Susan Wong is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Country Day School for AZPreps365.com

The Phoenix Country Day School (PCDS) cross country team is finally gearing up for the 2020 season after a delayed start due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Their first meet is Sept. 29, at the Valley Christian Cross Country Invitational at Kiwanis Park. The boys’ race starts at 4:00 p.m. and the girls start at 4:30 p.m.

“The pandemic has decimated our training,” coach Camilo Tafur said in an email. “The team had workouts to do on their own over the summer, but we had no practices together and very little interaction.” 

Athletes were sent a calendar of daily workouts to do over the summer, with a mix of tempo running, speed, and endurance training, but there was a two-week gray area between the summer and when the season was supposed to start in August. Then, it got pushed back another month, so PCDS didn’t start practices until Sept. 11. 

Not only do the athletes have to wear masks when they are not running, Tafur said, but locker and shower use are staggered to allow for distancing. 

Social distancing has been the biggest struggle so far, according to Tafur.

“The athletes get talking when we are standing around and then get in each other's space,” Tafur said, adding he has to yell at them to back away from each other.

This year's team is composed of mostly freshmen -- out of the 20 athletes, 16 are freshmen, but according to Tafur, they “seem committed to the program which is a big shift from where we were.” He said they struggled to get numbers on the team over the past two years.

Senior Claire Linos is “the face of the program,” according to Tafur. She has competed at the AIA Division IV state meet for the past three years and came in 11th last year with a time of 20:59.6. Linos' goal is to get better times every weekend and keep improving for state. 

Tafur also has high hopes for freshman Kimi Cahoon, saying he’s excited to see how she performs this season. Cahoon started running cross country in middle school and also plays club basketball. She has never run a 5k, but her goal this season is to go under 20 minutes since she ran 4ks under 15 minutes.

The top returner on the boy’s side is sophomore Quinn Pruitt, who ran a 19:34.9 at AIA Sectionals last season.

The 2020 season will be different in many ways, as this year the team is only scheduled for three meets, whereas they usually compete in at least five meets before heading to the state qualifiers. And, as of Sept. 17, Tafur said that as far as he knows, there isn’t even a venue for the state championship race yet. His goal for the team is to get the runners in as much shape as possible before the end of October, assuming that they qualify for state. Tafur said that at this point, they are basically relying on talent while trying to develop some strength to fend off injury.

Also, this is only Tafur’s third season coaching cross country. He previously coached pole vaulting for the past 19 years at the high school, collegiate, and elite levels. Before he began coaching cross country and long-distance track at PCDS, he coached at Paradise Valley Community College.

.