Lovelady Cross Country 2016

New Look for Lovelady Cross Country

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

LOVELADY – There’s a new coach heading up the cross country program in Lovelady this year and while he is new to the position, he’s no stranger to fans of the Lions.

Jeff Rollo takes over the cross country leadership position in his first year of coaching and if his last name sounds familiar, it because his dad, Sonny Rollo, “… was a track guy and held the state record in the 800m (880 yards) for almost 40 years,” the new coach said.

“I grew up in a house where we went to a lot of track meets and there was a lot of running, but I never did cross country. I was a basketball player. This is my first time coaching it and it’s definitely a learning experience for me,” Coach Rollo explained.

“What we’re looking at right now, last week we were running about three miles per day. This week we’re trying to do a little bit more. It really depends on a few different factors. I’m getting some feedback from the kids about how sore they are and how they’re feeling and then we’ll go from there. We’ll go about four miles a day this week,” he indicated.

The coach explained as the runners began to progress, he intended to change their training routine.

“Sometimes we will run on the track and then other times we’ll run on the dirt roads around here. We will go different places and then finish up on the track. I want to keep it where it’s not the same mundane routine, every single time. We will go really hard for 800 meters and then I’ll let them walk a lap. Then they’ll run another 800 meters and walk another lap. That walking builds into the mileage and we’ll increase that as we go forward,” Rollo said.

He said the only runner he had coming back from last year’s cross country team was Olivia Wilson.

“Olivia is going to be a sophomore and she seems to really love running. She also runs track in the spring. On the boys’ side, we only have two runners. One is a senior but this is the first time he has ever run cross country, even though he’s run (spring) track in the past. We have five girls and two boys running,” Rollo said.

As far as expectations for this year, the coach said, “I really don’t know. I told them on the first day I knew some of them were in it for different reasons. Some of them are in it because they want to get in better shape for a different sport, like basketball. I told them as the season progresses, we would talk more about their goals. Now when school starts, we very well might have some more runners who come out. I want to sit down with them and see what their individual goals are. If there is one of them who wants to compete for a district championship or they want to be in the top five or even it’s just to get in better shape, I want to push them so they can be the best they can be for themselves. One thing about the kids who came out, they all have a positive attitude. They are a really good group of kids.”

He added, “I’m all about setting goals and having dreams. I’m the type of person who says don’t let people tell you that you can’t. Just keep on going until you get it done. That not only applies to running cross country or playing basketball, but also in the classroom. I want to challenge the kids in order to have them get the most out of themselves.”