Bay Shore High School, cont.

What makes our program special:

* Coaching. I put in many hours with my runners. I have and still do run with them. I take them all over the country. I am constantly tweaking our training, reading, talking and observing. I also have excellent asst. coaches (Allison Mauri) and we have a very good young coach at the Middle School(Melissa Keckler).

* Success of the program from the very beginning.

* our school district, from the Superintendent, Principal, Asst. Principals, Athletic Director, Board of Education and to the Parents and Coaches. Everyone is very supportive, and they all allow us to do what is necessary to have the successful program we have. We arew very lucky!

* we have very dedicated athletes.

* we also have a fitness mile run at the middle school. If we can get four out of the top ten runners in each class (on an average), we will be competitive at every level!

How did we get the program off the ground and to the level it is today:

* I started the Girls XC and winter track programs back in 1977-78. It took a lot of convincing to get the girls to work hard, to go run in the cold, and at first they had to compete against the boys. We started with 5 girls and have worked up to about 50 for XC and about 75-80 in track.

* we have had other good coaches which allowed me to pass the torch. It also allowed me to coach at the college level for 7 years. When I left the ratrace of college coaching, we did not have any openings at the high schoool, so I went to another local school, Half Hollow Hills. All the while, I was teaching at Bay Shore. So I was able to watch what was happening. When the xc and track job opened up in 2000, I came back older and wiser! I was able to use the knowledge I acquired from high school, college, middle school, teaching, my running, and my sons running. This has all made me a much better coach over the years. I have also become patient, and I observe more.