Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WORLAND - The Worland cross-country team is back at it today and competing at the Lander Invitational in Lander. Last Saturday the Warriors and Lady Warriors ran in the Sheridan Invitational, getting an early look at the 3A State course in the process.
"It's an important course for us since state is going to be there. We went in wanting to see where we stacked up and more so, just individually they go in getting a feel for the course knowing where they break down and where we need to focus to build it up," said WHS cross-country coach Tanya Kienlen.
Warrior Porter Harman finished second with a time of 16:49.27, Nathaniel Nelson was 23rd with a time of 18:47.71 and Aaron Vigil was 37th clocking in at 19:38.75. The top three Lady Warrior finishes were Lindsey Holiday running a 22:31.85 and finishing 31st; Hailee Hunter running a 22:36.32 and coming in 33rd; and Kelli Holiday finishing 39th with a time of 22:53.19.
With Sheridan hosting the state meet on Oct. 20, it was important for the Worland runners to get the lay of the land and know which parts of the course they can shave some time. For her more experienced runners, Kienlen was looking at how they took advantage of the course and for her rookies, pacing was a big factor.
For the team as a whole, Kienlen wanted her runners to push themselves and shorten their pack times.
"Even though we're a team we break it down individually, some of them realized, mostly the younger ones, they went out too strong," said Kienlen. "They'll figure that out that way they can adjust their starting pace. For our experienced runners, how they are changing and manipulating the course. Are they working the corners? Are they latching on or looking for opponents?
"We're trying to shorten our pack time and that was the focus to look for a teammate and try to be close to our teammate. As a coach, I was really proud of our kids for making a strong effort to make a closer contact with the teammate that was in front of them."
Another wrinkle the Warrior runners had to deal with was wind. During the varsity boys run, strong winds came up and tested each and every athlete.
"It was a great learning curve for some our runners. The weather was nice but the varsity boys had a strong wind and for us to discuss that even though you're running in a tornado everyone is running in a tornado. So you have to suck it up and do it because every other runner is in the same conditions," said Kienlen.
Warrior JV runner Gavin McCulloch impressed his coach by running a 19:33.56, finishing sixth; had he run varsity that day, it would have been the team's third-best time.
"He ran JV and we've been waiting for him to come out of his shell. He came out strong and ready to roll and gave a great performance. He was in the top 10 of JV and it was super exciting for him to earn his varsity spot," said Kienlen.
Two meets are in the books for Worland and only four meets remain until the 3A East regional meet in Douglas on Oct. 12. Kienlen has liked the progress of her runners but feels that some are experiencing a mental block.
Getting athletes to believe in their talents is a challenge all coaches face and Kienlen uses a few motivational techniques to boost the confidence of her runners. On Mondays, she'll have some of her athletes share what motivates them to the team and on Wednesdays, she asks past WHS runners to share words of wisdom.
"A few have realized that their battle has been mental and against themselves. We're working on pushing through that. Physically they're there, but mentally they need to get through that barrier," said Kienlen.
"We've implemented in our program Motivational Mondays. Each athlete provides a YouTube video or something that is motivational to their team and that's been inspiring and changed their outlook. Today's [Monday] workout was inspired by the senior boys. Then we have Words of Wisdom Wednesdays and the last two weeks we've had Jadon Swalstad and Lauren Anderson and others who used to run for us. I think that changes their mental focus that they're working for something bigger and beyond themselves," she added.
Worland's work ethic and determination during training continue to impress Kienlen. The Worland runners continue to push themselves during practice even as the workouts toughen.
The Worland Middle School team also joined the Warriors and Lady Warriors for their tough Monday workout.
"As a team, they're seeing the benefits of their work. I saw that today [Monday] as we turned around after a meet like that and did repeats the team was committed to improving themselves through difficult workouts. They hated life, but they got through it.
"It was inspiring to have the middle school kids together with us during our grueling workout. It's fun to see how that program continues to grow. The reason my team has numbers on our roster right now is for sure because of the middle school program," said Kienlen.
The Lander Invitational is today and the focus for Worland is to keep pushing for personal records and narrowing their pack times.
"It's a good challenging course, we've been mentally preparing and everyone is running the same thing, so it'll be able getting into our race and doing what we need to do. Week to week we look to grow and get better and look forward to the next meet," said Kienlen.
