St. John Fisher is now offering Cross Country training for students in 4th grade and up. The team, coached by SJF parent Michael Diehl, is Co-Ed, and currently has over forty members! With the help of parent volunteers, practice is held twice a week from 2:45pm – 4pm. Runners warm up together, and learn new skills and strategies to meet self-set goals.
Outfitted in bright marigold XC t-shirts, runners leave campus and hit the trails! Training also includes games and activities to promote endurance and movement. Throughout practice, runners can earn tickets to enter the end of practice raffle! Coach Diehl encourages students to run on their own every weekend, and as an incentive he offers extra raffle tickets to those who do!
The Cross Country team will run two “races;” the first will be a benchmark, which runners will use to create goals for their final race day on June 2nd. Practices will help develop various running strategies to help athletes improve their race times, develop focus, endurance, strength, and speed.
After a couple of weeks, students are loving the workouts. Sixth grader Laura T. says, “Coach Diehl is really encouraging.” Ava adds, “It’s cool that we are building up the distance of the runs and learning as we go.” Athletic director Kristy Kroeger is thrilled with the interest level: “I love seeing students enjoying exercise. Healthy habits start early, and this is a wonderful introduction for our students.”
Although CYO did not offer Cross Country meets this year, we are looking forward to sending all our Cross Country athletes to compete in CYO events in the fall of 2021.
Anne-Marie Hudani
St. John Fisher School Principal