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by Pearl Watts
[Editor's Note: Pearl Watts writes about high school
track in Northern Virginia. He covered Alan Webb since his first
cross country race as a freshman at South Lakes High School. This
is his first report since Webb came home after his freshman year
at the University of Michigan and announced he would leave U-M and
turn pro.]
RESTON VA 7/30/02 -- Not quite as much hoopla has been made over
Alan Webb's recently completed
first year at the University of Michigan as was his stellar senior
season in high school.
The one thing that has increased in 2002 over the 3:59.86 indoor-3:53.43
outdoor campaign of 2001 seems to have been publicity on the negative
side
concerning running and/or the management of running by Webb, Michigan
coach
Ron Warhurst and South Lakes coach Scott Raczko.
Living in the same Northern Virginia area and having covered Webb's
high
school career for a local paper has afforded me a chance to follow
Alan's
career much closer than others, from his first cross country race
as a
freshman onward.
It also still allows me to continue to get a little more information
than
some concerning Alan and his current and future plans because of
my proximity.
Unfortunately for many who are curious, Webb has not exactly been
a quote
machine in the past month or so, leaving a lot of track and field
followers
to speculate on who is to get the credit or blame for the last twelve
months
or so.
I was hoping in the last week to be able to sit down and talk with
Alan and
with his first year after high school behind him, find out what
he feels lies
ahead, what his goals are and how he feels in his current situation
with
World Championship 2003 and Olympics 2004 on the horizon. However,
I have
found out that Webb is currently on vacation with his family for
this week
and next. I should be able to talk to him and hopefully pass something
on
in about two weeks.
I have been able to talk in the past couple of days to his former
coach at
South Lakes, Scott Raczko, who will now be his coach since he has
turned
professional, and Raczko said Webb is very excited about the future.
Webb will be attending school at George Mason and with Raczko still
coaching cross country and track and field at South Lakes, Webb
will be in
training with Raczko at other times than those designated for South
Lakes
practices.
Webb will also have to obviously do a lot of training on his own
without
the benefit of a team, but the Northern Virginia area with its fine
middle
distance reputation through the years, should be a much easier area
than some
others in finding some very able post collegiate training partners
at times.
Raczko also said that the non-collegiate system the 19 year old
Webb will
be in could also afford Webb the possibility of some high altitude
training,
for example, and some other different training techniques employed
by some of
the elite runners national and world wide.
Webb's schedule for the remainder of 2002 will be steeped in some
very
serious training although Raczko did not rule out one or two cross
country
races during the fall. These would be of the less than 10,000 meter
variety
but could possibly provide Webb with a change of pace from the daily
regimen,
put him in a race situation and give Webb a further idea of where
he is in
terms of short term and long term goals.
As of now, the plan would then be to race indoors sometime in late
January-early February.
According to Alan's mother, Katherine Webb, "Alan is very
happy with the
decisions he has made this summer concerning his running future
and his
family is also fully behind his decisions. We are very glad to see
him in a
very positive frame of mind and see him reuniting with Coach Raczko
as a very
good thing.
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