After facing staffing difficulties during both the summer and beginning of season, Issac Seals has been hired as the new head coach for the cross country team. He has been a coach for 33 years and has previously coached at Riverwood International Charter School for both the boys’ and girls’ team.
Seals hopes to help the team stay dedicated, while recognizing the importance of enjoying the sport.
“For one, I want to set a specific culture for the team,” Seals said. “I want the kids to, of course, to train hard, but the bottom line is to have fun while you’re doing it.”
Senior Cameron Collier said Seals has adjusted well and believes that his past as a coach will benefit the team.
“He appears to be experienced, knowledgeable, and observant,” Collier said. “He is very friendly and likes to talk, and should be a good fit for the program as he instills some of his lessons from his experienced coaching background.”
In hopes of further developing runners, Seals said he is putting an emphasis on polishing the team’s running form.
“You always can improve,” Seals said. “One way might be with our technique. I’m not saying everyone doesn’t have good technique, but you’re always looking to improve on something, and working on running technique could be really helpful.”
This focus has not gone unnoticed by the team. Sophomore Mack Schwartzwald has appreciated Seals’ guidance in relation to the technical aspects of the sport.
“He’s given a lot of advice on running form, like one of the workouts we did was really focused on improving our running habits which was really helpful,” Schwartzwald said.
Senior captain Carmela Marra appreciates Seals ability to advise the team without disregarding the work the team has done leading up to the season.
“He is respectful to the training plan we have been following while putting in his own input,” Marra said. “For example, he helped us organize our warm-ups in straight rows that were dismissed one by one but still kept the same exercises.”
One thing Seals has brought to Midtown is the idea of running off the track to better resemble the meet conditions. The team has begun practicing on the ‘Active Oval’, which is a sandlike gravel path in Piedmont park.
“I don’t like running on grass, but I’ve enjoyed doing a couple of our workouts at the active oval, especially when it’s longer workouts,” junior captain James Roberts said. “It’s like a nice in between where it’s still forcing your legs to work a little bit harder than they do on the track. I think it’ll be good for us.”
Roberts said that, with Seals athletic background, he has been able to include a variety of non-running habits that will be beneficial to the team.
“He’s very athlete minded, so he’s working to implement things outside of running that are going to make our running better, like yoga and meditation,” Roberts said.
Seals wants to make a lasting impact on these runners, and hopes he can encourage them to pursue a balanced lifestyle.
“I want to inspire them to be lifelong runners, or at least to work out,” Seals said. “It’s important to be able to have a long, healthy life.”
