Neuqua Valley adjusted its way to Another title

Changes in training, emphasis on team led to more success

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November 9, 2009

By ROB WOLLENZIEN For Sun-Times Media

Neuqua Valley's second boys cross country state title in the past three years may not have been possible had the team not faltered at the end of last year's meet.

The Wildcats captured first in Class 3A Saturday at Detweiller Park in Peoria with 99 points.

Neuqua's seemingly free-flowing success hasn't been without its obstacles, though. The Wildcats retooled a few parts of their training during the summer in order to avoid a repeat of last year's final-mile letdown at state.

"We did a few things different than last year," coach Paul Vandersteen said. "We wanted to do more strength exercises. We also did some plyometrics."

According to wikipedia.org, Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements.

The reason for the training alterations stemmed from the '08 state meet's final stretch, where the Wildcats went from three points out of first place to a fourth-place finish.

Vandersteen believed things needed to be tweaked and it turned out he was right.

The team also needed to readjust some fine points mentally.

"We had a senior-dominated team coming into the year," Vandersteen said. "They agreed in June that we were going to run as a pack. They truly bought into the system."

That was the start of fortunes to come, but it was not the final step in the team's journey. That part came during the first week of the season.

Ironically, it was amidst adversity -- albeit in a winning race -- that the team grew the most.

Neuqua's tactical breakdown at the season-opening Hinsdale Hornet-Red Devil Invitational opened the team's collective eyes to an area in which it needed to improve.

"We had decided to run in a pack and a few seniors decided in the middle of the race that they were going to run ahead," Vandersteen recalled. "After the race, we sat down those guys and explained what they did wrong. They didn't want to let the team down again."

He saw almost immediate improvement. The next week, the Wildcats turned in one of their finest, most team-oriented performances of the year at the Peoria Woodruff Invite at Detweiller Park.

The bottom line was that the Wildcats flourished not only in the standings but in the team-oriented strategy department.

They have not looked back since.

And so, now the Wildcats have reached the ultimate goal of winning state. They'll have to re-stack the deck again next year but doing so will likely be easier now that Vandersteen and his staff can point to this year's team growth as an illustration of what teamwork can accomplish.

Neuqua's top six finishers at state Saturday all were seniors. Seventh-place man Josh Antonson will be a senior next year.

For now, Vandersteen and the rest of the team will only try to remember the pinnacle the Wildcats reached this year.

"We spend a lot of time working on the kids' belief systems," Vandersteen said. "Getting these kids to have confidence in themselves is so important."

One way Vandersteen does that is by showing his current kids times that program legends put up as freshmen and sophomores. The measure is not meant to get them comparing themselves to others. Rather, it serves to motivate and encourage current athletes.

"There's a standard we've set," Vandersteen said. "The lesson we want to get across is that hard work does pay off."

That tenet includes the coaching staff, which is very supportive of Vandersteen.

"I'm very, very fortunate in that I have four very good assistant coaches," he said. "They all handle all the little details and make things easier on me."

Neuqua will celebrate its triumph tonight.