2013 XC Season Highlights

The 2013 cross country season is nearly over and there is a lot to celebrate.

The Hermiston High School boys team won it's fourth consecutive Columbia River Conference title and fourth consecutive state meet trophy.

Photo by Derek Earl
Seniors Jose Macias and Alejandro earned First Team All-CRC honors for finishing side-by-side at the district meet.

Alejandro Cisneros and Jose Macias finishing together at CRC Championships
Photo by Hermiston Herald

They also earned First Team All-State honors for the second consecutive year, placing second and fifth respectively.

Jose's state time of 15:50 is the second fastest time in Hermiston High School history at the state meet, making Alejandro (15:46; 2012) and Jose (15:50) the two fastest Hermiston runners in school history at the state meet.


Jose's second place finish at state ties the highest finish in school history at the OSAA Cross Country meet, matched only by his older sister, Jennifer Macias (2005, 2006), and Jordan Ringe (2008).

    BOYS TOP TEN @ STATE

     1
Alejandro Cisneros
15:46
2012
3(5A)
 2
Jose Macias
15:50
2013
2(5A)
3
Eduardo Juarez
15:52
2011/2012
4(5A)
4
Jordan Ringe
15:54
2008
2(5A)
5
Brian Horneck
15:56
2001
8 (4A) 
6
Tommy Puzey
16:08
2002
 17 (4A)
7
Javier Velasco
16:17
2010/2011
3(5A)/11(5A)
8
Jose Juarez
16:21
2004
 20 (4A)
9
Joe Hernandez
16:21
2003
 37 (4A)
10
Terry Johnsen
16:23
2007
9 (5A)

They were soon followed by one of the fastest freshman in school history, Hayden Scott, whose 16th place finish earned him Third Team All-State honors.  Sophomores Angel Castellanos (27), Hayden Earl (43), Donell Rome (49), and Josiah Niederwerfer (76) rounded out the scoring for the boys, earning the second consecutive third place team trophy at the state meet.

Alejandro and Jose will finish their high school cross country careers at their third consecutive Nike BorderClash - BorderClash 15 battling the top harriers in the northwest from Oregon & Washington.


Hayden Scott, Angel Castellanos, Hayden Earl, and Donell Rome joined forces with some of the other top freshmen and sophomores in the state to win the USATF Junior Olympics Oregon State Cross Country Championships. Their Bowerman Athletic Club team will challenge the other qualifying teams from throughout the northwest at the Regional Championships this weekend.  If they qualify by placing in the top three, they will go on to compete at the national championships in San Antonio, TX.


On the girls side, we had a larger team than we've had in recent years, but poor diet, lack of consistent hard work in the off season, and a more competitive league kept us from competing at the state meet.  Hopefully, we can fix our diets, do more in the off season, and rise to the level of competition in the CRC and state of Oregon.

At the middle school level, both ALMS and SMS had more numbers than ever before.  We will be looking to many of the middle school runners to fill in the gaps that graduation will cause at the end of this year.

The future is bright for Hermiston Cross Country!


Off Season Training for Long Term Success

PURPOSE: The purpose of summer/winter training is to prepare your body for the stress it will experience when you race in the Fall/Spring.  The purpose is not to enter cross country or track season ready to run your fastest race of the season, but to be fit enough to compete at your first few meets without getting injured.  Then we can work towards peaking at the end of the season.  Rather than worrying about specific splits or paces at this time in your training, it is best to focus on intensity (effort), consistency, and gradually increasing your training volume. 

INTENSITY: Every run should be a challenge.  You should be able to hear and feel yourself breathe.  You should feel your heart pulsating and pumping blood throughout your body.  If you do not feel this way when you run, you are not running hard enough. 

Maintenance runs should be 1:30 to 2:00 per mile slower than your current PR 5K pace.  For example, if you run an 18:45 5K (6:00 mile) you should not be running your easy runs any slower than 8:00 per mile.  This means that you should not be training regularly with other people who run 25:00 for 5K (8:00 mile) because their “easy” pace should be several minutes (9:30 – 10:00) per mile slower than yours.

Progressive runs should start at easy pace for the first few minutes/miles, but should gradually increase in intensity until you are running closer to 5K effort toward the end.  The average pace of these runs should be about a minute slower than 5K race pace.  So if you are a 16:00 5K runner you should be averaging 6:00 per mile on these runs (7:00 building up to 5:00 when you finish.)

Strides are 20 – 30 second bursts that should be done at a sprint (85-95%) pace.  Strides help build running turn-over and efficiency.  When doing strides, it is important to focus on form and cadence (180 strides per minute).  Strides can be done either after a run is completed or in the middle of a run as a fartlek in which you stride out and then return to your regular pace to catch your breath and then stride again.  They can also be done on hills – surge the up-hill or surge the downhill.  The key is simply to let your body run as naturally as possible.
  

CONSISTENSY: Now is the time to begin the habit to run six days a week.  When the season starts we will be training hard all week and then racing on the weekends.  Your body needs to prepare for this by training six days a week.  The sooner you start the habit, the sooner you will be ready to perform well at Saturday meets and the less likely you will be to get injured when the racing starts.

VOLUME: Running longer at a sustained effort increases endurance.  Distance should never be sacrificed for intensity.  The goal is to gradually increase both the distance and intensity of your runs.  Taking a gradual approach will enable you to increase your intensity and your volume simultaneously without risking injury or over-fatigue.

EXTRAS:  Running should consume the majority of your training time.  Basic stretching and strengthening should be done before and after your run for a few minutes.  Additional exercises, drills, and stretches can and should be done at home.  

  



Each mile that you run, each interval you complete, each core/gut workout you endure, each hour you sleep, each cup of water you drink, each drop of sweat that you spill, each healthy food that you eat, each positive thought that you think, each goal that you set and achieve, each PR that you run is an investment - a coin in the bottle - that you can count on and use when you need it most - at the end of the season. 

The General Prep Phase is about 12 weeks:

June 1 to September 1 for Cross Country.

The following calculations will help you set daily, weekly and overall general prep phase mileage goals for each season.

      100 miles/12 weeks = 8 mpw/4 days = 2 miles per day
      200 miles/12 weeks = 16 mpw/4 days = 4 miles per day 
      300 miles/12 weeks = 24 mpw/5 days = 5 miles per day 
      400 miles/12 weeks = 33 mpw/5 days = 6 miles per day
                                       Intermediate Training Plan

      500 miles/12 weeks = 42 mpw/6 days = 7 miles per day
      600 miles/12 weeks = 48 mpw/6 days = 8 miles per day
      700 miles/12 weeks = 60 mpw/6 days = 10 miles per day

To help you determine your summer training mileage goals, select and stick to a mileage plan above based on previous training experience and ability level.

All of our training and racing is geared toward one course, one race, and one day each season – the WIAA Cross Country Championships in Pasco WA.

Image result for washington state meet cross country course