Questions: Round 2

This Monday to Thursday we will be hosting a track camp for kids ages 9-14 who will be competing in Friday's Hershey Track & Field meet. If you are available from 6-7PM and can help out please join us for a fun hour of activities.

Here is the 2nd installment of questions. Great stuff!

General Questions

• Will I fit in okay being my first year doing cross country?
• CAMPA. ABSOLUTELY, YES! IT LOOKS LIKE WE'LL HAVE A LOT OF NEW FACES ON THE TEAM
  AND BY COMING TO THE SUMMER RUNS YOU WON'T BE NEW FOR VERY LONG. THE OTHER
  TEAM MEMBERS ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO RUN WITH.
• What's the best part of cross country?
• CAMPA. BECOMING FIT AND ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING ATHLETICALLY THAT MANY OTHERS
  CAN'T, SETTING AND ACCOMPLISH GOALS (INDIVIDUALLY AND AS A TEAM), AND LAST
  BUT NOT LEAST THE SENSE OF "COMMUNITY" WITHIN THE TEAM.
  
• How long are practices after school?
• MR. STANKO. STARTS AT 2:40PM AND TYPICALLY LASTS UNTIL 3:40. SOME DAYS WILL GO UNTIL A LITTLE PAST 4:00.
  
• If I have a friend that did not attend the meeting able to still run xc?
• MR STANKO. YES. WE USUALLY HAVE AN OPEN DOOR WELL INTO THE SEASON. IT'S NEVER TO LATE TO START RUNNING.
  
• When does mandatory practice start?
• MR. STANKO. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11TH AT 9:00 AM. HASLETT HIGH SCHOOL TRACK.
  
• How long is the season?
• MR. STANKO. XC STATE FINALS (the final meet) IS THE FIRST WEEKEND OF NOVEMBER.
  
• How many days a week is practice?
• MR. STANKO. PRACTICE IS MONDAY - FRIDAY DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR.
  
• Do other fall sports (cheer, volleyball, soccer, etc.) conflict with cross country?
• CAMPA. YES. TO PERFORM AT YOUR BEST (WHILE KEEPING UP YOUR ACADEMIC
  RESPONSIBILITIES) IN ANY ONE SPORT IT IS BEST NOT TO COMPETE IN MULTIPLE
  SPORTS DURING THE SAME SEASON. IN ADDITION, IT MAY LEAD TO "OVERUSE" INJURIES.
• T-STANK. PERHAPS. WE ENCOURAGE OUR RUNNERS TO ONLY PARTICIPATE IN ONE SPORT EACH SEASON. IF YOU HAVE TWO SPORTS THAT ARE IN-SEASON AT THE SAME TIME (i.e. cross country and volleyball) YOU WILL NEED TO PICK ONE.
  
• Is there a certain time that everyone should have that is on the team?
• MR. STANKO. NO. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. THAT IS ONE OF THE BEAUTIES OF XC. WE CAN ACCOMMODATE EVERYONE, AND WE WILL MAKE EVERYONE FASTER.
  
• How intense is cross country?
• MR. STANKO. REALLY, IT'S TOTALLY UP TO THE INDIVIDUAL. YOU CAN MAKE IT INTENSE OR YOU CAN BE LAID BACK ABOUT IT.
• T-STANK. YOU WILL NEED TO DECIDE HOW INTENSE YOU WANT TO MAKE IT. RELAX MORE AND RESULTS WILL SHOW. IF YOU WORRY TOO MUCH OR ARE OVERLY INTENSE THIS CAN AFFECT YOUR RUNNING PERFORMANCE. CROSS COUNTRY IS A DEMANDING SPORT WITH GREAT REWARDS. ONLY YOU CAN MAKE IT 'INTENSE.' WE WANT YOU TO BE THE BEST THAT YOU CAN BE. IF IT'S A 16 MIN 5K OR A 30 MIN 5K WE WILL BE HAPPY FOR YOU IF YOU DID THE TRAINING AND YOU TRIED YOUR BEST.
  
• How many people are on the team?
• MR. STANKO. OUR TEAM IS GROWING LIKE A WEED. LAST FALL WE HAD 14 GIRLS AND 22 BOYS. THIS YEAR IT COULD BE DOUBLE FOR EACH!!!
  
• Do we have time to do homework?
• MR. STANKO. PRACTICE DURING THE SCHOOL WEEK IS TYPICALLY ABOUT AN HOUR LONG, SO YOU HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME FOR ACADEMICS.
  
• Has the Haslett Girl's xc team been successful in the last few year?
• CAMPA. "SUCCESS" CAN BE DEFINED OR DESCRIBED A NUMBER OF WAYS IN XC--IF YOU DEFINE
  IT AS, HAVE THE GIRLS ON THE TEAM BECOME INCREASINGLY FASTER? THEN THE
  ANSWER IS YES. THIS HAS BEEN ACHIEVED THROUGH CONSISTENT AND HARD
  TRAINING. SUCCESS IN THE FUTURE WILL ALSO DEPEND UPON CONSISTENT TRAINING
  AND HARD WORK BY THE GIRLS WHO ARE ON THE TEAM IN ANY GIVEN YEAR.
• T-STANK. YES! THE GIRL'S XC TEAM HAS PLACED 3RD IN THE LEAGUE FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS. IT'S TIME THAT WE TAKE OVER DEWITT AND IONIA. PUT IN THE WORK, BELIEVE YOU CAN RUN FAST AND YOU NEED TO WANT TO WIN!!! IF YOU HAVE THOSE ELEMENTS OUR GIRL'S TEAM CAN BE THE BEST IN THE STATE.
  
• Is cross country super hard?
• MR. STANKO. XC IS AS HARD AS YOU ARE WILLING TO MAKE IT. THE MORE YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF IT THE MORE YOU HAVE TO PUT INTO IT. IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE AND GET FASTER IT TAKES SOME SOLID WORK, BUT YOU WILL BE GREATLY REWARDED AND REALLY HAPPY WITH YOURSELF IF YOU GIVE YOUR ALL.
  
• Are we going to be super fast?
• CAMPA. BY STICKING TO THE TRAINING SCHEDULE AND LISTENING TO THE COACHES YOU WILL
  BECOME INCREASINGLY "SUPER FAST" OVER TIME.
  
• Are the upperclassman super fast?
• CAMPA. CROSS COUNTRY IS A LOT LIKE ACADEMICS--JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS OLDER
  DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY ARE SMARTER OR FASTER. THE UPPER CLASSMAN WHO HAVE
  BEEN RUNNING XC CERTAINLY HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE OF WHAT WORKS FOR THEM AND
  WHAT DOESN'T.
• T-STANK. THEY JUST LOOK SUPERFAST! HONESTLY, SOME OF THE UPPER-CLASS RUNNERS ARE GOOD BECAUSE THEY PUT IN THE WORK WHEN THEY WERE FRESHMEN, DURING THE SUMMER AND WINTER MONTHS. BEING FAST DOES NOT JUST HAPPEN ON IT'S OWN. CONSISTENCY IN TRAINING WITH THE DESIRE TO RUN FAST WILL GET YOU TO RUN FAST.