1) What sports did you play before high school? How did you get into running?
Growing up, I was very into sports and played one, if not two, sports each season, including lacrosse, basketball, soccer, swimming, track, and cross country. I first began running on a team in 4th grade when I joined a CYO xc & t/f team, but I had been doing local fun runs leading up to that, as my parents were both big runners.
2) What do you remember about your freshman year in cross country and track and field? Who were the leaders on the team who helped you transition to high school xc and tf?
In middle school, my Dad & I would run together and talk nonstop about running for Campolindo. We knew the stats, we knew the names, we knew the courses, and I could not wait to be part of it. I actually decided to do an intradistrict transfer so that I could run for Campolindo and be part of the program. 2010 was my freshman year, and it was a really exciting year to join the varsity team. We were heading into the season top ranked in state for D3 and had top ranked individual runners on the squad as well with Carrie Verdon, Grace Orders, and Thomas Joyce. They were three really exciting runners to look up to. I was lucky to also be encouraged by a group of upperclassmen who really looked out for me, such as Bailey (Rachel) Meadows, Juliet Farnan, Greg Garcia, Erin Ross, and Adam Hathaway, to name a few.
The biggest highlights of my high school running career were definitely winning the D3 CIF State Meet Team Title in both 2010 & 2013, my freshman and senior years. Freshman year I felt lucky to be on the team and a bit like I lucked into something, whereas senior year I was incredibly invested in that win and experienced every step of work that we put into it. Both were such meaningful races, but senior year state holds up as my proudest because of that extra dedication/determination. As a bonus, my younger sister, Sarah, was part of that squad with me. Individual highlights include competing in T&F MOC Meet in the 1600m, 3200m, 4 x 800m, and individual proudest races are my performances at the Stanford Invitational (RIP) & NCS in 2013.
4) What do you remember about your training in high school that really worked for you? What do you wish you could have done differently?
Long runs and tempos were always my jam, really any sort of longer paced workout. I was good at pacing and understood the value in learning what each pace felt like for my racing. At Campo, Chuck does a really good job of creating packs to train with, and that helped me immensely because of the connections and support on the harder days. Many of the people that I trained with are still some of my favorite people today! The biggest thing that I wish I did differently as a high school athlete is actually mental training more than anything athletically. Things like comparison and negative self-talk were always my biggest training blunders physically and emotionally. We had a lot of pressure on us to succeed, and that often led to me feeling like I had to do more or wasn’t enough. That would then lead to overtraining or continuing to push when things hurt and created a vicious cycle of injuries. I was really hard on myself.
I was really excited to have offers to run in college, it felt very validating that all my hard work had paid off in that Division 1 offer that I always dreamed of. On my official visit to USD what struck me when I met the girls was how familiar they felt. It didn’t feel awkward, but rather felt like my teammates from home and that connection to my team has always been something I value deeply in this sport. Also if you have seen the campus or have visited San Diego, it was pretty hard to beat the location after doing a morning beach run with the team! Collegiate running for me was very different success wise than high school running in that a lot of my highlights are more personal growth related to my sense of self vs sport than athletic success. I did have a couple races that I am very proud of such as a 10:53 3k & 18:48 5k on the track. But the bigger highlights for me were being able to return to the sport after time away in a happy and healthy headspace, the connections I made with my teammates, and I of course have to shout out that the best thing collegiate running gave me was my teammate turned husband, Jonnie.
6) Who are the coaches who had the biggest impact on your athletic career? What did you learn from them?
For all the sports that I did, I had a limited number of coaches because my parents primarily coached all the teams I was part of as a kid. What I learned from my dad is relentless optimism. He showed up to every competition energized to see how good it would go and I really try to bring that reframe now to my athletes. What I learned from my mom is an incredible drive to withstand challenges. She has a deep inner strength that allows her to push through the hard moments and I know that has helped me be a better athlete/person/coach.
Chuck Woolridge, from Campo, was my first real deal impactful coach outside of my parents. He expects a lot out of his athletes and made me want more out of myself in both good & hard ways. Chuck also taught me almost everything that I know about running and training, so much of what I utilize now comes from his training philosophies. Joey Woolridge also coached the team while I was there and he was the grounding force for me. He believed in me so fully and didn’t let me fall too deep into the trap of thinking I wasn’t good enough and that support meant so much to young me.
7) How did you end up at Priory? What do you do there besides coaching? How long have you been coaching xc and tf there?
This is now my fourth year at Priory as one of the school’s wellness counselors. I am a Licensed Marital & Family Therapist and initially I was introduced to Priory from one of my graduate school friends who knew I needed a new type of counseling work after beginning my career as a therapist for Kaiser in the intensive outpatient unit for kids & teens. When I started at the school I was asked if I wanted to help with the cross country team and it quickly became such a highlight of my work experience. I have now been the Head Coach for 3.5 years and am so appreciative for the opportunity to be back in the sport in this way.
8) You have an awesome surrounding training area as well as a track at Priory. Could you tell us a bit more about the area and where your runners typically do their runs and workouts?
We are so lucky, Portola Valley is so beautiful and there are so many great trails for us to explore! We often utilize the dirt paths around the school and through town, the beautiful and hilly Windy Hill Open Space, our school track, and a collection of favorite loops through the neighborhoods. My favorite trail that we use is the Betsy Crowder Trail, it is so picturesque!
Building a team culture around training and steadily increasing our fitness has been a really cool part of coaching. I lean a bit more cautious in my training style compared to other coaches, but it has allowed our program to grow in a really healthy way. This xc season has been our best season of training yet and we have continued to see big improvement with few injuries/burnout. Some of the biggest changes this season have been increased weekend invitational race opportunities, two times a week of strength training, and increased mileage outside of practice for veteran/varsity runners. We meet for regular practice M - F in the afternoon and the week will include a hill workout day, 2 easy run days, a mid week long run, and a repeat type paced effort workout. Varsity & veteran runners also have the option to run in the morning on their own twice a week on easy run days for 20 mins of running or cross training. On the weekends if we aren’t racing, the athletes will either rest, cross train or will complete their longest run of the week on their own time. Midweek long runs will range anywhere from 50 - 70 minutes and on the weekend the recommendation is higher minutes by at least 15 minutes so anywhere from 60 - 85 minutes.
I use minutes primarily for our training because we have a large range of abilities within our team, but the top runners are averaging anywhere from 25 - 50 miles a week, depending on where we fall in the training cycle. My assistant coach for XC, Nathan Mathabane, is amazing and we are constantly plotting new workouts and locations to help our team continue to advance to the next level.
Ah, this is one of my new favorite moments ever! We have had great individual performances, such as Levente Palvolgyi winning T&F CCS 1600m, Rowan Prindiville winning WBAL #1 in 15:56 (our school record for Crystal), but this was by far the best team effort that I have gotten to be part of. Going into the race our girls team hadn’t made CCS since 2021, so our baseline was excitement based on that alone. Our “B goal” was for them to earn 4th place to advance to state, as they had really worked hard to make that well within reach. Our “A goal” was targeting 3rd place as we knew Nueva wasn’t too far ahead of us. Secretly I thought a 2nd place was within range but only if we had our best A+ day ever. Our boys team raced first and kicked things off with a bunch of personal bests, which I always take as a good sign. On the line I talked with the girls about how confident they should be feeling and to fight for this one. Little did I know how much fight they had in them, each of our 5 scorers ran a personal best by 45 - 90 seconds and I think the shock of that feat is only just now wearing off. Watching the girls' emotions as the board showed them in 2nd and seeing them get to hold up their trophy (& make their famous Tik Tok with it) captured everything that I have wanted for them. I am so deeply proud of their efforts this season and now for the first time since 2015 our girls team is headed to state! Success is almost always well earned in this sport, but it makes it even sweeter that this group of gals are incredible people too - all my congrats to Piper Kalinowski, Eila Sawhney, Tianyou Sell, Eva Ganley, Laila Price, Emma Kolinsky, and Lara Kliman!
11) What is your advice for a young coach just starting out with a new team with aspirations of building a successful program?
My best advice is to ask all the questions!! I have been so lucky to be encouraged by such amazing coaches/people in the WBAL, coaches from high school like Chuck, Andy Lindquist, Chris WIlliams and so many others who have been invaluable to me as I have developed confidence in my abilities as a coach. I have always cared deeply for my runners as people first and I think that is a great starting place, but willingness to learn and ask all the things has helped me grow so much.
12) Anything else you would like to add?
My two cents is to not forget the mental part of sports participation! It is really easy to relate your worth as a person to your abilities as an athlete, but that becomes a very limited way to see yourself! Reach out for help when you need it, keep an eye on your teammates, keep an eye on you!
Thank you very much for your time, Haley! AJC
1 comment:
Wow! Wasn't aware that Campolindo has had that pull factor going back to 2010. Impressive stuff.
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