{"id":6218,"date":"2019-11-26T14:31:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T19:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=6218"},"modified":"2019-11-26T14:31:21","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T19:31:21","slug":"cross-country-coach-wants-heart-more-than-fast-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/cross-country-coach-wants-heart-more-than-fast-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross country coach wants heart more than fast feet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By Heidy Brosofsky-Weaver<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">mail@floridanewsline.com<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Standing in the middle of a busy corridor at Fruit Cove Middle School, Phillipine Rydel, a new seventh grade student from France, frantically looked for answers for her pressing questions. Lost, anxious, and unable to speak but a few words of English, she breathed a sigh of relief as a French-speaking teacher rescued her by providing directions to cross country (XC) practice.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">XC Coach Jill Benavides then warmly welcomed Rydel to the 138-member team. \u201cShe quickly found her new family and closest friends,\u201d Benavides said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When asked about her XC highlights, Rydel proudly shared the perseverance of a fellow runner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cChloe (Iliff) had a really bad knee injury, but she still placed third in State,\u201d she said. \u201cChloe showed us that when you push to do your best, you can if you believe,\u201d added Rydel, who came in first in the district meet and seventh<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">in the state competition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Iliff agreed that XC takes \u201ca lot of perseverance and faith to keep going.\u201d The eight grader originally joined the team three years ago, following her sister\u2019s footsteps and soon discovering her own love for the sport.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cAt first, I didn\u2019t want to do it, but it was so fun,\u201d said Iliff. \u201cAlso, trusting in God really helps me to have more confidence \u2014 you can just see Him working on our team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mia Till also likes the aspects of family, faith, and having a supportive leader.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cCoach Benavides is the best coach I\u2019ve ever had in my life,\u201d said Till, who first joined XC to increase her endurance for soccer. Till said Benavides gives her runners confidence and love and puts their needs before her own. \u201cShe has taught us that everyone matters, and we even cheer for our opponents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Benavides joined the team eight years ago as a pacer and has always loved connecting with young athletes through the sport that has brought her joy. Three years later, the mother of four became head coach. Although she was nervous about the time demands, she knew coaching would give her a chance to pour truth and value into the lives of runners, helping them develop a love for the sport and appreciate the importance of a true team. \u201cCross country is so much more than training the legs of these young people. It is reaching and directing their hearts to be the best person they can possibly be,\u201d said Benavides.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Benavides continued, \u201cTeaching them to lay down their personal agenda for the better of the team takes patience, diligence, and grace. Once they understand the overall goal, they are willing to work hard, and they reach their personal goals, as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Her runners agreed that training can be intense \u2014 especially during mile repeats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Eighth grade student Ariana Brux said of Benavides: \u201cShe builds you up \u2013 not just saying, \u2018Oh, you should be better.\u2019 She runs with us and explains the value of what we are doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both the XC boys and girls teams won first place in the Florida Youth Championship in Lake City. In addition, the girls\u2019 team won second in the Florida Middle School State Championship in Lakeland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Photo courtesy Heidy Brosofsky-Weaver<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jill Benavides and runners\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Heidy Brosofsky-Weaver mail@floridanewsline.com Standing in the middle of a busy corridor at Fruit Cove Middle School, Phillipine Rydel, a new seventh grade student from France, frantically looked for answers for her pressing questions. Lost, anxious, and unable to speak but a few words of English, she breathed a sigh of relief as a French-speaking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-creekline-st-johns"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cross country coach wants heart more than fast feet - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CreekLineBy Heidy Brosofsky-Weaver mail@floridanewsline.com Standing in the middle of a busy corridor at Fruit Cove Middle School, Phillipine Rydel, a new seventh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/cross-country-coach-wants-heart-more-than-fast-feet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cross country coach wants heart more than fast feet - 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