Isaac Gruneich, who has been running on the team for four years, says he trains by doing 25 minute run workouts to build up more endurance. He also says he uses spikes to have better performance during races
“During practice I run more sets and keep on running,” Isaac says. “And if one of us is feeling like we don’t wanna run anymore during those sets, we should push ourselves to keep on going to discipline ourselves and getting used to being pushed to our absolute limits.”
According to Isaac, the team is doing really well.
“The freshmen are pretty good! The team is still struggling a little bit but they are third overall and they hope to improve for states. We havehigh hopes because of their large depth on team,” Isaac says.
Coach Brych also agrees they are off to a good start.
“We are missing four scoring runners from last year’s team, but we’ve had some new additions in sophomore Jack Reale, and freshmen Reece Roberts, Luca Valent, and Conor Ferguson all competing to fill in those shoes. The sophomore class is also much improved from last season. Seniors Troy Luley, David Daley, and Samson Allen are also off to very strong starts,” Coach Brych says.
Coach Brych has been coaching Cross Country for five seasons at New Hartford and enjoys running himself.
“Cross country and long distance running have always been a part of my life so it’s rewarding to pass along that passion to the next generation. It’s extremely rewarding to see runners set and achieve their goals along the way. Seeing a runner hit a new personal best, or beat a fellow rival in a race makes all the training worth it,” Coach Brych says.
Coach Brych was has provided his own personal best times:
Mile: 4:30
5k: 15:42
Boilermaker 15k: 51:24
Half Marathon: 1:15
Marathon: 2:39.
The best time he remembers as a coach was from Anthony Falvo last year who ran a 5k in 17:23.
“With that said, cross country times are difficult to tell how fast and slow they are because each course can be very different depending on hills, temperature, course conditions such as mud, etc,” Coach Brych says.
If you want to see the teams run in person, stop by Perry Junior High on October 1st or October 15th at 4PM.
