Leonardtown High School Cross Country Fall 2018 Information and Summer 2018 Conditioning Program Head Coach Brooke Fallon bsfallon@smcps.org Assistant Coaches--Justin Zarzaca, Clare Sullivan, and Curt Foianini Cross country (XC) is competitive running off-road. At the high school level, races are generally a 5K/3.1 mile distance. There is grass, dirt, mud, gravel, roots, and other natural obstacles on the courses. It is a test of physical, mental, and emotional strength as well as endurance. It is hard work AND extremely rewarding. You will have to commit to doing your best for yourself to improve your own performance which will directly results in improvement for the TEAM. In-season meets are about which TEAM wins. Invitational and SMAC/Regional/States meets recognize the TEAM and the individual winners. The Leonardtown High School Cross Country (LHS XC) program is built on three basic principles: RUNNING Running, running, and more running. Start running now. Run in the summer. Run at conditioning and practice. Run on Saturdays. Commit to running. Commit to running off road before and during the season. It all about the running! RESPECT Respect running off-road. Respect your coaches, captains, and teammates. Respect the rawness of the sport, through the good weather and the bad, through good times and the sad. Respect the summer conditioning program and you will be ready to race in September. Respect the inseason training that will make you the best runner you can be. RESPONSIBILITY Nobody can make you run. You have to take responsibility for yourself to go and run. This is a NO EXCUSES sport. Your responsibility to the summer conditioning program will directly result in making the team, and directly result in improvement in your performance in the season, which will directly result in team performance. In addition, you are responsible to stay informed of all team events and meets by reading your emails and signing up for the Remind Text alerts. Fall 2018 Tryouts for cross country will be held on August 8 th and 9th at LHS. Meet at the track, near the home bleachers, at the shed. Ensure you have taken care of all administrative (physical & registration on Family ID) prior to trying out. If you are not cleared to try out on Family ID on August 8 th, then you cannot try out and then will not be able to be selected for the team. Tryout requirements will be posted on our LHS XC website-- http://schools.smcps.org/lhs/athletics/178-cross-country by mid-july. At the minimum, be prepared to run a full 5k, a one mile time trial, and perform multiple strength & core exercises in addition to being able to withstand the summer heat! Approximately 25 boys and 25 girls will make the team, performance dependent.
If you make the team, practices will be held Aug 13-17, Aug 20-24, and Aug 27-31. Fri, Aug 24 th will be our Intrasquad Meet. When school begins, practice will be from 3-5pm every day after school at LHS, and 8-10am on Saturdays at various locations. All practices (even those between tryouts and the start of school) are mandatory, attendance is taken each practice. Absences for any reason can result in not being permitted to participate in meets. There will be approximately six regular season meets (usually Weds or Thurs) that qualified runners can race. If we have more runners than seats on the bus, we will take the runners with the best times and best attendance. There will be at least three Invitational meets. We can take most runners to these meets but they are still dependent on running performance and attendance. The Invitational meet dates will be available by the start of the season and posted on our LHS XC website. The first Invitational Meet is Saturday, Sept 1 st Labor Day weekend! Late in Oct and Nov will be SMAC, Regional, and States meets. Runners with qualifying times/placements will be permitted to run in these races. We will publish a detailed list of meets and send them via email after tryouts. If you wish to access the season schedule at any time search online www.smac.org and select the sports schedules you wish to view. Uniforms are provided for races and must be returned at the end of the season. Uniforms are only to be worn to meets. gear includes trail running shoes, running shorts & shirt, sports watch, and water. Bring your own water! All important information will be on the LHS XC website before and during the season. Be sure to provide us with your email so we can add you to our list. A parent email and a student s email for each runner is preferred. We also use the Remind101 text system for quick info for the team. http://schools.smcps.org/lhs/athletics/178-cross-country We coaches look forward to working with you!
LHS XC Summer 2018 Conditioning The most important components of the summer conditioning program are in the grid below. *Attached calendars are subject to change* RUN on your own! Build mileage to prepare for tryouts and the season. A guideline for quantity of running is part of this packet. Run whenever and wherever you can. Get acclimated to the heat by running outside. XC is always outside and when practice starts after school, summer heat will be in full swing. On the attached calendars, the Saturday totals are total miles. You should vary your times/distances throughout the week--some short runs, some medium and then at least one longer run per week (usually on the weekend). Also, vary your speeds. Work at super EZ pace for about 75% of the time each week. For 10-15% of the time work at a tempo pace, which is harder effort, but not hardest. For the last 10-15% of the time, run hard! On tempo & hard days, be sure to incorporate warm up and cool downs at EZ pace. Give yourself 1-2 REST days per week. ATTEND SUMMER CONDITIONING at LHS when you can. Coaches and team members get to know each other before the season. Get acclimated with the course so you know where to go for tryouts and for the season. Getting lost is not an excuse for poor performance. on Sundays for conditioning updates and announcements. REGISTER ON FAMILY ID! You may not participate in any of the conditioning at LHS nor tryouts without being registered and APPROVED! Start the process on the LHS Athletics website. http://schools.smcps.org/lhs/athletics Your physical must be current through the entire season, or you will not be approved. Do CORE & STRENGTH TRAINING! Overall CORE strength and lower/upper body strength prevents injuries! We will have strength training workouts posted on the LHS XC website and will send out weekly emails with details.
June 2018 ALL TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE-READ SUNDAY EMAILS FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFO Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday A= Advanced I=Intermediate B = Beginners 29 XC Info Session @ LHS A Lunch 30 31 Have you made your physical appointment yet if needed? 1 2 Weekly mileage totals are given on Saturdays below Keep track of your workouts! 3 4 Vary your distance & paces on weekday workouts 5 Be sure to do EZ pace warm up & cool down on harder days 6 XC Info Session @LMS 7:20 AM 7 XC Info Session @EMS 7:20 AM?? 8 Strength & conditioning 3-4 days/week! See email fr Sun 9 A=24miles I=17 mi B=12 mi or 90 min 10 17 24 11 12 13 14 15 Last day of school-early Dismissal 16 A=27 I= 19 B=13 mi or 100 min 18 19 20 21 22 23 A=31 I=21 B=15 mi or 110 min 25 26 27 28 29 LHS 30 A=30 I=21 B=15 mi
July 2018 ALL TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE-READ EMAILS ON SUNDAYS FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFO Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 LHS 5:30-7PM 4 Happy 4 th of July!!! 5 LHS 7 A=34 I=24 B=17 8 9 10 11 12 LHS 13 14 A=39 I=27 B=20 15 16 17 18 19 LHS 20 21 A=35 I=25 B=18 22 23 24 25 26 LHS 27 28 A=40 I=28 B=21 29 30 31 Aug 1 Aug 2 Aug LHS 3 Aug 4 A=40 I=28 B=22
August 2018 *Tryouts + = Mandatory Attendance ALL TIMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE PLEASE READ EMAILS EACH SUNDAY FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFORMATION Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 5 6 7 8 TRYOUTS! 9 TRYOUTS! 10 8-9:30am 11 Captain s, TBD 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Captain s, TBD 19 20 21 22 23 24 / Intrasquad Meet! 5-6:30 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 3-4:30 PM 1 Sept Seahawk Invitational 5:30AM-2:30PM (Approx.) So. River HS 2 Sept 3 Sept Labor Day No practice 4 Sept First day of school 3-5PM All practices are after school from this date forward. Refer to season calendar posted on website!