Top CCS NCS and SJS Marks updated 4/28

Thanks to Hank Lawson (www.lynbrooksports.com) and Keith Conning and (THE CONNING TOWER)

•CCS Top Marks List - 2008

•North Coast Section Track Leaders April 28, 2008 (scroll down)

•Sac-Joaquin Section Track Leaders (scroll down past NCS marks)

It's League finals time as the Peninsula Athletic League got under way today. Many more will take place next week. Who are the runners to watch for as we make our way to the section finals?

Captain Alok Subbarao finishes career in style

Check out the following link to an article that describes Palo Alto's Alok Subbarao's quadruple in a dual meet against Los Altos. It's written by his coach Jeff Billings who briefly describes how far Alok has come during his high school career by finishing his post with "its not about how fast you are, but about how far you have come." A great story of perseverance and accomplishments.

You can find the link here:
•Captain Alok Subbarao finishes career in style

On the Palo Alto Track site you will also find a link to http://xcstats.com/ which is a great tool for coaches that keeps track of all their athletes times throughout their time in high school.

HS Track and Field Weekend Results...

Here are several links to results from track and field meets held these past two days.

•Sacramento Meet of Champions Results Link
•Vikings Classic Results (will need to scroll down page)
•Avis Kelley Invite Results
•Alisal Invitational Results
•Warren/Eaton Relays at Acalanes HS (Results to be posted soon)

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE LINKS
•This big meet brings out the bests (From Sac Bee)
•Vaulter sends notice to best (From SF Chronicle)
•Sierra senior sets school record (From Record Net)

Catching up on Track and Field Coverage in Northern California

From the Sacramento Bee:
•Sacramento Meet of Champions Preview

From the SM Daily Journal (coverage of local county athletes):

•County track is strong

From the SJ Mercury News:
•Former top Santa Cruz runner Landry finding success in a new sport

From the HMB Review:
•Irish wins Top 8 Meet (Lauren Irish of HMB HS)

From the Marin IJ:
•Prep roundup: Redwood prevails in top-notch MCAL track meet

From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
•Results for Redwood Empire teams

From the St. Helena Star:
•Saints runners shine at Lower Lake meet

From the Hollister Freelance:
•Yoldi sets record, San Benito remains undefeated

From the Los Altos Town Crier:
•Los Altos High to dedicate track to former coach Long Sunday

HEAVY-METAL ENTHUSIAST

Quirke wants to put aside injuries and spin a 70-footer at state

(04-22) 21:48 PDT -- When Los Gatos High senior Colin Quirke was a little boy, he didn't chase his father around a baseball, football or soccer field. His childhood athletic education involved a more esoteric setting, but no less inspiring.

Paul Quirke, a shot putter for Ireland in the 1992 Olympics, brought up his son in a world in which he mingled with discus throwers and shot putters, many of whom were legends in the sport.

To read the entire article from the San Francisco Chronicle, check out the following link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/22/SPSA109T8I.DTL

Local athlete qualifies for Olympics in Marathon

•Olympic women's marathon trials: Lewy Boulet bound for Beijing, Lundy does not finish

• A DREAM COME TRUE
Tearful Lewy Boulet is on U.S. Olympic team

•Local marathoners to Olympics

•Lewy Boulet caps an Olympian rise

More Newspaper coverage from past week's Track and Field meets...

James Logan Top 8 Meet in the SF Chronicle
•Oakland senior wins in hurdles (Julian Purvis of St. Elizabeth)

CCS Top 8 Meet in the SF Chronicle
• Leaper's high aim falls short (Los Gatos senior still wins long jump with his best leap of season)
Woody Wilson Invitational in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat
•Results for Redwood Empire athletes

Phillips-McCain Invitational coverage in the Contra Costa Times
•Jung sets records on vault

College Track and Field signings in the Sacramento Bee
•On a fast track to college

Mtn. View vs. Gunn in the Los Altos Crier
•Mtn. View’s depth leads to sweep of Gunn

If you have any more links, please feel free to share them below in the comment box.

CCS Top 8 Meet Newspaper Coverage

From the San Mateo County Times
•Serra 4x100 relay team wins

From the San Jose Mercury News
•Surprenant hurdles field at Top 8 Classic

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel
•Aptos' Hunt wins both distance race at Top 8 meet

More to come on Sunday as we catch up with the James Logan Top 8 Meet, Phillips-McCain, Woody Wilson, Mt. SAC and a few more meets.

Changing Speeds to Go the Distance

Check out the following article courtesy of the New York Times featuring Sara Hall (formerly Sara Bei of Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa).

SARA HALL experienced an instructive epiphany in 2006. In the fall, she’d won the national road-running championship for 5K (3.1 miles), a distance she specialized in at Stanford. At the time, she considered herself a 5K runner. So did everyone else.

A few weeks later, everything changed when she won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, a glamour event in American road racing. “Afterward, I thought, ‘That’s my distance,’ ” she said. “It plays to my strengths. I loved the fast pace. I’m not a patient runner.”

To read the rest of the article, check out the following link:
•Changing Speeds to Go the Distance

Must see Track and Field Videos

The coverage of Track and Field meets keeps improving by the day and this past week was no different many videos are online for your viewing pleasure. Here are my picks for must see videos that will either inspire or amaze you.

First, for anybody that has been to the Arcadia Invitational, here is a brief video that gives you a great feel for one of the best meets in the United States:
•Moses Galindo Video (courtesy of www.dyestatcal.com)

I was only able to view a few videos of the Arcadia Invitational but if you are a distance fan, the two must see races are the girls' 3200m. and the boys' 5000m. The former is a great dual between two of the best runners in the US and the latter race is a showcase for future Stanford runner Chris Derrick:
•Girls' 3200m. Invitational race (www.flotrack.com)
•Boys' 5k Invitational race (courtesy of www.flotrack.com)

Lastly, you can check out Scott Bauhs (former SRV runner, current Chico St. runner) break the four minute mile for the first time as he finishes in 3:59.81. The video is a bit shaky but worth the view just the same:
•Chico Twilight Mile (courtesy of www.flotrack.com)

Catch up of Track and Field articles...

•SM's Spencer gets the jump (Serra Invitational coverage)

•Meet provides championship previews (SacBee coverage of Arcadia meet)

•Franco medals in national competition (Eureka Reporter)

•CCS TRACK AND FIELD LEADERS (Palo Alto Online)

•Sub-four Scotty: Bauhs breaks school record with 3:59.81 mile

College Notebook: From Berkeley to Seattle, change of scenery good for Schmitt

Great update on former Redwood HS (NCS) star Jake Schmitt

WHEN Jake Schmitt arrived in the Pacific Northwest on New Year's Day of 2007, he had to wonder whether his decision to transfer to the University of Washington's track program from Cal was really such a good idea.

Hospitalized the night before he left with tonsillitis, Schmitt threw up on his flight to Seattle, and when he arrived on campus, it was snowing. Needless to say, the Redwood High graduate was having some second thoughts.

"At that point, there were a million things going through my mind, but mainly it was, 'What am I doing here?'" Schmitt said with a chuckle. "But I just kept smiling and kept my head up."

To read the rest of this article, check out the following link:
•College Notebook: From Berkeley to Seattle, change of scenery good for Schmitt

Northern California teams and individuals shine at Arcadia

Check out the results at the following link (more excitement to come today):
•Arcadia Results

SJ Mercury News/SF Chronicle Athletes of the Week

Lynbrook's Eric Surprenant gets this week's award following another impressive performance over the really long hurdles race (full 400m.) at the Stanford Invitational.

You can view the article at the following link:
•Eric Surprenant, Lynbrook - San Jose Mercury News

Ashton Purvis of St. Elizabeth gets the Athlete of the Week honors in the San Francisco Chronicle:
•Athletes of the Week

ALSO, Oak Grove middle distance ace, Sebastian Sam, gets a mention in the Highlight reel in the SJ Mercury for his impressive 400m. victory:
•Highlight reel

If you know of other newspaper links for Northern California Track and Field athletes, please send them to albertjcaruana@gmail.com

Track and Field Newspaper Coverage

•Irish, Hamilton turn in personal bests at Stanford (Half Moon Bay coverage)

•Petaluma distance medley team records fastest time in the state

•4/9 dual meets coverage in Santa Rosa Press Democrat

•Running's elite (Hollister Freelance coverage)

•Grillo off to the steeplechases (ex Novato High runner)

•St. Francis boys basketball coach resigning (Steve Filios, ex track coach)

•Track dominates meet against Monta Vista (Milpitas HS)

•Trio leads Los Altos team; Mtn. View sweeps Milpitas

Arcadia Invitational article in SF Chronicle

Check out the article with a brief listing of Bay Area competitors:
Arcadia Invitational

Top Track and Field marks for CCS, NCS and SJS updated

Thanks to Hank Lawson and Keith Conning, you can view the top marks for the Central Coast Section (CCS), North Coast Section (NCS) and San Joaquin Section (SJS).

You can view the top CCS marks at the following link:
•CCS Top Marks List - 2008

For the NCS and SJS marks, you can find it on Keith Conning's Website at the following link:
•THE CONNING TOWER (scroll down slightly)

If anybody has the top marks for the Northern Section, San Francisco Section and the Oakland Section, please forward them along.

Passion for sports

Joey Villasenor couldn't have selected a better role model than the late Steve Prefontaine, a former Olympic track athlete who also was a star in college.

"I really look up to Steve Prefontaine," said Villasenor, a Lindhurst High athlete who is participating in five sports in this, his senior year. "Looking at films about him, I've seen his passion for running, and I have that same passion, too."

Prefontaine won three national cross country titles and four 3-mile/5,000-meter collegiate outdoor titles while running for the University of Oregon. He went on to compete in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, finishing fourth in the 5,000 meters. At the time of his tragic death in 1975, he held every American distance record from 2,000 to 10,000 meters.

Villasenor reveres Prefontaine so much that he lives his life by a quote attributed to Prefontaine — "Anything less than your best is sacrificing the gift."

And Villasenor has the gift. Make that gifts.

To read the rest of this article, check out the following link:
•Passion for sports

Stanford Invitational newspaper coverage for Northern California teams

•Paly relay team earns major title (Daily News, peninsula teams)
•Dublin's Attarian wins at Stanford
•PREP TRACK: St. Elizabeth sprinter ties national mark (SF Chronicle)
•Don's Kujore wins shot put at Stanford (East Bay teams)
•Jake Schmitt runs second-fastest time (scroll down)
•Stanford Invitational (Santa Rosa Press Democrat coverage)
•Track and Field (scroll down for mention of several peninsula teams)
•Track and Field (Sammy Hamilton and Ganbileg Bor)
•STANFORD INVITATIONAL, Wright jumps, wins, bolts (SF Chronicle)
•Sprinters are a who's who of prep football (SF Chronicle)
•Track: Benecia starts strong

Please share links to any newspaper coverage I may have missed.

The Secrets of Speed by Bill Bowerman (1971)

Check out this great article from a August 2nd, 1971 Sports Illustrated written by the legendary Oregon coach, Bill Bowerman (pictured to the left with his star pupil, Steve Prefontaine). He describes all the elements of proper running form that are still true this day.

You can find the article at the following link:
•THE SECRETS OF SPEED

If you want to learn more about Bowerman, a true pioneer in coaching, you should definitely read Bowerman and the Men of Oregon. You can find it at the link below at amazon.com:

Harra Marra to be inducted into the SFSU Hall of Fame

I was fortunate to attend San Francisco State University while Harry Marra was the head Track and Field/Cross Country coach and was his track and field manager. I had no idea what an education I would get in coaching from one of the best technical coaches in the United States. While I was a distance runner in high school, I was able to learn about ALL the events from Harry and apply what I learned to starting the track and field team at Crystal Springs Uplands in 2002.

Harry is now focusing his efforts in the decathlon with one of the top decathletes, Paul Terek. The hall of fame election is a well deserved recognition for a great coach.

To read more about Harry and his athlete and one of his articles, check out the following link:
•Hall of Fame (Scroll down)

•Paul Terek profile

•Strength Training For Speed Development