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Special to The Flash
by Tommy Wells, Public Information Officer for Ranger College
New Ranger College head cross country coach Kathy Graham picked up a handful of commitments from runners throughout the Southwest last week with one move. She had each of them dunk themselves in a tub of water during a three-day cross country camp that ran from Thursday through Saturday on the college campus.
“We had seven new runners commit to Ranger College after attending the camp,” said Graham.
As part of Ranger College’s first-ever cross country camp. Graham said almost a dozen high school runners from throughout Texas and New Mexico participated in six workouts, and had the opportunity to learn what it would take to prepare for, and compete at, the collegiate level.
To finish the camp, Graham said the runners were challenged with a co-ed relay race, in which each runner had to complete a 1-mile run, dunk themselves in a tub of water and then pass a baton to a teammate, who did the same thing before returning the baton. The race consisted of each runner completing three laps.
Following the race, First Financial Bank hosted a barbecue for the runners and their families.
Graham said the camp went extremely well, especially considering how quickly it was thrown together after her arrival.
“The camp was a success,” she said. “They learned a lot, ran hard and for hardly any promotion, we had people come. Next year, we would like to be at about 50 runners for camp.”
At least seven participants in the cross country camp parlayed their efforts into a spot on the Rangers’ 2015 cross country team, including six from Texas and one from New Mexico. Committing to RC for the upcoming season were: Kanya Johnson of Blanket, TX.; Jayden Whitzell of Carlsbad, N.M.; Mayko Guevara of Sugarland, TX; Ruben Sandoval of Dallas, TX; Angel Castrejon of Dallas, TX; Carter Hamer of Round Rock, TX and Isaac Gafishi of Fort Worth, TX.
The 2015 Ranger College cross country season will begin on Aug. 17 with preseason drills. The team will open its season on Sept. 5 at the McMurry University Invitational in Abilene.
“We have some talented and committed runners coming in. We will definitely be looking to be in the top 15 in the nation in both genders,” Graham said.
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