Peter Brewer, Castro Valley HS Hall of Famer

Bumping this to the top. This article was posted on February 14, 2018.

You can also check out my interview with Peter Brewer in 2008 at this link:
http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/2008/11/catching-up-with-castro-valley-coach.html

2018 Top NorCal Moments in Track and Field and Cross Country

In no particular order, here are some of the outstanding moments from this past year in both Track and Field and Cross Country for Northern California athletes and teams. If I missed anybody, please feel free to include them in the comment section below.

Dublin HS boys race to victory at the NCS MOC meet in the Division I race at Hayward HS with five runners in the top six and the following times: 14:53.7, 15:00.6, 15:12.7, 15:15.2 and 15:22.1.

Liam Anderson, Matt Strangio, Loic Scomparin and Riley Chamberlain qualified to NXN as individuals following California state meet.

Gabrielle Peterson, Colleen McCandless and Connor Livingston qualified to the Foot Locker National meet. Livingston had the best finish with a 15th place in the boys' race.

Vista del Lago girls won the Division III team title at the California state meet.

Redwood HS senior Liam Anderson concludes an undefeated senior cross country campaign by winning the NXN individual title. He is the first California male to win NXN. He is named NorCal Runner of the Year for his efforts.

Del Oro freshman Riley Chamberlain runs the fastest time at the California state meet as she wins the Division III race. She is named NorCal Runner of the Year for her efforts.

Cathilyn McIntosh of Del Oro HS racing to victory at the California state meet in 800m with a 2:05.22 personal best after two 2nd place finishes as a sophomore and junior.

Davis HS senior Sondre Guttormsen's season in the pole vault that included a California all-time best 18'4.5". Oh, by the way, Guttormsen also finished in 2nd place in the 110m. hurdles with a time of 14.02.

Dublin HS boys winning the Arcadia 4 x 1600m. at Arcadia Invitational with a time of 17:29.92 finishing just in front of Bellarmine and their 17:30.20.

Sophomore Malcolm Clemons of St. Mary's Berkeley winning the state meet long jump that included a lifetime best 25'1"w. Finishing in 2nd place was St. Ignatius senior Alex Enos who also had a noteworthy season that included a best of 25'0" at the CCS Top 8 meet.

Erica Grotogeer of Wheatland HS (NS) won the California state meet discus with a best of 174'9".

Oak Ridge senior Maddy Denner repeated as state champion in the 1600m. with a best of 4:42.77.

Twin sister Elena Denner won her first state title in the 3200m. in 10:10.32.

Oak Ridge as a team finished in 2nd place at the California state meet paced by the two sisters and their points in both distance events. Oak Ridge also repeated as Arcadia Invitational champions in the Distance Medley Relay with a time of 11:42.85. Santa Cruz girls finished in 2nd place with a time of 11:48.15.

Marin Catholic senior sprinter Max Glasser had a near undefeated season that culminated with a state championship in a best of 46.97.

Jason Gomez, Westmont HS senior, saved his best race of the season for the California state meet as he raced away from the field with a best of 1:50.20.

Bishop O'Dowd senior Tierra Robinson-Jones one of the best sprinters in California won two state championships in the 400 meters (52.37) and 200 meters (23.66).

Redwood junior Liam Anderson posted the fastest 3200m. for California distance runners at the Arcadia Invitational with his 5th place finish in a lifetime best time of 8:52.74. At the California state meet, Anderson won the 1600m. with a best of 4:09.31.

Santa Catalina junior Laurel Wong won the California state meet in the pole vault with a jump of 12'6".

Silver Creek senior Arianna Fisher, triple jump champion with a leap of 41'7".

Clayton Valley finished in 2nd place in the 1600m. relay with a season-best of 3:12.31. That was without their senior star hurdler Aiden Jackman who had bests of 13.98 and 37.47 for the 110m. hurdles and 300m. hurdles respectively. Clayton Valley finished in 3rd place as a team at the state meet paced by juniors Cameron Reynolds (200 5th in 21.50/400 2nd in 47.27/1600m. relay) and Daylon Hicks (high jump 2nd place 6'10").

Jesuit HS sophomore Matt Strangio won the California state meet 3200m. to become the 3rd sophomore in California state meet history to win the event. You can check out the video of that race at this LINK.

I am sure there are other noteworthy moments that I missed so please help with your own and I will add them to the list above.

Cross Country highlights to follow. Feel free to include your own in the comment section below.

Donation to Cross Country Express Site

If you have enjoyed all the Track and field coverage this past season, a kind donation would be appreciated.  You can do so with the link to the right.  If you don't do online payments, you can email me at albertjcaruana@gmail.com and I will send you an address where you can send a check.

This site will remain a free service but as you know, a lot of time and effort goes into the maintenance of this website.

Thank you very much to those of you that have already donated.  If I haven't done so already, you will hear from me in appreciation.

Northern California Track and Field doings...

The site High School Harrier has been doing a countdown of the best teams in the entire nation. You can check out their list at this link on twitter.
https://twitter.com/HSHarrier NEW

ca.milesplit.com has been running their yearly countdown toward the two best teams in California. You can check that out at the link below with lots of NorCal teams already in the mix.
http://ca.milesplit.com/series/1724 (NEW)

Tullyrunners.com has come out with his national team rankings and a few NorCal teams made the lists:
Boys: http://www.tullyrunners.com/XC2018/PreSeasonNatBoys2018.htm (St. Francis & Dublin)
Girls: http://www.tullyrunners.com/XC2018/PreSeasonNatGirls2018.htm (Granada)

Former Wilcox HS thrower named Stanford University Throws coach.
https://gostanford.com/news/2018/7/26/track-field-nikfar-named-throws-coach.aspx

Davis HS pole vaulter Sondre Guttormsen raises his own CA pole vault record.
http://www.milesplit.com/articles/244797-sondre-guttormsen-nabs-norway-national-jr-pole-vault-record

More than two decades later, a Palo Alto track coach's record remains unbroken (Michael Granville)
http://peninsulapress.com/2018/07/26/more-than-two-decades-later-a-palo-alto-track-coachs-record-remains-unbroken/

USATF Hershey National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships.
See note in the comment section.
Also: https://www.pausatf.org/52387-2/

If you have read something that pertains to Northern California TF and XC athletes, please feel free to share it in the comment section below.

Catching up with Los Altos senior, Owen MacKenzie

Today we catch up with Los Altos senior, Owen MacKenzie. This past Track and Field season, MacKenzie won the 3200m at the CCS Championship meet with a new personal best of 9:07.95. You can check out a video of that race below thanks to Kristen Colonna. During the 2017 Cross Country season, MacKenzie was named to the 1st team All-NorCal team as he led his Los Altos team to the state championship with an individual 2nd place finish at the CCS Division I race. He went on to finish in 14th place at the state meet with a time of 15:32.7 after leading at the 2-mile mark. This coming season, MacKenzie will be favored to win the CCS Division I race and will contend for a top finish at state. He will also lead a talented Los Altos team that will be looking to improve their on their team places this past school year.

1) When did you get your start in running? Did you have any running experience before high school? If so, what were your PRs? What other sports have you played aside from XC and TF?

I began running when I was very young because I grew up in New Zealand where all primary school kids have to participate in a school cross country race every year.  I was fairly fast, but I still preferred playing soccer and cricket.  When I was 8 years old I joined my parents running club the Wellington Scottish Harriers, and I ran in a few kids races because I had to go watch my parents race anyway.  At the end of the year, we went to the awards banquet and I was so surprised to receive a medal for being the fastest 8-9 year old in our club.  From that day I knew I wanted to be a runner.  I moved to Los Altos in 6th grade and ran one season with Palo Alto Lightning. My personal bests at age 12 were 5:13 for the 1500m and 11:07 for the 3000m. I then ran with Egan Jr. High and my PR in 8th grade was 5:10 for the 1600m.

2) What do you remember about your freshman seasons in XC and TF? Who were the older runners that you looked up to (whether on Los Altos or other teams) who were mentors to you as a young runner?

I was very small when I was a freshman but I had big goals and I was very determined. I had two amazing mentors on my team, Ben Zaeske, and Andreas Godderis, who were seniors and I really looked up to.  They inspired me, believed in me and were great friends.  I enjoyed playing up my innocence to make them laugh.  I was very excited to run 17:00 on Crystal Springs at SCVAL finals but had to miss CCS because I got sick the morning of the race. I managed to break 5 in the mile, running 4:55 during track season.  I was not the fastest freshman, but I was confident that I was going to get better and be like Ben and Andreas.

3) At what point in your high school career do you feel like you made the biggest jump as far as your running times? What do you feel led to that improvement?

I made equally large jumps between freshman year and sophomore year and between sophomore year and junior year.  Part of the reason was that I increased my summer mileage each year, but it was also because I kept growing.

4) Looking back at last year's cross country season, what do you feel was your best race? Proudest accomplishments? Biggest lessons you learned?

Last cross country season my best race was the CCS Championships at Toro Park.  All I wanted was to go to the State meet with my team.  Los Altos had not been in many years and CCS only had two spots: one which was definitely going to go to the dominant Bellarmine, and the other was a toss-up between us, Homestead, Carlmont, and Paly.  I had never been able to beat the two Palo Alto runners Henry and Sam in the league meets, but I knew that if I could do that at this meet, our team had a great chance.  At the first mile Meika Bedouin-Rousseau started breaking off.  I knew what an amazing runner he was so it would have been easy for me to be complacent, but I forced myself to stick with him and I managed to come second.  I was so happy when I heard the Los Altos team also placed second and we were all going to the State meet.  My proudest accomplishment was being the first to cross the 2-mile mark at the state meet.  I knew that with all the big names in the race, it would be so easy for me to give up and fall out the back.  That is why before the race I made my plan to be up front at 2 miles then hold on.  I got passed by 13 runners in the last mile, but I learned that a runner's mental game and determination is almost as important as their training and talent.

5) Last year, you won the CCS 3200. At what point in the season did you feel like you had a chance to win the race? What was your plan going into the race? When did you feel like you were about to win and how satisfying was it winning a track section title?

At the beginning of track season, my goal was to make it to the state meet.  I did not really think about winning CCS because my goal was just top three and I was much more preoccupied with thinking about all the other races I had to get through first.  The morning of CCS finals was when I really decided I wanted to win even though everyone told me placing top 3 would be hard enough.  I had learned my lesson at Arcadia that it is not smart to try to lead the whole race, and I had been developing a very strong kick that I did not have the year before.  My strategy was to be patient in the pack, but still wary of anyone's attempt to break away.  I had to surge a few times to pull the leader back to the pack, but I never tried to break away myself because I trusted in my kick.  I felt like I was going to win with 200 to go because I felt really strong and fast, but I was not sure at all.  I was so tired after the race, but I had so much adrenaline in me that I couldn't sleep that night.  The next day it sunk in and I was satisfied but even hungrier for more.

6) For the upcoming cross country season, what invitationals are you most looking forward to racing?

I am most looking forward to competing at Stanford and at Clovis because our team should hopefully be able to compete in the Championship race for the first time.  I am also excited to race an invitational at Toro Park because I think that I can break 15:00 and our team should be able to get another school record.

7) What does a typical training week look like for you during the season? Any morning runs? Weight room work? Typical weekly mileage? Longest run distance? Pace of most of your easier runs?

A typical week of training would include a tempo run, hill reps or track intervals and a long run with easy days in between.  Last track season I went to the weight room a few times but it wasn't a regular part of my schedule.  I'm really excited to train harder this season adding in more weights and perhaps a double every Wednesday.  I like to build up lots of miles during the summer and then bring it down during the season.  Last summer I ran 70 miles one week as my max, but brought that down to 60 miles early season and then 50 at the end.  I still kept up a long run of 13-16 miles.  It is very hilly in Los Altos so the pace is slower, but I would say we do most of our easy runs around 7:00-7:30 minute pace per mile.

8) Favorite XC course? Favorite XC invitational? Favorite XC workout? Favorite long run?Favorite TF event? Favorite TF invitational? Favorite TF workout? Favorite free time activity?

My favorite XC course is Toro Park, my favorite Invitational is Clovis, my favorite XC workout is Hill-Tempo Sandwich, my favorite long run is a 16 miler to the top of Black Mountain, my favorite track event is the steeplechase although I haven't ever tried it, my favorite track invitational is CCS top 8, favorite track workout is 10 x 400m and my favorite free time activity is singing and playing guitar with my band the Shark Cops.

9) Tell us a bit about your coaches and how they have helped you get to your current status?

I will have had 4 different head coaches in my 4 years at Los Altos. The only constant coach I have had is my Mom who has been our distance track coach and assistant xc coach for the past two years.  She will be the head xc coach this year.  She is a great coach because she has read so many different opinions about training and she is good at communicating and individualizing the program not just for me but for my teammates too.  She still races xc so knows what we're going through and we get along really well which is also good.  Andrew Zaeske was my coach in my freshman year and still coaches the sprinters during track season so he has continued to be a big supporter of me and gives me great advice on race strategy and weight training.

10) This coming season, three teams will qualify to state from CCS in Division I. Who do you feel will be the biggest team competition for Los Altos? What about individually for you?

Our team wants to win CCS this year but to do that we will have to beat a very strong young Bellarmine team.  I'm a little biased, but I believe that my toughest competition individually might come from two of my teammates Kevin Andrews and Adam Sage.  I am so fortunate to get to train with them and the rest of my team every day.  Two more of my teammates Tomo Yoshino and Daniel Ghasemfar have been logging some fast long runs this summer, so there is no telling who is going to be the fastest Los Altos runner. Colin Peattie of Bellarmine had the best track season out of all of us so I am excited to see what he can do in cross country.  Henry Saul, Ryan Ma, and Justin Hsu will also be tough to beat.

11) Now that college is a bit more on your radar, how much will running in college impact your decision in choosing your college destination?

I am really looking forward to running in college so it is going to be an important part of my decision. I hope to study Engineering and be part of a strong running team.

Thank you very much for your time Owen! AJC

Former Scotts Valley runner Vanessa Fraser runs 15:09.62 5K

Scotts Valley '13 graduate Vanessa Fraser was a 2-time Ca state champion in cross country in Division IV. She also qualified for 3 state championships in the 3200m with 3rd place finishes at those 3 qualifying meets and 4:54.32 and 10:28.63 personal bests. She may have also been overshadowed during her high school career by Nikki Hiltz and Anna Maxwell who all ran in the SCCAL. 

Fraser continued to develop as a runner at Stanford University and was one of their top distance runners the past few seasons. 

She has continued to race well after her NCAA season ended this season and recorded a 4:09.74, 1500m PR on July 14th. Today, Fraser finished in 7th place in the women's 5K with a new PR and Stanford record 15:09.62 at the Nacht van de Atletiek in Heusden, Netherlands. 

"World Record" attempt this Thursday at the Los Gatos All-Comer meet

According to an anonymous poster below, Jeremy Kain ran 4:35.4. A pretty good time for a 13-year-old about to start high school in a month or so.
=================
This Thursday at 6pm, Jeremy Kain (center in photo to the left) of Scotts Valley will be attempting to set another unofficial world record in the mile. Last year as a 12-year-old, Jeremy set a new record with a time of 4:36.80. You can read about his attempt last year as well as watch a video of that race at this LINK. You can also find a link to all the world age group records in that article if you are interested. 

The current record for 13-year-olds is 4:29.0 which was set by Andrew Barnett in 1969. 

This will be the 5th LGAC meet of the season. You can find results of the previous four meets at this LINK.

Also, as posted below, there is another world record holder in Northern Californis, Daniel Skandera. In fact Daniel has broken 34 world records including a 4:53.4 mile as a 10 year old. BAREFOOT! You can read more about Daniel in this LINK.

2018 Sentinel Girls Athlete of the Year: Santa Cruz High’s Mari Friedman

2018 Sentinel Girls Athlete of the Year: Santa Cruz High’s Mari Friedman broke several records, won countless awards and is ‘one of the best to ever come out of this area’

You can check out the article at this LINK.

Henry Larkin Oakland Technology HS

The following article was updated following the just completed Track and Field season and much of the information was shared by Steve Palladino and from the article linked below.

Henry Larkin, Oakland Technology HS ran 47.89 at the 2018 California State Meet to finish in 2nd place at the trials. He finished in 7th place in the finals with a time of 47.93. It turns out that Henry's 400 time from last season is the 4th fastest time in his family. His grandfather, Bill Green, ran 47.6 on cinders during his youth which is the 3rd fastest time. His son, Rod Green, ran 47.74 at Palo Alto HS in 1980 for the 2nd fastest time in the family.

Those of you familiar with the name Bill Green (on the right), you know that the younger Bill Green (actually Bill Green the 5th) Cubberley HS ran 45.51 in high school at an AAU meet which was a national high school record. Green won the state 400 title as a junior and then won the 100y as a senior. He also anchored his Cubberley team to a 3rd place finish in the 1600 relay.  His high school PRs were 10.59, 20.91 and 45.51. He went on to compete at USC and was, unfortunately, part of the US boycott in 1980 despite winning the 1980 Olympic Trials 400 meters.

Bill sadly passed away on March 4th, 2012 at the age of 50 due to cancer.

A more complete article about Bill Green was posted at Palo Alto Online by Keith Peters. You can view it HERE.

North Coast Section Track and Field in review

http://ca.milesplit.com/articles/242925-major-talent-abounds-in-the-north-coast-section

Check out who I chose as the athletes of the year as well as some of the top individuals from the section. Any comments can be added below.

A look back at CCS this past season

I am working on an article looking back at this past CCS season. If you had to pick one male and one female as Track and Field athletes of the year, who would you choose? What were the most impressive performances this past season? Who were the biggest surprises? Who are the best returning athletes?

Here is the link to the article:
http://ca.milesplit.com/articles/242813-new-kids-on-the-block-at-the-top-end-of-ccs

Please add other athletes that you feel deserved mention in the comment selection below.

Coming up, I will do the same for NCS and SJS. Please add your nominations for athletes of the year in those sections as well as the best of the underclassmen that should be mentioned as well.

Matt Strangio's 3200m victory as captured by his coach

100th California State Meet Results

http://www.rtspt.com/events/cif/2018/compiled_res.pdf

Who was most impressive? Biggest surprise today? Who are in contention for state championships tomorrow? Most competitive event? Most anticipated event? 

I am going to open up the comments so that you can post them right away. Please be kind.

Club Teams dilemma for high school pilots

An interesting article that I found in the rabbit hole aka www.lynbrooksports.com from 1978. Still an issue to this day with club coaches poaching athletes from good coaches with the promise of fast times and college scholarships. 

2018 California Track and Field Meet

Performance lists: http://static.psbin.com/y/g/qmkupku9i0sj1f/2018_Performance_List.pdf

State info: http://www.cifstate.org/sports/track_and_field/tf_champs

There will be a state preview coming up on Wednesday. In the meantime, feel free to discuss any events and what NorCal athletes will have a shot to either win or at least get on the podium (top 6 finish). 

NorCal Section meets videos

From SJS meet, here is the girls' 1600 race with a fantastic battle between Olivia O'Keeffe and Maddie and Elena Denner.


You can check out other SJS videos here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/JesuitTrack/videos

More videos will be posted momentarily.

NorCal Section Meets Results

Central Coast Section
http://www.soqueltrack.com/results/SATURDAY.html

North Coast Section
http://diablotiming.com/results/2018-05-25/

Sac-Joaquin Section
https://timerhub.com/get_web_index.php?page=redcaptiming.com/2018/sjsmasters/

Oakland Section
http://ca.milesplit.com/meets/320257/results/596143/formatted#.WwkJjFMvwWo

Most impressive from today? Biggest surprises? Comments? 

NorCal Section Finals Entries

North Coast Section (Semis)
http://www.diablotiming.com/results/2018-05-25/ 

Central Coast Section (Finals)
PREVIEW: http://ca.milesplit.com/articles/241497-central-coast-section-championship-preview
Running: http://static.psbin.com/m/y/dtdqv1z64cbbes/2018_Track_event_finals.pdf
Field: http://static.psbin.com/1/k/ju6tp9pp0er2h7/2018_Field_event_finals.pdf

NorCal Section meets today

Results will be posted as soon as I find them. Please feel free to comment below on any of the outstanding performances below.

Sac-Joaquin Section
All results posted here: http://www.cifsjs.org/sports/track/playoffs

North Coast Section
Tri-Valley Results: http://www.diablotiming.com/results/2018-05-19/
You can also find Class A and Redwood Empire results at this link:
http://www.redwoodempirerunning.com/

You can also find more results at this link:
http://ca.milesplit.com/results

Who was most impressive yesterday? Biggest surprise as in positive or negative?

Northern California Section Meet Info

Central Coast Section
Entries: http://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/2018/ccst_ent.htm

Heats: http://static.psbin.com/m/s/462kyobuhmovtz/2018_Track_semis.pdf

North Coast Section
Tri-Valley

• Meet Bulletin (includes meet schedule) - http://static.psbin.com/w/x/mesbdmixonbazw/Tri-ValleyAreaMeetBulletin2018.pdf
• Performance Lists, Meet Program & Results - http://www.diablotiming.com/results/2018-05-19/
• Parking - We are asking that everyone that arrives before 11:00 AM to park in the Dublin High School parking lot along VILLAGE PARKWAY and NOT in the parking lot along Brighton Drive.  Our DHS senior recognition ceremony is happening in the sports complex next to the track and field stadium until 11:00 AM and we would like to reserve the Brighton Drive parking lot for that.  There is also overflow parking available at the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-day Saints along Village Parkway directly next to the DHS Village Parkway parking lot.  We appreciate your cooperation and apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

Thanks,

Chris Williams

North Coast Section Tri-Valley Championships Meet Director

Class A Meet Performance Lists
http://www.redwoodempirerunning.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/NCS-Class-A-Performance-Lists.pdf

Redwood Empire (rough look at boys and girls entries)
Boys: http://www.redwoodempirerunning.com/rough-look-at-boys-redwood-empire-entries/
Girls: http://www.redwoodempirerunning.com/rough-look-at-girls-redwood-empire-entries/

Sac-Joaquin Section

All info including bulletins and results can be found at this link:

http://www.cifsjs.org/sports/track/playoffs

San Francisco Section
Schedule/Entries: http://www.cifsf.org/uploads/3/2/0/9/32099267/track-trialsprogram1718.pdf

If you have other info that can be added for any of the NorCal sections, please email me at albertjcaruana@gmail.com.