CA State Meet All Time Girls' Podium Teams through '08

The list below contains every girls' team that has finished in the top 3 at the California State Meet. During the first few years, the podium teams included only 2 teams but for the sake of uniformity, I included the top 3 teams for every year starting with the first ever California state meet in 1987.

Double click picture below to view the list without having to use a magnifying glass. If you find any errors, please send them to albertjcaruana@gmail.com and I will update the list.

Some interesting data from list to the left:
Most overall plaques: Chadwick and San Francisco University with 10

Most first place plaques: Corona del Mar and San Francisco University with 6

Most second place plaques: San Francisco University, Woodbridge and Woodcrest Christian with 4

Most third place plaques: Campolindo, Chadwick and Dana Hills with 4

Two teams had the longest span of time between their 1st and last plaque:
Corona del Mar with 19 years (1989-2008)










I will post the boys' podium teams tomorrow.

Look for other interesting state meet stats during the summer.

"Know It All" Clinic

We are putting on a fund raising (and fun raising) clinic to help benefit John Larralde, the long time coach at Carpinteria High School. John was in a coma for a week and hospitalized for 4 weeks due to complications from the MRSA staph infection. As a result, he has some rather significant hospital bills. John has done so much for so many and we are trying to help him with those bills. Some of you may know him as a former assistant at Cal, or the head coach at Santa Barbara City College. Still others may know him in his present position, as an assistant at Westmont College. For many years, he was one of the guiding lights for the fantastic Carpinteria High program, coaching such outstanding athletes as Coley Candaele.

Brian FitzGerald of Rio Mesa, Kevin Smith of Oak Park, Tim O'Rourke of Mt Sac and LA 84 fame, Ken Reeves, and Van Latham of Carpinteria have banded together to form the "fly by the seat of the pants productions" to create the return of the Know IT All Clinic. Originally active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was a very informal clinic where high school staffs met in event areas. This was not your powerpoint/lecture clinic, it was high school coaches helping each other coaching high school athletes from the fastest to the speed challenged. The curriculum is coach driven and each session will be unique The clinic always concluded with a very enjoyable coaches' social.

This year, the clinic is scheduled for August 1 in the lovely seaside town of Carpinteria. Bring the family, bring the staff and enjoy a weekend of interaction, sand, surf and enjoyment. The cost per staff is $100. Individuals can attend for $35. All proceeds will go directly to John's hospital bills and no speaker fees will be paid. However, in these tight times, if you would like to attend and don't have the money, come down for the interaction and forget the clinic fee. On the other hand, if you are unable to attend and would like to make a donation to help with John's bill, please don't hesitate to send me a check (make them out to Carpinteria Boosters, John Larralde fund).

Vern Gambetti, the founding father of functional training and former Cal Bears head coach will be there to work with Brian FitzGerald and Kevin Smith on the sprint staff. Fred Morgan, the highly successful throws coach from Ventura High (coached CIF D1 Champion in the boys' and girls' shot and Masters' Champions in the boys' shot and girls' discus), Terry Hearst and Erik Pedersen of Royal Results (timers for Division 4 CIF prelims, CIF Finals, CIF SS Masters Meet, USC-UCLA Dual Meet, Arcadia Invitational, Ventura County championships along with several other meets) will do a session on Hy-Tek including meet manager and team manager. Other specific staff members will be listed as information comes available. See attached flyer for more information.

Please contact Ken Reeves at kenreeves@sbcglobal.net if you would like more information or if you would like to make a donation.

Ken

Full flyer is posted at the following link on dyestatcal:
http://images.dyestat.com/dyestatcal/images/2009/August/01%20Know%20It%20All%20clinic/KIA%20flyer%2009-2.pdf

USA Track and Field Nationals on TV Saturday and Sunday

ESPN will be covering the meet at 4:30pm on both days (Saturday and Sunday).

If you want to check out the coverage online, go to the following link:
http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view/235247/live

Northern CA Track and Field coverage updates...

German fifth in US track nationals (The Modesto Bee)

Vessey moves on at U.S. track championships (SanLouisObispo.com)

2008-2009 All Gilroy Team (Gilroy Dispatch-including Peter Guenther)

College of Marin condemns track as safety hazard (Marin IJ)

Novato’s Madson is a triple threat, and loves it (Novato Advance)

Remember these Titans
Sprinters are the first Chavez athletes to accept Division I scholarships (recordnet.com)

Special Olympics kickoffs today (UC Davis)

ABOVE & BEYOND
Mayfield, Whitlock hurdle the competition to become area’s best (The Manteca Bulletin)

Launching pad: All-Area Track and Field Athletes of the Year (Merced Sun-Star)

Roseville's Elliott is the PT athlete of the month (granitebaypt.com)

San Jose Mercury News Track and Field athletes of the year...

Boys track and field athlete of the year: Peter Guenther











Girls track athlete of the year: Katie Nelms

Boys track and field top athletes

Girls track and field top athletes

Any thoughts on the above selections?

2009 All-Sac Joaquin Section Track and Field Teams

You can find that list courtesy of Joe Hartman and www.dyestatcal.com at the following link:
http://www.dyestatcal.com/?pg=dyestatcal-2009-News-June-09-21-All-SJS-Team&PHPSESSID=ed40a393bc1e4ed8c1263c62f1463522

As always, well done list by Joe...great way to select athletes from so many events.

Catching up with Del Campo distance runner, Matt Case...

Today we chat with Sac-Joaquin Section, Del Campo HS runner, Matt Case. If you were to try to identify the runner who was the biggest surprise to place at the state meet and was the most improved from the previous season, Case would have to be near the top of your list. You can see the amazing jump of times from his PRs below from his junior to his senior seasons. As he correctly identified, his 1600 PR from his junior season was his most competitive. However, for a runner to go from 2:07 to 1:52 in the course of one year is astonishing. Case will be a great addition to the Sacramento State's current freshman class which includes teammate Dan Mitchell and Clayton Valley's Nathaenal Litwiller who coincidently just finished right behind Case at the state meet in 3rd place.

1) What were your PRs for the 800, 1600 and 3200 at the end of your junior season?
Haha. Junior year, well they were:
800 : 2:07
1600 : 4:29
3200 : 10:01
Only the 1600 was any good. I pretty much sucked in the other two.

2) What are your PRs now for those races now?
Huge improvement in 1 year:
800 : 1:52.20
1600 : 4:17.61
3200 : 9:25.80

3) What do you feel were the reasons for the improvement you had this past season?
Well first of all, I'm lucky enough to have one of the most experienced and talented coaches there is out there (long time Del Campo coach, Bob King). This season we didn't change anything that much from past seasons. We added an additional day where we did 'hill sprints' which are supposed to help with speed, so, if i were to take a guess, that was a major help. I also worked out harder, ie. ran intervals much faster (i used to slack on those days), ect...

4) When did you first realize you had a shot to make the state meet?
The first time I realized I had a shot was when I ran 1:56.58 at the Viking Classic in Santa Rosa. I felt good and after I got home, I checked the SJS 800 leaders and I was among the top. I also thought I could make it in the 1600 due to my 4:17.61 which was second fastest in the section only behind my teammate Dan (Mitchell). All i needed to do was choose which event would give me the best shot and it turned out to be the 800.

5) Once you got to the state meet, what was your goal (time or place)?
At prelims, I just wanted to make finals. As for what time, I was hoping for somewhere in the 1:51's but I was perfectly happy with the time that I got. Once I got in the finals, I was going for a podium spot, of course I was aiming for the win.

6) Will you continue to race this summer and where will you be attending college?
Over the summer, I may do a few road races but nothing too much more than that other than training. Next year I'll be heading off to Sac State to run and major in Criminal Justice. Dan is also attending Sac State.

7) What would you say a typical week looked like for you from Monday through Sunday?
On Mondays we would always have intervals. They differed week to week. One week being 5 repeat miles to 6 repeat 800s the next, then the occasional speed workout. (more speed at the end but still not extensive) All with 1-2 mile warm-up and 1 mile cool-downs.

Tuesdays were more of just a recovery day from Monday and ran 8 or 9 miles easy with a pick up for the last 3 miles.

Wednesday was hills. In the middle of the season, we were up to 5 hills a day. The hill is about 3/10 of a mile and fairly steep. Overall mileage- 8-9 miles (run out to hill and back included)

Thursdays depended on what the schedule was for the weekend. Meet on Sat- 10 hill sprints (run only the steepest part of the hill), meet on Friday- 5 miles easy and hill sprints postponed to Sat. About 8 miles total.

Friday is an easy run. 5 miles if there is a meet on Sat, If there is no meet, 7-8 miles.

Saturday- Usually a meet day but if there was a meet on Fri, we would do hill sprints on Sat, otherwise just 8 miles w/ a pick up at the end.

Also run 4 miles in the mornings on Mon, Wed, and Fri.

8) What would you say were some of the track workouts that you did that you think helped you run 1:52 in the 800?
As for the 800, I truly don't know which workout helped the most. Like I said before the only new thing this year were the hill sprints so it may have been that. I did really enjoy repeat 800s and 400s though. It may also be that I have just had a lot of speed all along and just hadn't discovered it until this year.

You are welcome. It has been a great season and I am looking forward to the upcoming years of running in college!

Thank you very much for your time Matt! AJC

I'm riding the Livestrong 100 miler on July 12th, and need to get some pledges!

Please read note below...

Hey everybody! I am riding the 100 mile Livestrong Challenge on Sunday July 12 here in San Jose, and I am shamelessly asking you to make an on-line pledge in my name! You can go to the following website, and they’ve made it pretty easy to donate. Feel free to pass this on to any mutual friends…I don’t have all that many e-mail addresses in my computer!!

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=294743&lis=1&kntae294743=4C52DBC0593646A08CB0950B1C03BC35&supId=259408909

If you’ve got any questions, just respond to this e-mail. Sorry if I’ve been out of touch, but I just returned from a two week stint in the Dominican Republic, but I’m back and plugged in again!!!

Hope all is well where ever you are,

Peace,

Patrick
(Bellarmine XC and Track and Field coach)

You can find an interview with Patrick at the following link:
http://albertcaruana.blogspot.com/2008/10/catching-up-with-bellarmine-coach.html

Northern California Track and Field Coverage...

Hurdler missed Olympic team but has found success as San Mateo County coach (Nice article about San Mateo coach, Ed Riley)

2009 State Track & Field Meet Breakdown of points scored by section (The Conning Tower Blog)

Northern California High School Leaders (The Conning Tower)

Turner uses hammer throw to overcome personal issues (Former EGHS athlete claims bronze at Golden West)

Can Dwight Phillips approach 29 feet? (USA Track and Field Championship coverage by Jeff Faraudo of the Oakland Tribune)

2009 CA State Meet 3200m. reflection with Erik Olson...

Today we hear from Novato HS runner, Erik Olson, who just recently finished in 7th place at the CA state meet 3200m. run with a time of 8:56.56. Quite an impressive time for Erik who had multiple sub. 9 min. efforts this year but went into the state meet run in less than ideal condition (explanation below). Erik just also recently ran the world famous Dipsea race and finished in 5th place. No question, that Erik had one of the best track and field seasons ever for a Northern CA distance runners and with one year remaining for him in high school, greater achievements are definitely ahead of him.

1) What did you do training wise (day by day) following the NCS final on Saturday to the 3200m. final yesterday?
Well the day after NCS, I took off. Then Monday, I ran a 10k tempo run and ran a few 200s afterwards to work on closing speed. That day, I had the most amazing headache ever and did not feel good going into the workout, yet come time for the workout, I was feeling great. Then, I got home and started experiencing some severe chills and got my temperature taken from my mother. It turned out I had a 101.5˚ fever. Thus, I stayed home from school for two days and went to the doctor. On Thursday, I went to school, did an interval workout (not at full speed) just to get my legs moving again. Then on Friday, I got the call from the doctor discussing my lab results. It turned out I had food poisoning due to a bacteria found in undercooked chicken. I picked up my perscribed antibiotic as my coach and family left to Clovis. We Arrived at Clovis around 5 pm and did a short shakeout run. Then on Saturday morning went to Woodward Park for a warm-up run and then kept it low-key for the rest of the day until the race at 9pm.

2) What was your race plan going into the 3200m. final? Where there runners you were focusing on or where you focused on running certain splits?
Before getting sick, my race plan was to go out in 4:24 and then just see what I had left. Then after I got sick, I just wanted to be able to finish the race. During the race, I was focused on both the time and the runners around me. I was, fortunately, pulled by my competitors to hit a time that I thought was unreachable due to my food poisoning.

3) Tell us a little how your race progressed from the beginning and how it unfolded as it got into the second 1600m.

Well, after coming through the mile in 4:30, I felt like crap. I started to second guess my physical strength. Then, five guys just sped past me and I felt obliged to follow. As the laps kept on ticking away, I just kept thinking to myself that the faster I go the faster I will be done and my stomach ache will be relieved. As it turned out, this attitude of just finishing as fast as I could so I could stop my stomach from hurting helped push me to a negative split in the second half with a 4:26. With 200 to go, it was an all out sprint and I was trying to catch Dan Mitchell for the coveted 6th spot. I finally caught him at the line and we got the same exact time down to the hundredth with him slightly edging me out for the last medal stand.

4) What was the toughest part of the race?
The first mile was the toughest part of the face for me because mentally it was draining. During that first half, I seriously questioned whether or not I would be able to finish the race, let alone run sub-9.

5) What do you feel that you learned from yesterday's race that will help you in the future?
I learned to not get food poisoning the week before the state meet. But also I learned that in order to race well you have to be able to push yourself through your own mental doubt.

6) Any races coming up for you this summer?
Yes, I plan on running the Dipsea this next Sunday and then running the 1500 and 3000 in the World Youth Trials in Ypsilanti, Mich. on June 30 hoping to qualify for the national team.

Thank you very much for your time Erik! AJC