Lakewood's Best Kept Secret
What Lakewood High School athletic team is one of the most successful in Ohio Statewide competitions? Which one ranked fourth in 2006 in the Ohio coaches poll? What team qualified for participation in regional races for the last 20 consecutive years? What Lakewood High School team has won 35 Lake Erie League titles, which no other team has matched?
What sport receives little recognition in the public media or from its peers for its successes?
The answer to all of the above is: the Lakewood High School Boys Cross Country Team.
The boys team, consisting of some 30 athletes, train and compete from August through November each year. The goal at the beginning of each season is to qualify for the season-ending state meet in November, and the team has accomplished it seven of the last 11 years.
The team has been coached by Rick Ventura, a University of Oklahoma graduate, since 1997. A long-time runner himself, he’s known to be dedicated to teaching his runners well with a carefully-drawn, season-long training plan.
Seasonal training begins with six runs per week featuring hard but manageable workouts consisting of daily runs up to 10 miles in length. The workouts vary in length and speed and typically take place on the bridle path beginning at Mastick Park in the Rocky River Reservation of the Metro Parks, which provides varying conditions including hills and uneven terrain commonly found at meets.
Other common training routes are from the High School to Lakewood Park and to or from Lakewood Park to Edgewater Park and back.
The boys team usually competes in 11 5K (3.1 miles) races during the season. These races occur every weekend from the end of August to the first weekend of November, regardless of the weather. The race courses are in northern Ohio and New York in city parks or around school campuses, but never on a stadium track. The state championships, held in November at Scioto Downs in Columbus, start and end inside the horse race track in front of the stadium.
Meets typically start with a mass start in a field and quickly narrow down to a single lane path that can be anything from grassy to muddy tree root strewn paths. Twisted ankles, sprains, and season-ending injuries are not uncommon. Runners wear cross country shoes that have a series of spikes on the sole. Another common injury is being spiked by other runners.
The runners often find themselves racing in snow, sleet, through mud and puddles, and often in rain -- all of which adds immeasurably to the difficulty and hardship they endure.
Spectating itself is a tough sport. Spectators, typically family members, are forced to endure the same conditions as the athletes. To get good vantage points, spectators are sometimes forced to do a little hiking through the woods.
The athletes accomplish their races with little public attention and recognition and support, and without cheering crowds typical of more common stadium-based ball-and-stick sports. However, in the end they enjoy and understand their accomplishment.
This year the L.H.S. Cross Country Team will be competing in a new league with some new stiff competition. I encourage everyone to attend a cross country meet this fall and cheer on these dedicated Lakewood Ranger Cross Country athletes.
