The lead-up to McLean’s spring sports has officially begun, and athletes have been preparing in a variety of ways over the winter to make sure they are ready to play their best this spring.

Crew had numerous training sessions that started in the Fall, allowing them to focus on the skills they wanted to improve before the season.

“I do training for both my winter and spring sports, we have practice every day and started training in November for crew.” sophomore Kenzington Ruhl said. “I also row all year so I’m always training.”

Ruhl also participates in winter basketball for McLean, which can prove to be difficult when trying to train for two different sports simultaneously.

“I got to winter conditioning as much as I can without trying to interfere with basketball,” Ruhl said. “I also go to all the big weekend events for the crew. When I can’t go to crew practice I spend time on the erg rowing machine.”

Junior Jennah Jackson has been busy over the winter training to come into her twelfth year of playing soccer confident and strong. Her training consists of practicing with her travel team and playing around with the ball as often as possible.

“I mentally prepare [for the season] by setting goals for myself and ensuring that I still enjoy playing soccer,” Jackson said.

Goals are an important part of an athlete’s career to help keep them motivated and on target. Sophomore catcher Reid Turner has had a productive winter off-season, putting in hours of reaching his targets and contributing to his team.

“I try to get stronger and bigger before the season starts,” Turner said. “I focus on keeping everything simple but effective when training mechanical or mental objectives.”

Staying consistent during the off-season seems to be the key for most spring athletes, and continuing to grow is an important part of personal improvement.