2022 All-NorCal XC Teams

If you would like to vote on the All-NorCal XC team, please email me at albertjcaruana@gmail.com and I will send you all the info you need to vote. Here is a link to the history of the All-NorCal XC teams dating back to 1953.

http://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/XC/alnorcal.htm

Santa Rosa track star Coco McKamey sets sights on college at Cal Poly Humboldt

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/sports/santa-rosa-track-star-coco-mckamey-sets-sights-on-college-at-cal-poly-humbo/

2022 NorCal Cross Country Awards

You can find previous winners at the following link. 
http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/2020/01/2019-norcal-cross-country-awards.html

Most Valuable Runner (boys)-Sean Morello Albany (NCS)
Most Valuable Runner (girls)-Hanne Thomsen Montgomery (NCS)

Most Impressive Individual Performance (boys)-Grant Morgenfeld Palo Alto (CCS) at Woodbridge/De La Salle Invitational
Most Impressive Individual Performance (girls)-Hanne Thomsen Montgomery at NCS 

Most Impressive Performance (boys' team)-Granada at Woodbridge/Oakdale at CA State Meet
Most Impressive Performance (girls' team)-Los Altos at CCS

Rising Star (boys)-Broen Holman Sonora (SJS)/Aydon Stefanopoulus Los Gatos (CCS)/Trey Caldwell De La Salle (NCS)
Rising Star (girls)-Kinga Czajkowska Palo Alto (CCS)/Evie Marheineke Archbishop Mitty (CCS)

Most Inspirational (boys)-Eshaan Hussain California (NCS)
Most Inspirational (girls)-Tatum Olesen Menlo Atherton (CCS)

Most Improved Runner (boys)-Shane Badcock Dougherty Valley (NCS)/Blake Martin Redwood (NCS)
Most Improved Runner (girls)-Grace Roesgen San Ramon Valley (NCS)

Lifetime Achievement Award (boys)-Justin Pretre Menlo (CCS)
Lifetime Achievement Award (girls)-Ellie Buckley Campolindo (NCS)

Buster Posey (rookie of the year)-Isaac Abbott Jesuit (SJS)
Buster Posey (rookie of the year)-Lydia Anderson Los Altos (CCS)

Best Robin to Batman (best supporting actor)-Landon Pretre Menlo (CCS)
Best Robin to Batman (best supporting actress)-Shea Volkmer Campolindo (NCS)

Best Three Amigos-Dax Daley, Omar Alsaidi, Caleb Cavanaugh Oakdale (SJS)
Best Three Amigas-Kinga Czajkowska, Elizabeth Fetter, Hillary Studdert Palo Alto (CCS)

Boys Coach of the Year (Directing)-Jeremy Mattern Granada (NCS)/Guy Fowler Oakdale (SJS)
Girls Coach of the Year (Directing)-Stephanie MacKenzie Los Altos (CCS)/Chuck Woolridge Campolindo (NCS)

Coach of the Year-Albert Caruana Crystal Springs Uplands (CCS)

Cross-country: Julia Stamps Mallon’s daughter Ashlin emerging as top middle school runner

Ashlin Mallon, the 13-year-old daughter of three-time national cross-country champion Julia Stamps Mallon, has erupted onto the scene this past year. You can check out the article at this LINK.

All-CCS Teams posted

    

   

http://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2022/all_ccs.htm

California All-Time Podium Teams updated

Now that most of the 2022 season has been completed, I updated the all-time podium teams at the California State Meet. You can find that list at this LINK.

The top two teams that have won the most state meet trophies for the girls are SF University and Campolindo. Both teams won a trophy this past season adding to their total. SF University currently has the record for most state titles (11) and podium finishes (18).

On the boy's side, Jesuit has had the 4th most podium finishes with 13 and is tied with McFarland for the most state titles with 9.

Garmin RunningLane XC Championship races in Alabama

Congratulations to the Oakdale boys who finished in 2nd place in the Gold Division this past Saturday at the Garmin RunningLane XC Championship after winning their first state title in Division III the previous weekend.

You can check out the results HERE

NorCal individuals who qualified for Champs Sports National Meet at Balboa Park

GIRLS
Katie Kopec Whitney HS 4th place

BOYS
Grant Morgenfeld Palo Alto 3rd place
Broen Holman Sonora 7th place
Trey Caldwell De La Salle 8th place

NorCal NXN teams (Campolindo girls, Los Altos girls, Granada boys)

Saturday Post-Season XC Events

Champs Sports West Region Race at Mt. SAC
Website: https://champsxc.com/west/

NXN in Portland, Oregon
Live Webcast: https://nxn.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=13&do=videos&video_id=337764
Live Results: TBA

RunningLane
Website: https://www.huntsvillesports.org/events/garmin-runninglane-cross-country-championships/

California State Meet

Results: https://www.rtspt.com/events/cif/xc2022/mp/

MileSplitCA coverage:
https://ca.milesplit.com/articles/324625/cif-state-meet-coverage-hub

I will post other links as I am sure many are in the process as I type this.

Congratulations to the NorCal Individuals that made the podium yesterday. Here are the teams that also made the podium with a top-three finish.

NORCAL PODIUM TEAMS (last time the North won half the team titles was 2005)
Division I Girls: Oak Ridge (2nd place)

Division II Girls: Los Altos (1st place) NXN qualifiers, St. Francis, MV (3rd place)
Division II Boys: Granada (2nd place) NXN qualifiers

Division III Girls: Campolindo (1st place) NXN qualifiers
Division III Boys: Oakdale (1st place), Campolindo (2nd place)

Division IV Boys: Albany (3rd place)

Division V Girls: Crystal Springs Uplands (1st place), University (2nd place)
Division V Boys: Crystal Springs Uplands (1st place), Menlo (2nd place)

NORCAL INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONS
Division III Girls: Hanne Thomsen Montgomery 

Division V Girls: Kaiya Brooks Crystal Springs Uplands

TOP 15 NORCAL GIRLS' TEAMS

Final Standings Score Scoring Order Total
2 Los Altos -CC-2 305 29-41-59-65-111(159)(279) 1:32:16
3 Campolindo -NC-3 322 17-22-56-108-119(170)(228) 1:32:08
7 St. Francis MV -CC-2 446 37-86-87-101-135(217)(219) 1:33:43
8 Palo Alto -CC-2 515 20-21-23-128-323(412)(490) 1:32:56
10 Oak Ridge -SJ-1 585 44-71-76-107-287(326)(348) 1:34:27
19 Whitney -SJ-2 766 47-94-144-225-256(269)(501) 1:35:42
20 Menlo-Atherton -CC-1 771 12-67-116-281-295(307)(417) 1:35:08
25 Granite Bay -SJ-2 895 42-96-163-203-391(433)(555) 1:36:20
28 Scotts Valley -CC-4 990 30-52-109-344-455(502)(611) 1:36:26
29 Willow Glen -CC-3 1070 162-180-191-212-325(489)(577) 1:37:41
36 Crystal Springs Uplands -CC-5 1174 19-178-189-350-438(460)(573) 1:37:37
39 Montgomery -NC-3 1204 3-69-160-351-621(763)(799) 1:37:18
40 St Francis-Sac -SJ-2 1233 134-161-181-370-387(395)(534) 1:38:29
43 University-SF -NC-5 1262 154-165-243-322-378(379)(447) 1:38:40
45 Monte Vista -NC-2 1329 196-210-238-260-425(459)(567) 1:39:06

TOP 15 NORCAL BOYS' TEAMS

Final Standings Score Scoring Order Total
4 Granada -NC-2 303 17-55-68-73-90(120)(123) 1:18:35
5 Oakdale -SJ-3 361 15-16-29-87-214(596)(739) 1:18:31
8 Crystal Springs Uplands -CC-5 577 45-66-82-177-207(438)(496) 1:20:04
12 Whitney -SJ-2 650 38-71-95-205-241(412)(473) 1:20:22
14 Campolindo -NC-3 705 57-80-152-191-225(302)(456) 1:20:47
17 Albany -NC-4 736 8-133-159-181-255(433)(621) 1:20:39
19 Redwood -NC-2 766 23-49-139-267-288(292)(371) 1:20:40
20 Menlo -CC-5 769 21-42-132-277-297(515)(602) 1:20:38
27 Westmont -CC-3 1010 74-185-194-195-362(472)(595) 1:22:03
34 Scotts Valley -CC-4 1112 51-145-223-321-372(524)(620) 1:22:19
35 Jesuit -SJ-1 1119 61-212-224-285-337(455)(619) 1:22:23
36 Lincoln-S -SJ-1 1156 84-103-291-320-358(598)(732) 1:22:29
40 Dougherty Valley -NC-1 1221 18-170-234-381-418(490) 1:22:34
41 Berkeley -NC-1 1238 27-199-253-305-454(510)(541) 1:22:40
43 Lick Wilmerding -NC-5 1253* 77-161-315-330-370(450)(536) 1:22:56

CIF State Meet Previews

You can check out previews of all divisions on MileSplitCA at this link:
https://ca.milesplit.com/series/2331

CIF State Meet Program link:
https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/9/8/meh52oxx483rh3/2022_XC_Program.pdf

Dyestat 10 storylines to follow by Erik Boal:
https://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=651213

2022 NCS MOC XC Meet Data (All-NCS team)

Thanks to www.diablotiming.com for posting combined results at these links:
https://diablotiming.com/results/2022-11-19/mp/

You can check out photos of the team winners from each race on the MileSplitCA IG page @milesplitca 

You can check out all the coverage by MileSplitsCA at this link:
https://ca.milesplit.com/meets/486509-cif-north-coast-section-championship-2022#.Y3qefezMI6E
Recap: https://ca.milesplit.com/articles/324407/recap-overcoming-injury-title-defense-among-ncs-storylines

Feel free to comment below on the most outstanding performances, biggest upsets, and best individual and team races.

Girls' 1st Team All-NCS
1 Thomsen, Hanne SO 888 Montgomery (NC) 1 16:30.6 5:30.2
2 Buckley, Ellie SR 275 Campolindo (NC2 17:04.8 5:41.6
3 Volkmer, Shea JR 280 Campolindo (NC) 3 17:23.4 5:47.8
4 Stacey, Amelia SR 485 El Cerrito (NC) --17:41.5 5:53.8
5 Maclean, Audrey SR 1076 Redwood (NC) 4 17:47.4 5:55.8
6 Guinn, Rylee SR 735 Liberty (NC) 5 17:53.6 5:57.9
7 Searls, Renae JR 44 Alhambra (NC) -- 17:53.9 5:58.0

Girls' 2nd Team All-NCS
8Noriega, Sabrina SO 452 Dougherty Valley (NC) 6 17:56.7 5:58.9
9 Johnson, Adeline SR 240 Branson (NC) 7 17:58.5 5:59.5
10 Faidi, Sienna SO 403 Convent & Stuart Hall (NC) 8 17:58.7 5:59.6
11 Kittelstrom, Seelah SO 884 Montgomery (NC) 9 17:59.6 5:59.9 
12 Trenam, Gracie JR 786 Maria Carrillo (NC) 10 18:00.9 6:00.3
13 Lacefield, Amrie SO 885 Montgomery (NC) 11 18:02.4 6:00.8
14 Powell, Alexandra SO 872 Monte Vista (NC) 12 18:05.0 6:01.7

Girls' 3rd Team All-NCS
15 Lee, Liana JR 450 Dougherty Valley (NC) 13 18:05.6 6:01.8
16 Maltz, Amelie -- 752 Lick Wilmerding (NC) 14 18:15.5 6:05.1
17 Silversteinj, Alyssa 9 140 Archie Williams (NC) 15 18:17.2 6:05.7
18 Malloy, Megan SR 955 Northgate (NC) 16 18:22.3 6:07.4
19 Weberski, Makena JR 281 Campolindo (NC) 17 18:23.4 6:07.8 
20 Moen, Rachel JR 278 Campolindo (NC) 18 18:24.7 6:08.2
21 Gardner, Emma SO 1239 Tamalpais (NC) 19 18:25.6 6:08.5

Girls' Honorable Mention
22 Krummel, Elsa JR 165 Bay School of San Francisco (NC) 20 18:32.0 6:10.6 
23 Reed, Grace SR 356 College Park (NC) 21 18:32.7 6:10.9 
24 Barnes, Ellery JR 1237 Tamalpais (NC) 22 18:34.7 6:11.5
25 Ryan, Athena JR 1202 Sonoma Academy (NC) -- 18:34.9 6:11.6
26 Ruff, Isabelle SR 341 Clayton Valley Charter (NC) 23 18:37.1 6:12.3
27 Sauder, Kerrigan SO 591 Granada (NC) 24 18:40.5 6:13.5
28 Peterson, Lucy SO 167 Bay School of San Francisco (NC) 25 18:42.8 6:14.2

Boys' 1st Team All-NCS
1 Cutter, Daegan SR 1081 Redwood (NC) 1 14:45.4 4:55.1
2 Miller, Ethan SR 880 Monte Vista (NC) 2 14:50.2 4:56.7
3 Morello, Sean SR 42 Albany (NC) 3 14:58.2 4:59.4
4 Badcock, Shane SR 454 Dougherty Valley (NC) 4 14:58.4 4:59.5
5 Caldwell, Trey SO 426 De La Salle (NC) 5 14:59.0 4:59.7
6 Lodewick, Alexander SR 283 Campolindo (NC) 6 14:59.7 4:59.9
7 Dietz, Olaf JR 220 Berkeley (NC) 7 14:59.9 4:59.9

Boys' 2nd Team All-NCS
8 Colby, Tiernan SR 1204 Sonoma Academy (NC) 8 15:00.6 5:00.2
9 Ruckmann-Barnes, Roland JR 597 Granada (NC) 9 15:03.5 5:01.2
10 Lamoureux, Alex SR 359 College Park (NC) 10 15:04.2 5:01.4
11 Hupke, Jacob SR 907 Moreau Catholic (NC) 11 15:05.1 5:01.7
12 Malko-Allen, Mateo SR 1234 St. Marys (NC) 12 15:05.6 5:01.9
13 Rattary, Jack SO 363 College Park (NC) 13 15:06.5 5:02.1
14 Oakes, Malcolm JR 411 Convent & Stuart Hall (NC) 14 15:09.0 5:03.0

Boys' 3rd Team All-NCS
15 Green, Sean JR 756 Lick Wilmerding (NC) 15 15:10.5 5:03.5
16 Stevens, Andrew SR 1196 Santa Rosa (NC) 16 15:12.6 5:04.2
17 Hart, Luther SR 595 Granada (NC) 17 15:14.3 5:04.7
18 Wijesekara, Bryce SR 265 California (NC) 18 15:14.9 5:04.9
19 Farzan, Logan JR 10 Acalanes (NC) 19 15:15.0 5:05.0
20 Mcghee, Connor SR 284 Campolindo (NC) 20 15:15.2 5:05.1
21 Gurusamy, Dheeraj SR 594 Granada (NC) 21 15:16.3 5:05.4

Boys' Honorable Mention
22 Martin, Blake SR 1082 Redwood (NC) 22 15:16.4 5:05.5
23 Messer, Daniel JR 347 Clayton Valley Charter (NC) 23 15:19.3 5:06.4
24 Martinez, Daniel JR 346 Clayton Valley Charter (NC) 24 15:21.2 5:07.1
25 Webster, Blake SR 288 Campolindo (NC) 25 15:21.3 5:07.1
26 Patel, Asher JR 852 Miramonte (NC) 26 15:24.3 5:08.1
27 Manley, Liam SR 596 Granada (NC) 27 15:28.2 5:09.4
28 Irving, Owen JR 374 College Preparatory School (NC) 28 15:30.0 5:10.0

Teams qualifying both teams to State Meet
Berkeley (Division I)

Dougherty Valley (Division I)

Redwood (Division II)
Monte Vista (Division II)
Campolindo (Division III)
Maria Carrillo (Division III)

Archie Williams (Division IV)
Lick-Wilmerding (Division V)

University (Division V)

College Prep (Division V)

Convent & Stuart Hall (Division V)

NCS Cross Country Preview (Updated!)

The North Coast Section preview has been posted on MileSplitCA. I included an update including the individual and team course records for all divisions that date back to 2016 when the new course was established.
https://ca.milesplit.com/articles/324250/preview-cif-north-coast-section-cross-country-championships

We will see how accurate my predictions are as there are definitely some intriguing races that are basically toss-ups at this point.

Best of luck to all runners and team this Saturday. I am planning on being at Hayward HS. Come say hi if you see me. 

Catching up with Moreau Catholic coach Phil Wilder...

This interview was posted on November 18, 2008. For those of you that have attended the Phil Wilder Invitational, here is an interview with the man who the invitational is named after. 

===================================

Today we chat with Moreau Catholic coach Phil Wilder who has one of the better Division IV teams in the North Coast Section. Phil's teams are usually quite large and especially impressive considering he coaches in the 2nd smallest division. He also hosts one of the more popular invitationals in the East Bay which includes a motivational speaker the night before. Last year, the speaker was none other than the only American Olympic gold medalist in the 10000m., Billy Mills. 

1) How did you get involved in the sports of cross country and track and field? I first got involved in track and field at Louis Pasteur Junior High School in Los Angeles. Track and field was very popular in the late 1960s! I went to Hamilton High School (grades 10-12) and first played football and then ran track. I gave up on the football and started running cross country my second year. I came up to UC Berkeley in 1972 and started running in road races. I did my student teaching at Richmond High School and helped with cross country and track and field. I also worked with the Richmond Recreation Department and coached the Richmond Roadrunners, and helped put on all comer meets, road races, and clinics. 

2) How long have you been coaching at Moreau Catholic? I started teaching at Moreau back in the fall of 1981. I had been teaching and coaching at Salesian High School since the fall of 1978 and had coached cross country at El Cerrito and Pinole Valley High Schools. What do you teach at the school? I am currently teaching A.P. American History and American Government. 

3) Who were your coaching mentors when you were starting in the sport? There have been so many! I was fortunate to learn from Bruce Jones (El Cerrito), Vern Hall (DeAnza), Marcel Hetu and Bob Maguire (Cal State Hayward), Ron Staszkow was the coach of Rich Kimball at DeLa Salle and his kids came to Moreau and ran cross country. He shared a great deal on training and taught us the meaning of "imua" which we still use as a pre-reace cheer. I have know Helen-Lehman Winters for a long time and learned a lot form her when she was at El Cerrito and then Carondelet. I was fortunate enough to work with Runner's Workshop and ha the opportunity to learn a lot from Bob Messina who Coached Polly Plumer at University High School (Irvine) and UCLA. I also received great ideas on training and building a program from Jack Marden, Sr. Mission San Jose. Sharing ideas and learning is an ongoing and life long process. 

4) What are your expectations for your runners during the summer? We encourage the runners to be active and build a base. We use time and not miles for our training. There are fun runs at local parks during the summer. We have had runners keep logs with varying degrees of success. 

5) Your teams are rather large especially considering that your school is in Division IV. How do you attract so many runners to your team? Boy, that is a great question! When I first started at Moreau there were about 1400 students and we had about 50 runners on the team. The last 4-5 years we have had over 120+ runners with the school enrollment at about 900. I think the best recruiters are the great coaches and returning runners on the team. We have 8 coaches for the team who are incredible! Don Feria (alum), Audrey Schroeder (foreign language teacher/coach), James Hannon (Theology teacher/coach and alum), Enrique Henriquez (Science teacher/coach), Rene Sanchez (Theology teach/coach), Rondy Lazaro (alum) Joanne Couling (Science teacher/coach) and Liam Foley (alum) are all fantastic with the runners! The p.e. department is very supportive of the program and allows for presentations to all their classes. We do lots of activities to try and promote team spirit and pride.

6) Describe the training area around your school. Positives? Negatives? There is plenty of concrete around the school, but we are very lucky to have great trails at the end of an half-mile uphill road. We can take these trails all the way to Garin Park. We also are lucky enough to be able to take a bus to practice once a week to some great training sites that offer plenty of hilly trails. 

7) What do you consider some of your key workouts that you do throughout the season? We have started to do more core exercises and drills in recent years that have been good! We have some challenge runs that we name after places like Mt. Fujii and Mt. Kilimanjaro that are favorites. We do fartlek workouts in the beginning of the season that increase in duration each week. Owen Anderson of Running Research has also provided ideas for great workouts. We also work on race simulations. Last year we were fortunate to have Sergio Segura from the JFK Sports Psychology masters program work with the runners. The mental "workouts" were very positive! 

8) Reflecting back through your coaching career, can you identify a few highlights? We have a lot be thankful for and appreciate. My experience has been that the "great" teams are the very close ones. We really encourage team building and synergy! There have been some very special teams and individuals over the years that would fill up pages. Every year we start off with an alumni run-an idea from Coach Joe King from Encinal that is always a highlight! The opportunity to work with former runners who have come back to make the program better, these have included Marc Puppo, Brian Henderson (great Miramonte coach!), Erich Ackermann, Bob Canalas, Marisa Wilson (Boyce), Rob Butner, Ryan Preston along with current ones mentioned above. Every year we are fortunate to be able to take an overnight trip for an invitational and have taken some very special trips over the years! This year we went to Rhode Island for the Ocean State Invitational. What a great meet and memorable experience for the team as we were housed by North Kingston High School cross country coaches and runners! Last year we went to Oregon and had the chance to meet with Alberto Salazar that was It was an incredible experience. We have gone to Japan and raced in an Ekiden with our sister school in Funabashi and then witnessed their national championships in Kyoto! After so many years there are so many highlights! The support of my wife Jessica and daughters Hayley (a senior on this year's team) and Kayla! In the end, it is the people: the runners, parents, coaches who make it all special. 

9) From when you started coaching to now, what are the biggest changes that you have seen in the sport of cross country? One thing stands out: the technology! With the advent of the internet the world has gotten smaller and with sites such as yours, we can all learn more the sport and get results instantaneously. For the Mariner-Saucony Invitational Doug Padilla brings his RunnerCard finish line program! I think it is the best thing for the sport since dirt! Every runner gets the card when they cross the line and his scoreboard scrolls the results as the runners exit the chute! However, the real essence of cross country has remained the same.

10) What inspired you to start the Mariner Invitational and the dinner the night before the event? We are always trying to find ways to promote the program and the sport and thought it would be great toput on an invitational. It just so happened that a meet that used to be held on the 3rd Saturday in October was not going to be run anymore and so we chose that weekend back in 1984. As for the dinner, I had run a marathon down in San Diego and they had a pasta dinner and speaker named Bill Bowerman. I thought that it would be great to one day be able to get runners and coaches together the night before a race to share pasta and ideas. We have also had our families host runners from outside the area to help make the trip! Last year you know we had Billy Mills! We have had some incredible speakers! Olympians, Brain Abshire, Mark Conover, Brad Hauser, PattiSue Plumer, Regina Jacobs, Matt Giusto, Doug Padilla, Jeff Atkinson. This year Saucony and TranSports brought so many prizes! Every year our parents feed , on an average, 300 runners and coaches! 

11) What advice would you give to young coaches just starting out? Make it fun! Recruit great people who love working with kids to help coach. We are so fortunate to have a parent, Laura Zaro, who communicate to the more than 120 families on the team all of the plans and needs of the team! Recruit students to help as stats. It takes more than a village to make a successful program. Don't be afraid to ask-I have always found that the people who call "peak performers"-like many of those listed above are always willing to share and give back to the sport! 

12) Anything else you would like to add. Thanks for all you do to promote the runners and the sport! Congrats and many thanks to Chris Puppione! I have learned a great deal from him! Good luck to everyone the remainder of the season!

Catching up with Redwood HS Nykky Graydon

Today we catch up with Redwood HS coach, Nykky Graydon. She has been the cross country and track and field coach for the past few years after the retirement of Laura and Jake Schmitt at the end of the 2019 Track and Field season. Under Graydon's tutelage, the Redwood cross country teams just swept the MCAL races and will be among the top teams in the NCS Division II races. Thank you to Nykky for the following in-depth interview!

1)What was your own athletic experience before and during high school? What sports did you play? Highlights?
I grew up doing Martial arts, I’m a 5th-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and spent middle and high school competing year-round (photo to the right courtesy of Redwood Bark). I won a few State Champion and National Champ titles while I was competing and competed for World Champion as well. In college, I kept doing martial arts and also started rowing. Rowing was surreal to me, I loved being on the water and racing with my teammates. Made all my best friends do it, I loved everything about it, pushing thru hard workouts, technique work, learning the boats, racing, it was all-around amazing to me. As for running, I started running in high school as part of being fit for competition, and in college, my rowing coach sent us on tons of 6 mile runs (always 6). Lead me to do some silly half marathons like Disney Stars Wars and also do the Gold Gate Relay a few times, but I never was a Cross Country runner.  

2) Who were the coaches that had the biggest impact on you as an athlete and what did you learn from them?

My taekwondo instructor Senior Master Josh Segal. He cared so much about all of us, he wanted us to be great regardless of whether or not we were on the competition circuit, that matters to me a lot as an XC and Track coach. There are so many kids who joined because they love running or they love the team feeling, I want them to have that. I don’t need them all to love the competition part in the same way.  In martial arts, we spent a lot of time talking about doing the right thing, being respectful, how to show integrity, discipline, and perseverance. I learned how to teach from him, how to treat people and stand up and do the right thing. I hope I’m giving the kids I’m coaching the confidence to do the same. 

 

3) What led you into coaching and what sports did you coach before taking over the Redwood XC and TF programs?

I coached middle school Track and Field during my student teaching. At my first teaching job, I coached high school badminton for 5 years and Freshman Volleyball for 5 years. I started helping coach Track and Field in 2018 at Redwood during my first semester teaching there, I became the high jump coach and helped with sprints for my first two seasons. Then my first full year I got hired as Redwood Freshman Volleyball coach and did that for 4 years, I helped at varsity games too, we won State last year. This was the first year I didn’t coach Freshman Volleyball and Cross Country at the same time since taking over the Cross Country program. I missed volleyball a lot but it was so nice to devote everything to Cross Country. 

 

4) Aside from coaching, what is your other occupation?

I’m a Physical Education teacher at Redwood. I love my students and the curriculum I get to teach. 

 

5) What led you to coach the cross country and track and field teams at Redwood? How daunting was that following the Schmitts (photo to the left courtesy of Marin Independent Journal)?

When I got hired at Redwood our AD asked me about coaching. She had Laura Schmitt call me and she hired me over the phone, she said she could tell right away I had good energy. I had Track and Field experience and was an assistant coach for two seasons before taking over however, I didn’t help with Cross Country my first year because I was coaching Volleyball. Laura and Jake gave me a training plan for XC and me and my two assistant coaches just went for it. It was really hard, I had a ton of people doubting me, I don’t ‘look like a runner’ and that still comes up. I was getting emails from people whose kids were still in elementary school questioning my ability to coach. It was crazy. As far as my XC knowledge at that point, it wasn’t amazing but I did so much to prepare and learn. Coming in at a big disadvantage made me work really hard, I know I give everything I can to my athletes so that part has paid off. Came a long way since then and still always learning. 

 

6) How did it go during the first year? Highlights and what did you learn from those experiences?

During my first year, I really wasn’t sure what I was getting into, I’d been given some warnings I shouldn’t have taken. But from the second I was got the job all I wanted was to be good at this, to do right by the kids I’m coaching. I read over 30 different running coaching books, I spent COVID zooming with other coaches, attending anything offered that I could, watching recording coaching classes (watched McFarland), went over strength plans with physical therapists to try and injury-proof my athletes, talked other coaches about plans and philosophy and strategy. I am still doing everything I can to learn more about the sport, reading, still going to zooms, clinic’s and bugging lots of other coaches.

I had 4 runners who made huge difference Hudson Grace,  Sahil Kapila, Helena Janku and Tyler Woods who all ran prior 1-3 years. While there were growing pains with them too, their support and leadership was huge. They were all amazing, positive leaders that really stepped up to help their team and me.

The highlight was how things turned out. There was so much joy at our ended of season banquet, the kids had fun and felt they had a successful season.

                For the girls, we got off the waiting list for Clovis somehow, went and the girls won first place which no one was expecting even though we’d done well. Suddenly it was like shit we are good and the girls loved each other so much, just made for a successful season, they just kept winning. They won MCAL’s my first year, scared me at NCS and took 4th and had a blast at State.                                   

The boy's side was rougher, they were dealing with a new coach and Liam Anderson just having graduated so finding a team identity took a little longer there but it was a solid season. We laid a strong foundation that year and the boys team culture is a total 180 from that first year, everything is competitive, focused and fun and they are racing so well. 

 

7) This past week, your teams won both MCAL varsity races. Was that the expectation before the meet and how do you feel about your team's chances at NCS and beyond (photo to the right courtesy of Marin Independent Journal)?

It was definitely the goal to win both but our league always has great runners everywhere. We’ve had a rough last month however for the boys and a rough season for the girls injury-wise. Essentially all of my boys 2-9, have been sick in the last month and just recovered enough to run. We were still confident about them doing well, just always that healthy amount of nervousness. 

On the girl's side, we knew Archie Williams was a big threat, they’ve got a lot of great young runners, then on our side one of my top 7 girls had a knee injury that ended her season a few weeks before. They knew they really had to fight for it, I’m really proud of how they did. 

 

I’m so excited for post-season, I think NCS will be fantastic for both teams. D2 is a rough division but I think both teams will hold their own at State, it was great for the boys to get the experience in the Championship race at Clovis, now they’ve already raced with the big names and worked through that and the girls took 3^rd in large school which is a nice confidence builder. It’ll also be Daegan Cutter's first year running State since last year and illness took him out so I’m excited to see him run. 

 

8) Since you have been coaching the XC and TF teams, what coaches have been the biggest mentors for you? What have you learned from them?

Warren Lanier from Terra Linda and Robyn Berry from Archie Williams. I call them all the time.  Robyn has such a successful program and her boys are always having fun while working really hard, she also took over for a big name, so she’s had a lot of insight for me. She is always willing to listen to me and talk through decisions with me. Warren is freaking smart, he has so much knowledge about the sport and the rules. He’s also incredibly kind and willing to share. Talking to both of them always gives me so many ideas and helps me find the best ways to help my athletes. They both have supported me a lot, there were some outside-of-my-team factors at the end of the last school that was hard. I almost didn’t get to coach the boys, but my boys made sure that didn’t happen, and Robyn and Warren helped me during it all.  Also, have to shout out my wife, she is one of my assistant coaches and our head merch designer, while not a mentor she’s a huge support. 

9) What do you feel are some of the advantages the Redwood teams have had that have made them so successful in distance running all these years (photo to the right courtesy of Redwood Bark)?

I think running and being active is part of the Marin culture from a young and that has really helped, along with some good middle school feeders where the kids have fun doing XC. It is also one of the most beautiful places to run ever with so many trails. Also, all the XC coaches in Marin get along and like each other, we want each other’s programs to do well so there's good support. Being able to kick off the season with the Stinson Beach Relays and support each other at invites helps everyone, kids want to join a positive and competitive culture.  

 

10) What are your expectations of your runners during the summer? Team Camp?

Run. Cross train, don’t get hurt. I give a general training plan, and we meet a few times a week in different spots around Marin. We are hoping the big new tradition will be attending the HSU Distance Camp, we are rallying everyone to do that. We did a Tahoe camp year before last, and it was a blast but it limited the number of kids we could take and it is really important to me that the whole team can be involved. 

 

11) What does a typical week look like for your runners? Typical mileage for your experienced varsity runners? Repeated workouts? Weightroom work? Length of longest runs? 

Favorite repeated workout is the ‘race workout’ 

800m - 1600m - 800m - 1600m - 800m on a 800 loop. 

The first 800 is ‘400 kick, 400 settle’, then 1600’s at at tempo, middle 800 is 5k pace, then 1600’s at at tempo again, and the last 800 is 400 settle pace and 400 finish. We do a shorter version for the younger runners at the start of the season and modify it in different ways with different focuses. 

 

Monday: weight room, easy run, hill sprints. 

Tuesday: Quality Day + Band work 

Wednesday: Long/Med Easy Run and Strides + Med Ball work 

Thursday: Quality Day + Band Work 

Friday: Med Easy Run and Strides + Med Ball Work 

Weekend: Long Run with captains 

 

12) Anything else you would like to add?

I think I talked too much already, thanks for this! 

 (Cross Country Express)