Coaching Champions: Tony Ryan - (Bolles Girls)

 

What kind of training did your team get in over the summer months leading into the season?

 

We just run steady mileage over the summer. The same as every year, nothing complicated, just build up very slowly, starting in June and adding a little each week. Some of the younger girls probably ran about 300 to 400 miles or so over the summer (12 weeks), Mackenzie probably ran somewhere in the 400 to 500 mile range. By August we go a bit faster on our Wednesday runs and go a bit longer on our long runs (once a week). I am not a big fan of trying to do too much over the summer. All I ask of the girls is that they are in decent shape for our mini-camp that we do in Tallahassee, which is usually the first or second week of August. We also do a 30 minute core routine about two days a week over the summer (which we continue all through the fall).

 

How did you train the team in the final weeks leading up to the state meet?

 

We mainly stuck to the same routine that we always have. We did our last hard work-out about ten days before state (800m repeats at faster than race pace). We cut back on our long runs the last two weeks. We took Thursday off the week of regions and state and we emphasized the importance of rest, hydration, and eating properly (something that we emphasize all year).

 

What chances or belief did you have in your team's chance and ability to win the state title?

 

By the end of September it was already obvious that it was going to be a two-horse between Bolles and Pine Crest and we knew that they would be very difficult to beat, especially after they ran us so close at Katie Caples in early September. We ran really well at FSU/Pre-state (a lot faster than we usually do at Pre-State. After that race I probably gave us 60-40 odds of winning, mainly because we have a lot of depth on our team and probably had a little less margin for error than they did. However, our girls knew that they had a battle on their hands and that they would have to be at their best to win the title. Being defending champions and favorites does not give you any advantages; we still had to go out and put in a very good performance to beat Pine Crest. 

 

What advice or points of emphasis did you give your team prior to the race or the week leading into the state meet?

 

We had three girls (Mackenzie, Ally, Rachel) who we knew could/should be in the top ten and we stressed the importance of that and also the importance to them of not giving up too many points to Pine Crest’s top three (where they were very strong). Then the other four girls (Suzanne, Lily, Annie, Aoife) were to keep doing what they had been doing all season and that is working together as a pack for the first half of the race and then the strongest take off and pick off as many as possible in the second half of the race. We felt our four through seven is as good as any team in the state and if at least two or three of them ran their best race that we would be difficult to beat.

 

What was the race plan for the state meet and how did you feel it was executed? 

 

I thought it worked as well as could be expected. I think with any team, especially in a pressure type race like the state meet, if you have three or four girls on your team run a good race and the other three or four run a great race, that is as much as you can ask for and that’s more or less what happened. I always tell the girls to run the first half of the race with your head and the second half with your heart. Iyou do that, you will put your team in a position where they will be hard to beat

 

Who do you feel really stepped up individually the most for the team at the state meet?

 

All of the girls ran very well and all did what they needed to do to help the team win. The top three (Mackenzie Wilson, Ally Hajda, Rachel Shapiro) gave it all they could to place high and be in the top five or ten. I think the two obvious ones who stand out and came through with extra big races are Suzanne Dannheim and Lily Arnold. With Suzanne, she had a lot to prove: to herself and to the team. She ran 20:14 (PR) last year and ran at the district and region meet in 2013, but she did not make the line-up for the state meet last year and she was disappointed. I told her before districts that she should make a statement and leave no doubt that she would be in the line-up this year. She was our fourth girl at districts, region, and state and ended up 12th at the state meet with a huge PR of 19:25. She certainly picked a great time to run her best ever cross country race (so far). As for Lily, she just always seems to run her best race at state meets and she really wanted to end her senior season on a high note. She struggled in a few regular season races and was our sixth or sventh in most of our meets this year; however, she really wanted to score, she wanted to run her fastest time of the year, and she wanted to place high individually. She managed to do all three, with a 14th place finish and a season best of 19:30.  Our sixth and seventh girls, Annie Pentaleri and Aoife O’ Riordan, were the fastest sixth and seventh girls at state in all classifications and that’s the second year in a row that we have accomplished this. We stress to the sixth and seventh girl that they always have a big part to play in the team’s success on the day of the big race.

 

What were your feelings and emotions when you realized your team had won or during the awards?

 

Mostly relief and, of course, I was happy for the girls, their families, and our coaches. We all make a lot of sacrifices and put in a lot of work (as do many teams) and it’s always a nice feeling when that hard work and effort is rewarded. You would think that if you have five girls in the top fourteen (which we did) that it should be easy enough to win state, but Pine Crest pushed our girls all the way to the line. In fact, their team score of 55 points was actually less than what we scored last year to win (58), so that shows how good they were and how much they improved this year. After the awards ceremony, I was very impressed by the sportsmanship shown by the Pine Crest girls, coaches, and parents, who all stuck around to congratulate our girls when they got off the podium.

 

 

What were the biggest challenges for this year's team?

 

There’s probably a few that come to mind, some of them more challenging than others. One of our top girls, Sarah Jane Jones, who ran at the state meet four years in a row (2009-2012) decided not to come out for cross country this year so that she could focus more on tennis (the sport she will do in college). We knew we could replace Sarah Jane as far as finding a girl to run just as fast as her. However, she was a great leader and brought a great presence to the team, especially on race day, and that side of her was a bit more difficult to replace. We also had a few girls who struggled late in the summer/early in the season with low iron issues. After a few cases, we had more of the girls tested for iron and the results were not good for some. We had to adjust some training, give girls some more time off, and nurse them along slowly to where they were healthy enough to get back to doing workouts again. This is one area where, in the future, we will need to be more proactive before the season starts. Finally, one of the hardest challenges we have is trying to strike a balance between academics and athletics. Most of the girls on the team are excellent students who work hard to get good grades. Trying to do that as well as train and race at a competitive level and try to get the rest needed to be successful was a challenge all season (and, I am not sure, if that one is ever going away!)

 

What do you think were the keys for your teams to peak and perform their best at season's end?

 

Our girls at Bolles have a belief that they will always race their best at the end of the season. That is something that’s passed down from one team to the next team, year after year. There are no magic workouts that we do in order to peak at state. Many times it’s just a matter of staying healthy, staying focused, and believing that the team will come through when it counts.

 

What would you consider as the low point of the team's season?

 

We never really had a low point just a few little setbacks to overcome from time to time. As far as races go, the only one where we struggled was at the Bale-n-Trail meet, but I felt that was just because they were tired from hard workouts leading up to it and because it was very hot and humid that evening.

 

How was the team able to respond?

 

A week after Bale-n-Trail, the girls responded with a 4th place finish and seven girls under 20:00 in the Elite race at FSU/Pre-State. When you have a hard working and resilient team that remains injury free (for the most part), it’s easy enough to overcome a few minor setbacks.

 

How would you best describe the group of kids that you coach?

 

They are great and I am fortunate to coach this group of girls. As impressed as I am with our varsity girls (top seven) I am even more impressed with our JV kids who don’t get to line up at the state meet and who don’t always get recognized for their efforts. They work so hard, and many of them run times that would get on almost any other varsity team in the state, yet they are always supportive right through the end of the season. We still had the top 24 girls coming to practice all the way to the state meet and we also brought our top 24 girls to the region meet in Lake City to run in the unofficial open 5k after the region races ended. It’s a way to make those girls feel like they are an important part of the team and it also gives them an incentive to improve and move up the pecking order the next year. They all play their part to create a great cross country culture at Bolles and, of course, no girl in the top seven can afford to slow down, because she knows there is another really good runner coming along right behind her.

 

What role do your assistant coaches play with the program?

 

Our assistant coaches are fantastic and really make this a team effort. Sharon Pentaleri has been part of the Bolles cross country program for the past few years and she has to take a lot of credit for our recent success. She goes to Brevard running camp with the girls, she runs with them in the summer (when I am in Ireland), and she implements and leads our core workouts. This year she also took the lead in getting most of our girls tested for iron and she worked with the girls and their parents to bring those girls back up to a level to where they could get back running well again. We are also fortunate to have former college runners like Julie Stackhouse, Emily Dent, and Sean Nagorny who also run with the team over the summer and who will do the workouts and the long runs with our top varsity runners during the fall. They do all the hard running and I get to watch. It’s great (for me)!!

 

What role do your parents have with the program?

 

Our parents are very supportive. They do what parents should do and that is to let the runners run, the coaches’ coach, and the parents contribute in ways that help the program. We have parents who provide healthy snacks after our harder workouts and long runs, so that’s at least two parents doing that two or three days a week all season. They also organize team picnics after all away meets, so that the runners can eat together after the meet at the course, which is not only healthier and good for team bonding, it also gets us back to Jacksonville a lot sooner. We have a pre-season party, a mid-season party, and a post-season awards banquet at different parents’ homes and all of the parents are great about
making this a success.

 

What would be the best way to describe your coaching style?

 

Well, from reading some of the other coaches’ responses, I guess I am a softer version of Jeff Sommer and Doug Butler, although not all of my runners (and some parents) might agree with that. I have been told I am getting a bit mellower with age, but still have the look and voice to strike fear from time to time (if needed). With this group, I don’t really need to do that. These girls are very dedicated, very competitive, and they love running. We have huge turnouts at morning practices and on our weekend long runs. Even this past week we had our first week of track conditioning and we had about 30 cross country girls out there (which, on most days, is more than the rest of the track team combined). Sometimes I feel I am just like a captain of a ship on cruise control and my job is to keep us on the right course and try to avoid any icebergs along the way!

 

Who were the leaders on your team and what was the importance to the squad?

 

We expect all of our girls to be leaders, even the younger girls on the team and that is to work hard, be a team player, be a good student, and be a positive representative of the cross country team. Even the youngest girl on the varsity team, 8th grader Rachel Shapiro, is not vocal, but she leads by example by her commitment to training and her focus and composure on race day. This year we had captains for the first time in a long time and these captains were picked by the rest of the girls on the team and not by the coaches. They are Lily Arnold and Ashley DeHechavarria and they were great and are really good role models for the rest of the girls on the team. As I have already mentioned Lily, I just want to say a word about Ashley. She scored on the team at state in 2011 & 2012 (19:44 last year), but really struggled this year with injuries and health issues; she made a valiant effort to get back on varsity with a 20:27 at the Pre-State meet, but by then there were seven girls on the team under 20:00 and she could not get back on varsity for the post-season.  In the post-season, Ashley revealed her character by leading the girls in a team word and giving the girls a great pep talk before each race. Even though she wanted to be on the line herself, she truly wanted each girl to race her best race at district, region, and state. Both she and Lily were great captains and team leaders all fall and, I think, we have a few emerging leaders ready to step up and take on that role next year.

 

Who was the biggest individual surprise or runner that most impressed you with their improvements this year?

 

While I am often impressed by some of the times these girls run, I am never surprised. We had quite a few younger girls get under the 21:00 and 22:00 minute mark and I am looking forward to see how they do next year and beyond. 

 

How would this team rank against some of the past teams that you coached?

 

Well, since this group (top 14) was essentially the same as last year, I would have to say that they have to be one of the best teams I have ever coached, especially as they are so young and hopefully, will continue improving. This year’s team it’s the deepest team I have coached. I’m pretty sure I have never coached a team that went one thru seven at districts and went one thru nine at the JV Championships at Bishop Kenny. Since only one of those girls is a senior, and I think a lot of girls who did not make the top seven this year can run under 20:30 next year, should keep the girls ahead of them on their toes. 

 

Every state championship team seems to have a special or unique makeup that makes them state champions. What were some of those characteristics of this year's team?

 

There is a great team ethos on the Bolles girls cross country team; the girls work hard together, are best friends with the other girls on the team, and they really care about each other. I think the team spirit that these girls have, from number one all the way down to number fifty goes a long way to explaining the success we have at both the JV and varsity level. 

 

What are your expectations for next year's team?

 

The expectations at Bolles are always high and that comes more from the tradition of the cross country program at the school than it does from me. This current group of girls want to keep that tradition going and they also want to pass on a legacy to those girls coming after them. Hopefully we can continue to do that while having a positive environment for all runners (varsity and JV) and, of course, keep it fun and entertaining for all involved.