Top California runner Jessie Petersen from Carlmont HS (the high school that had the controversial firing of their distance coach last year who led them to many titles) quit her track team because the new coach made the team run less than 10 miles a week.
The article is here:
What are your thoughts? Did she do the right thing? She was D1 recruit status, how much could this affect her?
Oops I mean the article is here:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?type=sports&title=The%20run%20is%20over&id=127266
It was posted on a blog and there are comments here:
I ran the 400 meters in HS and did more than 10 miles a week!
Speaking as someone who knew the old coach at Carlmont, I know that Petersen was consistently running 80-90 mpw. No wonder she decided she had had enough when they dropped to 8 miles a week...
That defense of the new coach by Bill Daskarolis is as lame as anything I have ever read. A coach has to have control over the team...yeah, right. And what if the coach is totally incompetent.
My HS cross country coach was actually a tennis coach and got assigned to cross country. He was also a decent guy. Our runners knew each other pretty well and when I became co-captain I went up to him and "coach, what we'd actually like to do is this"... and he said to us "you guys know better than I do." We undefeated league champions. A great coach is a godsend. Failing that, a coach who knows what he does not know is better than a dogmatic ignoramus.
In defense of the new coach, he's probably trying to prevent burnout. These HS programs running more than 30+ mpw are just asking for long term problems.
This girl sounnds like an immature prima donna whose freaking out. If I was the coach I probably wouldn't want to coach someone like this so its probably for the best she quit and he didn't have to kick her off.
If its true (and I doubt it) that she has been running 80-90 miles a week than what's the big deal taking a little pre-season two week period where she cuts way back, it would probably be good for her. He's more than likely trying to keep her from getting injured and help her stay fresh.
On the flip side, I ewould think the easiest thing is to let the girl do what ever she wants in training. Obviously he doesn't have a problem getting her to do the work, which isn't the case for 99 percent of the kids you coach.
What happened when the internet came around was good and bad for distance running. The bad thing is every kid thinks they are an expert. She's freaking out about 200's and 300's like its going to ruin her career (which more than likely has peaked). I watched Peter Tegan's Wisconsin Women , 800 through 10,000 meter runners) run weekly speed work including 200's and 300's every week from November through June.
NorcalbayArea wrote:
Speaking as someone who knew the old coach at Carlmont, I know that Petersen was consistently running 80-90 mpw. No wonder she decided she had had enough when they dropped to 8 miles a week...
Oh, man, what time machine did they get this new coach out of?
I had a track coach in high school, in NorCal, that would show up to practice with a stopwatch around his neck, a mug of coffee in his left hand, and a cigarette in his right.
Splits were called out of one side of his mouth, while the cigarette was held in the other.
I kid you not.
She indeed runs that much, many reliable sources could tell you that. There was an article in the paper that also talked about how much she was running during cross country, I will try to find it later.
What you have to understand is that the Carlmont program had a huge legacy going. Their top runner last year, Justine Fedronic, now runs for Stanford and ran on the Stanford DMR team as well as Nike Nationals last year. They have consistently been one of the best teams in the state and northern California. When their old coach got fired (another controversial subject), the new coaches wanted the team to cut off connections with the old coach... however, it appears that in the off season Petersen and other teammates trained with the old coach.
It isn't just Petersen who has quit the team, more than half the distance runners have and the team seems to be a shadow of what it was in the recent past.
Sometimes teenagers can actually be right and adults and authority figures can be terribly wrong. I know this comes as a big shock. I say this as an old fart.
Are you serious? Her career hasn't peaked. She runs a lot of mileage and she has been able to stay mostly injury free and has improved every year! Just this past year she ran one of the fastest times ever on the Crystal Springs course in northern California (that has had many notable runners run on the course, including Caitlin Chock, Shannon Rowbury, etc). She ran some really fast times at some all comers meets in February and looked to be in really good shape. She's consistently improved every year and was looking to be one of the best in the state.
Just sayin it wrote:
NorcalbayArea wrote:Speaking as someone who knew the old coach at Carlmont, I know that Petersen was consistently running 80-90 mpw. No wonder she decided she had had enough when they dropped to 8 miles a week...
Oh, man, what time machine did they get this new coach out of?
I had a track coach in high school, in NorCal, that would show up to practice with a stopwatch around his neck, a mug of coffee in his left hand, and a cigarette in his right.
Splits were called out of one side of his mouth, while the cigarette was held in the other.
I kid you not.
Was he a good coach? I recall sitting with some old timers that talked about all the Soviet bloc coaches drank and smoked.
I keep hoping that one day we get smart and move sports out of schools. The club system can be so much better and less of a burden on taxpayers or the schools themselves. It also would eliminate situations like this.
I am guessing that CA allows for non-teachers to coach as long as no teacher wants the job, but the minute a teacher pipes up wanting the job, the non-teacher is gone without any thought as to the qualifications of the teacher.
[quote]JohnnyO wrote:
In defense of the new coach, he's probably trying to prevent burnout. These HS programs running more than 30+ mpw are just asking for long term problems.[/quote
the overwhelming majority of high schoolers who do not run well enough to get a scholarship to run in college, will quit after high school, what good is preventing burnout when the kid will quit in 1,2 or 3 years anyway?
There is no "in defense of the coach." None.
She should of changed schools
luv2run wrote:
I am guessing that CA allows for non-teachers to coach as long as no teacher wants the job, but the minute a teacher pipes up wanting the job, the non-teacher is gone without any thought as to the qualifications of the teacher.
That's correct.
She couldn't run anymore than 8 miles for two weeks... so what. Did she ask what the mileage will be after the first two weeks? I am sure there is more to this than what is written in the article.
JohnnyO wrote:
In defense of the new coach, he's probably trying to prevent burnout. These HS programs running more than 30+ mpw are just asking for long term problems.
2.5/10 Not very convincing. Put more emotion into it.
Carlmont was such a good team... I will always remember seeing the girls team take down the Crystal Springs course record, what a performance! It is so sad to see this program go downhill so quickly...