Monday, September 17, 2012

Catching up with Northgate HS runner, Danny Stalters...

Today we chat with Northgate HS senior, Danny Stalters.  So far this season, Stalters won the Monte Vista Invitational breaking the previous meet record by Monte Vista's Mike Roderick from 2008 (Roderick was NCS Division I champion that same year).  He finished 2nd at the Ed Sias Invitational behind Miramonte's Tyler Hanson.  At the recently concluded Iolani Invitational, Stalters defeated a slew of Palos Verdes runners (defending state meet champions in Division III) to take the individual title.  Progressing nicely from his freshman season, Stalters ran 17:00 minutes at the Hayward HS course at NCS as a frosh, followed that up with a 16:00 minute effort as a sophomore and improved upon that last year with a 15:30, 9th place effort.  He is the fastest returning runner in Division III (Jaime Silva is now in Division IV).  

1)  What sports have you played besides cross country and track and field?
I used to play soccer when I was in middle school.

2)  How did you get your start in running?
My dad used to run when he was in high school and college so it seemed to follow that I would too.  There was a track team at my middle school and the first year I was eligible to run I did.

3)  Tell us a little about your freshman season in xc and track.  Highlights?
My freshman seasons were occupied with running like crazy in an overly optimistic effort to keep up with the faster guys.  The best part of either season was taking road trips with the team to various races.  Two that stick out were the Nike Cross Nationals and the Mt. Sac Relays.

4)  How about your sophomore seasons in both sports.  Highlights?
I was the #1 guy on our squad that year for both XC and track.  Because of that, I became somewhat of a leader for the varsity guys as far as advice went.  That meant a lot to me.  The best part would have been getting the last qualifying spot for the State Meet in cross country.

5)  Where do you feel like you transitioned to a level that you felt you could contend with the best runners in the section?
I think that happened junior year.  I just started doing well against the top competition.

6)  What did you do differently during the summer before your junior xc season?  Highlights from your junior seasons in xc and track?
I ran a lot more.  I was doing morning and evening runs in order to double my summer mileage.  I think winning league in XC both as an individual and a team was the best part.  That hadn't happened in a long time.  In track, I PR'd in the 1600, 800, and the 400 in one meet.  That was a great feeling.

7)  Tell us a little about your coach and how he has helped you develop as a runner and person?  Any funny stories you can share?
Coach Brewer is a terrific coach.  He has taught me that nothing comes without a lot of work.  But he makes it very clear to you why you are doing the work and doesn't just expect you to do it without a reasonable explanation on his part.  It is a very transparent process.  Almost every day is a funny story.  But the best are when we get him to start ranting about politics.

8)  What does a typical week look like for you with a Saturday Invitational during xc?  Morning runs?  Length of long run?  Strength/Weights work?
During the season I don't do any morning runs, but the typical week runs like this.  Monday - long repeats   Tuesday - long recovery run  Wednesday - short repeats  Thursday - a run and water workout later with the team  Friday - race prep (strides, short run)  Saturday - race  Sunday - recovery run

9)  What are your current track prs?  
2:00 for 800 4:26 for 1600 and 9:30 for 3200

10)  Favorite distance training run?  Favorite workout?  Toughest workout?  Favorite xc course?  Favorite xc invitational?  Favorite track distance?  Favorite track invitational?  Favorite opponent(s)? 
Anything back in Castle Rock Park is great.  2-mile repeats.  4 2-mile repeats or 6 mile repeats (in the hills).  The state course.  The state meet.  3200.  The Dan Gabor Distance Festival.  Aidan Goltra.

11)  Your team just ran at the Iolani Invitational in Hawaii.  Tell us a little about that trip and what were some of your highlights?
I think the most satisfying thing of the whole trip was doing so well as an invitational, but certainly the most fun part was hanging out with the team and running around Diamond Head in the mornings.

12)  Anything else you would like to add.
I don't think so.

Thank you very much for your time Danny!  AJC

If you would like to see an athlete or coach interviewed on this site, please let me know by email at albertjcaruana@gmail.com or you can mention them in the comment section below.

2 comments:

Andrew said...

by simple math, Danny should run 15:15 at NCS this year! haha, but good luck to him on the rest of his season.

Anonymous said...

hehe. aidan he's gunning for you.

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