Cross Country

2014 Fall Cross Country (XC) Staff Head Coach: Mr. Mike Meistering Associate Head Coach: Mr. Hugh Mundy Part-Time Consultant: Mr. Eric Arnold ’08 Part-Time Assistant: Mr. John Mundy ’65 Athletic Director: Mr. Jim Stewart Athletic Trainer: Mr. Alex Shvartsberg

The Website The website can be found at or you can simply type “cross country” into the search bar on the Holy Ghost Prep website to find it. The website has everything you need to know, including the meet and practice schedule. The password for our community only is Iwillcontribute

Summer Training Check the website for summer training information! To be successful, you must train over the summer. Everyone should be running about an hour everyday at an appropriate training pace. We are lucky enough to have many driven runners on the team that practice together at Tyler State Park often. Get your teammates to be your running partners!

Group Team Training Opportunities Athletes are asked to make time to attend group runs to support each other’s development. The 2014 optional group runs will occur on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays beginning in the first week of July and continuing through to the start of official team practice in Mid-August. Attendance is encouraged, but not mandatory. Be at the Tyler State Park Canoe Rental/Causeway area at 6pm.

Team Training In-Season Official practice begins on August 11 th. Be sure all your forms are in! We practice often at Tyler State Park to enhance our training. Usually we will practice away from HGP at least two days a week once school is in session. Team members attend team practice! Cross Country is a TEAM sport – we need team members attending all of our meets and practices to help us all achieve!

Meet and Practice Schedule The meet and practice schedule is available on the website – like most other useful information! Check the website out! Lots to read and learn! Educate yourself about our sport! iCal format is available. Use your smartdevice to stay current with your sport commitment! We only have two league meets during the week, with most of our meets locally on Saturdays. We have chosen Saturday meets that give our JV and Freshmen or Novice athletes chances for great competition.

Shoes A common mistake is training without appropriate shoes for running. To find a good pair of shoes, we perform “the ‘bendy’ test” on them. The test is simply being able to bend the shoe in half as in the picture, not just at the toes! Most high school athletes do not need a medial post! Get new shoes every 300 miles!

HAVE FUN!! Although we work hard to get faster, that doesn’t mean we don’t have fun! Through joining the team you gain lifetime friends. Furthermore, there are fun activities that can include: running games which include speedball, scavenger hunts, etc., as well as team organized summer outings such as pool swims at the coaches’ house, Olive Garden team dinners, etc.