Xavier’s Gators are on the run again. And that’s not really good news for the other cross-country teams in Arizona’s Division I.
XCP won six straight state championships from 2007-12 and
was runner-up the last two seasons.
Long-time coach Dave Van Sickle and his runners have been
practicing since Aug. 11 and are excited about what this season could bring.
“We started to get ready for the cross-country season about
two weeks after the state track meet (in Van Sickle’s running club) and we’ve
been keeping it going ever since,’’ said Van Sickle, also the school’s head track
and field coach.
That meant a very early wake-up call to allow the runners to
get their work in starting around 5 a.m. before the desert heat kicked in.
Since that heat continues well into September and sometimes
into October, dual meets between schools are close to extinction, with teams
preferring to compete in bigger meets, most of which begin at mid-morning.
The Gators have five such meets this fall, including the
season-opening run in the Peaks Invitational on Sept. 5 at Buffalo Park in
Flagstaff. The event has a 9 a.m. start.
“First one out, it will be a fitness test for us with that
altitude,’’ Van Sickle said of the 7,000-foot elevation.
The team’s workouts most of the summer concentrated on
distance, and Van Sickle said the focus has begun to shift a bit to speed work
heading into the initial meet.
The top four runners, in no particular order, are seniors
Jane Miller, Tessa Weiss, Shannan Higgins and junior Sarah Carter.
Van Sickle calls Miller “an endurance animal’’ who can
outlast just about anybody.
Weiss gained experience with middle-distance work during the
track season and has strength as a sprinter. Higgins also improved through
middle distances in track. The coach said they are “getting better and
better.’’
The gem of the group could be Carter, who had a breakthrough
season in track and is poised for a similar effort throughout the season.
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