AGENDA

The agenda is tentative and subject to change
There will be two series offered at today’s clinic featuring one presentation from each series being offered at every session during the day.

Track 1: Beginning Series. This series is designed for the beginning or inexperienced coach. It is recommended for coaches with five years or less of experience. Topics include the basic physiology of training a high school distance runner, how to construct a season long training plan, how to recruit and build your team, and all the things you need to know as a head coach to stay one step ahead of the CIF, your AD, and the principal.

Track 2: Advanced Series: This series is designed for the experienced coach who understands the basic physiology of training distance runners and who already has organizational and recruiting skills. Speakers will be presenting sessions that are specific and assume a common level of knowledge and a common vocabulary specific to the sport.

DIRECTIONS

Address: 1100 N Grand Ave, Walnut, CA 91789
Building 9C (Student Life Center)
Directions

CLINIC PRESENTERS:

Devin Elizondo – UCLA
-Elizondo previously served as head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at UC Davis from 2014-2017. In his first cross country season at the helm, he led the Aggie women to their first Big West Conference title since 2011 and was named the conference Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. In 2015, Elizondo guided both the men’s and women’s teams to third-place finishes at the Big West Championships, the highest finish for the men since 2013 and the fifth consecutive top-three finish on the women’s side. During his tenure at Davis, Elizondo helped coach 20 All-Big West runners (six men, 14 women) and six all-region honorees in cross country.
-His coaching career began at the Brentwood School in Los Angeles. There, he served as the head track and field coach and assistant cross country coach for both boys and girls. With Elizondo on the coaching staff, the boys’ cross country team qualified for six state championship meets and achieved five top-five finishes. The girls’ program also enjoyed success, as the girls advanced to two state meets and sent an individual runner on two other occasions during Elizondo’s time at Brentwood.
-Elizondo graduated from UCLA in 1998 with a degree in history and enjoyed great success as a distance runner for the Bruins. He was a member of three Pac-10 track and field championship teams and also helped lead the cross country team to a pair of third-place conference finishes. Elizondo was the UCLA cross country team’s Most Outstanding Freshman in 1994 and was selected to the All-District IX First Team in 1995.
-Elizondo has also had an extensive history of youth outreach in Southern California involving athletics. He joined the LA84 foundation in 2007 and worked to organize cross country and track and field clinics at over 1,600 high schools in the Southern California Area. He has also been heavily involved in Runner’s Workshop since 1994, a summer cross country camp at which Elizondo regularly creates lecture series and workouts for campers.

Daniel Ozan – Mt. San Antonio College
-Ozan enters his 3rd season as Men’s Cross Country/Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Assistant Coach. Since his arrival, Ozan has made a huge impact within the Mountie Program. In 2016, Ozan led the Mounties to their 3rd consecutive South Coast Conference (SCC) Cross Country Championship taking 6 of the top 7 and 11 of the top 14 places. The team went on to finish 3rd at the SoCal and CCCAA State Championships.
-At the 2015 SCC Cross Country Championships, the men’s team took 1st through 6th place. The team placed 2nd at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) State Cross Country Championships and Ozan was named Men’s Cross Country State Assistant Coach of the Year by the California Community College Cross Country and Track Coaches Association (5CTCA). At the 2016 SCC Track & Field Championships, his athletes swept the 10,000m (1st through 5th) and 5,000m (1st through 7th) and went on to produce 7 individual state finalists and 3 All-Americans.
-Ozan previously coached at Cerritos College from 2012-2013, where he helped the Falcons men’s and women’s cross country programs. In 2012, the Falcons captured both men’s and women’s cross country team and individual conference titles. In track & field, Ozan led the Falcon Men to a first through sixth place finish in the 800 meters at the SCC Championships. He also produced the SCC Champion in the women’s 1,500 meters and the men’s 800 meter, 1,500 meter, 5,000 meter, 10,000 meter and 3,000 meter steeplechase SCC Champion.
Ozan himself was a very talented middle distance runner at Del Mar High School (San Jose, CA), where he was a CIF Central Coast Champion in the 1,600m and was two-time CIF State Finalist (8th and 4th place) in the 800m. He continued his running career at West Valley Community College, where he was the Northern California 1,500m runner-up, before transferring to U.C. Santa Barbara where he received his B.A. in vocal performance.

Tim O’Rourke – LA84 Foundation Cross Country & Track Clinic Coordinator
-In his 22 years at the helm of both the Arroyo High School track and cross country programs, O’Rourke’s teams won one national championship, two state championships, six southern section titles and 52 varsity league championships.
-When he retired as cross country coach at Arroyo in 1998 his teams had left their imprint capturing three of the top nine fastest team times ever run in state history on the Woodward Park state championship course. Arroyo also had not lost a varsity dual meet in 14 years, and the junior varsity had been undefeated for 20 straight years.
-He was named the Gatorade National Coach of the Year in 1995, the California Track Coach of the Year in 1997, and he has been inducted into the California Cross Country Coaches, City of El Monte, Mt Sac Relays, and Footlocker Halls of Fame.
-He currently is the director of the cross country and track and field coaching education programs for the LA84 Foundation, and he is the meet director of the Mt. SAC XC Inv. and the Mt. SAC Relays.

Renee Smith – Mira Costa High School – Distances
-After a 17 year career in business, Smith retired to start coaching in 2002 as an assistant coach at Mira Costa High School.
-Smith became head coach in 2004, a year in which Mira Costa did not make it out of league; however, since then, Mira Costa has experienced the following successes: Growth in the Girls program from 35 athletes to an average of 85 each year; Bay League Champions 7 out of the last 10 years; 4 consecutive runner up finishes in CIF southern section championships (2007-2010); 8 Calif state meet appearances in the last 10 years, including 3 consecutive runner up finishes. (2008-2010); 2 time qualifiers for Nike Cross Nationals; two individual State Champions 2010 & 2016; One Foot Locker finalist (2014) and most important of all – countless lifelong runners.

Bill Tokar – Formerly Ventura High School
-Ventura won two state Division One Cross Country Championships under Tokar’s direction. Along the way his Cougars also ran the fastest girls team time ever on the venerable Mt. SAC cross country course. In 2003 & 2004, he was named Los Angeles Times Cross Country Coach of the Year.
-Tokar’s alumni distance crew includes 800m state medallists Nicole Campbell and Kris Kochel, 1600m state finalist Sal Martinez, 3200m CIF Masters Finalists Matt Swaney and Paige Osborn, and Josh Spiker, 2000 graduate of Ventura, was a state 3200m champion and Track and Field News High School All-American in the 3200m (8:56.66) and mile (4:05.08).
-A graduate of Point Loma College, Tokar was the conference 1500m champion in track in 1981. He also earned a Masters Degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Human Biomechanics from Cal State Northridge.

Chuck Woolridge – Distances – Campolindo
-Woolridge began volunteering as an assistant coach for his former team at College Park High School in the fall of 1991. He assumed the head coaching position in 1996 and in 1997 the varsity boy’s team became the school’s first State Championship qualifiers, finishing second at the North Coast Section meet. In 1999 the varsity girls won the NCS meet to give College Park a first ever section championship. The Falcons followed with section titles for the girls in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, and three consecutive section titles for the boys from 2001 through 2003.
-Led by 2003 & 2004 Contra Costa Times “Athlete of the Year,” Lindsay Allen, the girls’ squad finished the 2003 season #5 in the Harrier National Rankings, setting the all-time NCS team time at the State Championships. The Falcon girls went on to win a second consecutive CIF Division II State Championship in 2004.
-Since Woolridge’s move to Campolindo High School in 2006, the Cougars girls have won the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 DFAL cross country titles, the 2006, 2007 and 2010 NCS titles, and the CIF state championship in 2010.
-The 2010 state meet performance is now the NCS all-time team time for Woodward Park.
-The Campolindo Boys’ squad has won the 2008, 2009 and 2010 DFAL titles, and the 2007 and 2008 NCS titles. They finished 2nd at the CIF Championships in 2008, setting the NCS all-time team time for the meet.