Fall Season

We're excited to launch our fall cross country season with Coach Scott! This is for youth 10 and older who are ready to run 1.5+ miles. 

Practices will be Tuesday and Thursdays at 5:00pm. 

Tuesday practices will be at the Santa Cruz High Track and Thursday practices will be at Arana Gulch (on the Frederick St side) 

We will work on running drills, building endurance and building up for the Run by Sea 4k on October 13th and the Santa Cruz Turkey Trot 5k on November 23rd.   

 

Summer Season is Here!

Summer session is done with Coach Rebecca with Coach Charles and Chris as support. 

For our summer session we'll start the first week of June and end August 2nd. The cost is $90 for the season and includes a track club shirt and bag. We have plenty of financial assistance available and never want money to get in the way of the sport, please email us for info. 

See the following intro from Coach Rebecca. 

Dear Cross Country Athletes,  

 

I’m excited to invite you to participate in the 6th year of the  Santa Cruz Track Club’s Cross Country summer training. I have coached middle school and high school cross country and track and field, and am excited to offer this program for another summer! This program is designed to prepare people for a fall cross country season and a championship race in November. The summer is important to prepare for cross country and build that base fitness and mileage— so 5 practices a week we’ll focus on the cross country base mileage and getting out running along with strength, form drills, flexibility, and core stability. 

To participate, athletes should be comfortable running 30 minutes 3-4 times a week, at any pace. The goal of the summer is to prepare for a fall cross country season, and so this program is targeted at the high school runner, though anyone is welcome to join and we will taper slightly for Wharf to Wharf, but the end goal is for a race in November. 

Practices will begin in early June and go until the end of July. To participate athletes will need to be a member of the Santa Cruz Track Club ($60/year for students). You can sign up on our website here. 

To accommodate busy summer schedules we will meet in the early evening on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays and on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Our harder workouts will be on Tuesdays and Saturdays with easier runs on Wednesday and Sunday and a fun Thursday with either a game or a bonus workout for older athletes. On Thursday and Saturday we will include a strength and stability workout after our run.

The weekly schedule can be found here

I’m excited to offer this for athletes in Santa Cruz County, and especially for cross country training, it’s all about running with others that makes training so much easier. As people will probably come and go throughout summer, I’ll adjust workouts or give workouts for you to do if you’re out of town. 

Please share with anyone else who might be interested and let me know if you have any questions.

Coach Rebecca
rebeccapaten@gmail.com
(831)471-7609
 
 

Spring SeasonRegistration is closed for the season and we are full! You can email later in the season if you'd like to join later. 

​Our Philosophy: We welcome ALL children between the ages of 7 and 14 who would like to participate. All we require is a good attitude and willingness to participate and follow the rules so we all stay safe and have fun.
Running, jumping, and throwing is good for everyone, from novice athletes to those who desire to compete. Our track and field activities are rigorous but also inclusive. We can adapt to a variety of needs. If you would like a scholarship, please fill out this form: 2024 Scholarship

Track Practices will be held at Harbor High School  March 11th-May 9th on Mondays and Thursdays 4:45-6:00pm 

• Kids ages 7 through 13 are welcome to attend.
• Youth athletes should wear comfortable workout clothes and shoes.
• Please bring your own water (labelled with your name if possible).
• We will do warm ups and strength exercises for 20 mins on the field
• We then break into small groups and rotate through running, jumping, javelin throwing, and obstacle course stations for 50 mins. We are looking into adding the triple jump and discus throwing this year!  
• We have the most amazing volunteer coach volunteers who are all accomplished athletes but most importantly, are GREAT with children and are wonderful teachers

Coaches

Coach Scott

Scott is a long time runner and and Santa Cruz resident. Recently retired after spending 37 years in the banking industry, Scott is excited to return to coaching for our program. As a runner, he graduated from Westmont College where he ran track and Cross Country. He won back to back 800m District Championships and finished in 7th place at the NAIA National . After college he competed for one year with the Santa Monica Track Club. Scott has coached multiple sports including for his  three (now grown) sons and two grandchildren, and most recently was an assistant coach for Monte Vista H.S. (Danville, CA) Track and Cross Country teams. He assisted in winning a NCS girls XC championship and helped send multiple athletes on the boys and girls team to the State Championships in Cross Country and Track. Scott continues to run and hopes to be a competitive master runner this season.

Coach Timi

Coach Timi is a long time runner and is excited to join for her 10th year with the youth club program! She loves running and love being out during a (light) rain storm. She's looking forward to being back for another season and seeing all of the young energy getting into running!

Coach Izzy

Izzy graduated from UCSC last year, where she ran on both the NCAA cross country and track teams as a distance runner for the last 4 years! Before that she ran xc and track in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. She has had the privilege of growing up surrounded by amazing runners, coaches, and strong women and and is excited to pass on her wisdom :) She absolutely love working with kids too! Currently, she works closely with Shoreline middle school where she run after school activities and tutor. 

Coach Rory

Rory is a local graduate of Harbor High and community member—they have been actively engaged as a high schooler in youth sports as an athlete and coach. At Harbor High they played Lacrosse as well as participating in Mock trial and Mesa. They have been a coach at Santa Cruz Soccer Camp for the last five years coaching soccer and creating a fun, positive environment for kids to be active and play. Though they don't have any specific track and field experience, they hope to support some of the younger athletes in having fun with an introduction to the sport.  Their favorite part of working with kids to beat them at Simon Says.... and also to see the creativity and passion that kids can have. Outside of work and school their favorite activity is hiking the beautiful trails of Santa Cruz. 

All Comers Meets
 The all comers meets are a blast for youth athletes of all ages and abilities. Every athlete earns a ribbon for each event they complete. Here's the typical schedule:4x100 Relay
1600m (1 mile)
60m with hurdles
100m with hurdles
800m
60m with no hurdles
100m with no hurdles
400m
ongoing javelin and long jump

We are working on the schedule for meets still.