Palos Verdes High School’s cross country team participates in a fifteen year old summer tradition. That tradition is the Mammoth training camp. Although not started by Palos Verdes High School, it helps Sea Kings become top competitors for the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and results in fierce athletes who run the competitions.
Mr. Jeff Atkinson, Palos Verdes High School’s cross country coach, started this training program in 1998 when he was coaching the Mira Costa High School team.
Head cross country coach and chemistry teacher at Palos Verdes High School, Mr. Brian Shapiro said, “It is a really popular place during the summer for runners to go and train, because it has got lots of trails and high altitude[s] which are good for you.” The team goes for ten days. Shapiro said, “Everyone runs twice a day, and we have a good chance to work on team chemistry.”
The two runs planned usually only take up an hour of their day, so the coaches plan other adventures. “We go to lakes and go swim. We’ll go ride a gondola up to the top of Mammoth Mountain. We will drive over to Yosemite and hang out at the pool,” said Coach Shapiro, “It is a little bit of relaxation time in addition to the hard work.
Senior, Jacob Diamond said, “Sometimes we will go to the shopping center in Mammoth, or we will go do something at the Nike Outpost and look at all the Nike products and eat ice cream!”
Ponthier added, “One night we watched a meteor shower. We went to a park, there [weren’t] many lights, so we got to see all the stars and we also saw one meteor go completely across the diameter of the sky.”
Amidst the fun, Sea Kings remember that hard work comes first. The training runs contrast to the practices at home due to the higher level of difficulty. The team even named the three hardest runs, Epic Runs. Though more difficult, the reward is more fulfilling because the trails ends near a lake or creek. “My favorite run is Saddlebag Lake, because if you get far enough into the lake it almost feels like Narnia. There are meadows, little streams flowing through the grass, and a waterfall you can climb,” said Ponthier.
The Sea Kings have a competition in which they eat home-cooked meals instead of going out to eat. The competition is to determine which cabin can cook the best food from one of three categories: stir fry, pasta, or tacos.
While the team bonds during these activities, they also interact with other teams that come up with them.
Mira Costa annually lets PVHS train with them since the program began, because the coaches are close with one another. Normally, these two teams are the only two that go to the summit, but they are always glad to invite others.“This year, we had a school from Oregon, Central Catholic High School, [which] came down and ran with us. They have a really good running team.” said Coach Shapiro. Although Mira Costa and PV compete with one another during the year, the teams work on one goal in Mammoth: to get better.
Diamond said, “They are missing out on a great experience. It’s definitely worth it to go up there, even though the training there is the hardest we will ever do, it definitely makes you a better runner.”