Train together, race together

Michael Zelwak stood under the pavilion at Veterans Park outfitted in a black running cap and a long sleeve T-shirt, its cuffs pulled to three-quarters length as he prepared to address his team. 

More than 16 days had passed since the Spain Park High School boys and girls had competed in their last cross-country meet. During that layoff, Zelwak, the Jags’ longtime head coach, had challenged his runners with a tough stretch of training intended to sharpen them for the rest of the season. Multiple interval sessions were implemented each week.

No longer. 

As his harriers huddled around him, Zelwak explained that the workout they were about to endure on an October Tuesday would be it until the weekend. Saturday, after all, was race day. The time had come to shift their focus accordingly. 

But before his Jags meandered toward the gravel starting line, where they would begin their 1,000-meter repeats, Zelwak left them with a final word.

“If you train together, you can race together,” he said. 

Zelwak has tried to convince his runners, especially those on the varsity boys team, of this statement’s validity since the start of summer practice. Whether they believe — and subsequently apply — it may well determine the outcome of their season. 

The Spain Park boys entered their 2017 campaign in August with enviable depth and sky-high potential, having returned their top 10 runners from a season ago. Six Jags had broken 17 minutes for 5K. 

“It is, by far, the deepest team we’ve ever had,” Zelwak said. “Last year’s team was good, but this is the same team. “ 

On paper, this lineup looked like one that would snap Spain Park’s four-year absence from the state cross-country meet with near certainty. They looked like they could be capable of contending for a state title. 

But projections and performances don’t always align. Through the season’s first two months, that has been the case for Spain Park. 

At big-time meets, the Jags have yet to hit their collective stride despite weekly indications that they are ready to do so. Strong showings in workouts have told Zelwak that he has a team primed to break through. The results haven’t quite materialized. 

“I feel like the season is working toward that, finding the transition between a race and a workout,” said Jacob Warner, a junior. “I feel like once we do perfect that transfer, we’ll be able to do a lot better.”

That’s not to say there haven’t been highlights. 

Warner and Charlie Trower, a sophomore, have thrived in their front-running roles. This season, they have paced their team in each race on the way to new personal records. Warner has run 16 minutes, 17 seconds for the 5K distance, while Trower has run 16:21. Both rank among the top 20 times in Class 7A. 

Further down the Spain Park roster, a number of veterans also have run well in spots. For the most part, however, the group has hit speed bumps in its progression. 

But Zelwak has remained confident those can be overcome. So, too, have his runners. 

“It’s all just mental,” said Kai Ozug, a senior. “We’re all capable of doing it in the meet. It just takes the day, waking up, and saying that you can do it.” 

Workouts like the one Zelwak mapped out for his team in early October illustrated his reasons for maintaining faith. Confronted with five repetitions of 1,000 meters, the recovery time diminishing after each rep, Spain Park’s boys showcased their skill and will.

They navigated the kilometer loop as a group.

Zelwak watched carefully during the first rep as the pack poked through a row of trees and onto a pondside straightaway. Trower and Warner led the charge. Cole Dillard, Ozug, Isaac Shore and Morgan Becker followed in their tracks. 

The time gap among his top runners widened over the next couple loops, but as the workout wore on, the Jags warmed up. Eventually, the group steadied. 

Fewer than 25 seconds separated the team’s first and ninth runners on their final lap. As they crossed the makeshift finish line, their coach met them with low-fives and words of praise, commending them for how they bounced back. 

“I felt like we packed together more than we usually do,” said Trower, who set the pace in every rep. 

The strong finish surpassed Zelwak’s expectations, but that wasn’t too much of a surprise. He had seen the same scenario unfold in workouts throughout the season.

To him, his team’s potential is glaring. The key is persuading his athletes to recognize it themselves. 

“I think they don’t quite realize how good they can be just yet,” Zelwak said. “I think they’re seeing little spots and glimmers.” 

But their confidence has grown with each workout. On Nov. 2, their true test awaits. 

Nothing will be guaranteed at the 7A, Section 3 meet, as Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Oak Mountain and Thompson will all contend with the Jags for three tickets to state. The anticipated race will take place at Veterans Park. 

There, Spain Park has trained together. There, it will aim to race together. 

“All the work that we’ve been putting in for all these years is finally going to come together,” Ozug said. “We’re going to show what we can do.”