(Photos by Raul Ramirez)
Flrunners is reaching out to interview and recognize all of the head coaches from the victorious cross country state championship teams to give them the opportunity to reflect and share their feelings and thoughts on their team's successful fall seasons culminating with state team titles. Rene Plasencia guided the Colonial Grenadiers to their first team title in any sport in the school's history last year. In 2012, he repeated that success with another 4A state championship.
How many years have you now been coaching?
I have been coaching for twelve years.
What advice did you give your team prior to the race or the week leading into the state meet?
For my top four it was simple; just do their job. We were undefeated in the regular season against 4A schools and just had to keep running like we had all season. For my 5-7 it was a little different. I needed one of those guys to step up so I challenged them to run with my top four. Joel Ortiz did.
What were your feelings and emotions when you realized your team had won or during the awards?
Relief.
What were the biggest challenges for this year's team?
The biggest challenges were having to wait all season to run the state meet
What do you think were the keys for your teams to peak and perform their best at season's end?
I think the key for them was their maturity.
How would you best describe the group of kids that you coach?
Mature, high character, intelligent, reasonable, caring.
What role do your assistant coaches play with the program?
They play a huge role! Coach Casey Calhoun is the person I bounce everything off of.
What role do your parents have with the program?
They are very supportive.
Who were the leaders on your team and what was the importance to the squad?
Raul Ramirez. He kept everyone together and focused. He would get in touch with everyone if I needed to change a practice at the last minute.
Who was the biggest individual surprise or runner that most impressed you with their improvements this year?
Joel Ortiz. Here’s a kid running cross for the first time that comes into the state meet and runs a 40 second PR.
What are your expectations for next year's team?
I return four kids who have run sub seventeen and I also return Christian Arroyo who is faster than any of my returners. I think we have a shot for another run at the title. We’ll be an underdog so it will make it a lot more fun for me.
