Ben Rosario Show

Welcome to the final episode of the Ben Rosario show for season three. Ben is the coach of the professional Northern Arizona Elite team in Flagstaff and Dean Ouellette is a high school coach in Chandler Arizona. Today they welcome Coach Tom Rothenberger of Jesuit high school in Oregon. Tom has coached Jesuit for over 30 years with 26 state titles. About Coached for 37 years Played other sports in 70s Father died young so mother raised him and he spent a lot of time outdoors Coach identified talent when Jr in high school Used running to run for Boise St 4 coaches in 4 years - different experiences Found success senior year Was married as a sophomore One of 9 children Applied for a job with Catholic school at Jesuit, 37 years ago, still there 1993 added girls program Different training based on cycles of 80's-90's We had 10-12 kids on team and now over 150 Lydiard background with phases by the book, high volume 9 years to get team to State Work ethic was laid early and building running culture Football was k

When it comes to qualifying for NXN, Southlake Carrol ranks as the school with the second most combined team appearances, only behind FM. We talk to him about his success Background Ran as a youth and into college Was lucky with coaches was an 800 guy forced to do cross country School 2700 students 150-160 combined boys/girls most year Affluent community and good school Took over the program in 2008 Stays plugged into the middle schools Reed Brown discussion - sub-4:00 senior year Discussion on how he works with the assistant coach to make sure kids are always progression no matter where they are. Team building events  How is it determined who runs the final top 7 for the State meet Training Summer starts first Monday after school is out New kids start out with a mile run, keep it easy so they come back Meet 5 days a week Summer has long runs, recovery runs and tempo runs (short and long) First meet end of August Monitors kids off how they run on recovery runs, see how they feel 400 progression through

Dan Iverson - Naperville North girls head coach. The girl's team won the 2018 Nike Midwest Championship and were runners-up from the 2017 NXN. Background 25 years coaching Ran North Central College for Al Carius 2500-3000 kids at school and 75 girls on the team Al has had a big impact on Dan Run for fun and personal bests Enjoy and put in the work Everyone no matter ability contributes to the whole The kids buy in, we teach them you get to run, not have to run A fine balance between putting in work and having fun Should be able to do the things you can do perfectly, perfectly all the time (dills/core) Summer Training We run by time, but long runs are my miles Freshman come in with the goal to build up to 10 miles, some do, some don't It becomes a challenge and many accept it Veterans will add in tempo type work to their long runs usually 11-12 miles Yoga and strength workout to prevent injury Thursday lots of strength, balance and formwork Three groups Deadlifting, band, pushups, body weight Balance sta

Dave Van Sickle From Iowa, did track to stay in shape for football DII football and track athlete Moved to Arizona in 1982 to see how fast could run post-college Started coaching in 1983 Started middle distance coaching in high school then local community college needed a coach and took over their cross country program, not knowing how to score a cross country meet After 3-4 years there moved around the country for a few years  in 1990, at age of 30, got a full-time job a Xavier High School in Phoenix and been there since Sponge for learning and sat with Arthur Lydiard for 3 hours Stephanie  Bruce Ran for Dave and Xavier in high school 1998-2002 She came on as an unfocused freshman Eating habits were horrible Was stuck at 5:28 for a few years before breaking through as a senior with 4:54 in just a few weeks When asked how that happened, she thought she was running hard, now knew what running hard was Doing the basics, but with super motivation and you can have breakthroughs Things were kept simple Trainin

Dave Frank Central Catholic Introduction Grew up in Oregon, won some state titles in high school Ran at Stanford in early 80's Senior year made Olympic Trials in Steeple Made it again in 88 and in the marathon in 92 11 years coaches at St Francis in California Central Catholic was nothing to speak of when arrived Alberto Salazar hired same year and Galen Rupp was a Freshman 19 years now at Central Catholic You had a lot of success as a runner, why did you end up coaching high school? Stanford coaches got us interested in coaching There was a need for an assistant cross country coach at the school I was working When moved to Central Catholic thought would be the head coach, but they hired Alberto Enjoyed helping kids get better How did your training differ between California and Oregon? In California, as an assistant just working on making JV kids Varsity In Oregon worked closer with Alberto on training What was the team like when you arrived at Central Catholic and how has that changed, and what impact

Introduction to Sal Gonzalez Rio Ranch High in New Mexico Started running in high school to stay in shape for basketball Had more luck and was only 5' 7" so ended up running in college School demographics 2400 students in school One of higher academic achieving schools in the state 80 kids this year 30 girls and 50 boys First year there was 2008 The second year the school split, was 4000 kids the first year The first year with the bigger population was 25 boys and 20 girls When took over with new program lost kids and had to rebuild What was your previous school like? 50 kids Cultural changes Had to adjust to geography changes to change training Kids at Rio Rancho have more homework and push themselves more academically Kids were stronger at prior school had to do more strength work here at Rio Rancho When you took over the school split and things changed, did you try to keep the traditions of Rio Ranch like they were before you got there or did things change? Rio Rancho was a bigger school that I was

Introduction to Coach Timo Mostert Great up in Illinois and ran at BYU 1998 moved to American Fork 8 State Championships over last 9 years 8 NXN trips with an average place 5th and lowest 8th, 2nd place 3 times in the last six years School demographics 2400 students in 3 grades In our school district 3 other schools who have made it to Nike Cross Team averages 30 boys, 40 this year is the largest ever When did you decide you wanted to coach? Very early had great coaches After the freshman year in college got into education with hopes of being a coach What do you want to talk about in this podcast, what is important to building a program? Did coaching clinics the last few years How we changed from a good program to national contender Going back to basics (Lydiard) Develop aerobic engine How do we develop a good aerobic engine? Good base in summer Need to work on all phases of training all the time, just different emphasis Early in base still doing stride laps Aerobic speed can be developed and can sti

Colin Altevogt, the boys XC coach at Carmel High in Indiana. Colin has been coaching in Indiana for the past 11 years, the last six years as a cross country coach at Carmel. The team has captured four state championships and two state runner-up titles with two qualifications for Nike Cross Nationals (2014 and 2017), including a tenth-place finish in 2017. Background Ran in high school and college Taught at Avon right out of college 2011-2013 moved to Carmel as an assistant 2012 we trained training 2014 became head coach In the 6 years, we have 4 state titles and 2 runner-ups Why did you get into high school coaching Always wanted to be a teacher and loved track When I was in college did volunteer coaching Always wanted to be a coach since he was in early teens Speak to cross country and the traditions in the mid-west Our winters are fairly mild with just a few exceptions Summer we meet in the mornings so good running conditions Summer Program June 2nd was State track meet June 4th was first practice fo

You had an amazing end of season qualifying both boys and girls team for the Nike Nationals. Want to talk about how that went for you?The boys and girls did so well, and they continue to do so year after year, it has to be a program thing. So what is it about what they are doing at Mountain Vista that is making both the boys and girls so good. Get everyone involved Over 40 athletes ran at Nike Qualifying meet The challenge for many coaches is finishing up at State on an emotional high, qualifying for nationals then running well at nationals. So can you talk about how you planned that physically and emotionally? Both teams had the goal to get back to nationals this year Took goals of a long season into the whole season programming After State took a few days down then by end of next week they were back emotionally. Do you think the 3 weeks is a little more of an advantage than the teams that need to go two weeks later? This year raced them a little less so they were ready to go Southwest was extremely di

John O’Malley is the longtime coach of Sandburg High School where he has sent two teams and a few individuals to the NXN Championship race. John took over the program in 2003 and we talk about some of the changes and challenges he has gone through. John coaches more than 50 boys, we talk about the staff he uses to manage that team size and how Good To Great has helped him build the coaching staff. Culture is a big piece of the success of Sandburg High School. John talks in detail about building the culture and what that means? John talks about recruiting and growing the team? Before we get into training, great coaches develop their own system that works for them, but they all have influences too that have shaped them. Who are some of your coaching influences? You throw some interesting things into your training. In the course of sound training, how do you switch things up that is specific to your team?What are some of the things you give the kids as they plan the race to set them up for success? You are doing

Trina Painter Won both the boys and girls State Titles for Arizona Division 2. Trina talks about both State meet races for the girls' team and the boys' team. Trina talks about her running history which included several Olympic Trial qualifiers. Trina talks about her experiences at the Olympic Trials in 1996, 2000 and 2004. Flagstaff is a D2 school with 1600 students total. They typically have 75-80 total athletes on the cross country team. With a successful program that wins so many state titles in a row, how hard is it to make sure that fire stays lit and the kids stay motivated to win the next one? Trina talks about how it has been coaching her own kids. How much of a benefit is it for the high school students to be training at altitude? Flagstaff needs to run their state meet in Phoenix, where it is often 100 degrees in the first week of November. How does she get her kids ready for that? She mentioned that she has club soccer players on her team. How does she balance it with the kids who want to be part

Chris Hanson - Head Boys Coach Desert Vista Cross Country and Track Chris has been the head coach at Desert Vista High School since they opened in 1994. DV has 3,000 kids and about 60 boys a year for cross country. Chris discusses what his coaching staff looks like to handle such a large team and the important role they play. They had three state titles in a row coming into this year, Chris discusses what the goals were coming into this year. What the summer looks like with Desert Vista and what their participation was like and we discuss their training schedule and how they deal with the desert heat in Phoenix. We talk about the mental side of the game and keeping those outside of varsity engaged. Hanson uses 3 training groups and he talks about how they vary and the importance of morning practice. We talk to Chris about the State meet and how the meet which resulted in the 4th straight title went for DV. Chris discusses the training and how they are getting ready for Nike Regional after a big high at State.

Larry Weber was named as a Washington State High School Cross Country coach of the year in 2011, 2012, and 2015 by the Washington State High School Cross Country Coaches Association. He was also named as the Division 2 National Coach of the year for the girls in 2014 and for the boys in 2014, 2015, and 2016. His teams won national cross country championships in 2014 (boys and girls), 2015 and 2016. Coach Weber has served as the head coach of 8 Washington State High School State Championship cross country teams in the last 7 years. In addition, he has coached 3 individual state cross champions during the last 7 years.    We discuss: His career as a runner and how it lead into coaching How at such a small school he recruits and keeps a successful program How does he use what he learned as running at an elite level and use it in his program Who did he learn from and what did he read that helped him in his coaching What does he do to individualize programming to get the maximum out of each kid while not overtrain

Coach Joe Porter St Louis University High School Joe Took over a very successful program and we discussed what it was like taking it over when things were already going so well. When there is a regime change, sometimes the new coach forces changes, Joe talks about how he built the trust of the team. Joe talks about the one thing that all successful programs do. With an average of 3.5 hours of homework a night, plus up to a 45-minute drive to school one way, Joe faces some unique challenges with his school. Joe discusses how he gets his team to run the best race of the year at the State meet and how that changed over the years. During the season Joe focuses not on team results, but on what they can learn from that race. We talk about goal setting and how he keeps his athletes accountable by having a copy of their goals on a notecard. Joe talks about a bounce week, what is it, when is it used and why do they call it a bounce week? What is a staple workout that St Louis does, and why is Ben so invested in it? Ho

Adam Kedge Albuquerque Academy AA won boys and girls state title last year. Kedge has over 20 State Titles at AA and was the 2011 National Boys Coach of the Year. Kedge is a member of the NM Sports Hall of Fame Only 650 kids at the high school, yet have made Nike five of the first six years.    Won both the boys and girls state crowns last year, we talk about the expectations this year. We talk summer structure and how it differs between upperclassman and newer runners. Coach Kedge discusses how often his kids race and how he works on race strategy with the kids. “If you don't work recovery into every aspect of your training you will run into a snag somewhere.” Coach Kedge sets up his weeks so he can have success on the weekend for his races. Monday is usually a workout day with a long run on Wednesday with the race on Saturday which will give them three hard days a week. “You tell me your Monday, I will tell you a lot about your program.” Coach Kedge has a running times workout which is a staple workout for

Mark was the coach of Carmel High School in Indiana for 8 years. 7 of those years his team made the Nike Cross Nationals meet.    We talk to Mark about culture, his summer program, what it was like taking over an already successful program and we dig deep into his training.  Follow Ben Rosario https://twitter.com/BenRosario1 Dean Ouellette https://twitter.com/coachdeanrun Mark Ellington https://twitter.com/mellingt93

You have coached at every level you could coach at and recently retired from Team USA MN. Can you talk about that decision and recapping your time there? You had a lot of success with Team USA MN. What do you think lead to the amount of success you had? Was it team atmosphere, Minnesota or what were the factors? Where do you see the future of these post-collegiate groups in the next 5-10 years? You mentioned the loneliness of the long distance runner. You recently wrote a book The River Road, a novel during the runner boom of the early 70’s. Can you talk about the premise of the book? How was the training different for kids in the 70’s? - Jim Ryun trained like a swimmer. Talking about the 70’s and kids runners not getting injured like they do today. You are coaching 7-12th graders now. What has it been like to switch back from the post-collegiates to kids? You have some really young kids, how do you get the kids started and keep them healthy? Can you touch on your marathon philosophies and what worked where y

We wanted to get the co-coaches of Coe Brown, Tim Cox and Brent Tkaczyk, on because we wanted to talk to some small school coaches who are having success. Some of the issues smaller schools of 700 kids have a much bigger difference than a coach at a school with 3000 kids and huge teams You also have a unique coaching situation there and that is where I wanted to start.   If you could both introduce yourself, give us the 2-3 minute background on your personal running history and how you ended up coaching together.   You have a unique program with two coaches, who deals with more of the handling of the kids and pep talks?   When you took over the program it was smaller, how did you start building it?   You talk about doing a lot of fun running games. Can you give us some examples?   At a small school what do you do with recruiting to make sure you maintain a big enough team?   Last year in 2015 you tied for second at regionals of NXR, but were passed over for at-large. Did you use that as a motivator over the s

Marist, a smaller school in Georgia in the last 9 years on the girls have won 9 state titles and boys 6 with a few 2nd place finishes, we want to dig into what you are doing to have this much success… first let's start out if you could give us a background of how you got involved in running and how you ended up the coach of Marist?   Is this your first coaching gig, or did you coach before Marist?   You have a small kid with under 1000 kids, and you have 80 girl runners on your team and 140 total. How has recruiting played a roll in what you are building there?   You also coach adults, how much is getting kids hooked on running the same as getting adults hooked on it.   You have a huge team for a school your size. You talk about the girl trying to earn their varsity letter and the girl trying to win state.. but I’m sure you also have the other, as head coach what do you do to make a connection to each of those kids vs just working with the better runners?   Being in Atlanta what training challenges do you hav

State results and between 2000-2010 the girls team had qualified for state exactly 0 times. Then you take over in 2011 and in 2011 your team was 8th at state and since then they had a 3rd, 2nd, and now two firsts. Also I looked at the team size, and it wasn’t like they had a small squad in 2010, so what was the thing that really changed between 2010 and 2011 that allowed the team to make such a huge improvement and remain so consistent.   What changed in the culture?   What is threshold to Matt and how does he use it in his training and off seasons?   What is his pace book?   What does a week look like during the summer?      How has his past running experiences as an elite runner effected his coaching?   You don’t seem to be reinventing the wheel, you seem to be doing the basics and doing it all year around.   How do you take what you know and apply it to a 14-year old girl who maybe had never run before?   Matt talks about how the school system is supportive of all the teams including cross country and how