Felix Moreno Resigns from St. Francis University

sure man wrote:

That's because you were a sprinter. Try being a distance runner.

Sprinter? Um, the only open events I ran under Coach Moreno were the 600 and the 800.

STL_Runner wrote:

sure man wrote:

That's because you were a sprinter. Try being a distance runner.

Sprinter? Um, the only open events I ran under Coach Moreno were the 600 and the 800.

Essentially you are a sprinter during track. Elite 800m runners in this country, until recently, have been coached like sprinters with a decent amount of success. They did limited amounts of volume and intense speed work. Johnny Gray, the Clark women, etc. If you said you were a 3k runner you would be making a point.

Catone was responsible for the decline of the program. I really don't know Coach Moreno, but Catone really left the team with nothing. On the men's side, with the exception of a few early recruits, Catone recruited mostly a bunch of a$$holes that had no interest in working hard. Most of the success Catone had occurred with Kevin Donner's recruits.

Success wasn't even the reason most of Donner's guys don't have an ounce of respect for Catone. The guy is morally bankrupt. Whether convincing guys to race through injuries that might get worse, having inappropriate relationships with his athletes, and trying to push his athletes to bend the rules. The guy was a sleeze and didn't belong anywhere near the SFU campus.

As an alum, I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to be around teammates with great character. We were able to have more success than anyone could have ever expected. I credit it to my teammates who had great attitudes and work ethics.

This job is truly a great job. The University is one of the most unique schools in the country. The leadership of the University has excellent vision. The students who graduate from there leave with a great experience that prepares them to handle the real world well.

Lets be honest wrote:

Why would any legitimate University allow the athletes in on the hiring process? That is poor administration.

Most colleges allow athletes some input. Many interview processes involve some interaction with current athletes. It would be poor administration if the process did not involve student-athletes.

your timeline wrote:Essentially you are a sprinter during track. Elite 800m runners in this country, until recently, have been coached like sprinters with a decent amount of success. They did limited amounts of volume and intense speed work. Johnny Gray, the Clark women, etc. If you said you were a 3k runner you would be making a point.

Point taken. I cannot attest to Felix's ability to coach long distance runners but I know his coaching worked for runners in events ranging from 200 through 800 meters.

Catone was a distance guy, but he kept his hand in the mid-d and sprint pots. Like I said, he seemed to lose interest in the SFU environment. He didn't recruit heavily in the last couple of years that he was there, which caused the loss to Juniata and the downward spiral of the SFU distance program after he left. It's hard to field a good XC team when you can't even find five XC runners.

I ran well under Catone; his coaching worked for me. Once he left, I stopped running well and spent all my time injured.

The distance guys didn't see through his bullshit, they just had a hard-on for a distance only coach that wasn't interested in the jumps, sprints, or throws. Felix came in with promises of collaborative training programs, but he was resistant to any discussion of what worked or didn't work for the athlete.

I think that the program was heading in the right direction at the time that Felix took over, having a healthy mix of talent in all the event areas. Unfortunately, many of those athletes lost their coach when Coach Torge left and he was never replaced.

It seems that most people are hoping for a return to the distance only SFU track program. Those teams won championships in the past, so it's understandable that some think that returning to that formula would win more championships. As an alumnus, though, I would hope that the program would continue to develop a balanced track and field team, and build on the success they've had in recent years in the sprints, jumps, and throws, not just in the distance events.

I hope that a talented and motivated coach is found who can bring all three NEC titles back to Loretto.

Speak for yourself, but Felix's answers regarding distance-oriented questions during the interview definitely threw up some red flags for a few of us. Also, the distance runners wanted either Adam Beltran (a throws coach who certainly would have hired a competent assistant for distance and given this individual full control of the distance program) or Chris Straub (a D3 coach who had a proven record of success in coaching distance runners and bringing in competent assistants to coach the other events).

But this certainly should not be a discussion/argument over the past....

I definitely agree with you that SFU should strive to have a well-balanced program. With the position combined (head XC and head track), however, I do believe that, in MOST situations, it would be best if the head coach specialized in distance. Of course, you'll always have the exception - a great head coach who does an awesome job coaching sprints and can delegate appropriately....no pride issues unlike Felix Moreno, who felt he could coach all events both when he arrived in Loretto and as he leaves Loretto.

But, I think we need to remember that the SFU environment still does cater to a program built around a core of distance runners. Certainly some strong jumpers, sprinters, and throwers, but a core distance group. They have no indoor facility, and with the harsh Loretto winters, how can you expect a sprinter or jumper to train optimally between Dec. and March?? Distance athletes can train a bit more effectively despite not having an indoor facility.

Let's get SFU back to winning triple crowns year after year....it should be interesting to see who the candidates are......

The job should go to a former SFU distance runner that knows the history of the program. An "outsider", although they may have enough experience, will not be able to mend the program like an alum would be able to.

Brian Sell, please coach us! hahahaha

keep it in the family wrote:

The job should go to a former SFU distance runner that knows the history of the program. An "outsider", although they may have enough experience, will not be able to mend the program like an alum would be able to.

You have got to be kidding me. A good coach that cares about his/her job and the program they are building can get the job done - no matter where they went to college or where they have coached before.

I do agree the coach should be a specialist in the area of distance. The campus / facilities are best for making that event area the strongest part of the T&F team. Coaching sprinters, jumpers and throwers in a hallyway, cardio room, weight room and racquet ball court during the months of December - March is not ideal - but it can be done.

I am sure Lananna was an insider at Oregon right? Hell no. He was coaching at a rival school. I am also sure that Oregon double checked with the student athletes to see if Lananna was a good fit. You people have no idea about hiring. For the record, Brian Sell would be a horrible coach. Just check with some of his former teammates. By the way was Donner an inside man when he came to SFU? Hell no he was a sprint coach at some directional school in Michigan.

keep it in the family wrote:

The job should go to a former SFU distance runner that knows the history of the program. An \"outsider\", although they may have enough experience, will not be able to mend the program like an alum would be able to.

Who says an alum would be the best fit? The history of the program has nothing to do with the current runners on the team. All Saint Francis needs is a knowledgeable distance coach who recognizes that the school has a relatively good history (for the NEC) of distance running and has the desire to work with the team to get better.

The sprinters and jumpers were trained very differently before Felix arrived, just like the distance runners; they used to train outdoors during the winter. I have fond memories of our "Indoor Track" alongside of the football field and JFK. While the Loretto winters are not ideal for sprint/jump training, this training worked to develop many of the successful sprinters and jumpers SFU has had over the past few years. Training indoors never seemed to hurt the throwers, either (arguably more a part of SFU's recent success than the distance runners).

I would almost say that getting a track helped lead to the decline of the team. Training was a lot tougher before the track was down, taking advantage of the topography of Loretto to build tough runners. When the track came, time there increased, while time on the hills around campus decreased. Whoever the new head coach is--I agree that hiring an alum seems like a terrible idea, are we back to fielding applications from the fathers of team members?!--I hope that he/she goes back to basics, and takes advantages of the natural training locations around Loretto, not just the track.

If you are talking about Coach Straub, I can tell you that no one works harder to field a balanced team and he has recruited All-American sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers. SFU made a mistake not hiring him.

Alum wrote:

"Catone recruited mostly a bunch of a$$holes"

"Most of the success Catone had occurred with Kevin Donner's recruits."

"The guy is morally bankrupt. Whether convincing guys to race through injuries that might get worse, having inappropriate relationships with his athletes, and trying to push his athletes to bend the rules. The guy was a sleeze"

Wow! I have heard a great many thing that were not too nice about Catone (while he was at Wagner, Manhattan, St. Francis, and UMBC) but this is pretty harsh! If he did half the shady things you refer to in your post, he should have been shot not fired.

Catone doesn't need to be shot, his ween needs to be cut off.

I absolutely agree with Alum. Anyone that did well under Catone was a Donner recruit or someone who joined the team a few years after Donner's departure. The majority of the guys Catone recruited were total lazy douches.

Sell and Sheehan are not the only good runners to have come out of SFU.

Dear Alum & Sterilize,

As Donner "Elites" you must be greatly proud of your accomplishments. While current athletes do not know all of the Donner "Elites" by name, we know Sell, Sheehan, and Suravicz. I highly doubt any of them are wasting their time talking about past team dynamics on Letsrun.com. So please get a life.

Trust me, we recognize the past problems, with coaches, athletes and alike. However, it would help if we could start anew. This means letting go of past issues. With any team there are athletes who go the extra effort and those who do not. The one's who work hard and accomplish something will always be remembered and those who do not won't, it's that simple.

So please, set an example and don't waste your time on here and add to the negative marketing by posting about past team problems for selfish reasons, we don't care.

I look forward to working hard and adding to the team's many accomplishments.

Thanks,

SFU

BTW...If you are looking for a way to help the current team, try donating some time to go to meets, contacting Bob Krimmel about possible coaches, or just donating money. We really want your support and would love to have a stronger relationship with you all.

I'm pretty sure that nobody from the actual SFU administration is posting on here. As much as you would like to think that you are important, you really arent part of the admin and shouldnt be posting as "we". Its funny how you tell old alum to get a life for voicing their opinion on what they feel about the team (both past and present) when you probably were never a member of the team. I think they are bringing up past issues with the hopes that history wont be repeated and that SFU will make the right decision in hiring their new coach. You say that the admin recognizes the problems and I hope you arent full of it because it seems like the problems have not been recognized for years.

So please, stop representing an entire school on an internet message board.