Visit any cross country meet to find a medley of running styles. Some runners zip along with discipline and control while others bob around like dancing fishing lures.
That’s because runners tend to run in the way that is easiest for them. What comes naturally to some runners is awkward to others, so there are bound to be many differences in form.
If one person knows this, it’s Loyola cross country head coach Al Seither, who has been with the team since 2003 and has been coaching for more than 35 years. The Louisiana Sports Writers’ Association voted him the Louisiana Coach of the Year in his first season.
He takes a hands-off style of coaching with his team by letting the runners stay comfortable while still tweaking the finer points of their form.
“There are a few simple things that can be corrected: keep your arms straight, work on your breathing,” Seither said. “But if you run, it becomes a natural thing. It comes from doing it.”
Though a coach can help out with a runner’s form, many physiologists believe that there are limits to how much a coach can improve his runners.
Jack Daniels, exercise physiologist at the Center for High Altitude Training at Northern Arizona University, recently said in an article for the New York Times that few runners can noticeably improve their “economy of motion,” a term derived from the ratio of oxygen taken in to oxygen spent. It’s the key to effective running.
In the rare documented cases that someone has improved, it has only been a 1 to 5 percent increase. For example, Lance Armstrong – cyclist and seven-time Tour de France winner – only improved 1percent a year in his early 20s.
But that’s not to say Seither’s effect on the team is negligible. He keeps his runners committed and brings plenty of experience to the table. And, perhaps most importantly, he has a gifted eye for finding runners, a vital ability at a school with no athletic scholarships.
Seither’s hands-off style has worked well for his team. He has coached four individual Gulf Coast Athletic Conference champions, and in 2004 both the men and women won the conference meet.
Loyola hopes to continue that success Oct. 20 at the GCAC championship in Baton Rouge, the team’s first major meet of the season. Reigning women’s champion Mary Erin Imwalle, mass communication senior, is the favorite to repeat, Seither said.
“I would be so proud of her to get her second championship,” Seither said. “A lot of people would be proud of that.”
History freshman and leading runner Sean Meleen hopes to lead the beleaguered men’s team tomorrow. Tyler Kaufman, Maroon photo editor and marketing sophomore, missed the last meet because he was photographing on the Jena Six controversy. He will add numbers to a men’s squad that hasn’t placed in three of the four races due to lack of runners.
“You get a better feel as the season goes on,” Kaufman said. “We’re as ready as we’re going to be. We’re prepared. I’m feeling as smooth as butter.”
Contact Info:Chad Bower can be reached at [email protected].
