Conditioning starts for Carson runners

Veteran Carson High cross-country coach Pete Sinnott is getting a jump on the 2015 season.

Sinnott is starting a conditioning program for competitive runners from sixth grade through high school beginning with a meting at his house, 5432 Lynnett Lane, Sunday at 10 a.m.

“The first meeting is informational and parents need to attend,” Sinnott said. “This isn’t exclusively for high school runners. This is for any middle-school competitive runner who wants to get in shape for the cross-country season at their school.”

After the initial 2 1/2-hour workout of running and plyometrics, Sinnott’s group will meet Mondays (Spooner Summit), Wednesdays (Carson Middle School) and Fridays (Edmunds Sports Complex) at 6:30 p.m.

“We’ll start 20 minutes out and 20 back, and the second week go to 25 minutes out and back,” said Sinnott, whose CHS team starts Aug. 28 at the Twilight Classic at Shadow Mountain Sports Complex in Sparks.

Carson High returns several boys and girls from its roster of 2014.

On the girls side, Eveline Delgado, Athena Favero, Alison Greene, Blanca Sosa, Rheanna Jackson, Jiavanna Wong-Fortunato and Katie Liemant are among the runners eligible to return in the fall. Delgado was fifth in regionals and eighth at state a year ago. Jackson was 35th at regionals, Sosa 41st, Fortunato 43rd, Favero 44th and Greene 51st complemented Delgado.

“Blanca was a very strong runner in sixth and seventh grade, and then she grew about a foot,” Sinnott said. “She had some bad shin splints, and she started running at the end of last season. She swam and had a good season this past spring.

“We should be pretty competitive. We will have to be a pack. Other than Eveline, we don’t have a dominant runner.”

Carson’s girls were fifth at regionals a year ago, and Douglas and Galena lost several key runners to graduation, so CHS could move up a spot or two.

On the boys side, the Senators will be led by Ian VanRensselaer, who was 11th in regionals and 14th at state. VanRensselaer broke his tibia six weeks ago during track season. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back. He also suffered a broken leg skiing two years ago. Suffice to say he’s had a couple of big injuries.

On the squad last year were Kiefer Catron (39th in regionals), Miles Bean (34th), Adam Maw, Shane Morton, Reece Canfield, Konnor Van Worth, Joshua Marriner, Hector Gomez Barrios and Logan Mead. Practice hasn’t officially started yet, so Sinnott isn’t exactly sure who is running this year or not.

Carson’s boys team was fifth at regionals last year, and with McQueen’s dynamic duo of Connor Ross and Kai Benedict graduating, the Senators could move up and qualify as a team for state.