Chester High School Cross Country off and running

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Chester High School Cross Country began Wednesday August 13 at 7 p.m. with an organizational meeting at the CHS Track and Field Complex. Head Coach, Paul Stallman and Assistant Coach Bob Koenegstein met with prospective runners to introduce the new season and orient teammates to the expectations for 2008.

Stallman spent most of the evening covering rules, regulations and training procedures. It was noted that all runners would have to have their signed and completed physicals before they could run with the team. All but four runners had their physicals completed and the rest had appointments to have theirs in the near future.

Koenegstein and Stallman educated the team regarding upcoming training sessions and practice sessions once school begins. Basically the team will run after school most evenings starting at 3:30 p.m. Stallman informed everyone that meets were not optional and that team members should inform their employers of all dates of meets.

For the first night of cross country there were seven girls and six boys who reported for the team. There are two senior girls and one senior boy at this time, along with several juniors, several sophomores and one freshman. It was noted that most of the really good female runners from the Chester Grade School 2007 team have gone out for volleyball and will not be running cross country.

Stallman informed each runner that he or she should try to recruit additional members by the time school starts. By the end of the organizational meeting two additional male members reported for the team. There are two foreign exchange students at CHS who demonstrated interest in running for CHS this fall so they were very welcome as new members of the 2008 CHS cross Country team.

Stallman modeled the new cross country wind suits that have been purchased for the team this fall. The basic color is black with orange and white trio to highlight the warm up. One thing for sure is that the 2008 CHS cross Country runners will be running in style this season.

After finishing the business portion of the meeting Koenegstein led the runners through agilities and stretching. Stallman announced that there would not be an actual run the first night, however most runners chose to take a one-mile run on their own. Thursday and Friday August 14 and 15 the team did meet at the Cohen Field for official workouts. Training will begin in earnest once school starts.

Stallman and Koenegstein welcome the addition of more new runners for the 2008 squad. Interested girls or boys should see Mr. Stallman at school or call Koenegstein at his home. Both Stallman and Koenegstein noted that the cross country team is a real family atmosphere that is truly reinforcing to every runner. Cross country is a team sport, but it is also an individual sport that is focused on improving each individual's fitness and running ability. Individual goals are set and everyone reinforces the accomplishments of each runner throughout the season.

Schedules will be announced soon and equipment will be distributed to all team members. Overall, CHS Cross Country has been very successful over the years with the Yellow Jackets producing some of the best, most successful competitors in the area. Stallman and Koenegstein hope to continue that trend in 2008.