by Joe MacGown
I should probably start this site out by first mentioning that I am an unpaid volunteer coach for the Starkville Academy Cross Country team. In large part, this is because my son wanted to run cross country and they did not have a team. My wife and I planned on taking our son Joseph to meets as an unattached runner, but the SA athletic director, Coach Schmidt, asked if I would be interested in actually coaching a team. Why not. Although I did not run track in high school or college, I have run in a multitude of road races over the years, achieving some competitive success with sub 15:30 5k times, which qualifies me to give advise on running. So, I started doing this in 2008. That year, the junior high girls basketball coach, Jessica Dickens, was asked to help me out with the team. But, in the 2009 she was called to action to help coach the girls softball team. Without Jessica's help, my wife Julie was drafted, and now she and I are coaching the team. Apparently, they like to have at least one of the coaches working for the school, and Julie is the elementary secretary. But, she also has some experience with running herself. In 2008, she started the running club for 3rd - 6th graders at Starkville Academy. The program has really taken off and is very popular with the kids. At this point in time, it is mostly overseen by parents and has become a routine part of the day for many elementary kids after school. In the past, Julie and I have done race results for local 5k races. Additionally, she has been a recreational runner/jogger for many years. Coaching the team is a very rewarding experiences, and we greatly enjoy doing it (although it is a bit exhausting). I am putting information about the team up on my web site here so people can keep up with how things are going for the team. Also, we are excited and proud of our runners' efforts, and like to give them some credit. This web site is not in any way a part of the Starkville Academy web site.
The Starkville Academy Cross Country team is coached by Joe and Julie MacGown. We have both boys and girls teams with runners being in 7th through 12th grades. Cross country running is typically done on grassy or mixed terrain courses with hills and mud being routine elements. Girls typically run 2 miles (3200 m) and boys run 3.1 miles (5000 m). Practices are based on gradual increases in running and speed workouts geared towards distance running. This is our second year of having a team after not having one for 4 years, so we are still very young. For information about meets during the 2008 and the 2009 seasons, click on the links below.
For those who don't know much about Cross Country running, it is a team sport where the winning team has the lowest point total. The top five finishers for the team are the only ones whose points count. Points are awarded for the runner's finish place in the race. For example, first place would earn one point, second place two points, etc. Additionally, individual awards are often given for the first ten finishers, and sometimes the top 25 in larger races. Due to the way in which points are scored, it is imperative that the fastest runners do well, so that the overall team score is as low as possible. Because we have a new program and have had very little practice, our teams are at a disadvantage compared to teams who have been running for 5-7 years! Therefore, our immediate goals are to first work on getting everyone in better shape, build a program that will be more competitive in the future, build character in our kids, and to improve everyone's personal best times. Cross country is an extremely difficult sport because it requires great mental strength in addition to physical ability. The kids that practice the hardest and have the ability to push themselves even harder in a race are the ones that will excel. Sometimes, less athletic kids beat more athletic ones by sheer will-power.
We thank the Starkville Academy administration and coach Schmidt for giving the kids the chance to have a cross country team!
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