It’s an early warm September morning and City College cross-country head coach Marisa Avendano is at the track having a laugh with her team as they prepare for daily practice. It’s not just fun and games – it’s hardwork, too.

Avendano, in her 11th year as cross-country coach, said she thinks highly of her team this season.

“The big difference is that this year we had summer conditioning, so I think that will be very helpful come October and November,” Avendano said.

The team’s fi rst meet was Sept. 10 at the Fresno Invitational at Woodward Park.

Sophomore team captain Chris Rios clocked in the best time for the men at 22 minutes and 36 seconds and captain Shelby Vollmer, freshman, led the women with a time of 21 minutes and 26 minutes.

“We had some people who set personal records which is great, but we use that fi rst meet as a test. We don’t go into it looking to break records,” Avendano said. “We look at it to see where we are at this point in the season [and] to see how we can adjust practices to help us improve.”

Rios, kinesiology major, fi nished 51st in the race and improved his time from last season. “I expect to go further than last year, I expect for the whole team to go to state,” Rios said. “Last year only one person made [it to] state.”

Rios said that it’s not easy waking up early and running long distances.

“(The hardest part) is the miles and waking up early everyday,” Rios said.

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The Men’s cross-country team placed eight out of 11 teams Saturday Sept. 17 at the Mills Invitational in Oakland.

Vollmer continued to lead the women’s cross-country team as the top athlete fi nishing 28th in Oakland with a
time of 26 minutes and 03 seconds.

Like other City College sports teams this season, the cross-country team has a lot of freshman.

“We have a lot of freshman that just joined our team,” Avendano said. “My expectations for them are to improve their times from last year to this year, for them to stay healthy and to make it as a team to the state meet.”

Training to build endurance is vital for successful long distance runners, Avendano said.

In cross-country, staying healthy can be half of the battle, as running everyday wears on the body, Vollmer said.

For this reason, Vollmer said, the team focuses on injury prevention as part of the program.

“This is a great group of athletes that I enjoy coaching,” Avendano said. “They have a lot to learn but they are doing what they have to do to improve as runners.”