New Technology Used to Improve Running Speeds
Trevor Phipps
Photos Courtesy of Lindsey Prahl
Although they may not receive the same attention as fan-friendly sports like football and soccer, the WP high school cross country teams have without question snagged the gold this fall when it comes to the best-ranked local sports squads.
In fact, both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams have experienced amazing success, with many reaching top ranks. Earlier this month, the team completed their league tournament with high accolades, and now they are gearing up for their regional and state championship tourneys.
Throughout the season, both the boys and girls’ teams have thrived with runners reaching new levels. Frankly, enough can’t be said about the Lady Panthers, who have pulled together remarkably well and surpassed the boys both in the team and individual ranks. That is a pretty impressive accomplishment, as the boys are ranked as one of the top cross country units in the state.
After their league tournament on October 11, the girls team snagged third place overall in their league and they are third statewide in 3A. Lucy Hitchcock ended her season with a 10th-place ranking across the 3A Tri-Peaks League. Landri Prahl took 11th in the league with a stellar finish during the league tourney.
However, the boys’ team also proved themselves as fast cross country runners this year. In previous years, the boys’ team went un-ranked, but this season they are 10th statewide.
During the recent league tournament, the male cross country runners earned fifth place in the 3A Tri-Peaks League. The team has been boosted by two freshmen, who have proved themselves in a short time. Freshman Titus Swan is currently the top first-year high school cross country runner in the state, while fellow underclassman (also a freshman) Emile Guthrie falls in as the second-fastest x-country athlete statewide.
Not too shabby of a showing, especially for a sport that is started to get more recognition.
This season marked a first for former Panther football offensive coordinator Michael Cantrell. Cantrell took the reins of both the cross country and track and field teams as head skipper this year. This isn’t his first time in the high school coaching arena, as Cantrell had previously served on the staff of both the cross country and track and field teams before. (The cross country season occurs during the fall, while track and field outings take place in the spring.)
As the season nears a conclusion, Cantrell is elated over what both cross country teams have accomplished in 2025.
“We have got a group of girls that are just absolute grinders,” Cantrell said. “They are not out-worked and they run for each other. That group of girls took second in the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede in small school. Someone has placed in every meet (we have competed in) and they have medaled a couple of times now.”
According to the head coach, the team doesn’t quite realize how successful they truly are, as they just think they are basic high school kids running against other fast kids. But the coach stressed one little known fact: Being competitive in Colorado is actually quite an accolade.
“What they don’t realize is that the state of Colorado is one of the top states in the whole country,” Cantrell said. “And so, they are all elite runners, and they don’t even get it. They don’t even understand how good they are.”
New Coach Uses Science to Train Athletes
Once he took the reins of the teams of runners and realized the talent he had on hand, Cantrell started implementing new technique to add to his students’ training regimens. “We have really dialed up our scientific approach to how we train,” Cantrell explained. “We use ‘progressive overload’ principles so we don’t race as frequently so we can recover better and have better performances between races. We race like every two weeks instead of every week. And we added ‘wear-ables’ this year, so everyone is wearing Garmins or Apple Watches that report all the data back to us as coaches. So, we can see their heart rates and their paces and their cadences. We can now see all of the things to see we need to see to make sure they are running the appropriate mileage, and they have the appropriate intensities to actually get faster week after week.”
As another positive factor, the coach said that both teams are still really young. As a result, he hopes he can help them embrace offseason training so that they can strive for the track and field season in the spring and both seasons next year. “Our concern as coaches on the other side of that equation is that we have to walk a fine line not to burn them out with year-round training,” Cantrell said.
In the end, the coach plans to use his high-tech training program to take the team to the next level in the future. “There is a lot to it, it is not as simple as just go out and run,” the coach said. “What we are finding interesting is that probably 60 to 70 percent of the programs out there that don’t succeed, they don’t actually have a plan. And, they are not training scientifically, and that’s a huge component of what we do.”
The team still has their regional tournament at Monument Valley Park in Colorado Springs this Thursday at 2 p.m. Those who qualify, will race in the state championship on November 1 at the Norris Penrose Event Center.
