After one year as a pro, a breakthrough for Fiona O’Keeffe

http://www.fast-women.org/2022/01/24/after-one-year-as-a-pro-a-breakthrough-for-fiona-okeeffe/

It doesn't cost anything to be nice

At a Touchdown Club meeting many years ago, Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant told the following story:

I had just been named the new head coach at Alabama and was off in my old car down in South Alabama recruiting a prospect who was supposed to have been a pretty good player, and I was having trouble finding the place.

Getting hungry, I spied an old cinderblock building with a small sign out front that simply said "Restaurant." I pull up, go in, and every head in the place turns to stare at me. Seems I'm the only white fella in the place. But the food smelled good, so I skip a table and go up to a cement bar and sit. A big ole man in a tee shirt and cap comes over and says, "What do you need?"

I told him I needed lunch and what did they have today?

He says, "You probably won't like it here. Today we're having chitlins, collard greens and black-eyed peas with cornbread. I'll bet you don't even know what chitlins are, do you?"(small intestines of hogs prepared as food in the deep South)

I looked him square in the eye and said, "I'm from Arkansas , and I've probably eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I'm in the right place."

They all smiled as he left to serve me up a big plate. When he comes back he says, "You ain't from around here then?"

I explain I'm the new football coach up in Tuscaloosa at the University and I'm here to find whatever that boy's name was, and he says, "Yeah I've heard of him, he's supposed to be pretty good." And he gives me directions to the school so I can meet him and his coach. As I'm paying up to leave, I remember my manners and leave a tip, not too big to be flashy, but a good one, and he told me lunch was on him, but I told him for a lunch that good, I felt I should pay. The big man asked me if I had a photograph or something he could hang up to show I'd been there. I was so new that I didn't have any yet. It really wasn't that big a thing back then to be asked for, but I took a napkin and wrote his name and address on it and told him I'd get him one.

I met the kid I was looking for later that afternoon and I don't remember his name, but do remember I didn't think much of him when I met him.

I had wasted a day, or so I thought. When I got back to Tuscaloosa late that night, I took that napkin from my shirt pocket and put it under my keys so I wouldn't forget it. Back then I was excited that anybody would want a picture of me. The next day we found a picture and I wrote on it, "Thanks for the best lunch I've ever had."

Now let's go a whole buncha years down the road. Now we have black players at Alabama and I'm back down in that part of the country scouting an offensive lineman we sure needed. Y'all remember, (and I forget the name, but it's not important to the story), well anyway, he's got two friends going to Auburn and he tells me he's got his heart set on Auburn too, so I leave empty handed and go on to see some others while I'm down there.

Two days later, I'm in my office in Tuscaloosa and the phone rings and it's this kid who just turned me down, and he says, "Coach, do you still want me at Alabama ?"

And I said, "Yes I sure do." And he says OK, he'll come.

And I say, "Well son, what changed your mind?"

And he said, "When my grandpa found out that I had a chance to play for you and said no, he pitched a fit and told me I wasn't going nowhere but Alabama, and wasn't playing for nobody but you. He thinks a lot of you and has ever since y'all met."

Well, I didn't know his granddad from Adam's housecat so I asked him who his granddaddy was and he said, "You probably don't remember him, but you ate in his restaurant your first year at Alabama and you sent him a picture that he's had hung in that place ever since. That picture's his pride and joy and he still tells everybody about the day that Bear Bryant came in and had chitlins with him..."

"My grandpa said that when you left there, he never expected you to remember him or to send him that picture, but you kept your word to him and to Grandpa, that's everything. He said you could teach me more than football and I had to play for a man like you, so I guess I'm going to."

I was floored. But I learned that the lessons my mama taught me were always right. It don't cost nuthin' to be nice. It don't cost nuthin' to do the right thing most of the time, and it costs a lot to lose your good name by breaking your word to someone.

When I went back to sign that boy, I looked up his Grandpa and he's still running that place, but it looks a lot better now. And he didn't have chitlins that day, but he had some ribs that would make Dreamland proud. I made sure I posed for a lot of pictures; and don't think I didn't leave some new ones for him, too, along with a signed football.

I made it clear to all my assistants to keep this story and these lessons in mind when they're out on the road. If you remember anything else from me, remember this. It really doesn't cost anything to be nice, and the rewards can be unimaginable.

Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

Favorite Tracks in Northern California

I am curious as to what some of your favorite tracks are in Northern California. I will start with the St. Francis track and their certainly unique feature on the infield. What are your favorite tracks?

You can also check out the following link where I asked the same question on Twitter and got many responses:

https://twitter.com/CCExpress/status/1484592688942891008?s=20

Crystal Springs Course update

In today's San Mateo Daily Journal

It appears the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in Belmont is gaining more support for staying open. Last week, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to “adopt a resolution in support of renewal of the license between San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and San Mateo County Community College District for continued operation of the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course.”

NorCal Cross Country All-Decade Teams (2010-2018)

Looking to update this list. Who is missing from 2019 that should be included?

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I posted this last year in January. Please feel free to comment on runners that you feel deserve to be added or moved up on either list. Who worked their way onto the team by this year's performance?
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With one more year left in this decade, here are my picks for the all-decade (minus one year) team. I ranked the runners below based on what they accomplished in cross country only.  Feel free to put your own list in the comment section below. 

BOYS

Top 10
10) Meika Beaudoin-Rousseau Bellarmine (CCS)
9) Blair Hurlock De La Salle (NCS)
8) Trevor Reinhart Marin Academy (NCS)
7) Michael Vernau Davis (SJS)
6) Matt Strangio Jesuit (SJS)
5) Luis Grijalva Armijo (SJS)
4) Cooper Teare St. Joseph Notre Dame (NCS)
3) Aidan Goltra Campolindo (NCS)
2) John Lawson Sir Francis Drake (NCS)
1) Liam Anderson Redwood HS (NCS)

Also under consideration:
10) Aubrey Myjer Mt. View (CCS)
10) Dan Milechman Tamalpais (NCS)

GIRLS

Top 10
10) Riley Chamberlain Del Oro (SJS)
9) Sarah Robinson Gunn (CCS)
8) Elena/Maddy Denner Oak Ridge (SJS)
7) Julia Maxwell Branson (NCS)
6) Glennis Murphy Redwood (NCS)
5) Anna Maxwell San Lorenzo Valley (CCS)
4) Vanessa Fraser Scotts Valley (CCS)
3) Cate Ratliff Santa Cruz (CCS)
2) Carrie Verdon Campolindo (NCS)
1) Fiona O'Keeffe Davis HS (SJS)

Also under consideration:

Comments? Omissions? Who should move up? Who should move down? Who is missing?

La Costa Canyon XC and TF coach retiring

Not a NorCal coach but one of the most successful coaches in California is calling it a career as La Costa Canyon (San Diego Section) coach Bill Vice is retiring. 

You can check out my interview with him at this link from 2012:
http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/2012/08/catching-up-with-la-costa-canyon-coach.html

You can also check out a link to a recent article regarding his retirement here:
https://www.encinitasadvocate.com/sports/story/2021-12-18/lccs-vice-concludes-extraordinary-cross-country-coaching-career

Carrie Verdon learns she belongs

Former Campolindo runner, Carrie Verdon (4:51.80/10:22.50, 2-time state xc champion with 17:15.0 best at Woodward Park) featured in fast-women.org.

http://www.fast-women.org/2022/01/05/carrie-verdon-learns-she-belongs/

Potential interviews?

Now that I have some free time between cross country and track and field, I would like to reach out to athletes and coaches for interviews. If you have somebody that you would like to see interviewed, please let me know in the comment section below or reach out to me at albertjcaruana@gmail.com.

For reference, here are the links to past interviews:
Athletes: http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/search/label/Athlete%20Interviews
Coaches: http://www.crosscountryexpress.com/search/label/Coach%20Interviews 

CCS All-Time Team XC Champions

CCS All-Time Team Championships: BOYS

22 Bellarmine
13 St. Ignatius
13 St. Francis
10 Crystal Springs Uplands
10 Los Gatos
9 Carlmont
8 Half Moon Bay
8 York
6 Junipero Serra
6 King City
6 Willow Glen
5 Homestead
5 Leigh
4 Aptos
4 Gunn
4 North Monterey County
4 Stevenson
3 Carmel
3 Pacific Grove
3 Palo Alto
3 Valley Christian Dublin
2 Greenfield
2 Leland
2 Menlo School
2 Mountain View
2 Overfelt
2 Palma
2 San Jose
2 San Lorenzo Valley
2 Scotts Valley
2 Watsonville
1 Anzar
1 Fremont
1 Gunderson
1 James Lick
1 Los Altos
1 Mills
1 Milpitas
1 Mt. Pleasant
1 Oceana
1 Priory 
1 Redwood Christian
1 Sacred Heart Prep
1 San Benito
1 Santa Cruz 
1 Saratoga
1 Seaside 
1 Woodside

CCS All-Time Team Championships: GIRLS

16 Aptos
13 Los Gatos
13 St. Ignatius
11 San Lorenzo Valley
11 St. Francis
10 Castilleja
9 Half Moon Bay
8 Carlmont
7 Archbishop Mitty
5 Mountain View
5 Santa Teresa
4 Crystal Springs Uplands
4 Homestead
4 Leland
3 Carmel
3 Gunn
3 Milpitas
3 Nueva
3 Overfelt
3 Palo Alto
3 Presentation
3 Santa Catalina
3 Santa Cruz
2 Menlo School
2 Mills
2 Monta Vista
2 Sacred Heart Cathedral
2 Stevenson
2 The King's Academy
2 Woodside Priory
1 Gunderson
1 Harbor
1 North Monterey County
1 Notre Dame SJ
1 Redwood Christian
1 Sacred Heart Prep
1 Salinas
1 Scotts Valley
1 Silver Creek

If you catch any errors, please email me at albertjcaruana@gmail.com. 

2021 All-NorCal XC Team

You can find the entire list at the following link:

 
http://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2021/allnorca.htm

If you have photos of any of the athletes listed, please email them to hanklawsontrack@gmail.com.