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Week of September 24-29th,
2007 A big meet with a Seeded or Sweepstakes race, such as Stanford, is both fun and confusing to watch. Stars abound, most recognizable up front, with a large grouping of quality teams usually spreading even the best five scorers back to placings they are far from used to on the local scene. It is kind of like a war, with athletes back in places thirty through fifty often deciding who will take home the top team awards. With out of state teams, those squads who may have changed uniforms, and up and coming teams from another area you do not see regularly it is a test to make sense of what is happening from a team standpoint during the race of even the most dedicated followers of the sport. With the big "RBV" on the jersey front of the groups from Rancho Buena Vista HS in the San Diego Section in both the Boys and Girls Seeded runs this past weekend, at least they were an easy group to pick out, with their top individual athletes prominent in the race group of leaders, and the other scorers for the team in maroon and white filtered back nicely through the pack. When the dust had settled after the finish it turned out both Boys and Girls contests had winners from out of state, but an impressive second in both races were these improving groups from Rancho Buena Vista HS in Vista, leap-frogging over a number of teams to their lofty finish. The Girls' squad has been fueled by the quick development of a group of three frosh athletes in the top five and two others filling out the top seven, with the Boys' squad a great job that had them finish just a single point behind the Northwest US's #1 ranked squad, Crater of Oregon. Readying the Boy and Girl troops for such action takes a careful and well-executed plan, with this week's DyeStatCal Coach of the Week, Tom Lux of RBV, one of the Golden State's top runners during his competitive days having made a pleasing graduation on to the Coaching scene. He took time away from the chemistry class test tube wars and dealing with his herd of runners to take some time to answer some of our questions about his team and this past weekend's effort. DyeStatCal - You are back from Stanford, where the program made a big splash and took down a number of top California squads and lost only to two top teams from the Northwest while placing second in both Seeded contests, Boys and Girls. What are your thoughts as you look back on the races? Coach Lux - As a team we are progressing well. The results are better than I expected. Looking back on this race, I found myself talking at length to a number of kids immediately after the race. There were a few kids that were disappointed with their performance. In their eyes it is not easy to be 40th place in a race and feel that you were successful. It is my job to keep things in perspective regarding what success truly is. This is our focus every week. Running meets like Stanford are great situations to practice staying focused. DSC - Seeded races like Stanford are a bit like war with athletes usually among the top pack or second pack in local races much farther back with the head end of the race pulling away. You have had top front-runners all season, but the rest of the pack must have stepped up to place as high as you did. What do you tell those #3 and #4 thru #7 runners who you cannot live without to focus on in such a different type of race as a big Seeded one like Stanford? CL - Early in my career I would not discuss an upcoming meet until meet day. I felt that I would stress out my team before the meet. I have changed my pre-race approach I believe that controlling your thoughts leading up to a meet is paramount to performance. If athletes thoughts are not given a directive then those thoughts will become fear and that will cripple anyone. Taking the nervous energy and channeling into a focus is my goal. We treat it like a business, stay on task, stay focused on our goal. We plan out the upcoming meet. I have a method of putting this energy into a meet day focus. The meet day focus begins with the warm up and continues through every aspect of the race. The athletes have a confidence with this method that allows them to focus and perform under stress.
DSC - We will talk about the Girls squad in the next question, but speak a bit to the personality of the Boys' team, who continue to move up the rankings ladder in the state off performances like this last weekend— CL - The boy’s team is very self-motivated group. I believe the key to developing this motivation came from my intense direction towards journaling. The day my coach (Bob Larsen) handed me a journal was when my training went to the next level. I feel that if an athlete will train and journal in the off-season it will have a confidence that will get them through the difficult times in competition. This team is very focused and self-reliant. They all working hard in training and believe in each other during races. This is what motivates and inspires them to always give their best.
DSC - The Girls team has five frosh athletes in the top seven, with only one senior. How have they approached all of this so far this season, and what maybe extra steps have you taken with them due to the relative youth of the group? CL - Like the boys, I started them into journaling from the very beginning. As you can tell I am a firm believer in this concept. Building team chemistry and using the leadership I do have by introducing the “team concept”. This has helped my younger athletes excel and my experienced runners focus on the “team concept” versus personal performance. This team is focused on that concept. I cover the importance of team chemistry everyday with them. DSC - What do you teach at Rancho Buena Vista HS and how long have you been involved with the sports program there? CL - I teach chemistry at RBV. I have been the head cross country and track coach since the day I started there in 1990. DSC - We are not sure how many people know about your personal running background, and speak a bit to the coaches you came across during your career and how they influenced you and your coaching? CL - My personal best in track are: I qualified for the 1980 Olympic trails in both the
5,000 meters and the marathon. In 1976 I ran on the national championship
cross
country team the Jamul Toads, coached by Bob Larsen. DSC - Where do you go from here, what big meets are on the schedule, and have any goals needed to be looked at a second time based upon how the squads have done so far? CL - Our schedule has Mt Sac Sweepstakes race in October. After that we have our league championship, San Diego CIF and the State Meet. If we keep performing well, it would be nice to be invited to the Nike Nationals. Our goal is to keep progressing and improve from each race week to week. Winning is important but not without honor. Both the boys and girls team has respect for their competition because they realize the work required to be success. This team never takes anything for granted. DSC - What general advice would you have to a coach who is just beginning in the sport of Cross-Country at the prep level? CL - My advice is to get the kids to be accountable to themselves. This comes from journaling. Strive for consistency in their training. Doing a little on a consistent basis is better than doing a large amount for a short period of time. Emphasize this is a “team sport”. As much as there are personal accomplishments, there are great team rewards too. Thanks Coach Lux |
