The saying is true, with hard work comes great reward. Through much hard work and perseverance, the Franklin boys cross country team pushed themselves to become the best. With the help of Coach Jacob Michaels, the boys won first place in the 6A Oregon State Activities Association (OSAA) state competition at Lane Community College. Later, at the regional meet in Idaho, they qualified for the national race. Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) took place on Dec 2, 2023 at Glendoveer Golf Course in Portland, and the Franklin boys placed 14th out of the 22 teams that qualified.
Every athlete has their own goals and preferences for the season. “Going to state has been something I’ve wanted to do since I was a freshman. Back then winning state felt like a dream, we worked harder than ever to make it a reality,” says Rowan Haywood-O’Neill. Haywood-O’Neill is a senior at Franklin and runner on the varsity cross country team. During the offseason, he trains with the team and runs about 90 miles per week before getting ready for cross country.
“I felt that we had a pretty good team, we all ran pretty fast during the track season, and we’re really a committed group of guys. I felt something good,” says Brennan McEwen, a Franklin junior and runner for the cross country team.
Even before the season, the boys team has been persistent with training and getting their miles in. During the summer, they go running in Forest Park, running at least 13 miles per long run. Preseason for cross country includes mainly hard training with a few fun runs for practice, such as the Bowerman 5k. The team also attends a summer camp program each year for a chance to train together for a longer period of time, but mostly as a chance to bond. This year they went to Ultimook Running camp, where they competed in dance competitions, muddy tug-of-war matches against other teams, and longer uphill training runs. Camps such as this one provide a chance for the team to get to know each other before the season starts.
Weekly training consists of two workouts per week, with “easy runs” to maintain fitness throughout the rest of the week. Often the team heads up to Mt. Tabor Park for a change of scenery. Twice a week the runners hit the weight room to develop different muscle groups and get in some core exercises.
The cross country pre-season starts in August or earlier, depending on the athlete. Most years, the official season spans from September to November assuming the team qualifies for state, but this year when the Franklin boys qualified for Nationals, their season extended all the way into December.
After the cross country fall season, the running doesn’t end. The team usually takes a down week where their mileage is lower, before starting winter training and ramping up mileage and workouts to prepare for track and field in the spring. Even if it’s a holiday break, the boys team doesn’t take breaks from running.
Most runners set their personal record (PR) throughout the season, and with each race they try to improve their previous PR or best time. Each meet, every runner’s time from their race is recorded and those times are often uploaded to athletic.net so athletes can view their time from each event they competed in.
In cross country, the first five runners from each team to cross the finish line receive their points corresponding to their place. For example, the first runner receives one point, the second receives two points, and so on. The team with the lowest amount of points wins.
Much like track and field, many cross country runners choose to wear spikes during races. Spikes are often made of rubber and are designed to help with traction when running across different terrains on the course. Currently in the off season, many of the Franklin boys are training in the running shoes of their choice, such as the Nike Pegasus Trail 4 Gore Tex. Trail shoes have stiffer midsoles then running shoes and spikes, to create a more stable platform on rougher terrain, with some shoes having rock plates inside the shoe to withstand sharp objects such as roots and rocks.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a team without their coach, Jacob Michaels. “I have been running since sophomore year of high school, 1982, and I also competed in college,” Michaels says. He has been coaching since 1999, but began coaching at Franklin in 2002. Under his guidance, the team qualified to compete at the state and national competitions. Although the boys team was the smallest team at nationals, it’s clear they weren’t to be messed with.
The boys cross country is the first public high school men’s team with neighborhood kids to make it this far, according to Michaels. Through their dedication and skill, the Franklin boys cross country team has been able to place first at state and compete at the NXN competition. The boys team continues to make Franklin proud, and we all can’t wait to see what they do next.
