Head to Fountain Park at sunrise and you’re likely to spot a flock of Falcons. The boys and girls of the Fountain Hills High School cross country team have been preparing for the season in the wee hours of the morning, getting in full workouts before most of their peers have even crawled out of bed to begin the day.

Head coach Nick Goodman said the team will transition to afternoon practices as the summer heat fades away but, for now, these local athletes are putting in miles beginning at 5:30 a.m.

The 2021 season officially kicks off this afternoon, Sept. 1, with a race hosted by Cortez High School at 4 p.m. The action continues this Saturday, Sept. 4, with the Falcons taking part in the Chandler Invitational at 7:30 a.m. Next Wednesday, Sept. 8, will see the team competing at an event hosted by Saguaro High School at 4 p.m., but it’s the following race Goodman is most excited about.

On Saturday, Sept. 11, the Falcons will host a major invitational at Fountain Park beginning at 7 a.m. About 80 schools have signed up for the event as of this writing, with Goodman expecting around 2,000 individual athletes taking part. It’s going to be a big, big race.

Goodman is in his fourth year of coaching the cross country team. When he’s not helping runners achieve their goals, he teaches science at Fountain Hills Middle School.

“In my opinion, coaching and teaching are no different,” he said. “Teaching is in the classroom and coaching is outside the classroom, but with a little more motivation involved. That’s all coaching is, teaching plus motivation.”

Goodman said he knows that most high school students are new to cross country, so he’s careful to build workouts that push his athletes without burning them out.

“We try to make it fun, but without eliminating the hard work that’s involved,” he continued. “So, we do a lot of games at practice and try to make things a little more interesting for them.”

Goodman said his goal is to see his athletes peak at the end of the season, so workouts will gradually ramp up in the coming weeks.

“I have a few new students who are maxing out right now at around three to four miles, while my veterans are approaching six to eight miles,” Goodman said. “We’ll probably cap it at eight miles, because their distance is only five kilometers for a race. My position is that, if they can run six miles comfortably, then they can run three miles and step up the intensity in a race.”

Looking back at the 2020 season, Goodman said the Falcons felt fortunate to get in quite a few races amidst the pandemic. Masks were required outside of races, the team didn’t compete outside of the county and most of the invitationals were limited, but the local squad still got to compete in smaller meets and hosted four races of their own.

“Overall, it worked out well, but this year we’re excited that things are back to normal,” Goodman said.

To get the ball rolling nice and early, Goodman hosted a track camp during summer school. Some of his cross country runners took part, getting in plenty of workouts well before the season kicked off.

This year’s roster sports 10 boys and four girls, which Goodman said allows him to focus on his athletes on a more individual basis than allowed with a massive team. The downside is that the girls might not be able to head to state as a team, but Goodman said he’s hoping to see them still shine on an individual basis.

Erin Hooley will be one of the athletes to keep an eye on this season, as Goodman said he has no doubt she will be able to compete in the state race. Over to the boys, Tyler Irvine-Violette and Zion Atwood are the early leaders, with Goodman saying they’ve improved immensely in recent years.

“The rest of the team is young, so we’re developing,” Goodman said. “We have no seniors this year. It’s mostly sophomores and freshmen, so we’re a building team. I’m looking forward to the next few years, watching them get faster and stronger.”

Looking ahead, Goodman said his goal is to help his athletes achieve their own objectives. Each athlete creates their own list of goals at the start of the season and Goodman pushes his Falcons to achieve them.

“I would like to see both the boys and girls sides go to state this year,” Goodman said. “However we place in state is not as important right now. Getting there is the meat and potatoes of what we’re trying to accomplish right now.”

Goodman said he’s hoping to see local fans come out to cheer on the Falcons, especially at the massive Sept. 11 home race.

“Fountain Hills is a great place to run,” Goodman said. “Whether it’s walking, running, biking or whatever, we have a lot of people in this community who are into fitness. Come out and support your teams. Cheer for these kids who are going to school full-time, dealing with the pandemic full-time, and are still in these extracurricular activities and working their hardest. Let’s come together and support the Falcons.”