Buildings are built from the ground up. That’s what John Koonce is trying to do with El Dorado’s cross country program. He has a record number of athletes this season – 48.
“Last year we finished with 41. In the four years that I have been here, our varsity teams have been built by recruiting kids to run within the high school,” said Koonce. “Our athletes have done an outstanding job getting their peers to come out and compete. I've always been very proud of the kids for doing this.
“However, I've always known that in order to build a program that is going to compete with the top tier programs in our classification and our conference, we would need to establish a junior high program that feeds into the varsity programs. Last year was the first time since we started the junior high program that we had more athletes at the junior high level than the varsity level. However, most of those athletes were 7th and 8th graders last year. We only had one freshman finish the year. This year the junior high program is slightly bigger than last year, and we should start seeing more athletes come into the varsity program that aren't brand new to running.”
Of the program’s 48 runners, 31 are at the junior high level, including 17 junior high girls. Twelve of those girls are in the seventh and eighth grades. Of the 14 junior high boys, 11 are seventh and eighth graders.
“Both of our junior high teams will be the best that we have had since the junior high program started four years ago,” said Koonce. “Going into the Little Rock meet, I had a couple of teams at the front of my mind. They were teams that we have come close to but have not been able to beat yet. Not only were we able to outscore those teams but we also took down numerous other teams from north and central Arkansas that I did not believe we could compete with at this time. Since arriving, we have always had a handful of good junior high runners represent our program each year. This is the first year that we have true, quality depth on both teams. In years past, if one runner had to sit out or one runner had a bad day, then the team would take a significant hit. We are now to the point that we have runners in the 6-10 positions that step up and the drop off isn't as drastic. We aren't where we need to be to compete with the top teams in our conference and the state, but we are finally closing in. There are a few freshmen that I could move up right now to improve our varsity teams but I want them to have a successful junior high season first and I will look to move them up right before conference when it counts.”
Planning for the future while focusing on the present can be a difficult task. El Dorado will field, perhaps, its best varsity boys’ cross country team ever this season. While trying to win today will be important, building the house from the ground up is an everyday chore.
Koonce hopes to lay the foundation with the junior high athletes.
“I've always wanted the kids to be able to run 25-to-35 miles a week by the time that they are sophomores, but you can't do that with brand new runners and expect them to stay injury free,” he said. “We are getting closer to being a program that can keep the same training regimen as the top programs in our state. Our sport is 95 percent about training volume and training quality. Our volume and quality continues to improve and it is getting closer and closer to where it needs to be.”