Cross-Country and Track at Corona del Mar High School

1984 CdM High School Varsity Cross-Country
Seaview League Champions, 2nd Place in C.I.F.

Top Row: Dave Anderson, Chuck Hobbs, Danny Holland, Darren Wood, Rich Geib
Bottom Row: Roy Hobbs, Ian van Hoven, Erik Luesebrink, Lance Ortiz,

       While in high school, I spent countless hours training and competing as a runner. In retrospect, I had not much talent for the sport - I was simply too big! Nevertheless, I enjoyed a modicum of success and, more importantly, learned an enormous amount about the values of dedication, discipline, and hard work. This both kept me out of trouble as a teenager and taught

me skills which have served me well my whole life. I think all young people - no matter their God-given talent - should participate in a sport when in school.

       Especially boys. Young men in their teens are filled with an amazing physicality which, if not properly channeled, can get them into trouble. Restless energy during adolescence can lead teenage boys to chase girls, look for fights, get drunk, screw around - get into trouble in a thousand different ways! When bored, I was no different in high school. It is better when teens have their days so occupied with sports and scholastics that at the end of the day they are dying for sleep. My happiest days in high school were like this.

       The track and cross-country teams at Corona del Mar High School did very well in competition. During my senior and junior years, we won the Seaview League in cross-country and almost won the C.I.F. title. In track, we never once lost a dual meet. The expectations for victory and excelling in competition were very high, and we trained arduously before and after school, during holiday and summer vacations. I still remember waking up in the dark and riding my bike to morning workouts with all my books and multiple changes of clothes for the day on my back. Competing well in track and cross-country has a lot to do with training hard and running long miles - and not a little about pain tolerance. I owe much to Coaches Bill Sumner, Jim Tomlin, and Brian Hunsacker. They all took the time to personally work with me and teach what it means to compete as a team and to excel individually. I gave these coaches all I had; epic stories of Rich Geib running his guts out in a race and collapsing at the finish were lore for a few years after I graduated! I managed to run decent varsity times as a senior and was valuable in any team victory.

       High school is a strange time in that group loyalties and questions of identity and belonging are paramount. As an adolescent, I very much enjoyed belonging to a team and working towards a goal with others. I became very involved emotionally, and the investment paid off in competition and in friendship.