Grant High School Summer Practice

View the photo gallery of the practice HERE

Watch the interview with Grant High School athletes HERE

We visited with Grant High School in Portland, OR the day before their time trial with Lincoln High School. Coach Michael Engelbert used the practice as a way to prepare for the time trial and meets through out the season. Coach Engelbert shared information about his program:

How often does Grant practice in the summer?

We practice Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 730-930am. Additionally, senior led strength sessions at the gym happen twice a week (girls Monday/Thursday and boys Tuesday/Friday).

What are some of the summer highlights?

One of our favorite workouts is called the Pepper Mill Workout, and we run it at Laurelhurst Park. Athletes run a series of progressively faster loops of the park based on experience and volume. We've done it twice this summer, and a few more planned in the fall. Each time we do it, the goal for each athlete is to run one more loop than they ran the previous time, and for their last loop to always be the fastest. It's a simple workout, but at the same time really challenging and teaches athletes to run by feel.

What has impressed me most is how much athletes encourage and push each other during the workout and so often find they're able to do one more loop than they thought they might be ready for - and finish strong!

What does the team look forward to in the cross country season?

The team really looks forward to building connections - across grades, training groups, and genders and making it a positive and supportive community. Returning athletes look forward to many of the meets where we have strong traditions and build community, especially home meets, the Ultimook Mud Race, and Rose City.

How does Grant build team culture?

We build team culture by being very intentional - if something is important, you have to spend time doing it. So especially as the season gets busy, we make sure to reserve time during practice for team building activities and talks, involving athletes as much as we can to share what they know with each other.