Track and Field Newspaper Coverage

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

•Petaluma distance medley team records fastest time in the state

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

•Running's elite (Hollister Freelance coverage)

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

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

•Track dominates meet against Monta Vista (Milpitas HS)

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

Arcadia Invitational article in SF Chronicle

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

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

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

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

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

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

Passion for sports

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

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

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

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

And Villasenor has the gift. Make that gifts.

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

Stanford Invitational newspaper coverage for Northern California teams

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

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

The Secrets of Speed by Bill Bowerman (1971)

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

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

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

Harra Marra to be inducted into the SFSU Hall of Fame

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

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

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

•Paul Terek profile

•Strength Training For Speed Development

David Klech (Former NCS star) Interview on Flotrack

You can find the link to the interview by De La Salle coach and Flotrack contributor Kevin Selby with David Klech (former California HS star, now at Oregon after transfering following his one season at UCLA) at the following link:

•David Klech (Oregon U.) Interview

Northern California Track and Field Newspaper Coverage

•Rajuh sprints back to top (St. Francis Invitational for locals)

•More St. Francis Invite coverage (San Mateo County athletes)

•CCT athletes of the week (Contra Costa Times)

•Carson on track to recovery (Nina Carson of Eureka)

•Johnson jumps over to track in style (Carondelet's Adrienne Johnson)

•Jacks do well at lone home meet (Humboldt University)

•Pondo track teams too much for UMine

•Carmel coach not fond of weight-lifting program (Carmel coach John Ables)

•Pinewood school track team riding the bus to success

•LA gets a split in track (Los Altos)

•Cougars, Falcons run at West Valley Relays (San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley)

Please add any other newspaper articles I may have missed in the comment box below.

Bob Rush Invitational Highlights

Some of the best junior college track and field athletes descended to the College of San Mateo yesterday in a preview of the Northern California Championships that will also be held at CSM. You can find a list of the local participants (aka CSM athletes) in an article in the San Mateo Daily News.

•CSM's Young tops javelin with one of nation's best marks

You can also find a complete list of the meet results at the following link:
•Bob Rush Invitational Results (thanks to recordtiming.com)