MBJH cross-country sees record numbers

There were so many kids on the Mountain Brook Junior High cross-country team this year that it took three buses to get them to meets.

Two of them were the standard size; one was a double-decker.

“Normally we would take three [regular] buses,” MBJH head coach Randy Stephens said, “but we couldn’t fit them all on the three buses.”

According to Stephens, 181 MBJH students joined the cross-country team this fall, marking an all-time high. The 2018 team drew 148 runners, and past rosters have traditionally averaged 120 to 130.

Stephens said multiple factors contributed to the strong turnout.

“Usually, you build some type of camaraderie with somebody, and you get to compete,” Stephens said. “I hope that’s what it is, because the first thing I tell them at the beginning of the year is that if someone told you this is fun, it’s not.”

The cross-country team doesn’t make cuts, but it does require participants to test their limits. The team holds practice five days a week and frequently races on Saturday mornings.

Due to the heat that persisted for much of the season, Stephens held interval workouts on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6 a.m.

“You get a lot of kids who haven’t done anything much athletically, and they can be successful here,” he said. “They’re going to improve because you don’t have any choice. If you run and do the workouts, you’re going to get better. It’s not possible for you not to get better.”

Stephens divided his expansive team into four training groups, based on his runners’ fastest race times. He said the top group logged about 5 miles per day, with long runs reaching 7 miles.

Newcomers started by running a half-mile and then increased their distance over time.

“They have an opportunity after every meet to move up to another group,” Stephens said, “so your goal is to gradually work your way up in the group setting.”

Stephens gathered input from Mountain Brook High School cross-country coaches Michael McGovern and Lars Porter as he prepared his athletes for their 2-mile races. A few of them joined the high school team after the junior high season concluded and will compete at the sectional and state meets.

MBJH ninth-grader Reagan Riley did that the past two years, notching second- and fourth-place finishes in the Class 7A state race. Although she’s competed with the high school all season, Stephens said runners such as Mary Katherine Malone will likely make the jump to high school competition. Malone was the top runner on a talented MBJH girls team.

“The girls are one of the best teams we’ve had in a while,” Stephens said, “and the boys are actually one of the better teams, but they’re young.”

The cross-country season culminated at the Metro South Championship in mid-October for seventh- and eighth-graders, while ninth-graders continued to train for the junior varsity championship a couple of weeks later.

Stephens had help coaching this fall from assistants Amelia Breeze, John Phillips, Jane Mosakowski, Reed Ellis, Betsy Cobb, Stewart Hawk and Kate Petrusnek.

Stephens said they aimed to make cross-country as enjoyable as they could for their young athletes.

“On the whole, I would say almost all of them eventually buy into the program and into our philosophy,” Stephens said, “even if it’s just to be with their buddies.”