• Boys All-Conference Athletes
  Every male athlete who has earned All-Conference honors in our program's history is listed here with the place the season they earned their this honor and the place they earned. Currently, in the Interstate Eight Conference, an athlete must place in the top twelve (12) places to earn All-Conference honors. In past Conference meets, some male athletes earned Frosh-Soph All-Conference honors, but the Interstate Eight does not have a Frosh-Soph race at Conference.

 

• Girls All-Conference Athletes
  Every female athlete who has earned All-Conference honors in our program's history is listed here with the place the season they earned their this honor and the place they earned. Currently, in the Interstate Eight Conference, an athlete must place in the top twelve (12) places to earn All-Conference honors.

 

• Dual Meet Records
  Every season that Westmont has fielded a complete team (at least five scoring runners) is listed here along with that season's dual meet records.

 

Training Log
This feature is for registered members of our website only. To see a complete, detailed guide to the Training Log, please go to this page.
Note: You will need to be a registered member of the website to access this guide.

 

 

Team Area
This feature is for registered members of our website only. To see a complete, detailed guide to the Team Area, please go to this page.
Note: You will need to be a registered member on this website to access this guide.

 

 

Links
This section contains links to several external websites, related to cross country or track and field that may interest team members as well as parents. Here they are:

 

• Photos (hosted on Flickr)
  Click here, and you'll be taken to our team's Flickr page. Throughout the season, we will upload our photos onto here, and (hopefully) organize them into albums. We'll showcase these photos at our Fall Sports Awards Ceremony after the conclusion of the season. These photos will also be shown at random in the lower right hand corner of our website on the main page. Parents: If you would like to submit any photos that you take of our team, please contact Coach Dunne.

 

• IHSA Main
  Clicking this link will take you to the Illinois High School Association's main page.

 

• IHSA Boys XC
  Clicking this link will take you to the IHSA's Boys Cross Country page. Regional, Sectional and State Meet information and results will be posted here for all classes.

 

• IHSA Girls XC
  Clicking this link will take you to the IHSA's Girls Cross Country page. Regional, Sectional, and State Meet information and results will be posted here for all classes.

 

• DyeStat
  Clicking this link will take you to DyeStat's national page for national news from across the United States about cross country, as well as track and field in the spring.

 

• DyeStat IL
  Run by one of the most respected prep cross country and track and field writers in the state, Mike Newman, this is DyeStat's Illinois page for all things cross country and track and field in the state of Illinois.

 

• MapMyRun
  This website allows you to map your runs. Very useful for your Sunday cleanout runs, which you can post to your training log!

 

• Facebook
  This will take you to our team's Facebook page. Don't forget to "Like" us if you're on Facebook!

 

• Twitter
  This will take you to our teams Twitter page. Don't forget to follow us if you're on Twitter!

 

WHS
This section contains more links, but all are to various pages on the Westmont High School website.

 

• WHS Home
  Clicking here will take you directly to the home page of the Westmont High School website.

 

• WHS Athletics
  Clicking here will take you to Westmont High School's Athletics page.

 

• WHS Code of Conduct
  Clicking here will take you to a page that states Westmont High School's Athletic Code of Conduct that all athletes, regardless of sport or activity, are expected to follow.

 

• WHS Documents and Forms
  Clicking here will take you to a page that contains various documents and forms that are available to download that are necessary for an athlete to participate in an athletic sport at Westmont High School. Please note: Some of these forms are now being electronically submitted on the WHS Athletics website (click where it says WHS Athletics in the dropdown list)

 

• WHS Eligibility Requirements
  Clicking here will take you to a page that states the eligibility requirements for every student-athlete to remain eligible for participation in any activity related to athletics. This includes practices!

 

Boosters
This is an external link to the Westmont High School Athletic Boosters club's website.

 

WJHS XC
This is an external link to the Westmont Junior High School's Cross Country team website, which is run by Coach Farthing.

 

Login
Clicking here will take you to the login page for our team website.

 

Help
Click here, and you will see a Google form for website help on this page. Filling this out will send an e-mail to Coach Dunne, who will help resolve the issue that you may be having on our website. I will do my best to contact you within 24 hours to let you know on the status of your problem, or if it has been resolved.

 

I hope that this has helped you navigate and use our new website easily. As always, feel free to e-mail me at any time at brian (dot) dunne20 @ gmail (dot) com with any questions. If you are a registered member on our website, I also strongly encourage you to go to the Feedback & Suggestions page. This website was designed with our athletes in mind, and we are always looking to improve our website to make it better for our athletes. Your feedback is always welcomed!

 

I hope that you find this website useful, enjoyable, and a great resource for our program. I had a lot of fun building it over the summer!

 

Sincerely,
Coach Dunne

Run Hard. Be Strong. Think Big.

 

GO SENTINELS!!!