Listen HereBy: Collin Frazier
Email: frazierc@findlay.edu
Twitter: @Collin_53
Last Cross-Country season, Head Coach Eric Wymer learned many different lessons
from the season. The biggest one, he says, is to start trusting the athletes.
“The athletes know their bodies better than I do… [the team needs to] trust their bodies
so we can help avoid injuries and stuff like that so we can really stay healthy,” Wymer says. “We
were a little banged up last year. I think the more that we rely on them and keep them healthy,
the more success we’re gonna have.”
Not only will Wymer look into these new lessons, but he will also look more into
improving the team’s strength. Wymer says their sense of unity is what makes them such a
strong team.
Coach Wymer went on to say that, “we have a really close-knit group. They work really
well together, and they really challenge each other, and make sure they’re doing all the things
that it takes to be successful.”
While the team may not necessarily have one designated leader, Wymer believes each
player brings a different aspect of making the team better into the mix. One aspect that every
player brings is keeping each other going.
“A lot of people are like “Well, you just go and run your race… But when you have
teammates that you’re relying on, or when you can really trust each other, I think that makes
you better,” Wymer said. “When one of them are running in a race, and they get to that last mile
and it gets really tough and they gotta dig deep, the reason they dig deep is because of,
basically I would say, a subconscious of how much they really care about each other and what
their bigger ‘Why’ is.”
Even with the athletes having a ‘Why’, they will still encounter long distances and
fluctuating temperatures throughout the season. Wymer also makes sure to educate the
athletes on having to deal with these problems beyond their control.
“We just got to be adaptable,” Wymer commented. “The big thing is we have to adapt
and go with it because we can’t control the weather, so we have to control, what I like to say is,
‘We have to control the controllables’.”
Wymer then went on that variables like the weather “are out of our hands. Obviously,
they affect us, but they also affect everybody else towing that line. We constantly preach
positive attitude and making sure that we’re doing what we can do and controlling the
controllables.”
On top of preaching positivity, Wymer is looking for other ways to better the athletes.
Such ways include having weight lifting sessions two times a week, mobility and strength
exercises, and, to promote mental strength, meditation and positive self-talk.
The Findlay Cross Country Team begins their 2019 season September 7th at the Calvin
Knight Invitational in Calvin, Michigan.
