Since the beginning of June, the Ontario cross country team has been putting in the miles to prepare for the season’s start in August. In an effort to boost enthusiasm and self-motivation among the runners, the coaching staff started a new tradition dubbed the 300-Mile Club.
The runners are each required to keep a running diary to log their mileage for the summer. Runners who log 300 miles by the end of conditioning on August 1 is awarded a tee shirt.
While the team is piling up plenty of miles this summer, they head into the fall short on one noteworthy group of people. Of the 22 runners, there are no seniors.
“We’re a pretty young team,” stated Giffin.
What they lack in seniority, the Warriors make up in athleticism. Brett Cortelletti, for example, proved himself an asset to the team when he qualified for the Regional Tournament last year.
“We have high hopes for Brett,” said Coach. “We think he has the potential to make it to state this year.”
Cortelletti has been part of the cross country program since he was in seventh grade. Last cross country season, Cortelletti earned ninth place with a personal record of 16:33 at the Northwest District Tournament and the time qualified him for the Regional Tournament. He also qualified for state in the two-mile in track this past season.
Coach Giffin noted that sophomore Stephen Engh is another runner with high hopes. “He’s been running well, and we’re hoping that he makes it to Regionals.” He added that Arie and Nicole Cox and Lily Lin are going to benefit the team. “They’re hardworking and dedicated, and they all ran in the 23-minute range last year.”
Lin hopes to break her personal record of 23:05 and added, “I’ve liked going to the meets, especially the really muddy ones, like Cat Pack. After the Cat Pack meet last year we took a lot of pictures and it was really fun.”
As for conditioning, the coach stated that he’s been keeping the routine consistent with previous seasons, with a bit more mileage, strength training, and speed work incorporated into the workouts.
“The competition will be a lot tougher this year because we’re in the NOL, so we want to be prepared.”
