MOBILE, Ala. – Prior to the 2025 cross country season, Spring Hill head coach Craig McVey previewed the season ahead.
 
What are some goals/expectations you have for yourself as a coach and the team?
"The goals for the team are to improve week to week as we practice and as we race, have an opportunity to finish in the top three of our conference meet with each team, have multiple women and men earn all-conference honors at our conference meet, and have both teams earn NCAA All-Academic Team status."
 
"For myself, my goals are to challenge each team member daily to get better while helping each stay as healthy as possible during the season, to be creative to work around the extreme heat we have during the season and still allow everyone to train well and improve."
 
What are some improvements you hope to see for the team?
"It's important to use a learning curve from week to week and race to race; to be able to race to your fitness level and to continue to develop as a tough racer. As we do that, we'll make the progress we need to and want to."
 
Are there any meets/races that you are looking forward to the most?
"We only race five to six times during the season, so each one is important. We need to embrace each one. We don't get another shot at a given race or competitive field of teams. There's no home competition like some other sports, so we must take advantage of each time we compete. Obviously, our conference meet is the most important one we work toward, but that will only play out like we want as we make the most of each race that leads today."
 
Going into the season, what will be your philosophy as a coach?
"As in any season, keeping people healthy is a priority; getting as much quality training done as possible while helping each team member develop throughout the season to hopefully a place that's better than they imagined."
 
Who are some key returners to look forward to?
"For our women, Evelyn Hererra is our top returning runner. She's a two-time all-conference runner and all-conference 5,000 m Champion in outdoor track. She's training well and is set to have a great season this fall. CeCe [Cecilia] Light is new to the team this Fall and will be someone that can tag team with Evelyn. She'll have a great year as well and they both will earn all-conference honors."
 
"For our men, Zachary Thomas is our top returning runner. He just missed all-conference honors last fall, but should earn that status this time, like Luke Burlison who just missed all-conference status last year as well. This fall, they'll both get that done."
 
How have you been preparing your runners for the upcoming season?
"Everyone came off our summer program to prepare for the fall.  We're in the process of beginning to do race simulations to get us ready for the courses we'll be on and the teams we'll see.  It's a day-by-day process of training well, recovering, weight training, and doing all the little things that go into getting better."
 
How would you define success other than winning meets/races?
"Success this fall will be defined by staying healthy, training well, using the information we get from each race to prep for the next one up, and learning how to run as a team when possible."
 
FOLLOW THE BADGERS
For complete coverage of Spring Hill cross country, follow the Badgers on social media @SHC_XC (X), /SHCBADGERS (Facebook), @shc_crosscountry (Instagram) or visit the official home of Spring Hill athletics at shcbadgers.com