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DyeStatCal Girls
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DyeStatCal Girls After a masterful few years at Thousand Oaks HS, the prep ranks have lost one of its great coaches, Robert Radnoti, to the college ranks, as he takes over from Dick Kampmann at Pepperdine University. We took the liberty to name him our DyeStatCal Girls Coach of the Week for the super job he did over the last few years at TO. He followed a legend, Jack Farrell, in fine style, with appearances with his school club group at the Nike Team Nationals and a stunning Division I state title last Fall. His "extra-curricular" program for building a team is unequalled in history, and if anyone can put together a fine program at Pepperdine, they have hired the guy!!! Congrats - good luck 1) Briefly trace your personal athletic history as you grew up and as an adult? I grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and entered elementary school not knowing English. I was raised in a Hungarian household (my parents escaped during the Hungarian revolution in 1956, after being jailed by the Russians three times). Like a lot of kids I played every sport and ran around the neighborhood playing. I did not start running until my sophomore year in High School I went out for the Track team. Then my junior year I ran Cross Country. I was always the kid who organized the pick-up games in the neighborhood. I loved to play sports, any sports, and I loved to compete. I was driven to be the best at whatever I did. I just pushed myself to excel. I actually didn't start running competitively until my family moved to Greeley, Colorado. I joined the track team my sophomore year and my first taste of cross country competition was my junior year. I placed 33rd in the State meet as a junior and then was runner-up my senior year. I attended the University of Colorado and was a "walk-on" to the men's cross country/track teams. I earned a partial scholarship after my freshman season. I graduated with a B.S. in chemical engineering and was hired by Exxon Company, U.S.A. in Los Angeles.
I founded, coached and ran on the Exxon corporate track team that participated in Runner's World magazine's Corporate Cup Relays held at Stanford University in 1981. In 1984, my Exxon teammate and I won the men's mile team race (Hank Lawson from Lynbrook HS was also in the race). The Corporate Cup Relays holds a special place in my heart, as I met my wife, Jan at the 1981 event. She captained/coached and ran for the Adolph Coors Company team. We met, competed, fell in love.
2) What inspired you to go into coaching? I love motivating people, organizing/creating events; whether it be training runs or races and I love every aspect of competing. I love all the pieces to the competitive puzzle: The psychological, the physical, the physiological, the nutritional, the motivational and the list goes on and on. I LOVE IT!!! My children inspired me to coach. I coached all their AYSO teams. I loved the genuine energy and enthusiasm of working with the young people. A kid's spirit is contagious at any age: elementary, high school and college. Each age brings forth a newfound spirit. I love the creative strategy involved in coaching. A good coach is always looking for that extra "edge" that can help his/her team for any given season. There is always something to learn as a coach and I love to learn. I love the opportunities I have at Pepperdine to talk with so many great coaches such as Marv Dunphy, the men's volleyball coach and former Olympic coach. There is a constant learning curve in coaching and that is fun.
3) What were the details of your initial involvement with the Thousand Oaks HS program--how did you end up there as opposed to other places? I was a chemical engineer for Exxon U.S.A. in Thousand Oaks (for 17 years) and knew Jack Farrell from our Conejo Track Club affiliation. One weekend morning, I read that Jack had resigned his position at TOHS. I went out for a 12 mile run and thought about the position the entire run and how great it would be to coach. By the end of my run I decided I wanted to apply for the head coaching position. I told my wife Jan and she said she had read the article and knew it was the perfect position for me and the timing was right. I called up Jack and asked if he would help me get the position. He did help and I became the Head Coach of the Cross Country team in 1998. Jack was a wonderful mentor, legendary coach and I will always be grateful to him for his support in my hiring. When I informed Exxon of my coaching intentions I was told that I could not adjust my work hours to leave by 1:30pm to go coach at TOHS. I knew in my heart I wanted to coach. I resigned from Exxon and I never looked back. It was the best decision I have ever made in my professional career.
4) What did you philosophically base the training plan that you provided for the TO group? Our training plan evolved over time from what I did at the University of Colorado (watered down) to influenced by USATF and AAF education, and reading lots of books (since starting at TOHS my running library has increased to over 100 books). I wanted everyone to have a yearly and 4 year progression of workload (this includes mile run, intensity, the long run, speed, and racing experiences). Our mission was to create great memories such that students graduating from our program became lifelong runners. I wanted to make running fun as well as teach the kids life lessons along the way. I wanted the kids to believe in their own potential as a runner and as a person. I wanted them to understand the importance of risk taking in life when appropriate such as: challenging oneself mentally while running up Half Dome in Yosemite. I would create fun and safe risk taking activities to help students overcome mental fears.
5) The peak of your teams was always quite impressive, can you somewhat simply explain the philosophy that surrounded the ability to pull this off I spent quite a bit of time studying Ken Reaves and talking with him and thinking about my own running progress. The most challenging part of this has been the expectations of athletes, parents, and the media. A coach must really resist that temptation to push the limit too early in the season. Over the years I took a lot of heat for running through races, or running our B or C teams. A huge advantage of large teams has been the ability to race different people at different times. In our powerful Marmonte League I often rested our top runners so that we could concentrate on the end of the season. I remember Randi Rossi from Irvine tell the story of finishing 3rd in league and winning CIF. I was willing to risk that happening.
6) Your TO program was very, very elaborate--where did you get your ideas on many of the things that you did (Thursday thrills, etc.)--? The first “education” I got on coaching high School athletes was reading Joe Newton’s book: Coaching Successfully Cross Country. While his methods were way out there, it got me thinking about creative ways to attract runners to our sport. My wife, Jan and I both have always done creative fun sporting events. For example: On the morning of our wedding attended by over 300 people, we staged a Wedding Day 5K complete with customized t-shirts and awards. We both love to entertain and come up with fun activities which are generated from events we have either done or seen. It takes some work to logistically pull specialized events off, but the reward is in the smiles of the kids after they have just completed a crazy 8 mile water melon run or 15 mile Tour de le Oaks pool run, or a 24 hour relay run. I spend a lot of time creating great team bonding events as well as getting miles in and having fun all at the same time.
7) What challenges await you at Pepperdine? Our mission is to be the best running program in the nation for high performance students committed to the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values, where students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. Near term challenges are putting our program on the map - getting student athletes to see and share my vision. It is going to be an exciting time as future student athletes get to co-create a very special program in Malibu, California!
8) What is the appeal of Pepperdine to student/athletes? Have you ever been to our Malibu campus? It is the most amazing place I have ever been to. When I arrive each morning (I usually get here between 5-6am) a spiritual, peaceful feeling comes over me. I think all students who attend Pepperdine experience this same peaceful sense. Students of course come here for the quality education, the university's foundational values and we have an ocean view! (We are now the 17th most selective University in the nation). Our athletes are all very high performance students. Pepperdine is a great learning environment. |
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