Cross country season is going just fine at Ovid-Elsie High School, and special thanks go to seniors Tyler Jensen and Luke Hurst, who are both in their second seasons.
Coach Scott Sheedlo is anxiously waiting for the two runners to hit their strides.
“They both feel they’re not running fast enough yet,” Sheedlo said. “That goes with the territory a little bit, with seniors anyway. They both ran very fast at the Spartan Invite last year. This year when their times weren’t quite as fast, they were a little frustrated with that.
“The way they worked this summer and the way the workouts have gone, if they both stay healthy I really feel they’re both going to be in the mix for being all-staters this year and maybe finish very well.”
Sheedlo said that time will tell how much they’ve improved.
“I hesitate to say a little on that because Tyler got sick at the end of last year,” he said. “We didn’t get to see what he’s capable of. I see them both being sub 16:30 guys. How far down they get, we’ll see. It’s possible they could both get high 15s, low 16s.”
Jensen recalls that last season, finishing first at the Corunna Invitational was a major highlight.
Getting a time in the high 15s to low 16 minutes sounds good to Jensen, along with being an all-stater and helping the team go to the state finals for the first time in many years. He qualified for state last year. His best time was 16:34 at Michigan State’s Spartan Invite last year.
“I need to stay healthy, not get hurt, keep training like I have, and hopefully the times will start to click,” he said.
His second and third miles are usually a strength, and Jensen strives to stay with the leaders for the first mile.
Hurst noted that he and Jensen have both run together three years. “We’re real good friends and hang out all the time,” he said. “Tyler’s the faster of the two. We usually go the first mile together. But he is the faster runner.”
Hurst was happy with the 2011 season. “The goal was to run in the 17s and make it to state, and I did both of those,” he said. “We both trained lots and lots of miles, several hundred, in the off-season.”
Hurst definitely wants to get under 16:30. “Low 16s is definitely reachable,” he said. “I need to go out strong with the leaders, put yourself in the mix early, and see how long you can hang on.”
Hurst said the first mile is usually his strength, but not losing focus in the middle miles is also a key.
Looking ahead, Hurst is confident that he and Jensen will have strong finishes to their careers. But they have to be patient as they work to get their times down, he noted. “It will take a little bit of time.”