Cross Country is back!!!! It feels great to type those words. This is the greatest sport in Kentucky in my opinion (no bias at all.) A new season always brings lots of questions and the renewed thoughts of who is going to be the best in November when it counts at state. But to be the best, summer time is where it all begins with steady easy runs, working to build up a solid base for training later on in the season. Summer running also means being safe, and this summer, teams have probably been running early in the morning or later at night to keep everyone healthy. Remember as schools start back and practice moves to the mid-afternoon, please follow the KHSAA Heat Index Guidelines.
This will be KYtrackXC.com’s 7th Cross Country Season covering all the action. For those who do not already know, I (username Jonathan) am the Webmaster of KYtrackXC.com. This season will be different because, for the first time, I will not be actively coaching. I have been coaching since 2003, first as an assistant at Calloway County High School and then as a Head Cross Country Coach at Carlisle County High School. The change away from coaching will bring an opportunity for the site to grow and expand as my schedule, especially when it comes to meet coverage, will be much more flexible.
My “day job” is as a History Teacher at Carlisle County High School in Bardwell, Kentucky, the far western end of the state near the Mississippi River. This will be my seventh year teaching. I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Political Science and a Master’s of Arts in Education each from Murray State University. My wife, Daisy, and I have two children, Aiden (5) and Emma (2). We are also in the process of adopting another child from South Korea, named Levi, who will be home next spring.
I ran four years of cross country and three years of track at DeSales High School in Louisville for Coach Paul Wise. I was an average runner in high school who typically ran in the low 18s. I was the stat guy for the team and could identify and breakdown the top teams in the Class AAA in the days before the internet. As a high school student I would have dreamed for something like KYtrackXC.com (considering I had no earthly idea what a website was at that time.) That early love of the sport led to getting involved with the rankings, which then led to finding MileSplit and the rest is history.
Today is August 1st and the racing starts in three short weeks. The plan is to have interviews with some of the top returning runners over the next couple weeks. Do not fret if you are not interviewed in the pre-season as there will be a weekly interview throughout the entire season with a runner. A breakdown of what we can expect this season in each class will be up over the next couple weeks as well. It all leads up to the release of the pre-season KYtrackXC.com Cross Country Class Rankings on August 15th.