LJ x-c: First meet Fri., Feb. 12

Cross country hopefuls at Canyon Crest Academy (where the reporter is

subbing this week) take off for some road work Tuesday afternoon,

Feb. 9. Only "essential workers" are allowed at La Jolla High's

opening meet this Fri., Feb. 12 at Serra High, so the reporter shares

these images in advance of the Vikings' meet

with you instead. (Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In the first live sports event since COVID hit 11 months ago, the La Jolla High cross country teams will compete against San Diego High at Serra High this Fri., Feb. 12, with activities beginning on the Serra High football field down below and behind the school at 9 a.m.

"Our girls should do well," said Viking head coach Mandy Benham Wed., Feb. 10. "Their boys are really strong, so that's going to be tough."

Temperatures should hover in the 50-degree range at that hour, not unpleasant for running but making it a little tough for warming up pre-race.

"There's a little flux right now (in who is going to run)," said Joni LeSage, long-time assistant coach of the Viking runners Wed., Feb. 10. "Mandy has several runners (in the mix who are going through preseason workouts)."

La Jolla High got word last week that cross country events were a live item. The sport is the first to be able to take the field or court since the coronavirus raised its evil head Fri., March 13, 2020 and school classes were postponed, then cancelled beginning March 16 a year ago.

Later in the spring, a makeshift form of distance learning classes was instituted, with teachers mandated not to give lower grades than what students were earning on the day of the cancellation, Friday the 13th.

The Vikings' athletes, as have other competitors, have had to deal with the up-and-down nature of scheduling and events in the midst of shutdowns, restrictions at home, prohibitions on team workouts, and a whole host of other issues and proclamations coming out from school, community leaders, the Centers for Disease Control, the White House, you name it in the past 11 months.

What a wild ride it has been, culminating in this first event Friday, through cancellations of the rest of Spring sports last March-April-May 2020, and no league or CIF championships; then the same for Fall 2020 and Winter 2020-2021 until now.

LJHS Athletic Director Paula Conway texted earlier this week "only essential workers" can attend Friday's event, so stay tuned as far as coverage and the progression of succeeding events in coming weeks.

The location of Friday's meet has to do with CIF's directives to use courses laid out on school campuses. What LJHS did, apparently, was identify Serra High as a site with a course already laid out. CIF directs that courses should not cross any streets (presumably for athletes' safety), and if the course does cross streets, to make it a minimum of streets.

As a result, La Jolla runs against San Diego High at 9 am. Another pair of schools follows at 10 a.m., and so forth.

Morley Field, where the Vikings usually run in meets, is closed to meets due to COVID restrictions.

On Mon., Feb. 8, CCA candidates do the familiar swing-the-leg

warmup exercise for runners on the school track

prior to setting out on their respective "pod" workouts

across Carmel Valley during the afternoon.