Week of
September 17th-22nd, 2007
Bret Hasvold (Fallbrook)
George Green photo
Bret Hasvold (Fallbrook)
A San Diego section star who has traveled throughout
the Southern half of the State and has backed down from no competition
thus far is our Male Athlete of the Week. Bret Hasvold of
Fallbrook High has gone through the highs and lows of life and
sport in recent weeks with his individual successes with fine runs
at the Laguna Hills and Dana Hills meets, where he won his races,
and a third against a super group at the Woodbridge Invitational. His
14:27 at Woodbridge puts him among the top fifteen times ever run
there and in a very select group. Sadly popular Coach Marty
Hauck of Fallbrook died of a heart attack during an afternoon practice
September 19th in the midst of all of this to certainly cast a
pall over the whole school, with Bret below talking about the
effect it has had on him and the team. With our cross-country
types usually from supportive family situations where the right
things are done, and most athletes themselves quite the achievers
in all
areas,
the potential reality of life strikes occasionally, with our best
wishes to Bret and all of those in the Fallbrook community as they
deal with the tragedy that struck their group.
Thanks Bret
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com
DyeStatCal - Briefly describe how the running season
has gone so far for you?
Bret Hasvold - It has been going extremely well. Personally I couldn't
be happier with my races so far and how everything has come together
just
like Coach Hauck and I had hoped for.
DSC - Obviously your situation
recently has been affected by the sudden death of Coach Marty Hauck,
how has that
affected
you in
positive and negative ways?
BH -
In some ways it's brought us closer
as a team and given us something to run for. We wanted to make
this season very special for him
to begin with since he was going to retire from coaching after
this year. Now we have much more motivation to make it the season
we've been working for all four years. Last week was really rough
for all of us, including all the students at our school, and after
our performance at Dana Hills I just got this indescribable feeling,
like this really could be the year. Some of the negatives would
be that now everyday is completely unpredictable for our team.
One day we could all be having a great day in a work out and then
the next day we could just totally fall apart. We have some days
where we just dwell on the whole situation and it just hurts us
in so many ways. It hurts us mentally and sometimes we push the
work outs too hard because of the frustration. Not seeing him during
6th period and after school has been very hard to get used to.
I miss the way he would get us fired up to race or to just go out
on a run. Coach and I would just talk about stuff whether it was
school, running, cracking jokes about NFL teams or whatever, and
that has been really hard for me knowing we won’t be able
to do that ever again.
DSC - Good effort at Dana Hills this past weekend,
how did the team approach the event off the tragedy of last week?
BH - On Thursday after school the coaches sat the whole team down and
talked to us about the rest of the season. After that, Todd VanDuzer
and I got all the varsity guys in a little huddle and discussed
whether or not we still wanted to run the race or not. We all decided
that Coach Hauck would have wanted us to race and just said how
we have to remember what we're running for. We kept talking about
how this season is all for coach, everything we do is for him and
we just have to be strong. Our team really came together at Dana
Hills and we all had a tremendous day. I was ecstatic for how every
one of us did and the coaches couldn't have been happier. It was
a huge step for the team and the goals we have for the season.
DSC - How much training did you do over the summer
and what sense did you have as to how you could do coming in to
this
fall season?
BH -
Over the summer I ran somewhere between 450
and 500 miles. I just tried to run right around 50 miles a week
and did some tempo runs
a couple times a week. At the start of the season I felt the best
I've ever felt in four years. I feel so much stronger, last years
track season really helped out in that area. Until this year I
wasn’t sure that I could run with the best guys in the state,
but running well at Woodbridge really gave me a lot of confidence
and the knowledge that I truly can compete with anybody.
DSC - What is your favorite kind
of cross-country workout? least favorite?
BH -
My favorite would probably
be hill workouts. I generally run better when there's at least
one hill on the course. For some reason I
just run them really well and can usually pull away from people
there. My least favorite is just a long road run. I tend to get
really anxious just to get back to the school and it’s tough
on me mentally.
DSC - What are some of your goals
for the rest of the Fall season?
BH -
Team wise our goal is to win League,
CIF and go to State. Personally my goal is to be League champ again,
CIF champ and winning the
State Championship is definitely in the picture as well.
DSC - Have you given thought to
running and schooling after high school? Close or far from home,
any major decided on,
etc.?
BH -
I definitely am hoping that I'll have the opportunity to
run in college. I’m really looking for the right athletic/academic
package. I’d prefer somewhere in California, maybe Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo, I love that area, but I’m looking at other
options as well. I really don’t think back East is in the
picture though; I’m a West Coast guy. As far as a major in
school, I've really become interested in exercise science.
DSC - What advice would you give
to a beginning in our sport who is out for maybe the first season?
BH -
I
would say that it's really important to stay focused in workouts
and really push yourself because it's amazing what can happen.
Also try to stay calm on race days and just go out and run your
own pace. If you're feeling good push the pace and see what you
can do.
Thanks again Bret
Doug Speck
DyeStatCal.com
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