3rd Annual West Coast Distance Clinic

Great event once again at San Ramon Valley HS on Saturday as the coaches that attended the free coach's clinic were treated to lots of Nike gear (my prediction is Nike will develop a pair of spikes that weigh nothing and I am NOT kidding), a great lunch, 3 of the greatest HS coaches ever to hold stopwatches in the history of high school distance running and FREE shoes!

Leading the way was Pat Tyson (above left picture in the middle), formerly of Mead HS fame, who is the new cross country and track and field coach at Gonzaga University. Tyson has just completed a stint at one of the legendary high schools in distance running lore, South Eugene HS. Between his 22 years at Mead and his one year at South Eugen, Tyson made two quick stops at Oregon U. and Kentucky U. He is also well known in the distance running community as the roommate of Steve Prefontaine during his days in Oregon.

Following more Nike gear, the next coach to speak was Danny Green (above left picture on the left) of Woodlands HS. Mr. Green was quite a character as he stole the show cracking his fair share of one liners (think funny Vince Lombardi) but leaving no doubt about why his teams are so successful. How successful you may ask? 2 years ago, his school boasted 22 boys under 10:00 for the 3200. Last year, his team finished in 4th place at NTN without one of his best teams in his long illustrious career. He's close to retiring but don't count out Woodlands HS in the future as his son, Juris, is rearing to take over for daddy.

Lastly but definitely not least was Jesuit (of Carmichael) longtime coach, Walt Lange (pictured above on picture to the right). He is well known, especially in California, for winning state cross country titles (NINE!), his outstanding website, coaching lots of fast runners, and most recently his incredibly detailed cross country maps. You can also view lots of tools and links that Walt uses here.

Thanks to Tim Hunter (San Ramon Valley HS coach), all the Nike representatives and Jimmy McFadden of Forward Motion Sports for putting together another outstanding clinic. If you weren't able to make this clinic this year, don't miss out next year. Definitely a must for any coach that wants to pick up something new (or two) for the following cross country season.

If you attended the clinic, what did you think?

By the way, the coach pictured above that wasn't mentioned, the one and only Joe Newton. A documentary about all his accomplishments will be opening the Running Film Festival at the Olympic Trials in Oregon.

HS Track coverage...

Nice blog article about who else but German Fernandez:
•A "German" Invasion Worth It's Place in History

Diego Estrada is named athlete of the year in the Californian (Salinas)
•The Salinas Californian's 2008 male athlete of the year: Diego Estrada
•Watkins: Estrada makes a little history

•California track & running NEWS

1968 U.S. track team was best ever

Great article found in the SJ Mercury News by Ann Killion about her thoughts on the greatest Olympic Track and Field team ever, the 1968 team.

You can find the article at the following link:
•Killion: 1968 U.S. track team was best ever

Also, the following article is from the Sacramento Bee with a historical perspective of what the trials mean to the state of Oregon:
•Eugene's deep track history resurfaces for U.S. Trials

And for your television viewing pleasure, here is a list of Track and Field meets coming up in the next three months courtesy of USATF site:
•TV Track and Field Broadcasts

Cross Country Coach of the Year becomes Athletic Director

Just named California Coaches Association girl's cross country coach of the year, Mt. Shasta's Steve Nesheim was also recently named as the school's athletic director. His girls have handily won the last three CIF state Division V XC titles. Congratulations to Steve for his award and new job title.

You can view a full article from http://www.mtshastanews.com/ at the following link:
•Nesheim new Mount Shasta athletic director

Back from vacation...

I will start posting once again after a week away enjoying some R and R in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Things to look forward to in the next few months:
•XC pre-season rankings for Northern California.
•More athlete and coach interviews.
•More polls.
•Motivational material.
•Newspaper and web links.
•Training and Racing advice.
•Ideas anyone? Email me at albertjcaruana@gmail.com

Track guru Bill Taylor adds author to long list of titles

Great article about Sir Francis Drake HS coach Bill Taylor in the Marin IJ:
•Track guru Bill Taylor adds author to long list of titles

At the bottom of the article you can find a link where you can get a copy of his book (you can see Bill holding his book in the picture to the left courtesy of the Marin IJ).

Good Summer Reading recommendation...

I am currently reading the book listed below about former Iowa wrestling coach, Dan Gable. I am always interested in what makes champions tick no matter the sport. Gable for those of you that have never heard of him won an Olympic gold medal in the '72 Olympics in freestyle wrestling. Following his dominating victory, Gable went on to coach the Iowa Hawkeyes and set coaching standards that will be hard to duplicate. His teams won the Big 10 titles in every season that he coached. They also won 16 NCAA titles (remarkable number for one coach in any sport). Whether you are a wrestling fan or not, it's a good read and highly recommended.

Jeff Billing not returning to Palo Alto HS

Boys' Cross Country and Track and Field coach Jeff Billing will be moving back east following a successful stint at Palo Alto HS. From my brief interactions with him, Jeff was a very caring coach that took pride in the progress of all his athletes. Best of luck to him with his future challenges.

You can see a brief article about his departure in the Paly Voice:
http://voice.paly.net/view_story.php?id=6875

You can see an interview with him during cross country season at the following link:
http://albertcaruana.blogspot.com/2007/12/catching-up-with-palo-alto-coach-jeff.html

The following link has student comments about Jeff:
http://voice.paly.net/view_story.php?id=6983

Catching up with Novato HS's Erik Olson...

The past Sunday, the 98th annual Dipsea race took place once again on the 2nd Sunday of June. This legendary race attracts some of the best runners in the Marin area as they attempt to either win the race, claim one of 35 black shirts or just simply survive the rugged 7.5 mile course. Novato HS sophomore Erik Olson (pictured to the left courtesy of the Novato Advance) did more than survive as he finished in 14th place and claimed the top spot by a high school runner. Olson has quickly established himself as one of the up and coming runners in the NCS this past year as he finished 5th in the NCS Division III cross country race to qualify to the state meet as an individual. He also finished 6th at the NCS MOC in the uber-competitive 3200m. recording a lifetime best time of 9:25.62.

1) How did you get interested in participating in the Dipsea race?

Well, last year I volunteered along with my sister and thought it looked like a fun race. So I talked my coach about it and we decided that it would be a fun thing to do at the end of the track season. Unfortunately, my sister wanted to run it but was not able to on account of going to college at UCSD.

2) What did you do in preparation to run on the Dipsea course? Have you run on the trails before?

The week before, I ran the practice Dipsea along with my fellow teammate Courtney Madson, who was also running it this year. After running that I realized that the Dipsea would not be an easy jog in the park. So, two days after the practice Dipsea, my coach, Mr. Bousquette, took me and a couple of teammates along to rerun the course and figure out all the well-known shortcuts. I then just ran long runs around Novato with as many hills as possible just to get my muscles use to the strain of hill running.

3) What was the most difficult part of the race? Favorite part of the race such as a part of the course, fellow runners, the crowd, a tradition etc?
The most difficult for me would have to be going up Cardiac Hill. It is not that the hill itself is hard, it is just that you feel every other hill prior to Cardiac when your running up the hill. My favorite part would have to be the top of Cardiac because there were people there cheering for you and the rest of the race was relatively downhill. I would also like to thank all the race supporters and the crowd because they truly made this experience wonderful.

4) Can you describe the course for any runners that have never done it before?

The Dipsea is basically uphill till 4.1 miles and then downhill the last 3.4 miles. If you planing on running it, be prepared for the stairs both up and down. While the hills are hard, you can train for those by just running hill repeats, but the stairs were a killer for me. Going up the stairs is tough because you feel the burn in your calves, but going down the stairs in Steep Ravine is the hardest. Oh, and if you haven't run it before, you must learn the shortcuts! Also, do not worry if you feel insanely sore after running the Dipsea, and if you don't feel sore at all, you are a beastly runner.

5) Before the race, were you aware of all the history that goes along with this event?

Yes, but I was not aware of all the great runners that ran the Dipsea.I also never realized how hard it is to win it until I ran it; so I now have the utmost respect to all the men and women who have won the Dipsea. Now I feel apart of the Dipsea crowd and hopefully I will be able to run it next year.

6) How many runners do you think you passed throughout the race?

I am not sure. Possibly 100. I had a three minute head start so i figure there were at least 100 people ahead of me. It may be more or less. I'm really not sure.

7) Looking back at your track and field season, what do you consider your best race? Proudest achievement? Best track and field meet?

Best personal race would have to be NCS MOC were I p.r.ed in the 3200. Best race overall would have to be the Skyline Distance Fiesta because the whole distance team went and it just felt like a giant party. My proudest achievement would be wining the distance triple at MCALs which helped prepare me mentally and physicall going into the NCS races.

8) How did you get your start in distance running? Who were the runners that you looked up to as you were getting started as well as now?

Well my sister, mom, and dad got me into running. Going into 8th grade, my sister started doing double days over the summer and in the morning runs I decided to run along and thats where it all started. In the beginning I could barely stay with my sister, but by the end of the summer we were both improving. I didn't start race competitively until freshman year, but my family has always been active and my family and i did fun runs. When I first started running, I looked up to Pre, but then I realized that personality wise he wasn't a great role model. I then started hearing about this Californian runner Ryan Hall and I've looked up to him ever since. I personally look up to him more for his religious method towards running and try to look at running in the same light.

9) Who is going to be your toughest competition in the MCAL and NCS next year?

A lot of people. Umm... to name a few MCAL runners Corey Rand (a great miler and 800 runner he never gives in an will stay on you the whole race), Steven Iglehart (a fierce 3200 runner), Peter Kissin (another tough 3200 runner with great genes), and Brian Hernandez (a great miler). For NCS, obviously Sterling and his brother Devin. Both of whom are fantastic XC runners and track runners and will be in our division this year. Wyatt Landrum of course. Umm...Alex Summers of Granada who had an awesome sophomore year this year and Mark Blattler who must of had the fastest sprint I have ever seen in XC.

10) If you had to choose your favorite race on the track , what would that distance be and why?

3200, because if you make a mistake, you can still be in the race, and since I am a distance runner I feel that the more laps I run the more I can relax and get in to my running "groove."

11) What are your plans for the summer in preparation for your junior season in cross country?

Lots of mileage with my teammates and cross training. I'll be training with Novato's top seven, to hopefully build a strong team for next year and my senior year. The team and I may do a running camp in the mountains but we're not sure yet. Our teams looking great and we're all young so I'm hoping we will continue to improve from my freshman year.

12) What have been the most important workouts for you that have been a big part of your success in both xc and track?

400's they not only help me, but when we run them, everyone seems to have a great race the next week. Also, any run that includes the team seems to get me pumped up for races. For example, when we do a five mile team run at a relatively fast pace and everyone stays together, that gets me excited for the races to come.

Thank you again for your time and I'd like to say watchout for Kiko Rodriguez, Marc Klunk, Joe Montoya, River Raras, and John Latham they're going to be the runners to look out for!!!!

Thank you very much for your time Erik!

Dipsea Black Shirt Winners

The following results are courtesy of the Marin IJ. The top 35 runners that complete the Dipsea race, receive the legendary black shirts. The list includes several NCS runners that are in bold below.

DIPSEA BLACK SHIRTS
Place and name Residence Age Time Actual Time

1 Roy Rivers Mill Valley 51 47:24 53:24

2 Russ Kiernan Mill Valley 70 49:08 1:08.8

3 Hans Schmid Greenbrae 68 49:31 1:08.31

4 Mark McManus Mill Valley 34 49:34 50.34

5 Melody Anne Schultz Ross 66 50:00 1:12.00

6 Cliff Lentz Brisbane 43 50:04 53.04

7 Brian Pilcher Ross51 50:25 56.25

8 Sara Donahue Brookline, Mass. 27 50:34 58.34

9 Greg Wilson Chula Vista 56 50:51 59.51

10 Judy Rabinowitz Larkspur 50 51:02 1:04.02

11 Roy Kissin Larkspur 51 51:14 57.14

12 Alexander Varner San Rafael 22 51:31 51.31

13 Iain Mickle Sacramento47 51:36 55.36

14 Erik Olson Novato 16 51:38 1:00.38

15 Greg Nacco Sausalito 43 51:42 56.42

16 Steve Stephens San Anselmo 64 51:58 1:06.58

17 Robert Dickinson Petaluma 51 52:16 58.16

18 Steven Iglehart San Francisco 16 52:17 55.17

19 Jerry Edelbrock Corte Madera 59 52:21 1:03.21

20 Stephen Donahue Palo Alto 30 52:23 52.23

21 John Litzenberg III Glen Ellen 38 52:32 54.32

22 Stacey Schweighart San Francisco 31 52:38 1:00.38

23 Jamie Berns Mill Valley 57 52:51 1:05.51

24 Ben Chaffee San Francisco 28 52:54 52.54

25 Reed Bunnell Kentfield 16 52:57 55.57

26 Jenny Wong Oakland 32 52:59 1:00.59

27 Tomas Pastalka Belvedere 61 53:05 1:06.05

28 David Ripp San Rafael 56 53:06 1:02.06

29 Dimitrios Sklavopoulos Mill Valley 63 53:34 1:08.34

30 Bradford Bryon Penngrove 50 53:36 59.36

31 Brian Purcell Sebastopol 52 53:40 1:00.40

32 Don Stewart Sebastopol 47 53:43 57.43

33 Jacque Taylor Petaluma 16 53:51 1:02.51

34 Steven Katz Larkspur 57 54:03 1:04.03

35 Mark Dolan Novato 45 54:13 58.13