Doing the leg work
Cross country teams getting ready to run
By JARED PUTNAM Union Sentinel Editor

Sentinel photos/Jared Putnam UCHS Cross Country Head Coach Jackie Hughes helps her athletes work on strengthening their muscles.

Cross country races ultimately come down to who finishes the course the fastest, but getting the athletes in shape for those competitions is about much more than speed.

"The first two weeks we [focus on] strength and endurance, then we incorporate more speed work," Panthers Head Coach Jackie Hughes said. "We're doing a lot of push-ups and sit-ups to build muscle strength while building our mileage up." Due to the heat, the team is currently practicing from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. instead of the usual 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. slot. The coach said that if the heat persists, practice may even be pushed back to 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. the rest of the week.

"The state now requires that you take a heat index reading every day and make changes as necessary," the coach said. "We have to look at that a lot more closely this year, which is fine. I'd rather do that than take any chances."

Coach Hughes currently has 34 athletes (20 girls and 14 boys) on the cross country roster, a number that is up noticeably over last year. While the girls team only lost one senior, the boys team will need athletes to step up after losing three of its top seven runners from last year.

The boys run sprints up the hill.

The first race is just over two weeks away, but the coach said that training is coming along well thanks to good attitude and good work ethics from the athletes. "If we can keep that up, we'll do alright," she said. "I just want to give them a good foundation for that first race. After that we'll put in more speed."

Although potential injuries and inexperience always make it hard to gauge how the season will turn out, Coach Hughes said she always has high goals for her teams. "The first thing I tell them every year is that my expectation is to be busy on the second weekend in November," she said. "I plan on that weekend being taken by State [competition.] I'm looking forward to another good season."

Sentinel photo/Jared Putnam The girls team runs the hill.