|
John M. DuCray (St.
Francis, Sacramento) State Division III Cross-Country Champ Coach Answers
some questions
Relaxed St. Francis group prior to the 2002 November State Championship
Run Girls Div III
In a year of solid state meet performances and improvement during the
fall season by so many teams it was all quite an amazing crescendo to
the season at the Fresno State Meet this Fall. With National prep team
rankings kind of limited in number to the different areas of the nation,
some of California's super teams this Fall will not receive the National
listings at the end of the year that there might have been otherwise.
One of those was Coach John DuCray's St. Francis of Sacramento Girls,
who marched through the season in fine style, emerging in Fresno with
the race of the school's history taking the State Division III title with
78 points and a 95:47 team time (19:10 average for 5 at Fresno).
To have so many great teams come from different areas around the state
is so much fun, with St. Francis the fastest team ever at Fresno out of
the Sac Joaquin Section (greatest team in Section history (?) with their
State meet run. Coach John DuCray has been at the Sacramento area private
school for a long time with some serious local success, but it is interesting
to hear from him as he talks about taking it to the next level in 2002.
We are so fortunate in our sport to have people such as John in our sport.
He willing shares the credit with his staff, and is so willing to share
what 2002 was like for he and his squad. This is how other programs learn
how to take the steps up the ladder to improvement and more success.
Thanks John - Doug Speck - DyeStatCal
1) Describe the characteristics of this year's St. Francis group of girls
that came together and helped your squad to be as successful as they were--
Our philosophy is TEAM and family. Team is not spelled with an "I".
XC is all about the team first and then the individual second. If we get
individual success as well, that is icing on the cake. But, it takes a
team
atomsphere, the coaches believe, to have a successful program. This years
team bought into that philosophy like no other team, came into the season
in
better shape, work harder, without complaining, than any other team at
SF,
and continously encouraged each other to be the best they could be. The
team
members liked and trusted each other and that was critical for us to have
the great year that we did. We thought they might do better at the state
meet than they had in 2001 because we had a good core coming back and
that
finishing in the top 5 was clearly achieveable. We had very good talent,
but could the coaches find a way to bring that talent out and compete
at the
very highest level.
2) How did the season come out compared to what you felt the group was
possible in late August or early September?
3) Was there a turning point meet or two that added to the group's confidence
and belief they could do something like win state?
(answer to both of above) I personally put a challenge out to the team.
As a coach, I had won
five section titles, but never had a team get on the medal stand at the
State Champioships. My last goal as a coach in XC was to get a team to
finish, in the top 3, at states. My asst Coach Tom Laythe, got the the
momentum going in the spring, in track, when he got the girls running
quite
a bit faster in their1600 meter races. Tom is the distance coach for the
track team. It was his work with the girls in track that got the ball
rolling. Another asst Coach Megan Quirk, a former runner at SF, got the
summer program going better than it had ever been. That was step two in
the cycle. So in late August, we knew that we would have a good team.
But,
how good, we didn't know. It wasn't until we won the Ed Sias Invite, in
Martinez, in mid-Sept. did we have thought that we could finish in the
top
3 -5 at states. We had been doing easy endurance with as many hill workouts
as possible, prior to
Stanford Invite and did better than we expected. We still hadn't done
a lot
of work and we were trying to keep girls healthy. After Stanford, we kept
the hill work, but added some lactate threshold work, again with the
emphasis on keeping the girls healthy. At Mt. SAC we ran 3rd in the Div
3-4-5 sweepstakes race and that was another confidence booster. Plus,
we
had one girl win the Soph Race and right there we knew we might have a
chance to be top 3 at the states. With her time inserted in our varsity
group, that would put us in 2nd, in the sweepstakes race. Our league was
tough to win and we had to get by Placer, who was ranked #1, for part
of the
year, in our sub-section and section meets. The girls kept improving,
closing the gap between runners, and we just kept on winning. We were
waiting for the bubble to burst, but it never happened. I am so greatful
for what the girls did. They got ranked #1, just 4 days before the state
meet, had enormous pressure put on them, and they came through like
champions. The girls deserve all the credit. My asst Coach Tom Laythe
put
it best, "The girls did all the work, we didn't have to run one step."
I
wish every coach gets a chance to feel how I am feeling. It's GREAT!!!
4) What did you most learn about coaching from this year's team at St.
Francis?
What we learned about coaching this year is that if we raise the bar,
the girls will respond. Having talent always helps in the process. We
learned that if we keep them healthy, we give them the opportunity to
succeed. And we learned that the girls can be challenged, have fun, be
part
of a family (our XC family) and be on a sports team, be successful, and
run
fast.
5) Did you do anything different during training in a significant manner
with this year's St. Francis crew than with any of your other recent teams?
The only thing we did a little different is we didn't run to fast to
soon, we modified and increased the frequency of hill workouts, we ran
a few
more mile repeats, raised the volume of our workouts, maybe 10%, and worked
on leg strength througout the season. Also, since the girls came into
the
season in better shape, we started the season at a higher volume of work
and
only had to increase their mileage moderately.
6) What most important thoughts could you pass on to someone who is
just starting out as a high school coach?
For a beginning coach, read and study as much as possible, ask questions
(and do this throughout your coaching career), find a system that suits
your
style and is scientifically based, don't overtrain and keep them healthy.
Get kids out. Make it fun. So, include fun days for training, treat the
athletes to ice cream/popsicles/fruit/pizza, etc...Don't take it to
seriously, (which I do too much) and laugh with them.
Back to DyeStatCal News
|
is published by 