Run, for goodness sake!
By Alan Davis
Special to LIVE!In the popular 1994 motion picture Forrest Gump, when Jenny left Forrest, he went running and running and running. For some people, running to get in shape is as easy as Forrest made it seem. But for the athlete that chooses to run long distances for competition, it is as difficult as any sport around.
One cannot just go out to the track or to the park, and run and win. Athletes must make a commitment to run many miles a day for a predetermined time and speed to train their bodies to compete at high levels. Two such programs in the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District (SFDRCISD) that have done this with tremendous success are the men’s and women’s cross country teams. When they compete, these athletes run a course with only one goal in mind: Run as fast as you can for as long as it takes to complete the course, and beat as many other runners as you can.
For the past several years, Del Rio High School cross country teams have been doing just that – running and winning. Even though the athletic department strives to compete and be successful in all sports, the cross country team has consistently won district and regional competitions along with the boys’ team sending several runners to the state meet. It is not just at the high school level that the cross country program is seeing success. The junior high teams have done their share of bringing home meet championships recently.
Several members of the high school cross country teams were asked why they feel the program has recently been so successful. The majority of the athletes stated that they felt it was the coaching that makes them better than most. Both men’s and women’s cross country teams have the same head coach, Ric Smith. Coach Smith has been coaching cross country exclusively for Del Rio since 2004. Prior to this, he coached track and field, basketball, football, and baseball. Smith began his coaching career in Rockport, Texas.
He was raised in Corpus Christi and Junction where he graduated, having competed in football, basketball, baseball and track. After graduation, Smith attended and graduated from Angelo State University. However, he does not do everything by himself. Smith has a dedicated staff that assists him with training and preparing these athletes to compete each week. They include Briana Muraira, Joel Nieto, David Gomez, Lillian Jimenez, and Mary Peña. “I could not do it without the help of these great coaches,” Smith said.
When Smith was asked why he felt his program has been so successful he replied, “Our program has become one of the best in the state because our kids are willing to put in the hours of work involved to become highly conditioned. Our kids, honestly, just work harder than other programs. Our varsity boys began the year ranked third in the state of Texas. They finished fifth at the state meet last year, have been back to back regional champs and won five district championships in a row.
“Our junior varsity boys have won six consecutive district championships and have won 41 consecutive J.V. [junior varsity] meets. Our varsity and J.V. girls won district championships last year and our varsity girls were sixth in the region last year.” Explaining just how successful the cross country program has become, Smith said, “We have fourteen cross country/track and field athletes competing at the college level.” They are currently competing for Texas A&M University, Texas Tech, Corpus Christi A&M, A&M Kingsville, Sul Ross, University of Incarnate Word, and South Plains Junior College. Currently, there are over 130 kids participating in cross country this year.
“I am amazed daily at the work ethic our kids display. Some of the workouts they are able to complete are unimaginable to other coaches and athletes. I truly believe that our kids’ work ethic is what sets them apart from others.” To Smith, cross country serves a special need to high school students by “…filling a need for the kid that does not play football, volleyball, tennis or golf in the fall. Most of our kids are looking for a place to belong and to be a part of something special.”
Chatting with Smith’s athletes, it becomes very apparent that they all believe in his leadership and his ability to motivate them to push harder every day. Senior Jessica Alfaro exclaimed, “Coach Smith makes our program successful. With the high expectations he has for us and the traditions his teams have made, this program gets 100 percent commitment. We don’t want to disappoint him.” According to Juan Pablo Ponce, “Our cross country program may not have natural runners like other programs, but what we do have are athletes that are dedicated, committed, and willing to work hard. Our coaches know what they are doing and are able to push us through the pain and encourage us to continue. That is what sets us apart from other programs.”
Other athletes such as senior Hector Flores and sophomore Daniel Patiño agree that it is the hard work and dedication the athletes have to training and competing that make this program better. According to senior Richard Zapata, “We have a reputation to defend. I think it has to do with the amount of pride we have in our program.”
Hopefully, by the time this article is read, the cross country teams will have won their sixth consecutive district championship and third consecutive regional championship. Good luck to these dedicated athletes. They deserve all the accolades and awards they receive. No matter who wins the race, Del Rio High School cross country team members are doing their job to make successful athletes and bring pride to their school.
SPECIAL NOTE:
October 27, 2007
District Meet Held at
O’Connor High School
San Antonio, TX
Varsity boys won there seventh consecutive District championship meet.
Varsity girls took 2nd place
Both varsity boys and girls qualify to go to Regionals
Freshman/JV boys and girls won the District meet, and are done for the season.
Alan Davis, athletic trainer, Del Rio High School
Special to LIVE!
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It only takes 1 oldeagle to
It only takes 1 oldeagle to get the push going. When I was at DRHS the girls XC team barely had enough girls to field a team and look at the progress they have made in the last few years. Good luck Rams and Queens for that matter!
Coach Smith is correct in
Coach Smith is correct in that success is brought about by extreme self imposed motivation. Said motivation will make an athlete highly conditioned and thus a much superior athlete than his counterparts. Also, success always attracts attention, thus more students will come out for cross country and they feed of said success. Sadly, other school sports teams have not experienced success and thus, lack said motivation to participate.