Time trial warms up cross country teams for season

PLAINS – The Plains High School cross-country team hosted a time trial on Friday at the Plains Bible Church. Thompson Falls and Plains both participated in the event that serves as a warm up for athletes and a preview for coaches of how their teams are shaping up.

About thirty runners took part in the time trial that according to coaches provides insight into team dynamics and how athletes are performing physically. Plains coach Tony Banovich and Thompson Falls coach Sarah Naegeli both said the time trial allows them to examine how the team is likely to perform at the first competition of the season.

“It went well today. The high school kids did great today,” said Banovich. “For our team I was tickled. This was probably the best group performance we’ve had in a time trial.”

Banovich went on to say some athletes that had struggled slightly with some physical issues performed well. He said that some athletes performed above expectations and some were improving from the previous year.

“For me this tells me where they sit and what we need to work on,” said Banovich. “It tells me what the priorities are before we really start to do some racing. They are in really good shape.”

Banovich said the stiffest competition in the girl’s races could come from Ronan and last years champions from Loyola. In the boys races, he said Thompson Falls is expected to do well due to the impressive time trial performance.

“I was really impressed with how the Thompson boys performed today,” said Banovich.

Thompson Falls Coach Naegeli said she was very satisfied with how her team performed during the time trial. She reiterated Banovich’s assessment that the boys team put in a strong performance.

“I’m very happy. The boys looked really strong,” said Naegeli. “We had some girls that had never run this before and they did really well.”

Naegeli said the time trial provides an opportunity for athletes that are new to the sport to get a feel for what competition is like. She said getting athletes mentally prepared to race is key.

“You can train them all week but sometimes they get it in their minds that so and so is first, second, and third,” said Naegeli. “Sometimes you get them in a race and that little extra kicks in. We saw some of that today. Today we saw what they are capable of.”

Naegeli said the team would be working on increasing the endurance of runners and training for a specific obstacle at an upcoming meet. She said a significant hill on the course could prove difficult for some less experienced athletes but overall Naegeli said she was happy with how the team is looking.

“We have a girls team that is very supportive of each other. They push each other and help each other,” said Naegeli. “Our boys team really works together well. They help their teammates along.”

Both teams will participate in the first competition of the 2013 season at the Eureka Invitational on September 6.