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Jackrabbits ready to run
It is only fitting that the first team out of the blocks is the QHS cross country squad.
The team, which has ballooned to more than 30 runners this season is heading to Ephrata on Friday for a three-team jamboree and college exhibition.
The Jackrabbits will have a chance to stretch their legs on a short 3k cross-country course in Ephrata at 4 p.m. The Tigers will be hosting fellow CWAC foes Quincy and Ellensburg, as well as a pair of PAC-10 teams.
“It’s going to be about a 10-minute race,” head XC coach John Heikkila said. “There used to going out and having their first race go about 20-25 minutes. So it will be over before they know it. I am just going to let them experience it.”
The race and venue sets up well for the team's first taste of competition this season - especially the younger team members.
“For the freshman to not get blasted by a huge invite as their first high school experience,” Heikkila said. “At least they will get a taste of it.”
Once the boys and girls finish their races, they will sit back and watch the University of Washington and Washington State University run their own short course. The Huskies are coached by Ephrata alumni Greg Metcalf.
“I’m really excited about letting them watch college - NCAA. That race is real short as well. The collegiate girls are only running 3k, which is what the high school is running - 1.8 miles. The men are running 6k, which is only 3.5 miles. They’re used to running five to eight miles for their races. It’s like a jamboree for them as well. And I hope there is a little hangout time where they get to meet everybody, which is kind of the idea.”
This season, the Jackrabbit boys will be led by Adrian Diaz. He has eclipsed what he has done in the past couple of years and appears to be well ahead of his teammates. His early success comes off the heels of an injury plagued junior season, where he fought shin splints.
Heikkila said he had high expectations after his sophomore year, but never could get back into form. So Diaz and Heikkila went back to the drawing board.
“We just made the decision in June to start over and go with mileage - build mileage – which he did a great job with this summer,” Heikkila said. “I think by the end of the summer he was going 50-60 miles per week, which is lot more than we’ve ever done. The young kids are doing 20-25 per week.
All the miles have helped subside the shin splints and he has been running pain free. It also means he can run longer and harder.
“Now we want to crank up the speed and crank up the intensity and his shins won’t flair up because he’s got the mileage,” Heikkila said.
Diaz has lost upward of 20 pounds from his running and has gained better form in the process.
“That’s what happens with mileage, your body adapts,” he said. “You’re not going to run 50 to 70 miles a week without losing weight and getting efficient. You go from a stride to a glide. You can see from his waist up there is not a lot of motion - it’s gliding. There’s no wasted motion. I haven’t really coached that to him yet, but we will get there later in the year. With his mileage this summer it just naturally happened.”
While Diaz is the clear cut number one runner for the Jackrabbits, he has several teammates who have put in their own summer mileage and are primed to fill out the seven-man varsity roster. This meant the coaching staff has been able to implement more training and workouts over the first couple of weeks.
“Trust me, this first two weeks we have done more than we’ve ever tried to do,” Heikkila said. “Jorge Montano ran a lot this summer, Gabe Martinez and even Gerardo Guzman, who was a top JV guy last year is a lot stronger right now and is able to handle the workout. I’m not necessarily looking at a 2-3-4 guy, just five guys who can score. They are packing when they are doing workouts together.”
Heikkila also said Manny Lopez put in some summer miles, while Christian Perez and Nathan Mead will be in the varsity mix. This should parlay into competition for the team’s second spot on a weekly basis.
“Things will change and that’s a good thing,” Heikkila said. “I don’t want people to thinking I’m always No. 2 or I’m always No. 3. I want them to challenge each other.
“Literally I’m just smiling. I will have at least seven that will be jockeying with each other.”
On the girls side, things are running a bit slower. The top returner is Jazmine Perez.
“We're still kind of getting in shape, but I like what I see,” Heikkila said. “I’ve got some of the track people and Jaz is our captain coming off a state year. Track season was a long season for her going into the summer. So she kind of took some time off and now we're just getting her going.”
She will be joined by Marinda Talley, Jessica Esparza, Anne Francis, Katia Perez, Sarah Martinez and Alejandro Diaz.
“I’ve got seven or eight girls who can score,” Heikkila said.
As a team, the Jackrabbit boys and girls have given their coaching staff a new challenge. With more runners on the roster and more talent lurking in the wings, the workout regimen is ahead of schedule.
“I’m looking here at a week and a half in and I doing more workout intensive stuff than I’ve ever done this early in the season,” Heikkila said. “Usually at this point I have been on the road just getting mileage, so we’ve already been cranking it up and they are responding well. They are bouncing back from a tough workout better than I thought they would.”
