Catching up with former Barstow runner, Anthony Solis...

Today we chat with former Barstow and current Chico State runner, Anthony Solis. Barstow won their fourth straight state championship this year running their championship total to six. Three of those championships were with Solis as one of the key cogs on one of the best teams in the history of CA cross country. The coach in charge of all the success, Jim Duarte, just recently retired so I asked Anthony to tell us a bit about his HS coach. Solis is now continuing his running at Chico State, one of the best division II distance schools in the nation. The picture on the left is during the 2007 CIF-SS prelims as Solis gives the thumbs up following poop out hill.

1) How did you get your start in distance running?
Well what got me started was my dad who ran a 15:00 at Mt.Sac in the early 80's in high school and I always like to be the better one in the family at everything. So my freshman year I went out for the xc team at Barstow and just enjoyed the atmosphere that I was around.

2) Did you know about the quality of the Barstow Cross Country team before you attended the school?

When I first moved to Barstow at the end of 8th grade I had no idea that the team has had the tradition that they've had(i.e. winning state in 2001 &2002) before I actually was on the team.

3) When did you start to feel like you belonged with some of the top runners in the state during HS?

I actually started my sophmore year just dreaming up to be the top guy at state my senior year. I steadily moved taking 86th my sophmore year, 17th my junior year and then 3rd my senior year in Div.3 I didn't actually believe it till my junior winter training when Coach Duarte gave me a lecture about how next year I was the leader.

4) Why do you think Coach Duarte was so successful during his time at Barstow?

I just think that he related well with his athletes. He was a great Coach who wanted each and every one of his athletes to sacrifice things to make themselves and the team better. And you know what it actually worked bcause our team has sacrificed so many things for Barstow Xc to be how they've been. I'm just thankful that I was able to be coached by Duarte.

5) What did a typical week look like for you in high school during your senior season?

During my senior summer I averaged between 55 and 65 miles a week where I hit one 80 mile week which mmade me feel as strong as I've ever been. Thenn I maintained like 55-60 miles all the way until CIF prelims where I went down to about 45 then went down a little more for finals and State.

6) Why do you think Barstow peaked so well during the most important meets at the end of the season?

Duarte taught us to never really race all-out at an invite or at a dual meet. We always raced in our training shoes until CIF-SS Finals where we "busted" out our flats and really started to race.

7) Looking back at your high school career, what accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?

The thing I'm most proud of is being a part of 3 State Championship teams and leading Barstow to it my senior year(2007). I say that made me way more proud than being Individual CIF-SS champ in Cross Country and the 3200m my senior year because I had teammates who were there to celebrate with.

8) What workouts did you do during cross country that helped you excel as a runner in HS?

I would have to say my long runs on Sundays are what got me to excel the most in HS because they made me feel physically and mentally stronger than the previous week.

9) Any similarities between the Barstow team and the Chico team?

There are a few similarities. First I would have to say that both my Barstow and Chico teams are all really close to each other and all good friends. Second would be that in Barstow I did high mileage for an aveage high schooler so that helped me adjust to Chico's mileage program. Last I would have to say that I had a great Coach under Duarte and now I'm under another great Coach with Gary Towne.

10) Now that you have run for a few months in college, what could you have done differently in high school to help ease your transition into college?

Well I could've actually got serious my freshman, sophomore, or junior year to make my senior year even more exciting than it already was for me. I never really trained hard until senior summer when I actually wanted to train to be remembered.

11) What would be your advice to any high school runner who has dreams of being among the best runners in CA?

I would just have to say don't doubt yyourself at any time because that can make the difference of you actually putting everything you have into it and just being just another average runner out there who just wants to qualify to the state meet and not actually dream of winning it. So just set goals for yourself and train hard and you'll find out that it all pays off in the end.

12) Anything else you would like to add.

I would just like to say thanks for this interview and to everyone out there go buy the new Kanye West 808's & Heartbreaks cd....that's another thing that motivates me is Kanye's music.

Thank you very much Anthony. AJC.