What does Newton do at York that is different than other schools? Does some of York's success come from some sort of recruitment process where the best young runners find their way to Elmhurst?
What does Newton do at York that is different than other schools? Does some of York's success come from some sort of recruitment process where the best young runners find their way to Elmhurst?
no, they just put in more mileage than basically another school in the country.
and they have a hugeeee team. So in order to make varsity say out of 100 guys, you have to be pretty fast, add a competitive factor between 100ppl and the top few who survive the mileage end up being pretty good. Thats generally how it works in high school.
fo sho
imagine if we got 90% of students to try cross country and if they were good at they stuck. we'd probably have a lot more runners who could compete with the kenyans. but then we wouldn't have as many basketball players to pay $10,000,000 a year and we wouldn't have as many players to take to court over abusing animal rights or raping women and such. oh well.
You're right. Then we'd just have runners to take to court over abusing animal rights and raping women.
How many miles per week do they usually run?
I heard they average about 110 miles per week. Freshmen start out about 60, sophs 75, juniors 90 and seniors 110.
they dont average 110 miles per week, and their freshman dont do 60 miles per week. newton is a very very smart coach, and doesnt set a certain amount for them to run, he sets distances based on ability, not year in high school.
Have you read his book, it states that they are running up to 90 miles per week. Their numbers are what does it. Also, many of them run 1,000 mile summers (the get a t-shirt). It is all about the numbers.
BTW: Can any letsrunners tell me of any York runners that did anything beyond high school?
Don Sage off the top of my head, NCAA outdoor 1500 champ.
marius bakken has run 7:40(3k)/13:06(5k)/28:26(10k)
the varsity run 90 miles a week but only run 6 days a week. They have almost 200 kids on the team. They get so many because they probably have the best running culture in the country. Most schools are basketball or football schools, but they are a running school.
There are a few that have done o.k after HS. People will always say they burn out or never improve, but what they need to do is compare them to the runners that they were running with. They win more time with their 3-7 runners being so much better than other teams. It is rare to see a York runner run bad at state,it is even rarer for the team to do bad. And just by having large teams doesn't answer the question. How does Coach Newton get so many of kids to buy into running so much with no guarantee that they will even get a chance to run varsity?
bakken doesnt count.
since he stayed one year at IU we can say sam bell had a huge hand in his performaces also?
what???????? wrote: How does Coach Newton get so many of kids to buy into running so much with no guarantee that they will even get a chance to run varsity?
Just like most of the other top programs in the country. The "role players". Kids work hard hoping that one day they may just be that kid who gets called up to Varsity. Almost every year you see these top programs graduate entire varsity squads, only to completely reload & win again. It's because they have tons of JV kids who've been working really hard & are ready to step up when the time comes.
York doesn't recruit anybody but talented runners with committed parents are willing to move to elmhurst. It is a nice town far enough out of the city to raise a family but easily close enough to commute. Newton attracts runners from all around the area not by recruitment but by reputation. He is simply a legend. They do a lot of miles but it is nothing outlandish, a lot of the reason they are so good is newton's ability to motivate and the motivation that comes from having that many quality runners around you on every training run fighting for a spot. It also does help to have 220 guys willing to come out for the team. It is intimidating when they come to a meet in 3 or 4 buses.
Coach Newton sends seniors into all the Gym classes during Freshman orientation and gets their names. Most of them come to practice that day and join the team. It's a great way for freshman that have no idea a chance to be part of a team when otherwise they might not do any sport.
York trains very hard, but one of the reasons they are so good is the summer training that each of the kids put in. When you have an established program, all the coach has to do is motivate and keep control. Talk to Coach Newton for 5 minutes and you will understand, the man is the best high school coach in the Nation.
The other day I went for a run and passed a park where York was at what looked like a fresh/soph race (or JV). They had a huge team. When you have that many you can run them to death and if 7% of the guys respond to it well then you have a pretty competitive top 7.By the way they had kids on there that probably couldn't run an 8 minute mile. I think Newton gets a lot of freshmen to at least try it out and if it doesn't work out for them then nothing is lost.
runnerdi7 wrote:
and they have a hugeeee team. So in order to make varsity say out of 100 guys, you have to be pretty fast, add a competitive factor between 100ppl and the top few who survive the mileage end up being pretty good. Thats generally how it works in high school.
He also goes around the halls and talks to kids about coming out for the team. I was talking to one of his former runners a while back (he's now going for an OT qualifier at Chicago) and he said that Newton just came up to him in the hall and said he noticed he wasn't doing a sport and asked if he wanted to go out for XC.
My kids ran for York so I can speak to what he does:
1. Stress tradition- 50 years of Newton now
2. Invite every single freshman to come and run
3. Develop a great work ethic
4. Kids run to their ability. Some handle 100 mile weeks; mine did. Some don't run that much. Everyone tries.
5. Make people earn their place- competition is key
6. Train harder than anyone else
7. Recognize a good feeder system- top jr. high runners are identified by the jr high coaches and invited to run in the summer with York.
8. Each year there are 130+ runners on the team.
9. Play no favorites.
10. Teach responsibility- when you lose,pick yourself up and work harder.
There is no magic, just hard work year in and year out. My kids ran 1000 miles per summer three summers in a row. They ran in college and did well. they still run, and one placed in the top 200 at Chicago marathon last year; a teammate, Jim Akita, ran 2.22 and placed 82nd.
Pleny run in college and do well- Don Sage, Tim Hobbs, Jim Akita, Adam Roche, Mike Lucchesi, Dave Walters, my kids, all ran and helped their teams, and many others do as well- Sean McNamara, the twins at Oregon, etc.