Crescenta Valley Summer Practice

Check out the photo gallery of the summer practice HERE

Watch the interview of the Crescenta Valley athletes HERE

We met up with boy's team at Crescenta Valley during an easy run day and then hill strides at the end of the run. When we met up with the team, they were in their dead summer period and Coach Mark Evans was not at the practice and some of the athletes were on summer vacation.

Coach Evans sent us information about the team:

How often does the team meet in the summer?

We practice throughout the summer.  Our CIF section requires a two week break or dead period for every sport.  We take those two weeks off.  Athletes are in and out most of the summer with their family vacations.  We make adjustments for that.  We meet 6 days a week.

What is the highlight of the summer season for Crescenta Valley?

Our big highlight is our Mammoth running camp the first week of August.  We go for 7 days.  We camp in a private campground and have great support from our parents who help with transportation and cooking.  We take about 44-46 athletes split evenly among boys and girls.  

What are some of the highlights of the fall season?

Once the season starts, we compete in the big Southern California meets--Woodbridge and MSAC as well as a couple others.  We want them to test themselves against the best.  We take about 45 athletes to Clovis Invite in Fresno so they can compete on the state meet course. This is an overnight trip for us.

How does Crescenta Valley build team culture?

We try to build culture by creating an atmosphere where everyone is important and their accomplishments are celebrated.  We have weekly emails to the parents and team highlighting our race results on all levels.  Our emphasis is racing and training as a team. There are pasta dinners before our league meets.  Our parent group provides pizzas or other food after races.  Parents also bring post run snacks to our Saturday runs.  Everyone gets a summer training shirt as well as team shirt during the season. As coaches we try to connect with each athlete every day.