Lillie Pham

Boys and girls cross country teams at their state competition

The CVHS cross country teams are deep into their fall 2024 seasons, but there have been significant changes this year in the CVHS cross country program, particularly in separated teams and new coaches. 

The most recent change this season has been in the coaching staff. Through the 2023-2024 season, former coach Jamie Ford and former assistant coach Joshua Garcia headed up the cross country program. However, new coaches have taken the helm this year: Coach Jonathan Lowe for the girls and Coach Abderahman Lamane for the boys. In previous years, the cross country girls and boys consisted of one team, with a  head coach and an assistant coach. However, another major change this year involved splitting the girls and boys into separate teams. These changes include separate practice, separate routines and separate coaching, which have altered the team dynamics. 

The girls cross country team has expressed appreciation for the separation, claiming it resulted in fewer distractions, minimized chaos, and increased attention from coaches, which has allowed for more growth for runners.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be such a big change, but it’s been really helpful,” Nina Pinglay, one of the girls cross country captains, said. “I definitely like this dynamic a lot better than how it was before.”

The boys cross country team agrees.

“The separation of the girls and boys programs has allowed us to have more individualized practices in terms of getting coaching feedback, as well making sure we’re more tight-knit as a group,” said Abhiram Jyosyla, one of the boys cross country captains.

This increased attention the runners have received from having separate coaches has led to growth within cross country on both a mental and a physical level. 

Coaches, however, differ in their viewpoints on  the separation.

Girls cross country coach, Jonathan Lowe, is fond of  the separation, stating that he “is a big proponent of girls sports, and it bothers [him] when they’re just an add-on to things.”

However, Coach Lamane said, “I don’t think [the separation] is going to benefit the teams. It may work for a certain individual, but not for the group as a whole.”

While Coach Lowe said he likes how the separate teams for the girls and boys allow for more focus on developing the individual teams, Coach Lamane believes there should be more interaction between the teams, as cross country should be one unified team 

Differences between current and previous coaching styles have also caused athletes to experience a unique season. 

“Before, under Coach Ford, captains didn’t have much say with what was going on during the week, and now with Coach Lowe, [they] have meetings every week, and [they] get to plan things, so captains are a lot more hands-on,” Pinglay stated.

Lowe agrees with this, stating that the girls are more experienced than he is, as he is new to coaching cross country this year.

In addition, Jyosyla also agrees with Pinglay, stating that he is enjoying the season more this year.

“It feels more runner-led rather than the coaches telling you what to do,” said Jyosyla.

While Coach Lowe and Coach Lamane have contrasting opinions on the separation of girls and boys, they both agree that leadership within the teams is more outspoken and gives feedback back to coaches on how the teams are doing from a student-athlete perspective.

Overall, cross country runners have displayed positive feelings toward changes in coaching due to increased autonomy in practice. Student captains also indicated a liking toward the increased focus on mental health within cross country this year. 

“I think, honestly, we’re all really happy about it. We weren’t expecting it to be such a big change, but it’s been really helpful … It’s been really nice to see we’ve been able to grow better,” said Pinglay.