Santiago Summer Practice

To view and download photos from Santiago's practice, click HERE

We met with Santiago of Corona at Jameson Park for a tempo run. Last fall Rylee Blade and Braelyn Combe qualified for NXN and at the California State Meet, Braelyn Combe won the 1600 meter race and Rylee Blade finished second in the 3200 meter race. Coach Ricardo Etheridge whistled when the tempo was on and off. Athletes completed a different amount of park loops depending on their experience. Some of the varsity athletes had just raced at Nike Outdoor Nationals and had an easy day.

We spoke with Coach Etheridge about their summer and the fall.

Coach Etheridge talking with his athletes

How often does Santiago practice in the summer?

We  train six days a week and it's at 6:30 every morning before the heat so we go 6:30 to 8:30 AM. It also allows the kids to be able to go home and enjoy their summer.

What are some of the special summer activities?

The kids have all their own special day where they go to Huntington Beach for a day. The team gets together. It’s not a Santiago affiliated event but you know the leaders of the team kind of organize it. They go down to the beach and take their food and their snacks and they play beach games and just have a team bonding day. We also we do a Big Bear cross country camp that's through my track club called Spectacular Track Club. It's one week in Big Bear and it's just an amazing experience for the kids with lots of team bonding activities. We do some double days and double runs and stuff like that but it's an amazing experience.

How do you build team culture at Santiago?

 I think it comes from the very beginning when you have your parent athlete orientation or your kickoff meeting. We set the tone and set the standard and what the expectations are from the very beginning and letting everybody know what's to be expected. When you're a part of this program, kids are expected to show up during the summer training and if you're on vacation then you're expected to do your runs while you're on vacation.  When you get back, you haven't just taken a week off from running. The expectations are laid out before them in the in the very beginning. I explain to them that cross country is a voluntary sport and cross country is not an easy sport. If I can get people on board early at the beginning of the year like in the summer by showing up early in the mornings, you know they're showing their dedication. They're showing their commitment and they're willing to sacrifice sleep. A lot of these kids would like to sleep in the morning during their summer and they're getting up at 6:00 AM to be at practice by 6:25 so they're not late at 6:30. It’s just about setting the expectation from the very beginning and having good leaders that show up and that are also going to be an extension of the coaches. The team leaders know to teach the younger runners what the coaches want.  I believe it's having the right assistant coaches in place and having the right captains in place to provide the right leadership to help create that environment.

What do the athletes look forward to during the cross-country season?

Big Bear camp is one thing that they always look forward to. All the kids look forward to Big Bear camp. The Woodbridge Invitational. The kids love that one because it is a great race for all levels from freshman to JV to varsity. We’ve performed well there over the past few years. We perform well even at the freshman level at the Woodbridge Invitational and decently well in all those levels. That matters because it is a national showcase and it’s one of the one of the biggest cross country meets in the nation. We also look forward to Clovis Invitational where we take our varsity team up there. At Clovis they get the opportunity to race on the state course and to kind of get familiar with what it's going to be like running at state. It is good for them to get that in their heads and getting that vision already set so those are some of the things that we look forward to in the fall. And obviously competing for CIF championships and hopefully state championships.

We spoke with athletes Charles, Lucas, Emily, and Taylor about the Santiago program:

What do you look forward to during the summer season?

Charles: I like the pool workouts honestly. After our like, I think we ran what was it 6 miles yesterday? Yeah, something like that and then we just hopped in the pool, and we got some cross training and that's probably one of my favorite things that we do.

Lucas: Personally, I love the diverse workouts. I like when we can hit trails going up Skyline for miles and use the Doppler or we've been doing sprints on grass or doing hill repeats on the asphalt. I love the diversity of the workouts that we do, and it brings me joy doing them.

Emily: I think one of the fun things we do is going to Big Bear Camp because that is where we do a lot of team bonding. And we just get better as a team, and it is a fun experience. I think everyone who goes has a lot of fun.

Taylor: I really like those Fun Fridays we do. Every once in a while, we'll kind of like mix it up with like games while we're still getting our run done. For example are like scavenger hunts or just, yeah, other fun games.

What are meets or traditions you like to do during cross country season?

Charles: I think for me it's got to be Woodbridge with that energy, the environment and just being able to show up with such a large team and actually perform just so well.  That's the biggest event that I look forward to during the year.

Lucas: The moment you asked that question immediately I thought Woodbridge. I mean it is not even a question. I brought my camera to take pictures of the team and rooting everyone on. That downhill where there's just hordes of people cheering . . . it's just adrenaline rush. I mean it is my season PR and I plan to PR again. It is my favorite meet.

Emily: I think the best is Cool Breeze. It sets out the tone for the season. Because of the lights and it is at night sets up a fun environment and that is my favorite race.

Taylor: I would agree with Woodbridge. I think it's a really fun race and I'm usually able to PR and others get close to their PR. I think another fun tradition we always do is just spaghetti dinners the night before races.  Our team will get together and our coach kind of like shares an inspirational story. It's just fun team bonding thing. Sometimes we do like spirit nights.

All: Fins up!