Freshmen taking it to the next level

Kevin Gill is not a morning person. He is a runner, but don't expect him to see him jogging before the morning commute.

"I never run before noon," said the Brockton teen.

However, you will see him in the evenings at the Brockton High School track or alongside the road working through his routines. He is not just staying in shape; he is preparing for his freshman season at Stonehill College as a member of the cross-country and track and field teams.

His summer training routine was established by coach Karen Boen, who directs the Stonehill cross-country and track and field programs. The plan is specific and detailed, to make sure every athlete is ready for the season from the first day of practice.

"This puts it on their plate," said Boen, who has a degree in exercise physiology from Bridgewater State College. "There's no punishment or checking in. It's very apparent from day one who did and who didn't do the training."

Gill is one of hundreds of area high school graduates who are busy preparing for their first year of college athletics, an often difficult transition that can be aided by a proper training program.

Boen, starting her 10th season as head coach at Stonehill, has always put together some form of training program for each level of athlete. At first, she mailed out the workouts with telephone numbers of teammates. The method worked, but incoming athletes may not have been comfortable calling their teammates for guidance, Boen said. Now, she sends weekly e-mails with the recommended training and the reason behind her methods. She also includes notes about how to stay hydrated. "It's like a personal trainer by e-mail," she said.

Through e-mail, Boen said, athletes are more comfortable communicating with one another and as a result have gotten together on their own to get through the training.

"They're more accountable to each other than to me," Boen said.

For freshmen, the workouts have been an alert to some that the commitment may be too much. Boen said she has had some quit after realizing the commitment may be too demanding, which she does not mind. For others, like Gill, the expectations are a peek at what it will take to be a successful collegiate athlete.

At Brockton High, Gill was a three-time cross-country Globe All-Scholastic. In the outdoor season, he captured an All-State title in the mile as a junior and last season anchored the 4 x 800 relay team to a Division 1 and All-State outdoor title and a second-place finish at the New England championships.

When Gill received Boen's e-mails about preparing for collegiate track, he woke up to the reality of what would be required.

"I was a little surprised about the whole thing," Gill said. "I want to make an impact, but I'm a little scared I don't have any experience -- you need to be talented and experienced. So I'm just hoping I can catch on really fast and everything works out."

Gill ran an average of 60 miles per week during his senior year in high school. Under Boen's program, the distance numbers have been slightly increased, but the intensity level has been ratcheted up a notch. He runs an average of 7 to 8 miles four days a week. The other two days consist of tempo runs along with other workouts that total 8 to 9 miles. And on Sunday, he runs 12 to 14 miles.

Gill said he doesn't question the workouts; he just does them and works at his pace.

"I'm going to put my faith in [Boen] and everything she says," Gill said.

"You realize that you don't have to go out and kill yourself in workouts. It's about learning how to control yourself."

While the athletic jump from high school to college can be intimidating, athletes are making the transition while also learning to balance academics. At Division I campuses, for sports like football it is not unusual for incoming freshmen to report to school in the summer when they can be eased into the transition in a more structured environment.

Defensive end Eriks Reks, a 2007 Xaverian Brothers graduate from Wrentham, was signed to play football at Duke University. On July 1, he arrived on the Duke campus, enrolled in two courses, and began participating in strength and conditioning sessions.

Reks said that once Division I programs began recruiting him, he began taking his workouts more seriously. After he signed with Duke, he received a guideline of workouts to get him in shape for the coming season.

"I feel like our high school program was pretty rigorous," Reks said. "There was a little bit of a transition, but I don't think there was that big of a jump."

There were differences that Reks had to get adjusted to, like team lifting. He also had to train in warmer temperatures. "The heat has definitely drained me a little bit," Reks said.

But the benefit of being on campus so early is priceless, Reks said.

"It helps me adjust real well, being so far away from home. I'm getting to know all of the other freshmen and the campus."

Chris Combs, Duke's assistant strength and conditioning coach, said the time in the summer cannot re-create everything about the fall semester, but it helps.

"When I got here, it was really like a crash course for me in terms of managing my time with classes and football," said Combs, who played defensive end at Duke from 1996 to 1999. "Now these kids come in July and it gives them six weeks to understand better how to manage their time as a college athlete. . . . They can really learn what is to be expected."

Combs said the staff also uses the time to teach players proper technique when it comes to lifting and overall training, so that by the time the fall season arrives the freshmen are used to the routines.

"Mentally, kids are 17 and 18 years old, and now they're going to compete against people who are now mature adults, and as a result, their bodies are not ready for that," said Dr. Brian Busconi, chief of sports medicine at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

A Southborough native who went on to become a two-sport (ice hockey, lacrosse) Division 1 athlete at Harvard, Busconi said preseason training is key to preventing injuries. He referred to the American College of Sports Medicine's opinion that six to eight weeks of training prior to sports participation is appropriate.

A proper combination of strength, aerobic, and flexibility training two to three times a week, on nonconsecutive days, is recommended.

No matter what the sport, Busconi said, an athlete should not overdo it when it comes to training.

"You don't want the athlete to be burned out before they get into the sport," he said.

"The worst thing in the world is they do this and not have fun."

Kevin Gill

High school: Brockton High

Highlights: A three-time Globe All-Scholastic in cross-country with runner-up finishes last fall at the EMass. and All-State meets, Gill also ran the anchor leg on Brockton's victorious 4 x 800 relay squad that captured the Division 1 outdoor title this spring and finished second in New England.

Future: Will run cross-country and track at Stonehill College on scholarship