After a six-month delay, the Cross Country season started last Saturday, Feb. 12. Had the season started last August, we would have had all of our league meets at Morley Field on the City Conference course. We would also have scheduled “Cluster Meets” where all schools compete in the same race, with the results sorted out by team matchups.

To comply with COVID restrictions, the Western League Coaches got together and created a schedule of dual meets at various schools, the first being at Cathedral Catholic last Saturday, followed by meets every Saturday throughout the season. Last Saturday, all six schools had a meet with one other school. The schools in the Western League are Coronado, Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa, Cathedral Catholic, University City, and Point Loma.

With the Pandemic eliminating most of last year’s track season and delaying this season’s cross country start, Islander Distance runners haven’t competed in nearly a year. That doesn’t mean that they haven’t had opportunities to train.

Like many of the other coaches in the section, I started an AAU club that’s been meeting several times a week for focused training. Additionally, the Islander Sports Foundation authorized camps that meet once a week. So everyone who wanted to train with a group has had the opportunity to do so. The AAU club, called “The Coronado Milers Club,” has 24 members, all of whom are also participants in the ISF Cross Country Camp. Many of the

Islander Cross Country Head Coach George Green provides his weekly report, which includes how junior Abigail Hundley and sophomore Landon Mullins qualified for the State Meet in Fresno this weekend. “At last Saturday’s CIF Cross Country Finals, held at Morley Field, we entered only five runners in the Girls event.

“There’s a saying in the sport of Cross Country that you’re only as good as your fifth runner. That’s because it takes five finishers for a scoring team. The final score for each team is the sum of the finish places of your top five. In Cross Country, teams are ranked by their lowest scores. Seven runners are allowed in the race, but the last two finishers don’t count in the scoring. The sixth and seventh finishers serve to push back the scoring of the other teams; hence, they’re called pushers.

George Green, Head Boys and Girls Cross Country Coach, provides an update on his teams from last week. “Last Thursday the Islander Cross Count…

George Green, Islander Cross Country Head Coach provides the details of the last regular season event for his teams, which was held last week. “Typically the last CHS fall sport standing is Cross Country. This season will be no different, with the Western League Finals Thursday, the CIF San Diego Section Finals Nov. 23 and the California State Meet Nov. 30.

“Last Thursday we had our final Western League cluster meet at Morley Field. All varsity races were at a distance of 3.11 miles over the City Conference Cross Country Course. This was also the last meet of the season for our JV teams.