MONDAY, July 18, 2016

In my last entry I made reference to (Jack) Daniels' Running Formula, a book which details "proven programs 800M to the marathon."  The book has served many coaches seeking to help their athletes reach their full potential.  At the high school level it should be said that, in my case anyway, I am not expecting any of our athletes to attain his/her full potential just yet.  My training plan is to help the student-athlete achieve a level of success that will allow for achievement of modest goals while preparing them for the next level of competition.  Many high school runners hope to run in college, and while some have the ability and are willing to put in the effort participation requires, many more continue running for a variety of reasons such as fitness and self-discipline.  My last entry also mentioned the training video which made an impression on me and which drew me to coach at Whitman-Hanson.  If you have not had a chance to see the video (a link for which is just to the right of this entry,) it shows members of the Girls 2012 Cross Country team conducting a strength workout with reference to Daniels' methods by Coach Erwin.  Team members include Abby and Rachel Baker, Samantha Coletti, Kelsey Tierney, Shawna Ryan, Megan Concannon and Abbie Newman, ALL of whom have taken their talent and love of running to the next level. Those athletes not only achieved enormous success at the high school level, but continue doing so as college athletes.

Recently I spoke with a former student-athlete and the discussion, as it most always does, led to running.  The conversation went to the subject of team success and how I measured a successful season.  Surprisingly (or maybe not,)  my primary goal beyond keeping team members safe, is to see those athletes who are willing to make the commitment, move on to the collegiate level.  Of course, keeping an athlete healthy and injury free, is a major element in the process.  When asked about my most successful team to date I had to include the team, pictured below after winning the Ocean State XC Meet.  These athletes now compete at Northeastern, Texas Christian, St. John's, Emory, American and Colby.  The seventh attends BC and though not a member of the team, has completed the Boston Marathon in each of the past two years.  Coach Richardson and I were very proud of that team. This year, heading into the 2016 season, we have a number of athletes who are quite capable of running at the collegiate level.  Whether we can achieve the success of Coach Erwin's team or NDA's team of 2013 remains to be seen, but I see enormous potential there.  The more important question is, "Do you?"