Back row (l-r): Cameron Small, Carolyn Tiernan, Gwen Oxford, Philip Oxford, Marie French, Coach Nancy Fiddler, Coach Tomas Rodriguez, Andrew Bermuda, Jeremy Laguna, Dima Murgia, Martin Thompson. Front row (l-r): Laurel Fiddler, Amanda Kirkeby, Katherine Janisse, Kathi Kirkeby, Fleur Connolly, Bri Perez and Wendy Guzman. (Not pictured: Kylie LaFramboise and Carson Bold) (Photo courtesy Mammoth XC and Nordic)

Mammoth High School’s Cross-Country team has already been training throughout the summer under the supervision of Assistant Coach Tomas Rodriguez The group has been meeting at Shady Rest Park three times per week and putting in about three to six miles each day. Summer training is crucial for a distance runner in order to run competitively in a three-mile race during the cross-country season.

Rodriguez said he has designed a training program incorporating a mix of light running, hill training and long runs. “I also have them doing stretches, plyometric exercises and core work,” Rodriguez added. Some of the team’s runners recently ran their first “warm up” event, participating in the Footloose/Chart House 5K/10K race.

The team has also been training alongside the cross-country ski team, and with other visiting high school teams from Southern California.

Skiing practice … in summer?

Rodriguez noted that cross-country skiers ski fast in the winter only because they put in the work during summer. The endurance sport requires coordination, striding and skating on varying terrain, including technical downhill runs, and aerobics for speed sprinting both climbing hills and on flats.

Mammoth’s skiers got a summer jump on their fitness, skills and some team bonding. “They should reap some big rewards when the snow finally flies and it’s time to hit the course for competition,” Rodriguez opined.

Coaches Nancy Fiddler and Marie French, supported by Masters skiers and MHS Nordic Team alumni have put the Mammoth High and Middle School Nordic skiers through a combo of Nordic dry land, strength and plyometric training, hiking, biking, and hill running, since May.

–Geisel/Rodriguez/Fiddler