For athletes who wish to take their track and field training to the next level, winter training is offered at Montezuma-Cortez High School. Athletes are given extra training and face time with coaches that will prepare them for the track season in spring.
Coach Bob Archibeque, who is about to start his 48th year coaching track and field at MCHS, said he can’t remember a time in his tenure that winter training hasn’t been offered.
“I can never remember a season when we didn’t offer offseason conditioning for the upcoming season. We have most years began this winter training in December and January,” Archibeque said. “We use the track mostly unless weather is poor. Other than the track, we use the weight room, halls, roads and hills when possible.”
Jeremy Yarbrough, who is in his 18th year of coaching, said participating athletes are training at the track two or three days, depending on the week, as well as doing a lifting program on the other days.
About 15 students have been participating consistently.
“It’s been fun,” Yarbrough said.
Archibeque noted that there is “tremendous benefit” in winter training to prepare for the track and field season. Not only does it create interest in the program and recruit potential track athletes, but it also allows coaches to get to know the athletes more, better understand where athletes fit into the program, create a team culture and help eliminate injuries.
“They are better prepared to do workout and compete come spring,” Archibeque said. “We take a slow gradual approach in our philosophy. We try not to go too fast to eliminate injury as much as possible. We do a lot of injury prevention for outdoor season, especially in the lower leg areas.”
To do this, the coaches work to create a foundation and base that allows the athletes to complete workouts in the spring and grow their confidence at indoor winter meets.
Another aspect of the winter training centers upon strength development, power, anaerobic and aerobic systems, as well as techniques that will be used for the 18 events that are offered during the outdoor season.
Jarrett Watkins, MCHS physical education teacher, also weighed in on the strength part of winter training.
“The training really looks like standard lifts and a lot of plyometrics, a lot of jumping and agility stuff,” Watkins said. “They’re basically trying to get their endurance up for the season, because they can’t really get outside too much.”
He also mentioned that winter training can help prevent injuries like shin splints.
“It’s getting a head start on the track season,” Watkins said. “Those kids that come during the winter have a head start on the kids that don’t. That endurance that you need for track, they’re starting from scratch when they finally hit the season in the spring.”
Former MCHS track and football coach Ivan Mack, who now coaches track for Monticello High School, echoed what his fellow coaches shared about winter training, saying, “Winter training has been consistent and is extremely important to establishing a foundation for the spring track season. These athletes have an advantage when entering the track season because a lot of the base physical preparation has been set.”
Some of the goals Archibeque shared for the 2025 track season include getting as many athletes to participate as possible, be competitive at meets, see improvements throughout the season, “make a run” at league titles, take athletes to state and give athletes a great experience.
Zander Cruzan, a former MCHS track athlete in his freshman year at the University of Northern Colorado, helped the coaches with winter training while on his break. Cr
“From an athlete’s standpoint, it might not be as encouraging to start your preseason running and strength and conditioning in the preseason, but I highly encourage getting a jump on it,” Cruzan said. “When spring rolls around, you’ll have that much of an edge on your competition. … I would just encourage athletes to get a jump on the preseason training because it works wonders.”
Cruzan noted that trying to start from scratch before the short spring season can be difficult for athletes who wish to have strong track seasons.
“You don’t really have a lot of time to build the base that you want when you just jump straight into training when you’re not ready for it,” Cruzan said. “That’s where a lot of injuries can come, and people don’t meet their expectations because they didn’t have enough time to build themselves.”
Archibeque and Yarbrough also spoke of Cruzan’s participation in the winter training.
“Zander comes to some workouts and shows kids how to prepare properly for workouts throughout his warmup and demonstrates a very high-level work ethic,” Archibeque said. “He shows our kids how an athlete from our small school can make it at the highest level of collegiate track and do well.”
“He’s always been such a role model for the kids,” Yarbrough said. “He’s super kind and he’s super encouraging. This hasn’t gone to his head at all, and I love for him to be around the kids. The kids have loved seeing him, how he trains, seeing his workouts and just seeing his positive vibes he’s given to them.”
Mack, who coached Cruzan in football and track, noted that seeing an athlete return to the community they grew up in to give back is special.
“It is huge when an athlete who is competing or has competed at high level comes back to the community and imparts their knowledge and experiences on other athletes. It creates an energy amongst the kids and allows them to see their potential possibilities,” Mack said.
