Coach's Corner: First-year Cat coach is looking to build

(Note: Frank Garcia is in his first year as head coach of the Sonora High School track program. He spoke with The Union Democrat’s Kevin Sauls on Monday).

UD: How long have you been teaching at Sonora, and what subject do you teach?

FG: I’ve been here since 2002. I teach Level II and Level III Spanish.

UD: And you’re a family man?

FG: My wife, Julie Orth, and I have been married seven years. Our daughters, Elodia and Miranda, are 5 and 2.

UD: Is this your first head-coaching job?

FG: I was the head track coach at McKinleyville High School for five years. I took three athletes to the State Meet and one of them, Kevin Weaver, high-jumped 6-10 and took second in the state.

UD: Which high school did you attend, and when did you graduate?

FG: King City High School. I graduated in 1990.

UD: And you competed in track?
    FG: My main events were the pole vault, both hurdles (300-meter intermediates and 110 highs) and the long jump.

UD: What were your best marks?

FG: I went 14 feet in the pole vault, 39 (seconds) in the 300s, 16 in the 110s and 21-6 in the long jump. I was seventh in the CCS (Central Coast Section) in the 300s.

UD: You were a busy competitor.

FG: I want all my athletes competing in four events, and I make them do at least two.

UD: Four-event athletes are well-rounded.

FG: I call them four-star athletes, and we have about 15 of them on the team now. The events all complement each other, one way or another, mentally and physically. I want our athletes to be familiar with their events and to feel confident in what they’re doing and in themselves.

UD: Numbers have been down in the Sonora track program the last few years. How are you going about building them back up?

FG: I’m trying to build up the (junior varsity) teams. We have 50 JV athletes and 25 varsity.

UD: Do you have a short-term goal?

FG: I think we can definitely compete for the JV boys’ and JV girls’ championships in the Valley Oak League this year. Varsity ... we need to build up our numbers.

UD: How are you selling track to prospective team members?

FG: We have a Web site, salsaverde.com. It’s the track Web site and also my Spanish-class Web site, and you can also access it through the school Web site. I try to tell them that it’s really a fun sport and that it’s kind of for everybody – jumps, throws, hurdles and sprints. There’s a lot to choose from.

UD: Who are some you think might make some noise in the big postseason meets this year?

FG: Daree Jun and Hillary Lupo, our pole vaulters; Nick Morgan in the 400; Anthony Woodward in the shot and discus; Cody Denton in the pole vault; and Kim Turner in the mile.

UD: Who are your assistant coaches?

FG: Amy Olenchalk works with the relays, Mike Emery does the pole vault, Josh Kroeze does the throws (shot put and discus) and Glenn Bass coaches the distance runners. It’s a good staff.

UD: Which events do you coach?

FG: I do sprints, hurdles and the long, high and triple jumps.

UD: You have quite a background in all the events.

FG: I trained as a decathlete in college (Humboldt State University). I wanted to learn all the events and work with all the different coaches because I knew, in the future, I would want to coach track in high school.

UD: The last four years, you assisted head coach Robert Cendro. What did you learn from him?

FG: He had good organizational skills and he held the athletes accountable – as I want to, also – and he gave them a great work ethic.

UD: There is an extensive campaign under way to install an all-weather track at Sonora’s Dunlavy Field. How much would that help your program? 

FG: It would put us in the spotlight of the community, like the football team when they got their all-weather turf (in 2005). I’m on the committee (for the project) and I think it will take two more years for us to get a new track. I think we’ll get new lights this summer.

UD: Past Sonora coaches have used the “big-meet approach,” taking their top athletes to invitational meets to face the best competition and to give the program extra exposure. Is that something you believe in, also?

FG: I’d definitely like to get our athletes the exposure of big invitationals. There are the Meet of Champions in Sacramento, the Calaveras Invitational and several others. We have fewer (regular-season) meets now that they’re going to tri-meets (instead of dual meets) in the VOL. And the (league meet) used to have trials and finals on separate days, but now it’s just one day on a Saturday.

UD: Why the reduction in meets?

FG: Transportation costs, and some schools have smaller teams.

UD: Are you a cheerleader at your meets?

FG: Oh, yeah.

UD: You seem like such a quiet guy.

FG: I’m pretty quiet, but you’ve got to yell once in a while.