Matanzas cross country teams to end preseason with unique relay meet

Event will include two- and three-person relay races for boys, girls and mixed teams

By Brent Woronoff
| 8:45 p.m. August 14, 2021

Matanzas High cross country runners Ethan Drost and Lauren Marshall get some relay practice in on Aug. 14. Courtesy photo

Matanzas runner Ethan Drost hands the baton to Lauren Marshall in a practice for the Preseason Pirate XC Relays. Courtesy photo

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

Coach Tim Kane’s goal this season is to make sure his Matanzas cross country runners have fun.

So he’s kickstarting the season with an unconventional meet he’s only heard about. Matanzas will host the Preseason Pirate XC Relays at 7:40 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 at the school.

“I wanted to something different and fun for the kids,” Kane said.

The meet will include six 5-kilometer relay races with categories for boys, girls and mixed teams. The first three races will be two-person relays. The final three will be three-person relays.

Kane has been coaching for 35 years and he’s never seen a cross country relay meet. Last year Kane’s son told him about one he saw in Ireland and how unique it was. The Matanzas coach decided to try it.

“Father Lopez coach Sue O’Malley said she’s going to let her kids pick their own groups,” Kane said. “I’m doing the same thing.”

A week before the meet 12 schools from New Smyrna Beach to Tallahassee had registered with more slots available. The Pirates are keeping costs down to $25 a team, which is just enough to cover the cost of awards. Members of the first-, second- and third-place relay teams in each of the six races will receive decorative batons.

The Pirates have a spectator-friendly two-loop course around the athletic complex. Runners finish in the football stadium and spectators are able to see just about the entire course from the top rows in the stands.

Kane wants the event to have the relaxed feel of a road race with music beforehand and a lot of laughing and joking, unlike the regular-season meets which begin next week.

“During the season everything is so serious,” Kane said. “Sometimes we forget how much fun running cross country is.”

Last season was difficult for all of the students, Kane said, so he wanted this year to be special for his runners. That began in the summer. The Pirates had a cookout at De Leon Springs State Park and ran the beach in Daytona followed by a visit to Daytona Lagoon water park.

“We had a fun summer,” he said. “I figured (the preseason relay meet) would be a great way to end it.”