Role Models

Ten years ago.

What if someone asked me ten years ago where I would be now? I probably had no idea back then, (I was only a sophomore in high school) but I know that my answer would not have been anywhere accurate to where I actually am now. Ten years ago, I had just met someone that would be a big part of making me who I am today. So to think that didn't change my path in life would be absurd.

The story starts a year earlier though with what I still call one of the biggest blessings in my life(in hindsight): I got cut from the tennis team my freshman year. I love tennis and I remember being really excited to play in high school because I never played competitively before, just against friends and family for fun. I wouldn't say I was devastated, but being cut definitely killed the excitement I had to play tennis.

So fast forward a year. I decided not to give tennis another try and instead switched to track, mostly to just keep in shape for soccer. I remember the early parts of winter training and how I impressed the coach with my form and work ethic and I thought he was going to be coaching me the whole year, so I was happy to impress my coach(even though it was a no-cut sport this time). Then I found out he wasn't going to be working with me and that there was a specific distance coach that I still had to meet. So I thought- shoot, I have to impress another coach all over again. What if he didn't like me? What if I didn't like the way he coached? I just got used to the other coach. I did not like this change.

Little did I know what would transpire over the next three years, and now ten years.

Ten years ago, I met Coach Call.

I quickly realized that this new coach, Coach Call, was going to be easy to work with and had a good approach to coaching that would work well for me. When I went out for track, I didn't know what to expect and I was still trying to fit in at a school that I came in barely knowing two other people. Coach Call made me feel welcome to this new life as a distance runner. The first year we were just getting to know each other as I figured out the sport of track and distance running. One thing that stood out to me in the beginning was his passion for college basketball and the Gonzaga basketball team. This helped me feel comfortable, as I was surprised to learn that most distance runners aren't big sport's fans. So Coach Call would be my go to guy to talk about sports. I remember the first meet of the year. He was on the phone getting updates about March Madness from his brother while dragging hurdles out on the track at the same time. Always working hard, he was. I would go up and ask if he had any updates on the games the whole meet. This was just a start to a new tradition. I remember getting March Madness updates in all the first meets of the season.

The second year our relationship grew as I was finally understanding pacing in practice and in meets. Pacing is something that would become very important to me and my racing strategy and Coach Call obviously had a lot to do with that development. More importantly during my junior season, I started to understand the enormity of track and with that my passion for it grew as I saw more of Call's passion for the sport. There were two meets that really stood out to me that season: Centennial Meet and the State Meet. At Centennial, not only did I have a good race, but I also got to watch Galen Rupp run and see the crowd react to him chasing Pre's old high school record. This really showed me just how big track is and that it does exist outside of the 4 years of the Olympics. Then came the State Meet. I didn't qualify. I didn't really even come that close to qualifying, but Coach Call wanted me to go down to State to watch. This was huge. I was able to see what I was working towards and as I watched the crowd clap every time the runners came down the home stretch in the 3000 I knew that I wanted to make it here the next year. I was able to understand the mystic of Hayward Field(and I'm a Beaver!).

Now that I knew where I wanted to be, I knew that Call was going to be the one to get me there. As soon as soccer was over, he started e-mailing me my workouts for the week. It was a long winter of training as the cross country coach wanted all of his athletes doing a winter sport, so most were swimming after school and I would be the only one running. Coach Call still took time out of his busy schedule (and drove across the city) to come and run with me at least two times a week. I can remember these runs so well. It was raining and cold everyday and I would ramble on about playing with UCONN in my video games. He would keep listening and respond like he actually cared about my video game stats!

After working hard all winter and spring, I was so nervous and excited for districts to come around. I wanted to qualify for state so badly. Not only for me, but for Coach Call. We set up a race plan together that would give me the best shot for qualifying for state. Coach Call knew I had a strong kick and the trust that he had in me to out kick everyone, if given the chance, really gave me the confidence to go out there and execute the race plan. The time had come and even Call admitted that he was a bit nervous when I came through the first lap in about 10th, but at that point all he could do was trust me to make the moves we had planned out.

It worked! I qualified for state! All the hard work and trust in my coach had paid off!

I was so happy to make it to State and it was just the cherry on top to a great season for me. I was glad to make Coach Call happy as one of his three distance runners to qualify for state that year. One story that I like to tell is that I remember hearing Call's voice at Hayward and someone asked me "how in the world did you hear Call?"(if you don't know Call he doesn't have the loudest voices) I responded by saying, "I'm just used to listening for him. He could whisper in Hayward and I could probably still pick his voice out of the crowd while I'm running."

Coach Call meant so much to me in high school and he was, and still is, a great role model for me. I think what makes him great to work with is his trust and respect that he shows everyone and his athletes. He is also well-tempered and doesn't get upset easily. If he ever does get mad, then you know you did something wrong. And more importantly, his love for the sport and coaching is something that I always greatly admired. He does this because he wants to and he loves it and for no other reason.

Fast forward about seven years and I have now had the privilege of coaching alongside him for the last 4 years and I have gotten to know him even more as a friend and colleague. I have seen him get married to a beautiful bride and the love of his life. How many people get to fly back across the country before going to Europe to watch their former coach get married? And how many get to drive the party bus at the wedding? And how many get to work with and for their mentor years later? I am so fortunate and blessed to still have my role model be very much apart of my life.

Thank you Coach Call!