Week of September 10th-15th, 2007
Chris Williams (Skyline, Oakland)


Coach Chris Williams (one right of center) with his Skyline HS Award Winners

This past weekend as we "road-tripped" around the state co-editor Rich Gonzalez was here on the home front anchoring on results as they flowed in, and when we ran who should be this week's Coach of the Week by him he stated that we should take a close look at Skyline of Oakland Coach Chris Williams, who had his Boys Varsity squad win the Ed Sias Invitational Large Schools event with what turned out to be one of the top performances in the history of that competition.

Skyline High School has a great tradition in a number of sports, with consistent Track and Field successes and Distance/Cross Country successes back a few decades to equal any of that in the State.  State Champions such as sub-4:10 miler Johnny Johnston and 3200 stars like high state placer Tom Downs in the late 1970's have set down a great history for the school.  At the higher levels as teams in recent years the small Section has been a bit challenged, with that circumstance changing in a serious way already this Fall.  Now teaching at Skyline, Chris Williams was good enough to take some time away from what we are sure is a very busy schedule to talk with us a bit. 

DyeStatCal - Quite an impressive team performance at Ed Sias Invitational this past weekend, one of the best in that meet's history we hear. How did you think your team's chances were coming into the affair?
CW - Thank you for the compliment. We had put 3 juniors in the top 15 there last year and I had a feeling that we could have a special day if we could sneak up on some teams that didn’t know we were this strong. The kids knew the course pretty well and if we could execute our plan, I thought we would have a shot. But I didn’t think we would have that great of a day.

DSC - Oakland has had a smattering of distance runners through the decades, with Skyline, in particular, very strong a few decades ago with sub-4:10 1600 runner State Champ John Johnston from 1975 and Tom Downs second in the 1979 State Meet 3200, but since then high placings have been few and far between for the area. How aware has your team been of the school's tradition, and did you draw on it in helping to rebuild the program?
CW - The team is aware of our school’s tradition in cross-country and track. We have talked more recently about how great those teams were in the ‘70s coached by Dave Peterson and about how this group would match up with them. I had a great meeting with Peterson a few years ago and he gave me some great stuff (workouts, race splits, results, pictures, newspapers, etc.) that I have used in my coaching and building of this program. It really made me realize, and the kids understand this too, that there still can be great teams that can come out of Oakland, and that those teams in the 70s and even the teams from Oakland High School in recent
years, can happen.

DSC - How long has this year's Boys' varsity been in the building?
CW - Ever since they were freshmen. I showed them a comparison of their times as freshmen at Joaquin Miller Park versus those of the Oakland High team when they were freshman that took 16th at State that year and how great they really could be if they stuck together. They all have run track and cross every season. The guys have done an amazing job of staying together.

DSC - How organized was your summer running program and kind of how much running did your varsity do this summer before the season?
CW - Our summer running program was very organized. The kids met on a regular basis with mileage and workout goals. A lot of credit has to go to them. They would set times for their runs and did most of the running together as a team. The boys put in more than their fair share of 70-mile weeks, something I am extremely proud of for them.

DSC - What kind of areas nearby do you have for training--we assume the school name has some geographic implications?
CW - We are at the top of the Oakland Hills about three miles away from where the Oakland Hills Fire was. We frequent the Bayview Trail and the West Ridge Trail in Redwood Park quite often, which are gorgeous settings to run in – plenty of redwood trees, good hills, nice trails (minus the bikers). We will do some training at Joaquin Miller Park, which many believe is the
toughest course in the state. Plenty of great hills for hill repeats. All of this is within 2 miles of the school, which is very handy.

DSC - What are the general psycholgical characteristics of the 2007 Boys Varsity Cross Country group that have helped it climb the ladder of success as a squad over the last couple of seasons?
CW - We had tremendous captains a couple of years ago (David Okikawa and Willie Godfrey) that really set the tone for what we are doing now. Some coaches have to worry about the student athletes putting in their runs when the coach can’t be there and whether it happens it or not. I was guilty of it until I was tossing around the idea of 70-mile weeks with the guys during track and how much work it would be for them and how much responsibility of their running they would have to take and Andrew Sylvester said, “Well, Coach, you’ve never told us to do this kind of work before. Tell us what you want us to do.” This kind of attitude reflects the whole team – they’re willing to make sacrifices for the unknown, no questions asked. They believe in each other and the program.

DSC - Did you have to work on overcoming any "personality" of the program in general (small one league section kind of puts you in different situation and all) to be able to achieve success against teams outside your section/league?
CW - This is definitely a popular topic on the discussion boards. What people don’t realize is that Oakland High had some pretty good teams the last few years and trying to make it to State was difficult for us, so the Oakland Athletic League and Oakland Section Championships were important. Last year, we won the Westmoor Ram Invitational and Oakland High took second, so winning Oakland Section wasn’t a gimme. Some things we do do is we race at good invitationals, at Clovis, and this year we’re thinking about going to Mt. SAC. This gives the guys great exposure to some pretty good racing.

DSC - What is your personal athletic or coaching background, education background, and who has influenced your style of coaching along the way?
CW - I ran cross country, played soccer and baseball at St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda (yes, I own every Jason Kidd jersey there is). I wasn’t a great runner (mid 17s at Woodward) but I was on the first team that made it to State there in 1996 and was captain of the team in 1997 that took 5th in D5. I didn’t run track because of baseball (I did play on a traveling team with Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis). I started head coaching at Skyline in 1999 at the ripe age of 19, only 14 months removed from high school. During that time I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from California State University, Hayward. There have been many people who have influenced my coaching. Tom Craig is my mentor and has become a great friend. Christopher Rivers, who is the Grassroots basketball director for Reebok and was my cross coach from ’94-’96, has been
instrumental in being the great coaching role model that he was for me (he was the adidas guy behind Lebron James when he was in high school). Tony Fong who was my coach in ’97 and still carrying the SJND Pilot Pride today. Dave Ponas at Oakland High has been a great rival and our program wouldn’t be as successful without the great example that his kids and his program have given us. Walt Lange at Jesuit, the blueprint of what a program should look like. I could go on forever.

DSC - Understand you are now teaching at Skyline, what effect do you think that will have on the potential success of the program?
CW - I am hoping that it will help with recruiting on campus, both for athletes and assistant coaches. The only reason I ran in high school was because of Coach Rivers talking to me as a freshman. I was drawn to him and what he was doing. I am hoping that by
teaching there, I can have the same effect. Being an educator, it will also be good that I can help our athletes in the classroom get the best education they can possible have.

DSC - What general suggestions would you have for a young coach just starting out who has been handed a program that maybe has not been real successful in the recent past?
CW - It has to be about the kids, not the league championships that go on your resume. Some of the greatest pride I get is watching a kid like Adam Marcus, who ran 29:34 as a freshman at Clovis, receive a medal at Ed Sias on Saturday for being on the JV Boys team that took fourth. You have to love what you do and bring energy and excitement everyday to practice. Be patient. We started with 6 boys and 2 girls my first year. Now we have a team of about 50 and I truly believe it is because we have created a
family environment that anyone can be a part of. Don’t be afraid to seek help. One of the biggest mistakes I made was thinking that I knew it all. Run in the right invitationals for your program, the ones that fits your needs and ability. Have fun.

Thanks Chris
Best of Luck
See you down the road
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com

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