by Aaron Ross, assistant editor
The Roar spoke with freshman Charlie McKenzie about his participation in both cross country and baseball.
What sports do you participate in at Consol?
Baseball and cross country.
How did you get involved in them?
Running cross country, because of the healthy heart jog, in elementary school, at pebble creek you know the tally marks, and the five mile sticker awards, I was ahead of everyone else. As for baseball, all my friends did it, I did little league, I liked it a lot, [and] I was good at it.
Since the cross country season is over now, how did you like it?
It was good. I really like Coach Waters, and my previous fastest time was a 21 minute 5K, which wasn’t very good. I dropped like 5 minutes off my time. At district, I was the only one on our team to get a medal in the junior varsity race.
How has your baseball season been?
Baseball season hasn’t started yet, so I’m in the Consol fall baseball league, but we don’t practice at all. We play 8 scrimmages, where we play against another team in our district. We play them, but they aren’t actually formal games where you’re playing solely to win. It’s basically getting ready for the season.
What are your favorite parts of cross country?
I like cross country because you just have to go fast and it’s super athletic, you have to commit to it and train. It’s a team sport but also an individual sport, you’re training with your friends, but you race for yourself and your team.
What are your favorite parts about baseball?
Baseball isn’t as athletic; it’s more about technique and skills. As you progress, in the years and the level that you’re playing you have to grow as a player. All the little things, every single play every single motion, there’s tons of little techniques you have to practice repeatedly, because a big play might depend on it. If you make the play or don’t, the game is affected. Catching, throwing, fielding, batting–there are so many different skills you need to have.
How do you prepare for a meet?
The first couple of meets I was nervous, I felt like I was going to be left in the dust, but later in the season when you get to know everyone, and you realize you’ve been trained for this.
How do you deal with being in sports that require different sets of skills?
My positions in baseball reflect the type of athlete you have to be in cross country, you have to be fast in cross country, and as catcher you have to be quick and agile, you can’t be huge and bulky, also as a center fielder you need to be quick and fit to cover a large area of field, dive and get to the ball.
