The Staples girls’ track team isn’t just chasing faster times; it’s rebuilding its foundation. After a long journey, head coach and grade level assistant Jesse McCray has successfully brought back the Fit Club, creating a new emphasis on strength and development.
“The Fit Club isn’t new to our program. The original founder was a Staples athlete that I coached in 1993,” McCray said.
The main goal of Fit Club is to help every track athlete in the program maintain a consistent level of performance throughout the season. McCray wants to ensure the team competes at the highest level, and he believes that strength and conditioning is a key area the team could improve upon.
“With our older, more experienced athletes, they have an expectation or culture that they want to be competing with the best athletes at every level possible,” McCray said. “For the younger athletes, it will make the transition to our sport a lot easier. ”
Within the program, there are clear goals for every athlete. For older competitors performing at the national level, the focus is on preparing both mentally and physically for major meets such as National Invitationals, States, New Englands, and Nationals. For the up-and-coming athletes, the goal is to create a structured, long-term plan that supports steady improvement throughout their time in the program.
“Improving strength and conditioning was a necessity. We have athletes that are motivated, and many want the opportunity to compete beyond the high school level, so it is our staff’s job to give them everything that they need to achieve their goals,” McCray said.
For athletes, the change has already been noticeable. In previous seasons, the program lacked a structured strength and conditioning component, making the Fit Club a significant shift for the team.
“I think that Fit Club was definitely an upgrade compared to our past fitness program, which was a self-run workout from an app,” track captain Ellie Ferraro ’27 said. “By having someone guide the team through every exercise, making sure we have correct form, breathing techniques and time per rep, it helps to strengthen the team as a whole and makes us better performers at every meet.”
This not only prepares them mentally and physically, but also allows the Fit Club coaches to identify individual strengths and weaknesses.
“Our coaches are teaching events, writing workouts and The Fit Club staff is getting them ready so that they can execute the plans given to the athletes,” McCray said. “They can identify strengths and things they need to work on and communicate it with the coaches.”
