The girls’ cross country team received some extra help Thursday morning as Baylor Scott and White Sports Therapy and Research athletic trainer Kathryn Niebel worked with the team.

“We use a system called fusionetics,” Niebel said. “We basically did a movement efficiency screen, so we evaluated the quality of all of their movements. Through that screen, they’ve identified areas of either tight or overactive muscles and weak or underactive muscles and then we target that through their individualized self care program. It’s broken down into foam roll, static stretch, isolated activation and then functional re-education. That’s just an integrated full body movement. The goal is to get them to move better and ultimately feel better.”

Used by nearly 20 professional or college teams, fusionetics is making its first appearance in high school districts, starting with Frisco.

“I think that the Baylor Scott and White program is good because learning our weaknesses and our weak areas can help us become stronger athletes and prevent injuries,” sophomore Katie Gray said. “It shows that they care a lot about our safety and our health.”

For cross country runners, where muscle damage and inflammation can occur, these exercises are critical.

“They’re putting in 40 miles a week and so it’s just constant pounding on all their joints and legs,” head cross country coach Amanda Zambiasi said. “We actually started with was yesterday what they call fusionetics. They go through a series of tests and tells us what areas are the most sore. That’s what she is using today to do that recovery. For most of them they were sore in their lats and calves so that’s where the rolling is there.”