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DyeStatCal California
Coach of the Week 11/04-11/08 - Steve Chavez (Murrieta Valley)
A monster program has brewed to a level of fine success in the greater
"Inland Empire" area of the Southern Section at Murrieta Valley
HS. Coach Steve Chavez and staff have one of the top overall programs
in the State on the Boys' and Girls' sides, with the 2002 Girls group
ranked high nationally off Liza Pasciuto's leadership, with the Boys currently
high statewide this Fall!!
Congrats - Best of continued luck Steve - Doug Speck - DyeStatCal
1) Briefly trace your team's season so far this Fall--
Both teams came out of the gates ready to run. We began the season with
victories at the Bronco Invite, which really gave us the confidence we
were
looking for. The girls were Grand Champions at the Woodbridge Invite
(running 91:14), while the boys were a mere 4 seconds behind a very good
Long Beach Poly squad. Our team won the Sweepstakes Award as the best
overall combined team of the day. We had an amazing "Coast to Coast"
day
the following weekend as our girls placed 3rd at the Great American Cross
Country Festival and our boys won the Dana Hills Invite with the fastest
team time of 76:13 (a school record). We have won all of our league meets
and at Mt. SAC our girls won the Div I Sweepstakes, while our boys took
fifth. It has been a great run thus far.
2) Briefly discuss the success that your program has had in recent years--
People forget that our success began with our boys team in 1998. We were
4th place in the Mountain View League in 1997, and came out the next year
to
finish 14th in the state. Our boys finished 3rd in Div IAA in 1999 and
6th
in Div I in 2000 and finished 13th in State both years. Our girls placed
4th in CIF and 7th in State in 2000. Both squads have won 4 League
Championships and 4 County Championships in the past 7 seasons. Our program
has had great success at all levels, which is something I am most proud
of.
At this year's Mt SAC Invite, all of our teams placed 1st or second in
their
races (with the exception of our boys varsity-5th in Sweeps).
3) What is your personal athletic and coaching background?
I played 4 varsity sports at San Marcos High School in San Diego (Football,
Soccer, Cross Country, and Track). I was a 400m runner primarily, but
I
dabbled in the 800m on occasion. I attended UCLA on an academic scholarship
and quickly ended thoughts of walking on the track team after seeing the
likes of Steve Lewis and Danny Everett. Coaching had always been a goal
of
mine, being inspired mostly by my father who was always my coach in sports
and in life. I began my coaching career as a sprint coach here at Murrieta
Valley in 1996 while I was student teaching. I took over the Cross Country
team in 1996. Since then our school has grown from 1700 to 4300 students,
and our team has grown from 24 boys and girls to this year's team of 83.
We
have won 8 League and County Championships in that time and have had 2
Boys
and 1 Girls State Finalist teams. Our School records have dropped from
16:02 and 85:46 to 14:42 (2 runners that fast) and 76:13 on the boys team
;
and 20:21 and 105:12 to 17:24 and 91:14 on the girls team.
4) You are in a challenging weather situation getting ready for the
cross-country season in the warm weather in your area--how do you work
with
or around that situation?
During the summer we meet at 8 am, which gives us a situation where we
begin in cool weather and end is heat, so we can get a touch of acclamation.
When we get to afternoon practices during the school year, we run in
anything up to 104 degrees. If things get too hot we meet later in the
evening. The most important thing we preach is hydration. While we do
provide water to our athletes on runs, daily hydration is emphasized.
We do
a pretty aggressive warm-up on the track before runs, which gives us the
opportunity to asses the kids before they work out. Those who aren't
prepared do not run, no exceptions. This year we have been blessed with
great weather and have not had too many workout days adversely effected.
5) Generally, what kind of training did you have your team do this summer?
Summer is the most important part of our season. What we do over the
summer enables us to do the types of workouts we do during the season.
Without a solid base things can tend to fall apart by the post season.
"The
bigger the base, the higher the peak" Our typical summer training
week goes
as follows:
Monday: Lactate Threshold run (varsity 5-6 miles); Tuesday: 10x100m sprints
@ 400m speed, plus plyometrics and mileage; Wednesday: aerobic conditioning
run; Thursday: fartlek run over hills; Friday: aerobic conditioning run;
Saturday: Long run (Varsity 12-15 miles); Sunday: optional mileage. Varsity
runners do evening runs of 3 miles at recovery pace in addition.
New kids will start out between 20-30 miles per week and peak at 40-45
miles
by the end of summer; Experienced varsity runners begin at 40-50 miles
and
peak at 60-70 miles. Our official summer practice began July 8, but our
kids were training since June.
6) How did you approach a race such as Mt. SAC a week back as Varsity
groups
as far as strategy?
Our focus was on our team placing. Kids tend to get too focused on their
time at Mt. SAC and forget about what their team needs of them. I think
our
kids get more nervous for the invitational than they do for CIF Finals.
We
wanted our teams to get out well and then concentrate on picking up places
on the downhills. Essentially, we wanted to put forth an effort that would
give us an indication of where we can be come November 23. We have to
know
that we are within striking distance of our goals. I think we accomplished
that with both squads.
7) Who has influenced you most along the way in your style of coaching?
Without a doubt the most influential person as far as our training system
is Dr. Joe Vigil. The emphasis is on the building high aerobic capacity
and
Max VO2. I was first introduced to him and his philosophies by my assistant
coach Tim Sall, who ran for Dr. Vigil at Adams State. As a new coach at
the
time (my 2nd season) I was receptive to what he had to say. After attending
4 clinics by Dr. Vigil in the next two years, and especially after seeing
the massive transformation of my team over such a short period of time,
I
was convinced we were doing the right thing. Tim and I speak to Dr. Vigil
quite regularly, and he has taken a keen interest in our team, as he does
with all of the teams his alumni runners are involved with. Over the past
4
years, we strayed a little from his system, with mixed results. This year
we went back to the basics like we did with our boys in 1998 and it has
produced the best results.
Philosophically, I like to model my coaching after John Wooden. In college
I worked security at many basketball games where I would spend the game
standing next to the Wizard himself. It is hard to describe what an impact
conversing with someone like him has on you. His emphasis on preparation
and his pyramid of success are cornerstones of our program. Both Dr. Vigil
and John Wooden are the most inspirational people I have ever met. Their
mere presence makes you want to give your best.
8) If you had to bring up one thing that you center the core of your
training program on, what would it be?
Aside from our summer base, I would have to say that mile repeats (VVO2
workout) are the key to our success. We do them in the same progression
Dr.
Vigil did with his athletes. We begin them at the end of summer with
5(JV=3-4)x1mile @ 85% of max with 3 minute rest intervals; progress to
4 @
88%; then 3 @ 91%; and 2 @ 94% toward the end of the season. This year
we
alternated 800's every other week and doubled the reps with a 2 minute
rest.
The progression of all our athletes on these workouts has been amazing.
We
have girls that could barely do 9:30 mile repeats at the beginning of
the
season now turning low 7's. The most common comment among our runners
is
"Hey coach, I just broke my mile PR!" To which the response
is always
"Great, now go do it again!"
9) What advice would you have for a new coach just starting out working
with
a high school cross-country team?
First off, realize that you need to give your athletes the same effort
(or
more) that you expect from them. Create a family atmosphere on your team.
Show them that you care about them even during periods of criticism. Make
your team a place they look forward to being every day.
Train your teams together! Don't make huge distinctions between girls
and
boys. They are all athletes, training them together makes the team achieve
more and shows your younger ones how to reach for that brass ring.
Also, try not to serve more than one master. Too many coaches base their
training on anecdotal methods obtained from multiple sources. Make sure
everything you do is based in sound, proven physiology and make sure that
you can explain that to your athletes. Bodies love consistency, and so
do
kids. Choose a methodology or a philosophy that works and stick with it.
If it doesn't work, find one that does. Don't try to apply "patches".
Most of all, let your love for kids shine through in everything that you
do. Show your heart to your team and they will show you theirs. Seeing
that is what makes me come back year after year.
Thanks for this honor Doug! We have so many great coaches in this state,
I
am proud to be considered among them. Best of luck to all coaches and
athletes this post season.
Steve Chavez
Murrieta Valley Nighthawk Cross Country
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