Hood College

 

             

From Hoodathletics.com:

Chris Benassi was named the head coach of the Hood College cross country and track and field programs in the summer of 2018; and serves as the Hood College Director of Intramurals.

In his first season, Benassi coached AJ Lewis, who won the long jump at the MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and Fred Roberts, who earned All-MAC honors. Lewis was one of three Blazers who qualified for the ECAC Outdoor Championships. Eighteen of Benassi’s student-athletes were honored in the Middle Atlantic Conference Fall, Winter and Spring Academic Honor Rolls.

 

Head Coach:  Chris Benassi

301-788-3746

benassi@hood.edu

https://hoodathletics.com/sports/womens-cross-country?path=wcross

https://hoodathletics.com/sports/womens-cross-country/coaches?path=wcross

Chasing The Standard:  How long have you been at Hood, and what are some highlights of your program?

Chris Benassi-I am now in my third year as our head coach at Hood College.  Our first focus was to build off of the successes of the previous coaches and teams by establishing a positive, hard-working team culture centered around fully investing in our teammates, coaches, and self to discover what is possible in and out of the sport.  In our first couple of years, we have really embraced that approach which has translated into 10 school records, one of the best cross country seasons in school history in 2019, a conference champion, and a significant increase in the numbers of athletes to qualify for the conference championship indoors.  However, what I am proudest of is how we have stayed healthy and generally turned in our best performances when they count at our season-end championship meets.

What goals do you have for the program?

Chris Benassi-Our goal is truly to discover what is possible for our group as we move forward.  We don’t define success and failure heading into the season based on a set placement at the conference, regional, or national championships.  It is all about staying healthy, fully committing to this process, and letting the fitness come out on the days that matter the most.  When we do that, the results will take care of themselves.

What is a typical training week like for your team in a typical indoor season?  What is your training philosophy?

Chris Benassi-Philosophically, three key elements drive our training: science (physiology and biomechanics), experience, and the experience of the individual athlete.  When we incorporate a new athlete into our program, we always meet them at the point of what they did in high school that was effective so we can seamlessly integrate them into our program and minimize injury risk.  Typically, we train 5-6 days a week with our throwers throwing 4-5 days and our sprinters/distance runners performing higher-intensity sessions 2-3 times a week (on soft surface more early in the season, track more later in the season).  We complement that training with recovery sessions on the other days to make sure we can absorb the hard days and be mentally and physically ready for the next hard session.  We also communicate constantly with our athletes on how they are feeling so we can modify the sessions as we progress throughout the training cycle as necessary.

What resources and facilities does your team have access to that you promote to prospective athletes?

Chris Benassi-While we don’t have a track on campus (since Hood College is in the city of Frederick, there isn’t quite enough space on campus for a track), we do have a discus circle and pole vault facility on our campus.  For our track days, we are fortunate to have access to utilizing a high school track a mile from our campus, and for our non-track days, we take advantage of our year-old turf field on campus for soft surface and recovery work.  For our distance runners, Frederick offers really every type of venue we could want from flat to rolling to mountainous terrain with both hard and soft surfaces.  Also our home cross country course at Utica Park serves as a great training venue for our cross country intervals that we usually perform on grass.

What is your school and conference doing for training or meets during the winter and spring?

Chris Benassi-COVID has taken an impact on so many areas of our life, and collegiate track and field is no exception.  Any competition for the fall semester has been suspended, but we put together a great foundational training block to set up the stage to peak for the outdoor conference championship.  We are taking the mindset of looking at indoor/outdoor as one training cycle, so if we have the opportunity to compete indoors, that will be a bonus.  However, it won’t really change our training approach and mindset.  While we don’t know the exact set up of the spring yet, our coaches, athletic department, and conference are working diligently to create best athletic experiences for our athletes in the safest way possible.

How has recruiting been during COVID?  What is the recruiting process like at Hood?  What do you suggest to athletes interested in your program?

Chris Benassi-Recruiting has certainly been different in every sport this year, and naturally we have utilized Zoom and other virtual resources to a greater extent than in years past.  Also, an interesting consideration is that most high school seniors have outdoor track and field personal bests dating back to 9th or 10th grade, which forces coaches to re-evaluate how they look at performance level.  However, we always look at performance level as secondary to how we feel the student-athlete will fit into our program and team culture.  Effectively, that doesn’t really change our approach, just that we have to do more leg work virtually.  My advice to any high school athlete looking to compete at the next level is to reach out to the coaches of different schools they are interested in to hear more about their respective programs.  Even within Division III, you will have a myriad of different coaching and training philosophies which may or may not align with what works for a particular athlete.  Our coaching staff is always open to speaking with an athlete who would like to learn more about our program, so athletes can reach out anytime!

Recruiting Questionnaire

https://hoodathletics.com/sports/2019/11/4/recruitme.aspx