Cross Country: Conversations with Head Coach Mary Beth Gallagher and Senior Runner Chris Neiland

Canyon Lakes Cross Country teams have been off to the races as practice and

Distance Runner Chris Neiland

The ReSporter had an interview with Head Coach Mary Beth Gallagher and Senior Chris Neiland.

The ReSporter: What are you wanting to accomplish this year with the team?

Coach Gallagher: Well, we have already accomplished my first goal which was to increase the number of kids that came out for Cross Country.

We have 24 on the roster and they are all great kids. However, out boys team missed a birth to regionals by one point last year as a team, so we want to change that and we do have a good young talent pushing those older boys for those top spots.

For the girls it’s more about steadily improving from week to week. We do not have real strong girls but we are deeper than we have ever been.

The ReSporter: Tell us about some of the newer athletes for this year.

Coach Gallagher: We have two freshman boys that are consistently one to two minutes off the pace of our top boys and that is very exciting.

The ReSporter: What type of training are you doing?

Coach Gallagher: When we kicked off the season, we were not in the kind of shape we need to be in and therefore we are a little behind the pace of some larger programs.

We are using sprint work to increase endurance and that type of muscle work will help their bodies release Lactate and help with muscle fatigue. We want to be able to sprint and finish with the best of them.

The ReSporter: Can you give us an idea of the Meets you have participated in?

Coach Gallagher: Our first meet was a small informal meet in Wimberley and we had three boy’s groups medal and our top girls medaled.

The JV boys took the top three spots. It was a two man relay format and the first 10 to come across the finish line medaled.
We just competed today (Saturday, September 1st) at the New Braunfels invitational. Canyon and Smithson Valley, New Braunfels and lots of other big schools were there.

We did not place but found ourselves finishing in the middle of the pack in all four divisions.

This was a big meet with tons of schools so it is a good reminder of where we need to be. We are going to train hard and hope we peak at District. Thanks.

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Canyon Lake has an old veteran running Cross Country this year with Senior Chris Neiland.

Neiland is the Canyon Lake record holder for the Mile Run, 5:01.70. He ran that time at the Tiger Meet in Dripping Springs. He also has the best time for Canyon Lake in the 3200 Run with a time of 10:51.63, that run was in 2011 at District.

Neiland has been running around the track going on four years now and probably knows every crook and crack on the cinders by now.

The ReSporter: You seemed to lose some of your momentum at the end of the season last year what seemed to happen?

Neiland: I took the spring break week off and that hurt my stamina. This year I will be much more prepared, I have been running this Summer too!

The ReSporter: How deep is the team this year?

Neiland: We are pretty deep this season, we have three or four that has a chance for a good year. One is a Freshman, Duncan Coleman.

The ReSporter: How would you compare Coach Gallagher with Coach Melissa Lynch for the past three years?

Neiland: Coach Gallagher is a little more lenient. We have done more sprint work.

I like the way she keeps track of our times.

The ReSporter: How are you feeling about this year?

Neiland: I’m just looking at the meets, but I’m excited.

The ReSporter: Who do you feel will be your major competition this season in District 27-3A?

Neiland: Fredericksburg…they always have a bunch of runners and so I think they will be our toughest people to beat.

The ReSporter: Good luck this year and keep up the your training to bring home some new records for Canyon Lake.