Chris Stonier Of Xavier CT And Others In State Get Opportunity To Start Training Athletes Again

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

On any given day this past spring, Xavier High CT cross country and track coach Chris Stonier could still get a glimpse of his student-athletes training. 

“A few of the athletes do live in my neighborhood, so they’ll run by my house almost on a daily basis,” Stonier said. “If I’m in my kitchen doing some work and I see them running by I’ll open the window and give them a quick shout out. But other than that, it’s been coming up on four months.” 

Xavier, like every other high school athletics program in the United States, faced a different spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was no track season and the limited interaction between coach and athlete was done through a computer screen, phone or like Stonier, a kitchen window. But on Monday, Stonier and many high school teams in the state of Connecticut were able to connect in-person as the Connecticut Interscholastic Conference Resocialization of Interscholastic Athletics and Activities Programs Guidelines allowed for small group, in-person, contact to start up to three times a week. This meant teams were able to meet in small cohorts for short summer conditioning sessions following the guidelines.  

Georgia and Delaware also allowed in-person contact to resume Monday. STATE BY STATE INFO

“I’ve tried to remain confident throughout the last couple of months through communication through the CIAC and Xavier’s athletic department,” Stonier said. “I just tried to have the kids stay positive, and be flexible with changes, and if a change were to come our way, at the last minute as they seem to be, we would be accepting of that. (But) luckily we were able to start today.” 

Monday’s first conditioning session provided a roadmap of what the rest of the summer and possibly fall could look like. Connecticut has flattened the curve as well as any state so far, with 69 patients hospitalized for COVID-19, and it currently has the least Coronavirus transmission of any state. It was also announced from Gov. Ned Lamont that Connecticut will delay the third phase of its reopening process, erring on the side of caution, in hopes the downward trend will continue. 

Monday was a learning process for Stonier and his assistant coaches as they worked within the given hour time frame to establish a different but productive conditioning session for the returning and new athletes. Stonier went over health and safety protocols and answered questions.

“It took me until the end of the conditioning session to realize that this was not a normal practice opportunity,” he said. 

Athletes arrived and departed Monday in face masks. Following CIAC Guidelines, athletes split up into smaller groups and engaged in aerobic activity, which does not require a mask. The runners went through some circuits, warm-up routines, a strength and hip mobility drill and jogged a few miles. Stonier said there is room for improvement in how to structure the time, but the first day brought a good feeling.

“It feels great. I feel that the athletes are interested in taking advantage of this opportunity and turning it into a positive,” Stonier said. “If we are only looking at the disadvantages of our current state, then we might not be seeing all the possibilities.”

Danbury High will get started on Wednesday. Head coach Rob Murray plans to complete a complex warm-up, then complete a conditioning run and finish with a supplementary routine of body weight strength exercises, plus a core routine. 

“All of our training will be outside and without any equipment per our athletic director and trainers' request,” Murray said. “We have had many of our returning athletes completing their remote training on their own so we feel we can start with some solid training for the majority of the team.”  

Over in West Hartford at Hall, coach Jeff Billing said his team will meet for the first time this Friday. During the time away he explained the team has been participating in virtual conditioning as a way to stay connected and fit. 

“Emotionally, even these virtual sessions have been great for the kids, and I know many of them are really looking forward to being able to meet in person as well,” he said. 

Added Murray: "We have been in communication with our team and they are very much feeling an emotional need to be back in person with their teammates for their social and emotional well being."

Xavier, the two-time defending Class L State Cross Country champions, and 2017 NXN qualifier, is experiencing an influx of interested athletes as Stonier said the 42 total runners was the most he’s had since 2012. He also said being able to engage with the athletes -- new and returners -- earlier in the summer, rather than waiting until August, will have some benefits by September.

“I can say that last season we suffered a lot of nagging injuries due to lack of proper preparing in the summer months,” Stonier said. “And sure, we ran 50, 60, 70 miles a week for some of our upperclassmen. But that doesn’t mean they were doing strides, it doesn't mean they were doing hip mobility exercises, push-ups, any of those strength exercises. And so that right there, that’s the purpose of those conditioning exercises for the varsity athletes. The better job that I can do at communicating just how powerful these sessions will be for them, the bigger the buy in. And hopefully it teaches them how important the little things are.”