Photo courtesy of Jasmine Flores. Cross country has been holding Zoom workouts due to COVID-19. Member senior Jasmine Flores took the initiative to practice her form and run independently aside from practice.
Sports preview: Cross country slowed by pandemic restrictions
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Steve Morales, Head Coach
Q: How is the team adapting to COVID-19 currently, and how is it going to adapt to COVID-19 once official practice begins?
A: With no official team practices due to COVID-19, some kids are practicing without the coaches and following all the guidelines from the state. Whenever we are permitted to officially start practicing as a team, I will create a plan for practice with the school that will follow the CIF and state guidelines at that time. I am considering splitting practice among small groups: some of the team may run before school and others after school.
Q: What challenges is cross country facing due to the pandemic?
A: The main one is just not having any coaches to guide them for practicing. Cross country is a non-contact sport. It is very easy to use face covering while running. When you drive by parks, there are a lot of people jogging while following COVID-19 guidelines. Cross country should be able to practice following these same rules after the stay-at-home order ends.
Emily Chen, Zoom leader, senior
Q: What has the team been doing on Zoom to prepare for the upcoming season?
A: We have been doing cardio, leg, and core exercises to make up for not distance-running. Every practice, we begin with a warm-up and end with stretching. Some examples of our cardio workouts are: jumping jacks, jump squats, and mountain climbers. For leg exercises, we do squats, split squats, calf raises, and wall sits. Our last workouts for the core are different types of crunches based on ones that former coach, Ms. Suñe, showed us.
Q: What are your goals for the team for the upcoming season?
A: I am hoping that the team is well prepared for the races ahead. My main concern is how we will adjust to running after all of these at-home workouts since the workouts are very different from actually running. Through Zoom, we can’t physically do what we would normally do for practices; however, it has been a great way to mentally prepare members. I am also hoping that when or if we do have a chance to meet physically, we can bond even more as a team.
Jason Lei, in-person leader, junior
Q: What in-person workouts has Cross Country been doing to prepare for the upcoming season?
A: Prior to the new stay-at-home order, we were running within a few miles radius of Garvey Park and doing some workouts to build our strength after. Our season recently got postponed until by CIF-SS, so we have transitioned to solely Zoom workouts for now.
