Mingus cross-country coach Jim Bostwick has been coaching the school’s runners for 17 years now — long enough to say exactly what he has without diving into the deep end of the hyperbole pool.
So when Bostwick doesn’t hesitate to say his teams should win state championships, he means it.
“Goals for both teams are to win state [Division]-III,” Bostwick said. “Saying this, they are now having to put in the preparation needed to do so.”
That preparation started with an optional conditioning program in July.
“They are [now] able to actually talk about being one of top teams in state, as I was very pleased with the conditioning they did on their own this summer,” Bostwick said. “I really like to leave them alone most of the summer to see how motivated they are on their own.”
All indications point to the fact that Bostwick’s harriers are extremely motivated.
Five runners on the boys team logged more than 500 miles during the summer and another three, as well as three runners on the girls team, logged more than 250 miles in their summer conditioning program.
“Last year we had lost our whole team to graduation except one, and had a whole team of new varsity runners that did not do the summer work,” Bostwick said. “And they found out you can’t do that on the varsity level. “It was a long season, and since we have the starting seven back I think they all learned their lesson.”
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Sept. 11, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
