We met with University High School at the Presidio neighborhood of San Francisco for a day of hill repeats. University High School competes in the division V section in California and the girls' program has won eleven California State XC Championships. The boys and the girls teams have been on the California State Meet podium seven times in the last six seasons. Head coach Carin Marrs explained the program:
During the summer season, how often does the team practice?
We practice as a group 3x/week but as a club team- the San Francisco Distance Project: SFDP is open to athletes training for the cross country season from all schools, so that if athletes don't have training partners from other schools, they can feel more welcome to join us as we prepare for the fall. We do the same thing during the winter months between cross country and track seasons. Athletes are expected to run 5-6 days/week during the summer, and on the days we don’t meet as a full group, athletes get together with a few teammates, alums who are in town, or sometimes an early-morning “running meeting” with Coach Carin.
What are some special summer activities?
I wish we had more formal summer activities, but the truth is, summer practices are special because of the haphazard nature of who shows up making the running groups a bit different each day, the lack of urgency around racing (our state meet is November 30!) and the ability to lounge around, eat snacks and chat after the workouts are over- there’s no homework to rush home to! The final week of summer break is our first week of official practices, and that is a time when we match veteran athletes with new kids for easy runs, play sneaky running games to create bonding moments for the newbies and experienced kids, do our annual proof-of-fitness 3-mile at Crissy Field, and finish the week with "take a freshmen to lunch" where the older athletes pair up with new freshmen and walk after practice to their favorite place to eat in the surrounding neighborhoods.
How do you build team culture?
Our team culture is one of high love and high expectations. While summer practices are a hodgepodge of whoever is in town and not working during practice time that day, everyone is expected to follow their prescribed summer running schedule (we have three basic plans with lots of checking in throughout the summer to tailor the plans based on how folks are progressing), once official practices start, everyone shows up ready to work hard alongside their teammates. The kids are deeply connected through the struggles of the challenging workouts, but we build in lots of time afterwards for non-running connections: team meals, Winning Wednesdays (when we have group discussions revolving around topics related to running but not the Xs and Os of workouts), special overnight trips throughout the season with Secret Santa gift-giving and mullet-cutting the night before the State Meet, and generally supporting each other with words and actions. We celebrate every course PR (and event PR during track season) with a Starburst Ceremony the day after each meet, and hammer home the variety of ways to be successful in a sport that can seem so black-and-white at times. The older athletes model celebration for their teammates' success (this is DIFFICULT when vying for limited top-seven spots or travel-team positions) and walking with each other through difficulty (running-related and otherwise). The deep care that these kids have for each other has been the difference-maker in growing our team from 13 to 75 athletes in the past 10 years and making the State Meet podium seven times in the past six years.
What are some events that the team is looking forward to in the fall season?
We are very much looking forward to running Nike Portland XC again this fall and super stoked to check out Blue Lake Park for the first time as last year we ran on the Clakamas course. We will also take fourteen boys and fourteen girls to the Clovis Invitational to preview Woodward Park- an annual tradition. Our league meets and smaller invitationals are invaluable as well where we emphasize different elements of racing to prepare for the big dance in Fresno on Thanksgiving Weekend.
Click HERE for the photo gallery of the practice.
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