Perry High School Cross Country Handbook

Schedule

August 7First Official Day of Practice

August 18Time Trial @ Lone Tree Golf Course - $12

Sept. 2Chandler Invitational@ Tumbleweed Park

Sept 8Desert Solstice @ Crooked Tree Golf Course, Tucson

Sept. 15-17Woodbridge Invitational@Norco,CA(Bus leaves @ 7:00am)

Sept. 23Conley Invitational@ Shalimar Country Club

Sept. 29Nike Twilight Invitational@ Casa Grande

Oct. 13Titan Invitational@ Crossroads Park

Oct. 19City Championships@Tumbleweed – Senior Night

Oct. 27Sectional Meet@ Crossroads Park(Varsity Only)

Nov. 4State@ Cave Creek Golf Course(Varsity Only)

CoachingPhilosophy

Our philosophy is to teach young men and women how to be successful and to not accept mediocrity. We will learn to work hard together, to achieve success together. Everyone will be treated fair and equally, and every member on the team is important; from the last person to the first person. Our philosophy revolves around athletes being committed, dedicated, and showing up every day on time. We will display a high level of teamwork and accountability. We want all our athletes to be the best STUDENT-ATHLETE that they can be. The focus of the program is on winning, in all aspectsof life. All athletes will be expected to excel academically, be committed, and develop life-long friendships. Athletes will walk away having had a positive experience feeling that they accomplished something special.

Goals

We have a series of goals that we would to have achieved. They are as follows:

  • Be Committed and Dedicated
  • Get Better Every Day
  • Always put the Team First, help each other remain accountable
  • Be the best STUDENT-ATHLETE that YOU can be; Achieve academic excellence
  • Highest Team GPA of all athletics programs
  • Be successful and win in every aspect of the sport and life
  • Establish a Championship Tradition
  • Have Fun, Compete to the best of your ability
  • GO THE DISTANCE

Objectives

  • Learn to take care of body for life-proper nutrition and fitness.
  • Learn to Respect, Understand, and Get Along with others.
  • Learn to be Disciplined, have Commitment, and Never Give Up
  • Learn how to train, race, and push yourself to levels never thought possible.
  • Learn that hard work can be fun, positive and rewarding.
  • Learn to work as one to achieve a common goal.
  • Learn to Train Hard and Win Easy
  • WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS!!

Things Coaches Expect:

  • It is a Privilege not a Right to run on the Cross Country team
  • No Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drugs
  • Academics are #1 priority. School first, then athletics. (Poor Academics Always results in poor athletes)
  • Watch the profanity, disrespectful comments, and negative talk.
  • Respect: Be polite and courteous at all times to everyone.
  • Never miss practice, team meetings, and meets without prior approval.
  • Always Be On Time: 5min early= On Time; on time= Late
  • Be Loyal to coaches and team
  • Practice attitude= meet attitude. No Complaining
  • Be honest, cooperate with everyone
  • Take care of problems, don’t bring them to practice or meets
  • The last person on the team is as important as the first person
  • Never make excuses, evaluate your races, pro and con
  • Always pay attention when a coach or race official is talking, Never talk back!!
  • You are responsible for your uniform, shirt, race gear. Don’t lose them.
  • While we are at a meet focus is on your race and your teammates, not family or friends.
  • Stay together before races; do not talk to other teams before the start.
  • After your races get team together to cool-down, Do Not run to your parents or friends, Team is Your Focus!
  • Think team first, self second. Ability of team must be greater than self.
  • The coaches reserve the right to change the varsity runners at any time. Varsity positions are earned. Every practice will be evaluated, not just races.

Team Rules:

  • Team determines discipline for tardiness, unexcused absences, etc.
  • After 3rd Unexcused Absence= Miss the next meet
  • 5 Unexcused Tardy to practice= Miss the next meet
  • Excessive Unexcused Absences and Tardiness can result in indefinite suspension from the team
  • Usingan illegal substance such as drugs, alcohol, tobacco will Result an indefinite suspension from the team.
  • The Team is More Important than the Individual
  • You represent the team, Perry HS, your name and family at All Times! Make sure you act in a responsible manner at school, home, social media, etc.
  • Violations of the team expectations can result in missing meets and/or removal from the team.
  • Let coaches know a week or more ahead of time about appointments that you must attend in writing. Make appointments outside of practice times if at all possible.

Reminders

  • Remind 101 – Team Reminders/Notifications
  • Sign up -rmd.at/jgure

California Trip – Woodbridge Invitational

Sept 15-17th Qualifying Athletes (Top 25 from Time Trial) will attend the Woodbridge Invitational in Norco, CA.

  • Cost of the trip is $180.The trip can be paid through Tax Credit Donation (highly recommended).
  • The cost for dinner the night before the race and lunch at the event will both be covered.
  • Qualifying athletes can submit payment at the bookstore or online through the tax credit donation (be sure to donate to the Cross Country team).
  • Hotel: Embassy Suites by Hilton Irvine Orange County Airport
  • 2120 Main StreetIrvine, California 92614

Any qualifying athlete unable to afford the cost of the trip, please contact Coach Gurecki.

Parental Help – Practices and Meets

Parents help with various small duties that benefit the athletes, such as bringing breakfast during our early morning practices 3 times a week. During meets, parents also bringing snacks, fruits, etc. for after every race (as well as during if it is a long cross country meet where we are there all day). The booster club is the first point of contact with breakfast/meet day snacks signup. Parents also host pre-race team dinners (Carbo Load).

Fundraising

We will be having a few fundraising opportunities for the team this year. Specifics for each fundraiser will be given out at a later date. They include:

  • Roadrunner Sports Day
  • Car Wash
  • Papa Johns Flyer

The funds from the Fundraising are used for materials for the athletes, such as, athlete sponsorships, rollers, ice packs, water, food for specific events, uniforms, pop up tents for the athletes to stay cool, etc.

Parental Expectations

We encourage parents to come and cheer on their kids along with the team. Please be mindful that we want all athletes to support each other during every race/meet. We do not want athletes running to their families immediately after they finished their respective race. There will be time at the conclusion of each meet to spend time with family. Lastly, we want parents to be supporters, not coaches.

Nutrition & Sleep Guidelines for Athletes

We live in the desert, so we need to prepare for the climate that we live in. Coming to practice dehydrated is not only unacceptable and un-championship-like, but it is dangerous and negligent. We expect all of our athletes to be fully hydrated. We encourage carrying a water bottle of at least 20 ounces during school to be drinking throughout the day. We give tips and recommendations as to what to eat before practices and completions; from lunches to dinners and snacks. Upon request we can provide a full nutritional plan on a daily basis. Due to our early morning practices, we expect and encourage our athletes to aim to get eight to nine hours of sleep. It is not the mileage or workouts that help improve, it is the ability of the body to recover to be able to do all of the workouts. Sleep is the best recovery mechanism. Getting adequate sleep will not only help you stay healthy, but it can help in staying alert in class to achieve good grades. We will sit athletes out of practice and/or meets if need be due to being dehydrated or lacking sleep. In the end that only hurts the individual athlete and the team. Basically, stay hydrated, eat well, and get plenty of sleep.

Brief Outline of "Second summer" XC & T&F Training Approach

No matter how well our summer was, and no matter how great cross country went, it can all go away if we do nothing in the short 8 weeks that we have between cross country and track. We will take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks off after our last race of the XC season (usually freshman and JV runners will take about 4 weeks off).

Tentative Second Summer Outline

  • Take 2 to 4 weeks off
  • Your final week of “down” time, you may resume light activity such as biking, swimming, easy jogging three days out of the week
  • Spend 1 to 2 weeks beginning from ground zero rebuilding mileage base
  • Weeks 3 to 4 continue building base with a few tempo and fartlek runs
  • Week 5 to 8 continue with tempos/fartleks, and begin to add in longer track-type workouts
  • Every week will also be used to work on strengthening and flexibility: yoga, core, plyos, etc.

Banquet information

Team Banquet: The banquet will be held at the conclusion of the season at the Perry HS Cafeteria. Exact date TBD.

Awards:

  • MVP Runner
  • Puma Award (Coaches’ Award)
  • Most Improved Runner
  • Freshman of The Year

Buffet/Food: We will be having a potluck for our banquet dinner. We ask that you bring enough for about six to eight people. This ensures that we will have plenty of food for everyone. Plates, napkins, cups, and utensils will already be provided. The following is the list of what to bring for each class group:

  • Freshman: Dessert
  • Sophomore: Main Dish
  • Juniors: Sides
  • Seniors: Drinks

A message to parents and athletes:

We can only be as successful as you want to be. Be prideful in what you are a part of and you can accomplish as a group. When a group has their mind set on a goal, and sees challenges and distractions as an obstacle to overcome, that is when they will achieve their goals. We ask parents to please schedule appointments, vacations, etc., outside of the season and practice times. There is no time to take a week or two off during the season. All of the momentum we have and hard work we’ve done leading into fall break can all go away by taking a week or two off. Please schedule vacations and out of town trips until after the season is over or during Christmas break. If this team wants to make the leap from a great team to a championship team, they must remain committed, dedicated, and focused. Going away for two weeks really throws away all the work that is done from the summer and all of the fall season. We will be flexible as we can, but we ask the same in return. This can heavily impact whether an athlete is on the varsity team or not. If an athlete takes two weeks off and they are on the bubble between 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th runner, we factor that into our decision on who we take to the championships. Please wait until after the season for the out of town trips.

Ask Yourself

  • Your Coaches can be trusted, can you be trusted??
  • Your Coaches are committed to your success, are you??
  • Your coach’s care about you, do you care about them and your teammates??
  • Most importantly, will you GO THE DISTANCE?

LET’S HAVE FUN and COMPETE

Coach Jeff Gurecki –

Coach Bryan Idleman –

Coach Julianna Evola –