Preparation is crucial for cross country teams this time of year.
The postseason kicked off with conference championships over the weekend. Regional championships are scheduled for Saturday and will state championship meets on Nov. 1.
How do athletes peak over the those three weeks?
Scarborough girls coach Denise Curry said there are days when the Red Storm train indoors and don’t run.
“I make sure they’re not over-trained,” Curry said. “We have a big cross-training day where we do weights and the cardio machines.”
Dirigo coach Gunnar Bradbury said top boys runner William Morris, who won the Mountain Valley Conference title on Oct. 18, isn’t slowing his training.
“A lot of kids from other teams, they kind of are taking it easy right now, trying to stay healthy,” Bradbury said. “He’s healthy, and at the same time, he’s working every single week to be better the following week. He’s not taking breaks. He’s on a schedule.”
Bradbury said Morris will run 6-8 miles a few times during the week, while on another day, he will push it to 10 miles. Morris will work in speed and hill work during the week, then rest the day before the race.
Curry said Laurel Driscoll, her top runner, may run 35 miles during the week to prepare.
Mt. Blue coach Kelley Cullenberg adjusts her athletes’ training based on the course for the upcoming week’s race.
The KVAC championship was at Cony, a course with elevation, while the Class A North regional at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast is flatter and faster.
“So this week we have hills,” Cullenburg said. “This week and leading up to this week, we’re working, focusing a little bit more on hills, trying to match terrain. Next week, where it’s relatively flat, we’ll also do the same. It’s kind of hard to find flat (ground) in our area, but we do what we can to try to.
“Worst-case scenario, although some kids would say best-case scenario, we would end up doing some faster stuff on the track going into regionals because we know it’s going to be a relatively flat course.”
Leavitt boys soccer ready for a playoff run
Leavitt boys soccer coach Wendy Milliken said the Hornets consider themselves underdogs for the upcoming postseason playoffs.
The Hornets are in third place in the Class B South standings with two games remaining after three years near the bottom.
“The boys are super pumped, they want to win,” Milliken said. “We’re ready, we want a home-field advantage. That’s kind of a big thing for us and we don’t have turf. A lot of places we go to have turf, and sometimes we feel like it’s a little bit of a disadvantage.”
Milliken said things started rolling for the Hornets during the offseason.
“We play two games a week all summer, and we kind of felt this summer that it was gonna be a good season,” Milliken said. “You can feel it, and so we haven’t backed down. The boys are excited, they’re ready to play.”
Games to watch
With the final week of the regular season upon us for field hockey, soccer and volleyball, here are some games to watch.
• Oak Hill at Mt. Abram: Both rank in the top four of Class C South. Monday is their only meeting of the regular season.
• Class B South’s top teams, Yarmouth and Greely, play on Tuesday.
• Freeport at Yarmouth: The top two Class B South teams meet Monday. Maya Nasveschuk scored twice for Yarmouth in a 2-1 overtime win on Oct. 6.
• Old Town faces Foxcroft Academy on Tuesday in a Class B North and Class C North crossover.
• Hampden Academy at Skowhegan: A Class A-B crossover between the Broncos and the River Hawks. Hampden is fifth in Class A North, while Skowhegan looks to finish near the top of the standings in Class B North.
Also watch Scarborough vs. Sanford on Tuesday.
• Scarborough at Thornton Academy: A matchup of the first- and fourth-ranked teams in Class A takes place on Monday. Scarborough won in five sets when the teams met on Oct. 9.
Another game to watch is Gorham-Bonny Eagle on Monday.
