By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LYFORD – Cross country coaches received some guidance for the 2020 season with the updated fall sports calendar the UIL released Tuesday, but more questions are forming in response to the changes.
Coaches across the East Valley are trying to come up with plans that accommodate all, but with key dates, including competition start dates and school openings, differing by classification and county, that won’t be an easy ask.
“Cross country coaches in the Rio Grande Valley are starting to get together and trying to form a rough outline of how these meets are going to run,” Harlingen High coach Efrain Ambriz said. “It’s going to take a lot of planning and coordination, and once we get more information from counties and districts, we’ll be able to tackle that.”
The UIL ruled that 1A-4A cross country programs can start competing Aug. 17 and 5A-6A schools can begin Sept. 7. But those dates don’t work in favor of the teams in the East Valley. Cameron and Willacy County schools will not be opening until Sept. 8 and Sept. 21, respectively, at the earliest.
Brownsville Hanna coach Olaya Teran, who serves as the secretary for the RGV Cross Country Coaches Association, said she has been talking with coaches since the new schedule came out to discuss options. She said the RGVCCCA is holding a Zoom meeting Thursday to brainstorm ideas that can be presented to school administrators to plan for the season.
“Everyone’s kind of unsure how we want to handle (the upcoming season),” Teran said. “We’re proposing different things, but obviously we’re going to have to wait to see what our county and district say we’re going to do. I’m still kind of confused and just waiting to see what they’re going to do.”
One of the coaches’ ideas is holding “satellite meets” like track & field does to adhere to the new UIL meet guidelines. Individual meets can have no more than eight competing schools, with one boys and one girls team from each, and only one level—varisty, JV or freshmen — can be on site at a given time.
Teran and Ambriz said coaches are discussing having subvarsity meets take place during the week after school with varsity teams running on Saturdays. But the ideas coaches come up with are merely suggestions, and the higher-ups in the school districts and counties have the final say.
The Harlingen CISD cross country programs have hosted an annual invitational for 45 years, and Ambriz said the plan is to hold that again this year, though it will look a little different.
“We’re looking at sites and we’re looking at dates, and if we can get it done we’re definitely going to do it,” Ambriz said. “Our girls coach, Eder Ramos Islas, is already mapping things out for potential sites. It’s going to take extra planning, but it’s all for the best for our student-athletes.”
Lyford boys cross country coach David Lopez said he’s looking into the possibility of tri-meets. As a 3A program, the Bulldogs don’t always compete at the larger school meets, so they’re used to inviting two teams for competitions to keep the kids working.
Lopez said cross country coaches are “in a weird position” because he anticipates less meets taking place this season, which means a lot is riding on the athletes taking initiative from their homes to get in their mileage.
“Knowing they can run on their own, and especially if they’ve been in our program before, they know the progressions we go through and they know what to do. That’s the advantage we have over many other fall sports,” Lopez said.
When team practices can begin, coaches will be modifying the progressions and mileage they normally implement to keep the runners fresh for the longer season. The district certification deadline is Nov. 14 for all classifications. All regional meets will be run Nov. 23, followed by the state meet Dec. 5.
Though the new UIL schedule and guidelines have thrown coaches into overdrive, Teran said she knows decisions were made with the athletes’ best interests in mind. She said keeping kids safe and getting them ready for competition will be the top priorities as coaches put on their thinking hats to approach the season.
“We’re going to have to figure out a way to work it out,” Teran said. “The main thing is seeing how many meets we can put out there for the kids to compete before district. We’re going to have to change our schedule and see how we can get these kids in good shape.”