By Ed Piper
Mandy Benham, La Jolla's head cross country coach, said at practice Thursday morning, August 23, that she isn't sure which of her runners or how many will be take part in the first Crawford Invitational at Chollas Park Sat., Aug. 25.
Benham, looking more refreshed than at the start of the week, after she had just returned from a trip, ran 32 runners--seven of those girls--through stretching, toe steps, heel steps, and the like before setting them out in different groups on practice runs around Mission Bay.
The idyllic spot at the end of Fanuel Street in Pacific Beach has been one of two staging locations the head coach and her assistants, Joni LeSage and Adam Kittlaus, have alternated the past three weeks for practice. The other site is DeAnza Cove, where team hopefuls met the day before.
"The course will be 5,000 meters, and with difficulty in line with CIF standards," said Tlaloc Venancio, Crawford's cross country coach, who is hosting the initial invitational by his school. Kelcie Butcher, the Colts' athletic director, has brought a new energy and involvement in school activities the past three years. This meet is part of that continuing build.
"It's just a small meet," said the coach, who had only five or so schools listed for Saturday's event on Athletic.net. "We want to start small, and just learn."
"We're just trying to build our program, increasing the number of students and amount of money," Venancio said.
Tahseen Hussain, a returning sophomore, was one of the Viking runners who took part in Thursday's workout in Pacific Beach. Warming up on the Fanuel Park grass with his teammates, the friendly student said, "I'm not wearing my glasses because they slide down with the sweat."
He and his fellow Vikings took part in good-natured conversation at the 7:30 a.m. workout, with the usual banter and joking as some arrived looking wide awake, while others were taking their time to unfold. In general, the La Jolla runners have been fairly quiet at the morning practices, though interacting with their friends as they loosen up their legs with leg swings while leaning against the trees at the upper end of the park.
Hussain also runs for the Viking track team in the spring.
Crawford will send out 10 boys and one girl at its invitational this weekend.
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