Health & Fitness
How are the early reviews of the cross-country season?
In Shrine's case, they're absolutely glowing.
The Knights officially kicked off the practice season at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday with the team’s first-ever “MidKnight Mile.”
Two dozen athletes and coaches took part, decked out in T-Shirts sporting glow-in-the-dark paint, and armed with flashlights, glow sticks, bracelets, necklaces and even masks. The group treated it like New Year’s Eve, by huddling up, counting down to zero and shouting “Happy Cross-Country Season!” before setting out down a dark dirt road in Lewiston, Mich., where the team is holding its annual pre-season camp.
“We wanted to do something to jazz things up,” Head Coach Wright Wilson said. “For fall sport athletes, once your practices begin, your summer is basically over. But the kids were really excited to do this, and I think this will be a tradition we’ll keep.”
The total route was 1.6 miles – fairly short by normal practice standards – but then again, it was after midnight, well outside of a typical teen athlete’s routine schedule. Everyone appeared to be energized by the brief workout.
“I had heard of some football teams holding their first practice at midnight and there’s another cross-country team nearby, Oakland Christian, that has done this on the school campus before, so I thought we’d try it out,” Wilson said. “We didn’t tell the kids about it until a couple days before, but they were immediately excited and looking forward to it.”
It could be another exciting season for the Knights. Last year, the girls’ team won its fifth consecutive regional title and narrowly eked out a Catholic League championship. The Shrine boys were a three-time regional winner and league runner-up.Coach Wilson is banking on good leadership from the Knight seniors, who include Erin Butler, Mike Guirey, Jake Miller, Grace Nagle, Clare Romano and Teresa Wiencko.
