Hi all, as I have said in the past, this is my favorite time of the year, Cross-Country training.  This has been a crazy year with the COVID-19 restrictions and all of the other changes that have happened, but it looks like it might be getting back to somewhat normal.   We have a great group of kids coming back this year and it is very exciting how good of teams the girls and boys have the possibility of being. I have been working on our schedule and doing the things that need to be done to ensure a productive season and hopefully we can have a meeting in the near future to go over how things look and discuss any issues.

Having said this, it is time we start summer conditioning for those who haven’t begun yet. As Coaches, we can not make summer conditioning mandatory, but if your child wants to be the best they can be it is crucial for them to run this summer.  For those of you who have been around, you know how difficult our District and Region is and I can guarantee the better teams are all working to get better this summer.  We have a great bunch of athletes and I feel confident they will do what they need to do to prepare themselves for the season.  However, we are talking about teenagers and sometimes they need a little extra nudge from a parent because they can definitely find something a bit more fun to do during the summer.

This will be the 20th year I am offering a summer conditioning camp at U.F.  We meet at Flavet Field in the parking lot on the south side at 5:30 PM, Monday through Thursday.  I will be out there everyday with fluids and a plan.  We have an awesome young lady who runs for UF who is coming out to run with the girls and a couple of people who will be running with the boys.  I am in the process of setting up for someone experienced with nutrition and distance conditioning to come out and work with the kids as well.  I have found over the years that for the kids to come out and work together all summer is very beneficial for team building and making a more cohesive team.  The cost for the camp is $100 for the entire summer and included in the price is an end of the summer dri-fit t-shirt.  If for any reason someone can not pay the fee in no way does that exclude their child from participating, just communicate with me about it.  We will be starting the camp on June 21st, the Monday after school gets out and it will run until the week before school starts.  I know some of you go on vacation or have plans at different times during the summer and that is fine.

I want everyone to know that the new coach that was hired is out of town and will be back on the 28th of June and will be coming out to the conditioning camp to meet the kids and work with them.  If you have any questions, please email me at marentm@gm.sbac.edu or mikemaren@icloud.com or call or text me at (352)284-2623.  I am looking forward to seeing you all soon, Coach Maren.