Scott Bauhs Invitational on October 3rd

Amador Valley, Monte Vista, and San Ramon Valley High Schools present
3rd Annual Scott Bauhs Harrier Invite (Shadow Cliffs Regional Park, Pleasanton)

Date: Saturday-October 3rd, 2009 9:ooam starting time

Races: Races are run by an athlete’s year in high school. Everyone will run the same course so coaches can get a mid to late season comparison of their athletes.

Course: The 3 mile course at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park is run primarily on dirt trails and consists of rolling and flat terrain making for fast times for all athletes.

Entry Fee: $10 per individual or $50 per class or max of $185 per school
(Must be in by October 2nd)
Mail to Peter Scarpelli
Amador Valley High School
1155 Santa Rita Rd Pleasanton, CA 94566-6176

Entries: Enter athletes into the EPI Sports database at [ http://www.episports.com/ ]www.episports.com

Deadlines: Team Entries Monday, September 28th, 9pm
Entry Fees: Must be in by October 2nd

Awards: Custom Long sleeve T-shirts for Top 10 in each race

Contacts: Mike Davis at mikedavis@sbcglobal.net
Tim Hunter at [ mailto:thunter@srvhs.org ]thunter@srvhs.org
Peter Scarpelli at [ mailto:pscarpelli@pleasanton.k12.ca.us ]pscarpelli@pleasanton.k12.ca.us

Order of Events
Start time Race
9:00am Freshman Boys
9:30am Freshman Girls
10:00am Sophomore Boys
10:30am Sophomore Girls
11:00am Junior Boys
11:30am Junior Girls
12:00am Senior Boys
12:30pm Senior Girls

1:00pm SAT race (for those taking the test and still want to race)
(boys and girls, all classes)
**We will try to keep to the race schedule throughout the morning and race to the published times.

Gunn HS T/F distance coach Matthew Tompkins...

The following is an email conversation I had with Gunn HS distance coach and The King's Academy Cross Country coach, Matthew Tompkins. This took place at the conclusion of the '09 track and field season when several Gunn HS distance runners made a name for themselves with spectacular performances at the CCS final. Matthew is a former Gunn Titan himself as he competed for legendary coach, Hal Daner along with his brother, Mark.

I think it's worth sharing with other coaches and athletes out there and thanks to Matthew for agreeing to have me post the following.

1) What do you think is the reason for so many kids running so well?

This question has multiple answers.

1) The athlete as a person is most important to me. The most important part of coaching to me is the athlete as a person. I have always valued runners first and foremost and based my judgment of them by their character and who they are as people not as runners. Whether you are a fast runner or slow runner, I want each and every athlete to improve first of all as a person and then as a runner. When this is established, the athletes learn to trust me as coach and begin to believe in what we are doing training wise and in general as a team.

2) Coaching is a discussion/dialogue between the athlete and the coach. I tell the athletes that coaching is a dialogue between athletes and the coach. It is not a one way street. I want them to tell me how they are doing on a day to day basis so I can adjust their workouts accordingly to how they are feeling and what is going on as well in regards to physical, academic and emotional stress. High School athletes world’s are easily turned upside down so I make sure to ask them how they are doing and in particular with so many athletes I constantly remind them to come and talk to me about what is going on physically, emotionally, and academically so we can create win-win situations for them.

3) Don’t get Greedy! This has been a saying that Ernie and I always joke about but we take it seriously too. We constantly have to remind ourselves that the most important goal is that the kids have fun, learn to love running and stay injury free! I constantly remind myself that under-training the athlete is paramount. In the six years I have been at Gunn we have not had one single stress fracture! Nor have we had any of our elite athletes not be able to compete in CCS or State Meet because of an overuse injury. How do I accomplish this? Basically in two ways. First my main goal is to get only with-in 20% of what I think an athletes full potential is. I constantly remind myself that the athletes are in high school and we are not trying to qualify for the Olympic trials and that my hope is that if they fall in love with running they will continue to excel in College and in the future. Second we use Cross-training for any athlete that doesn’t seem to be able to handle a lot of mileage. We have several athletes each year that only run 3 to 4 times a week or less and are very successful. (I.E. Kelsey Feeley 2:17 in the 800 meters, Lisa Fawcett 11:25 2 – mile and others.) Finally, I look at the athlete’s development from a four year perspective (if they come in as frosh) and not in regard to a 1 or 2 year outlook.

4) Individualized workouts. Finally, each athlete comes up with their own goals. (We specifically ask kids what their goals are early on in the season or at the end of XC.) Once I know their goals I individualize everyone’s running program to attempt to obtain those goals. For example, when I come to practice on interval days I have a spread sheet that contains individual times/splits for every runner! Every runner is given a tailored workout. This sounds complicated but it’s actually really easy. I spreadsheet the time-trial times and or race results and then calculate workouts using those times. As athletes improve their race times I adjust their times for intervals as well.

What is the mileage of most of the kids like Summers and Mayer?

As frosh Allie, and Paul mostly focused on shorter races in particular the 800 and mile, and were only running between 30 and 35 miles a week. As each year progressed we have slightly increased their mileage to where Allie is running btw 40 to 50 miles a week at most, and Paul has been running between 50 and 60 miles a week.

The “secret” to our training is that Allie and Paul have never been injured the entire time they have run at Gunn High School. I believe this is the secret to their success because they have consistently been able to train 11 months a year without any injuries. I believe it is this consistency that has allowed them to gradually improve each year vs. attempting to run “heavy mileage” and make gains in that fashion.

What were some of his key workouts on the track leading up to the league finals and CCS for the 1600/3200 runners?

Basically, what we do for workouts is that we basically begin to taper athletes 3 weeks prior to when we believe their final competition will be. For example we figured that Paul and Allie would most likely qualify for CCS Finals, but anything beyond that was not very likely, so we begin running shorter workouts and race simulations to prepare them for each race after League finals in early May.

Sample workouts:

Allie: 11:00 goal pace (week prior to Scval Qualifier) (5000 meters total)
3 X 400 @ 82.5, 75 seconds rest
1 X 800 @ 2:45 3:00 min. rest
4 x 400 @ 81.5 75 second rest
1 x 800 @ 2:45 5 min. rest
1 x 400 @ sub 70 secs.

Paul:
3 X 400 @ 69, 75 seconds rest
1 X 800 @ 2:18 3:00 min. rest
4 x 400 @ 68, 75 second rest
1 x 800 @ 2:18 5 min. rest
1 x 400 @ sub 60 secs.

Race simulation before CCS trials

Allie: (10:52 pace)
2 X 200 @ 40.5 second pace (200 meter jog)
2 X 400 @ 81.5 rest 75 seconds
1 X 1200 @ 4:06 rest 3 min.
2 X 400 @ 80 75 seconds rest…then five minute break.
1 x 400 @ sub 70.

Same for Paul but at 9:10 pace.

Did you think Paul would run that fast?

Paul is an interesting case, as he never has been that competitive with other runners but is a runner who truly loves running against himself. After watching him over the years he doesn’t react so much to other runners but more to internal challenges as in regards to beating his own times and PRs. He really likes to see himself improve. Furthermore, he doesn’t react when I tell him things like you “should try and beat so and so” but he reacts much better when I say something like, “Hey Paul why don’t you think about running 70s for this race”

At the beginning of the season Paul and I went on a couple of long runs and discussed his goals, he decided he wasn’t so much interested in running invitationals but wanted to run to help the team out in dual meets with his focus on a running the 2 mile fast at the end of the season.

With that being his goal, we (Paul and I) decided to change his training to match that of a 5000 meter runner that focused on quality interval sessions at goal 2 mile pace. Paul began running 10 miles on many of his recovery days and did separate workouts twice a month that focused specially on building a strong aerobic base which helped him later. For example early on the season he would run 8 X 800 … 2 X 2:30, 2 X 2:25, 2 X 2:20, and 2 X 2:15 with 3 to 4 mins. rest between each one. Later we began running 600s, 400s and 200s to hone some of his speed.

Yes, I am surprised that Paul ran 9:13, but I believed he could definitely run 9:20 or so according to his workouts. I think the fact that he didn’t race two many tough 2 miles during the regular season really kept him fresh later on!

Ernie makes most of the race choices / decisions with our athletes so they get a say in what they want to the run for the most part.

Finally, one of the reasons we have such a large and fun team is because, we constantly do activities such as yogurt runs, pasta feeds, fun days, lots of games on Fridays, dance offs with other schools, breakfasts after Saturday runs and all kinds of other cool and wacky stuff!

Thanks for your questions Albert, I’ll be more than happy to clarify or explain anything else.

Sinceremente,

Matt


Matthew A. Tompkins
The King's Academy
Spanish II Teacher - TKA
Co-Head Cross Country Coach - TKA
------------------------------

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Assistant Track and Field Coach Gunn High School
Adjunct Professor - The National Hispanic University
Email: mtompkins@tka.orgmtompkins@tka.org> or crosscountrytka@yahoo.com
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"No one can serve two lords. There is only one God, and
that God will either be the true one, who asks us to give things up when they become sin, or it will be the god of money, who makes us turn our back on Christianity's God" --- Archbishop Oscar Romero, January 21, 1979

2009 Earlybird Invitational Preview

2009 Earlybird Invitational Preview by Coach Gustavo Ibarra

North Monterey County High School is proud to present the 15^th Annual Anniversary Edition Earlybird Invitational! We’re set for a 4^th year at Toro Park (2010 CCS Championship Site) in Salinas. It will be bigger and better than ever with more than 70 teams and around 2,500 athletes expected to participate Saturday, Sept. 12^th. Races will be held by grade levels for both genders with combined team times being used for overall bragging rights. This may be the most competitive early-season meet in the state of California with many state and section ranked teams and individuals. The 2009 edition will welcome our traditional line-up of powerhouse squads from the north and central part of the state. The Central Coast Section will put on a show with 7 of the top 10 ranked squads from both genders including the top 3 ranked squads on the girls’ side and the top 2 squads on the boys’ side clashing early on! The Central Section, North Coast Section, and the Northern Section will also send some of their best including 6 squads ranked in the top 3 in their section! Hold on folks! As cross country is a true team sport, we’ll start by highlighting the top teams followed by the top individuals.

Let’s get started with the GIRLS. We have a toss-up here as 4 of the finest CCS squads face off and will be challenged by some great valley squads. Carlmont took Earlybird in 2006 and 2007 and are back seeking a 3^rd title in 4 years. They are shooting for an incredible 5^th CCS title in DI and are ranked 1^st in DI after a fine 11^th place in state last year. They have made a coaching change and we’ll see how the crew adjusts. Regardless, they will have their hands full with Mountain View, the top ranked squad in DII. They are also defending CCS Champs from DII and placed 4^th at state last year just outside the podium! They also hold the 2^nd fastest team time ever at Toro Park at 96:11! St. Ignatius took Earlybird last year and always runs well here. Although their team leader graduated, the cupboard is stocked full after just missing the top 10 at state last year! They are our final defending CCS Champs from DIII and are ranked 2^nd there! Aptos, ranked 1^st in DIII, returns the whole kit and caboodle that placed 7^th at state and could make noise both locally and state-wide after re-loading after a state title in 2005. They are missing their team leader here as she competes at the World Triathlon Championships so that may open the door to the other squads today. Madera South comes from the valley and has shot to the top quickly. They return their top 5 and are ranked 2^nd in CS DIII. Clovis West also comes from the valley and would like to play spoiler with their crew ranked 4^th in CS DI. Keep an eye on Las Lomas from the north after placing 18^th in state and returning their top 5 girls! Presentation took the bronze here 2 years back and comes in ranked 4^th in CCS DII. Gilroy continues the upward rise ranked 3^rd in CCS DI. Los Gatos returns ranked 5^th in CCS DII and holds the team time course record at Toro Park from 2006 at a blazing 96:01! Evergreen Valley, San Benito, Mitty, Valley Christian, Leland, Half Moon Bay, Salinas, Escalon, Santa Cruz, Madera, and host North Monterey County will also vie for some top spots!

The senior girls’ race features “mighty-mite” Samantha Hamilton (Half Moon Bay). She won her Earlybird race 2 years ago and is favored here as a senior. The small efficient strider blazed an 18:25 at Toro 3 years ago which is #15 all-time at the park and a freshman park record! She also won CCS DIV last year!! Alicia Brown (Madera South) will be one to watch with her 2:11 800 speed and could take the win, especially if the pace is slow early on! Claudia Barnett (Leland) ran a nice 11:30 3200 in track and should be in the mix. Local Natalie Sandoval (Notre Dame Salinas) will try to make it a top 5 finish once again. Keep an eye on Rachel Shimabukuro (San Benito), she could sneak up and win the whole thing! Martina De Geus and Zoe Papas (Mountain View) will set the tone for their great team here. Carina Mendoza (Madera) should represent the valley very well. Abby Otto (St. Ignatius), Brandie Rodriguez (Gilroy), Dari Salvador (Alisal), Lauren Allen (Woodside Priory), Karen Wei (Saratoga), Michelle Duarte (San Benito), and Kelsey Palassou (Salinas) hope to shake up the front. Team running will be on display as teammates Kim McMullen and Emily Nevitt (Aptos), Jovita Trujillo, Nadine Huerta, and Zaira Guzman (North Monterey County), Katie Castro and Rachel Stump (Los Gatos), and finally Abby Barker, Georgia Cottong, and Julia Roake (Carlmont) challenge for a top 10 finish.

We’re predicting the most exciting team race of the day here! Two years ago St. Ignatius won on a 6^th runner tie-breaker to Saratoga and Las Lomas trailed only 1 point back! Last year Las Lomas got their revenge and took the title and Gilroy and Mountain View joined the party. But, if Carlmont can field a full team they may steal the whole show with host North Monterey County and Clovis West also in the mix!

The junior girls’ should be led by two of the best. Multi-sport star Rachel Hinds (St. Ignatius) is going for 3 Earlybird wins in a row! She burst onto the CA running scene 2 years ago with her race win here, a CCS DIII title, and an 8^th place in state! Last year she kept it up with another win here in 18:27 and a 15^th place finish at state! If anyone can stop the win streak it will be Jessie Peterson (Carlmont). The last two years she’s been about 30 seconds back and 2^nd to Rachel but has 2 CCS 2 mile titles under her belt with a great 10:51 last spring! Corissa Storms (West Valley), Katie Castro (Los Gatos), Angie Korpusik (Presentation), Delanne Bartlett (Enterprise), Emily Blaha (Valley Christian), Linnea Biddick (Aptos), Susie Reynolds (Mountain View), Mary Kriege (Mitty), Rebecca Reid (Mercy), and Tori Tsolis (Presentation), who ran a 2:14 800 and a 5:13 1600, will all challenge for a top 10 finish. Also watch Akaysha Dhaliwal (Madera South) as our sleeper pick.

In the team race watch Jacquelyn Urbina, Sam Scheutz, Caileen Viehweg, and Bridget Sullivan join Rachel to put on a team running clinic for St. Ignatius. 2 years ago they had a perfect 1-5 team sweep and a score of 15 to romp the competition as 9^th graders! That’s unheard of in fields this size!! Last year they followed that up with a 30 point win in the sophomore race! Mitty, Mountain View, Presentation, and Los Gatos will once again battle for 2^nd best.

The sophomore girls’ could have a runaway winner if Allison Sturges (Mountain View) continues her rise into the elite ranks! Her Earlybird win last year just got things going and her 2^nd place in the 1600 at CCS in 4:59 capped a great first year. Watch out folks, she could be the next great one! Lauren Sharwood (Clovis West) returns to give chase and ran a nice 5:26 1600 in the spring. Our surprise could come from Samantha Garcia (Evergreen Valley). She was only 10^th here last year but ran a blazing 11:14 3200 in the spring! Megan Shearer (Carlmont) and Sarah Wells (Mountain View) come from teams that aren’t afraid to put in the work and should be in the mix also. Alexandra Young (St Francis CC), Cassidy Burr (Santa Cruz), Courtney Destaillat (Aptos), Montana Miller (Half Moon Bay), and Stephanie Sewell (Los Gatos) all return to try and duplicate their top 10 finishes. Also watch 800 superstars Nisha Parmeshwar (Leland) and Athena Alarcon (Gilroy)!

The team race should come down to powerhouse squads St. Ignatius and Mountain View which were separated by only 5 points last year! Los Gatos and Las Lomas also have good young squads.

The freshman girls’ are always a mystery but girls’ teams rise in stock very quickly after this race each year!

The BOYS will put on a show! We think each year we’ve hit the ceiling with the quality of teams but 2009 will continue to lift the roof! The 5 fastest squads ever at Toro Park are here! Many state and section ranked teams and individuals also highlight the meet. Our CCS preview at Earlybird continues as we have 7 out of the top 10 ranked CCS teams here! Although, the Earlybird title went to Central Section powerhouse Madera from 2002-2007 and last year Redondo Union rolled into town from the Southern Section and dethroned the kings taking the title by 14 seconds over rising CCS power Mountain View! This year should be quite interesting in the section battle here. Mountain View returns and could have slammed the door shut on the competition but will be short-handed here. Their all-everything team leader Garrett Rowe is making his season debut at Stanford and Ian Myjer will be taking the ACT. At full strength, mark our words; this will be one of the best squads in the country!! They are currently ranked 1^st overall in CCS, were CCS Champs last year, placed 3^rd at state, and are the fastest team to ever grace Toro Park with their 80:13 team time. So, if CCS wants to regain the title, Carlmont or Bellarmine may need to rise to the occasion. Carlmont is ranked 1^st in CCS DI and 25^th out of all CA schools! They also won CCS last year. If the coaching change is smooth, they could pull it off. Bellarmine should mix it up well and cracked the overall state top 100 rankings at #60. The other sections will counter with Clovis West, Madera South, Enterprise, and Las Lomas, 4 teams ranked in the top 100 of all of CA schools! Clovis West is ranked 2^nd in CS DI and 38^th in all of CA! If they can close their 3-5 gap, they may steal the show! Madera South has the coach that led Madera to their incredible streak and his teams always show great here! They are ranked 3^rd in CS DIII and won their section last year! Enterprise returns all of their scorers and is the top ranked squad in all of the Northern Section! Las Lomas returns from the North Coast Section and will mix it up great! Local favorites Salinas and Aptos have some great front running and Los Gatos, Serra, St. Ignatius, Monta Vista, Willow Glen, and host North Monterey County should also be in the mix. Others to watch include Madera, San Benito, SLV, and upset pick Watsonville.

The senior boys’ race will have a trio of runners each representing their section gunning for the win. Kellen Levy (Clovis West) returns from the valley to defend his title while he’ll contend once again with Mitch Moriarty (Aptos) from the CCS. Mitch could run away with it after his breakthrough 9:05 3200 in track! Zach Kaylor (Enterprise) will come from the North and may steal the whole show! He ran a great 4:16 1600 in track and could threaten late in the race. Dalton Guthrie (Bellarmine) missed the win by one second 2 years ago and may be back in the mix. David Perez (Salinas), with 1:57 and 4:23 credentials, could challenge if the pace is slow. Also watch Michael Reher (St. Ignatius), Joseph Pace (Clovis West), Michael Young (St Francis CC), and Nathan Lee (Carlmont) up-front. Michael Gemar (Las Lomas), KC Green (Las Lomas), Alan Rios (Sobrato), Nick Olsen (Saratoga), Miguel Gallegos (North Monterey County), Kranti Pedada (Monta Vista), Ian Karlssen (Valley Christian), Kyle McNulty (Scotts Valley), Brian Knight (Watsonville), and Luis Romero (North Salinas) won’t be far back.

For the senior team race, Las Lomas is going for 3 wins in a row although Bellarmine has been closing quickly! SLV also has a good group and St. Ignatius, Escalon, and North Monterey County will give chase.

The junior boys’ race has defending champ Parker Schuh (Mountain View) who made his grand entrance into the sport here last year with his 15:58 win on way to a blazing 15:38 at state and 2007 winner Domenic D’Aquisto (Enterprise) locking horns for the tie-breaker! Domenic is coming back from a lacerated kidney during track but is at full strength now. If the two champs forget about Isaiah Lorenzo (Madera South) he could be our upset pick of the day the way his team works the summer months! Will Geiken (Los Gatos) will also be upset-minded as he comes off a great 9:20 3200 to lead the CCS frosh/soph group! Kyle Rae (Bellarmine) also topped the CCS lists for youngsters with his 4:23 1600! And, just for fun, throw in Ethan Scardina (Carlmont), the defending CCS DI Champ! Wow! Connor Billings (Clovis West), Bryan Crook (Mountain View), Carl Gracely (Las Lomas), Joseph Rivera (Willow Glen), Eddie Guzman (San Benito), Manuel Negrete (Alisal), Adrian Duran (St. Francis CC), Steven Mandac (Westmoor), and David Knight (Watsonville) should also be in the mix.

Mountain View returns to defend their team title but will have to deal with 2007 winner Carlmont and rising power Bellarmine! Madera South, Willow Glen, Enterprise, San Benito, and Las Lomas will also contend.

The sophomore boys’ will have Michael McCabe (Willow Glen) defending his title! He had a great first year on way to his 16:36 time at state! Mitch Martin (Half Moon Bay) and Jack Bordoni (Bellarmine) should battle once again for a top 3 finish while Clay Celum (Clovis West) and Cesar Aguilar (Half Moon Bay) try to close the gap from last year. For some great team running watch Seferino Hernandez, Aaron Alvarez, and Josue Hernandez (Madera South) lead their amazing squad! Also keep an eye on up-and-comer Francisco Salvador (Alisal).

If there’s a lock for a team pick, Madera South is it here!! Bellarmine could keep them honest with their army of runners but if they don’t go out fast with the purple army it may be over as soon as the gun goes off! Mountain View, San Benito, Clovis West, Los Gatos, and Monta Vista can only hope for 3^rd best here.

The freshmen boys’ race welcomes our newbies that seem to get smaller every year!

Since the meet will be at Toro Park once again, we’ll keep an eye on the clock and see if the Toro Park record books take some hits if the heat cooperates a bit more than it did last year! Matthew Petrillo (Los Gatos-2006) holds the park record at 15:12. That record should be quite safe here with top times around 15:40 more likely. The boys will have to dip under 15:45 to make the all-time top 25 list. We’re looking at 2-3 guys that could do that this weekend! Tori Tyler (Gunn-2004) blazed a 17:16 and threw down a mark that will be hard to challenge for quite some time. To give you some perspective, #2 on the all-time Toro list is 17:53! To make the top 25, the girls will have to run 18:35. We’re also looking at 2-3 girls that could do that here!

As far as team time records are concerned, Mountain View ran 80:13 at CCS last year to shave 32 seconds off the old record! The 16:02 average for their scoring 5 is safe for now with challenges coming later in the season if the same Mountain View group returns this year to take a shot. The girls’ team time record of 96:01 set by Los Gatos 3 years ago doesn’t seem as safe. Averaging 19:12 for their top 5 girls is quite special, but, if Carlmont comes in ready and Mountain View takes a shot, watch out! Good luck to all and we hope you enjoy the meet!

THE 2009 15^TH ANNIVERSARY EARLYBIRD WILL BE THE BEST EVER, GUARANTEED!

Visit our meet website for coverage! http://nmcxc.tripod.com/!

Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants

Interesting article in Sunday's New York Times about barefoot running.

How many teams or runners do some form of barefoot running during practice?
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TODD BYERS was among more than 20,000 people running the San Francisco Marathon last month. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, he might have blended in with the other runners, except for one glaring difference: he was barefoot.

Even in anything-goes San Francisco, his lack of footwear prompted curious stares. His photo was snapped, and he heard one runner grumble, “I just don’t want the guy without shoes to beat me.”

Mr. Byers, 46, a running coach and event manager from Long Beach, Calif., who clocked in at 4 hours 48 minutes, has run 75 marathons since 2004 in bare feet. “People are kind of weird about it,” he shrugs.

Maybe they shouldn’t be. Recent research suggests that for all their high-tech features, modern running shoes may not actually do much to improve a runner’s performance or prevent injuries. Some runners are convinced that they are better off with shoes that are little more than thin gloves for the feet — or with no shoes at all.

To read the rest of the article, go to the following link:
Wiggling Their Toes at the Shoe Giants

2009 Boys' Norcal Pre-Season Rankings

The pre-season rankings this year are based on the rankings posted on www.dyestatcal.com by Richard Gonzalez. Feel free to comment below on teams that you feel should be ranked lower or higher or are not listed at all.

Boys
1) Mt. View CCS Division II
2) Oak Ridge SJS Division I
3) Jesuit SJS Division II
4) Davis Sr. SJS Division I
5) Castro Valley NCS Division I
6) Carlmont CCS Division I
7) Gunn CCS Division II
8) De La Salle NCS Division I
9) San Ramon Valley NCS Division I
10) Bellarmine CCS Division I

Honorable Mention (15 teams in alphabetical order)
Amador Valley NCS Division I
Aptos CCS Division III
Campolindo NCS Division III
College Park NCS Division II
Del Campo SJS Division II
El Camino SJS Division III
Enterprise NS Division IV
Fairfield SJS Division II
Las Lomas NCS Division III
Livermore NCS Division I
Los Gatos CCS Division II
Monte Vista NCS Division I
Palo Alto CCS Division II
Petaluma NCS Division III
Willow Glen CCS Division III

Next rankings will have the top 10 boys in Northern California. Feel free to start listing the runners who you feel belong on that list. Who is the runner to watch this year that will be a surprise to most?

Please include your name and team you are most closely associated with this coming season with your posts.

York HS coach Joe Newton

My first high school coaching job was in 1992 when I took over the San Mateo HS cross country team. I was following legendary SM coach Don Dooley (his star runner, Matt Guisto, was the '83 Kinney National Cross Country champion-when it was sponsored by Kinney shoes) who had sadly passed away the previous spring following a heart attack. I was 21 years old, suddenly in charge of 60 athletes devastated by the death of their beloved coach.

I applied for the job with the sole intention of gaining experience by going through the interview process. I was shocked when they offered me the job following my interview. In those days (the pre-internet era), if you wanted to find information about coaching, your choices were books and fellow coaches. Since I was just starting out in the coaching field, I did not know too many coaches. Fortunately for me, Don was quite a student of the sport and in the PE office, he had a great library of running books that included biographies (Peter Snell, Frank Shorter, Jim Ryan etc.) and many training books. The books that really caught my eyes were written by a not famous yet high school coach in Illinois named Joe Newton.

The three Newton books in the library were in chronological order "The Long Green Line", "Motivation...The Name of the Game" and "Running to the Top of the Mountain". I devoured all three books and still quote from them quite frequently to my current runners. You can see links below to all three books from Amazon.com.

Newton's fame has grown even further since that time with the explosion of information on the internet. He is currently in this 50th year (50 years!!! how many people are at the same company for 50 years?) at York HS. He has won an amazing 26 state cross country titles. His '04 York team was the first Nike Team National champions and his team is the only team to qualify for every race since. He was the first high school coach to be named as a member of the Olympic coaching staff (In the 1988 Olympics, he was an assistant manager in charge of the marathon runners.) Just an unbelievable record for an amazing man who still attracts over 200 boys each year to his team. The man is 80 years old now!

He has also written another book, "Coaching Cross Country Successfully" which many of you have in your libraries. If you don't, link below. The Long Green Line, the documentary about Newton's '05 xc team made was released last year and if your team has not seen it, I would highly recommend you purchase the DVD.

Finally, if you haven't seen it already, check out the following interview with Mr. Newton which was posted on www.dyestat.com.
http://www.dyestat.com/?pg=us-Misc-Features-McCue-Features-Things-Ive-Learned-Newton

Attitude by Charles Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

Photo of the Week

Josh Winfield, of Deer Valley High School, sprawls on the track in front of Newark Memorial's Andrew Akre after Winfield's first place finish in the boys 400 meter run at the North Coast Section track and field championships at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley. (from 2008)

"the atmosphere in most of the CCS is that cross-country is a P.E. class..."

Here is the entire quote which can be found along with the summary of the Bellarmine Bells at www.dyestatcal.com as part of the pre-season rankings by Rich Gonzalez.
"the atmosphere in most of the CCS is that cross-country is a P.E. class. Until that changes, most (CCS) teams will not be able to hang against the Southern Section in postseason."

It's interesting that a fellow coach would think that is the reason why the Central Coast Section is not able to compete favorably against the Southern Section teams. While there are some cross country teams that may have that mindset, I would contend that many of the coaches get the most out of their teams and do not just "roll out the ball" if we are going to use the PE analogy.

One of the main reasons that the CCS teams (as well as other sections) have a hard time competing with the SS teams is that the numbers just don't add up. If you look at the size of the teams in each division, SS teams (for the most part) have a larger pool of possible runners at their schools. A typical Division I team in CCS, NCS or SJS would be a Division II or III team in the SS. I know Mountain View coach Evan Smith, who is familiar with the SS, has addressed this fact before.

So with that in mind, how can the teams in Northern California compete with the teams from Southern California? Since there is not much we can do about the numbers of each division, let's focus on what we can control. First, coaches need to continue to strive to be better coaches. Attending clinics is a great way to learn about the latest methods of training as well network with fellow motivated coaches. Tim Hunter has a great clinic every June at San Ramon Valley and last year Chris Puppione and I hosted the 1st Annual Northern California coach's roundtable on the first Saturday in January. If you are willing to drive or fly to to the LA area, clinics take place during the summer as part of the LA84 Foundation coaching education. You are doing your kids a disservice if you are just repeating the same thing year after year.

Next, we have to change out mindset about the state meet. For many teams, qualifying to the state meet is the ultimate goal made at the beginning of the season. You see many athletes, coaches and parents jumping up and down at the section finals as their teams are announced as a state meet qualifyers. While this is certainly a great achievement, coaches and athletes have to take into account where they would like to finish as the state meet as well. You have qualified to the state meet, now what? Do you want to finish in the top 10? Top 5? Top 3? State championship? Where you want to finish at the state meet needs to be accounted for or else the runners will just be happy to get a free dinner in Fresno on Friday night.

Coaches need to beat the bushes and find those runners who do not know they are runners yet. Get them out for your team. Make cross country the cool sport at your school. Do your homework. How can your team get to the state meet? What do your runners need to run? What do they need to run to be competitive at the state meet? Take them to competitive invitationals. Challenge your runners. Raise the expectations. Don't be afraid to set lofty goals. Embrace being in a competitive league or section. Your runners will rise to the challenge.

I could go on (that quote really touched a nerve) about what else can be done to be competitive at the state meet but want to open it up to the coaches, athletes and parents that are reading this. How can teams in Northern California be more successful in Fresno? What can coaches do to help their teams run faster? What about the athletes? Parents?

By the way, the state meet qualifiers have been posted on the CIF website. There was only one change which affected the NorCal sections and that was mentioned earlier with CCS losing one spot in girls' Division IV. You can check out the rest of the numbers at the following link:
http://www.cifstate.org/sports/state/cross_country/xc%20entries.html

2009 Women's 1500m. final