We visited Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle, Washington on a very warm Monday morning. Bishop Blanchet, home of the Bears, compete in Washington's 3A division and both programs qualified for last fall's 3A cross country state championship. The boy's ran mile loops in the lower Woodland Park and the girls went on a long run. Coaches John O'Leary and Morgan Roe shared information about their team.
During the summer season, how often does the team practice?
- Bishop Blanchet cross country meets Monday thru Saturday (six days a week) at 9:00 AM (9:15 AM for girls) on the upper field at Bishop Blanchet HS
What are some special summer activities?
In general - we provide a consistent drop-in practice schedule to help develop all of the young runners that chose to show up during the summer.
We (the top end boys and girls) will be attending the Bowerman Track Club running camp in Bend, OR.
At the end of the summer - we provide a community fun run called the Blanchet 5K for anyone in the greater running community and in particular families that are new to Bishop Blanchet HS. - see the attached tee-shirt artwork
Lastly - we provide a Blanchet youth running camp at the beginning of the summer for incoming 5th to 8th graders. Many of our current athletes help at the camp as counselors. - see the attached 2024 camp picture at Magnuson Park.
The girls are hoping to organize some post-run ice cream and snacks, and hopefully some swimming in Lake Washington.
How do you build team culture?
For a relatively small school ~ 900 students - we get a massive turnout for the fall cross country season. The boys get over eighty (80) runners and the girls get over fifty (50) runners for a total of roughly 120 to 140 runners. We build team culture by acknowledging and encouraging all levels of runners within an welcoming environment. We believe in a collective community of athletes, coaches and parents that support one another. Bottom line - we want the athletes to own the process while enjoying both individual and team results. Cross country truly is the best TEAM (Together-Everyone-Achieves-More) sport.
We bring together many different gals of different ages and abilities. A big part of our culture is making sure everyone on the team feels welcome. There is an emphasis on both trying to improve our running and enjoying running and each other.
What are some events that the team is looking forward to in the fall season?
Our program looks forward to the racing schedule as the racing schedule provides in-season celebrations of our summer and fall training.
- our intrasquad race around Green Lake is followed with a celebration at our school in the quad with food and refreshments
- our first invite is at Bellarmine Prep School provides a first opportunity for our athletes to race in a uniform with a multitude of appropriate races
- our first league meet at Lower Woodland Park provides an early season opportunity to race on our challenging postseason course while occurring within our homecoming weekend
- our back to back invites will be more local this year while providing race opportunities for every runner on our team against huge fields of runners from the greater northwest
- our Magnuson Park meet ends with a joint program (includes the other teams) BBQ with beautiful Lake Washington as the backdrop
- the ultimate celebration of the season is the postseason with a heavy focus on the Metro and State Championship meets
- after the state meet - we quickly celebrate the end of the season at Bishop Blanchet HS with food and awards
Check out the photo gallery LINK of Bishop Blanchet's practice!
Comentários