Today was a really cool day for coaches–we got to give a bunch of medals and recognition to some truly deserving athletes on the Monta Vista cross-country team. We passed out the 13 medals won by our runners at the De Anza League finals–a really great haul! It seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? (But it was worth the wait for such nice medals–finally!)
We also took the time to recognize the Junior Varsity girls, who won the De Anza League Championship. We love team awards–team awards are a reflection not only of the effort of an individual, but also the result of a number of athletes working together as well as individually to achieve a goal. Yes, running–cross-country and track & field–is an individual sport, but running is best done as a team effort. It’s always easier doing your intervals in a pack of five rather than alone on the track. It’s easier to get out and do plyos with your training partners rather than on your own. And in cross-country, the team that trains together is usually the team that wins together.
The value of a group effort is respected at all levels of athlete, even in our individual sport. After the Monta Vista girls had won the JV championship, I told Deena Kastor–a silver medal winner in the Olympics, and the holder of the fastest marathon time every run by an American woman–about the team and how well they worked together, supported the team, cheered for each other. This lead to one of our ‘surprise’ awards for our girls’ team–Deena had given us individually autographed photographs for the girls on the winning team (thank you Deena, and thank you Garmin!). Deena, one of the greatest American runners ever, was excited about a group of high school girls that she had never met who had achieved a goal together!
That’s one of the great things about our sport; athletes at the highest level respect the athletes just getting started in the sport. It was great what Deena did for us, just as Josh, Erica, Bree, Desiree, Dr. Pate, Coach Floreal, and others have taken the time to get to know and support the Monta Vista family. It’s not that unusual. Running generates a lot of shared experiences and respect between athletes, from the Olympians to high school runners to the folks trying to finish their first Turkey Trot.
And another great thing–our athletes are just getting started! All the girls on the JVG team are coming back next year, joining up with a junior, a couple of sophomores, and a freshman coming back from the Varsity team. With a lot of hard work–and support for each other–who knows where we will end up?
Boys, you better be ready to rack up some miles too–you don’t want the girls to have all the fun, do you?
I think we had better have a bigger budget for championship t-shirts–what do you think?
Cat, Kiersten, Alice, Julie, Chloe and Deena