UHS Cross Country Team Starts Season Strong with a New Coach
The UHS Cross Country team has been through many changes but are set for a promising future. Over the off season Peter Breit, who had been head coach for almost five years, resigned due to his wife finishing her P.H.D. and earning a job in northern Iowa. With Breit’s resignation, Teacher Brandon Smith, who had been assistant coach since the 2010 season, earned the head coach position.
Coach Smith has high hopes for the girls and boys cross country programs. Over the summer, Smith contacted hundreds of students at UHS telling them to come out and get fit. His hard work paid off and the team now has a group of nine talented freshman and several more recruits ranging from Sophomores to Seniors along with multiple returners from previous seasons.
When asked what his goals for the season were, Smith said, “To grow the team, have success, and increase the team comradery and to keep the good vibes rolling.”
Smith has also brought in several new training philosophies into the program. His favorite one, “Take the easy days easy and the hard days hard.” What he means by this is train hard on the hard workout days, and take the easy workout days easy. Smith makes sure to incorporate plenty of fun too, including games that also improve speed and endurance while also bonding the team.
When asked what aspects he is bringing into the program Smith said, “Helping each person improve..Helping each person get faster and stronger while still having plenty of fun to keep you motivated.”
Along with a new head coach, the Urbana Cross Country team gained several talented freshman from Urbana Middle School. On the boys side, standout Garret Williams is already impacting the team. Williams, who ran 11:07 in the two mile at Urbana Middle School is ready for a successful fun freshman season.
Coach Smith has high hopes for the girls and boys cross country programs. Over the summer, Smith contacted hundreds of students at UHS telling them to come out and get fit. His hard work paid off and the team now has a group of nine talented freshman and several more recruits ranging from Sophomores to Seniors along with multiple returners from previous seasons.
When asked what his goals for the season were, Smith said, “To grow the team, have success, and increase the team comradery and to keep the good vibes rolling.”
Smith has also brought in several new training philosophies into the program. His favorite one, “Take the easy days easy and the hard days hard.” What he means by this is train hard on the hard workout days, and take the easy workout days easy. Smith makes sure to incorporate plenty of fun too, including games that also improve speed and endurance while also bonding the team.
When asked what aspects he is bringing into the program Smith said, “Helping each person improve..Helping each person get faster and stronger while still having plenty of fun to keep you motivated.”
Along with a new head coach, the Urbana Cross Country team gained several talented freshman from Urbana Middle School. On the boys side, standout Garret Williams is already impacting the team. Williams, who ran 11:07 in the two mile at Urbana Middle School is ready for a successful fun freshman season.
When asked what his expectations were for the season Garrett said, “My goal is to make sectionals and for the boys squad to improve every meet.”
Along with Garret there are two other freshmen on the boys team ready to impact the team, Andrew Kowalski and Curtis Bradley. All of which ran all three years in middle school.
Garrett on what the positive aspects of the team coming into the the High School from the Middle School, “I love how there’s more one on one work and training is more tailored to your personal needs.”
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