I'm a parent of 4 LV kids, 3 who've graduated, one home grown soph boy who ran for the hunters in xc both years as their 2nd sport. Ran on the non Champs team at NXR. 9:45 1600, 16:40 ish 5k. So ok fast but not LV caliber fast. Our family are all fans of the coach hunters. Our kid never ran formally prior to starting training with the xc team after school let out their frosh summer. I've a few, albeit biased notes to share with what appears to be a jealous on line running crowd:
- the hunters end up with over 10% of the student population running for them. So while a lot of you are bitching about transfers Yada Yada, those 130 ish still for the most part still turn out, as the hunters focus on individual responsibility for time drop. And the hunters take care of those kids, go look at the post NXN LR Interview, where the interviewer is incredulous re the amount of time they spend stretching every day. They're maxed doing that number, and haven't needed to cut per se, as the commitment demanded typically causes drop outs.
- coach Joan actually DOES recruit: from the sole middle school feeder school who have an awesome yearly 1 mi run for the top 10 kids in grades 6,7,8. And for all those calling Loudoun Richie riches, the track is a 1/5th a mile loop, blacktop path, and has a distinct up hill and downhill
- as this thread started re how state standards works, if there's any unfairness, it's in the conference and regional meets, where LV likely dominates place. But as coach Joan said, how fair would it be to sit kids so other schools could run their kids?
- the county that LV is in, Loudoun COUNTY has a transfer policy when schools are full. Families have to establish residency in the zone for kids who go to LV. As coach Joan implies, it's a little crazy for families to move to RUN HS TRACK. I've a different opinion : as the hunters are college caliber coaches, it's almost crazy to not avail your kid of their program. For the athletic fee of $150. Our kid would not be running for LV were it not for them. And our kid isn't fast enough nor is running primary to warrant us moving.
- coach Marc demands commitment. This means no unapproved '5k fun runs', and the 6 days a week start Aug 1. No unapproved exceptions. Till December.
- watching the other Loco kids and parents at local meets, where LV typically wins all 6 xc races, there is a bit of what I'd call grumbling respect, when most LV teams put easily 5 in the top ten, for all 6 races. It's a wall of LV yellow pinnies.
- regarding the 6 divisions for VHSL: I *think* it's fair. While LV crushes running, other team sports would disadvantage medium size schools like LV, and an LV bball team would typically crush 1a or 2a team.
- while both hunter mom and dad are clearly proud of all their kids, including the more well known Drew, they are almost too humble about their kids accomplishments.
So without meaning to troll all of you complaining - if you are actually complaining not just trolling - I'd ask y'all to consider not that there are transfers, but *why* there are transfers. What your HS AD and coaches could do to improve the genetic pool you're dealt. Consider the list of traits the hunters follow, go watch coach Joan's "from Frisbee to nxn Champs in a few short years." And then start making things better vs complaining.
Am I a Homer for coaches hunter? Sure. But I'm confident I've seen a lot of coaches in my time, and we feel blessed to have by providence or luck, the opportunity for my kid to run with a team who're committed to excellence.