ShawneeDispatch.com

School wasn't even out for the summer before Maranatha Academy's athletes were imploring their coaches for chances to work out, according to Eagles cross country coach Bianca Williams.

"We had planned to give them a week off," said Williams on Sunday night, the evening before the beginning of Maranatha's first full week off from classes, "but we had some kids coming up to us this past week and say, 'I can't wait to get together to work out with my friends. Can't we start early? I'm going to be bored at home.'"

So Williams kicked off the Maranatha summer running club on Monday with the first 8 a.m. running session of the season. The club is open to all Maranatha athletes, as well as grade-schoolers, parents, alumni and friends and meets at 8 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The club features runners of all levels and will also feature varying trails in the Johnson County Streamways trail system.

"One of the trails is a fairly flat course and one of the trails is a very hilly course," Williams said. "We open it up to anyone. We get quite a few moms, pets, rollerbladers and even siblings. With the younger kids we definitely encourage the moms to stay and walk or run. We definitely don't want to limit it to athletes; we want to make it user-friendly."

Back at the academy's North Campus, Eagles baseball coach Melvin Moyer is sponsoring Maranatha's summer weight training and conditioning program. The program began on Monday and features a three-phase workout plan from 9 a.m. until noon, Monday through Friday until Aug. 1.

From 9 to 10 a.m., Moyer will oversee Maranatha athletes in conditioning exercises before they move on to circuit training from 10 to 11 a.m. The final phase of the day will be a powerlifting session that will fill the remaining hour.

Moyer's training program is open to all comers, regardless of affiliation. The minimum age requirement is that they be in at least seventh grade, and Moyer has even seen some Eagle alumni come to the program in the past.

"It's open to anybody who'd like to come," Moyer said. "So far we have 27 kids signed up."