Fall = Cross Country #2

I've been thinking about this post for a few days trying to organize it in my head; the feeling in the air today gave me the motivation I needed to find a couple of items and get it done. It is a beautiful fall day despite being a little windy. I have to force myself to not run today because I know that rest is just as important as work, particularly when you're 65 years old and not getting younger. So after feeding the horses, goats, cats and dogs and having my coffee and "Nutty Bar", I decided to mow the lawns and get some things done outside and then sit down to write this.

My first cross country post dealt with my experiences coaching the club team at UCCS in the 80's; this post is about my 1966 experience running cross country for Mt. San Antonio Junior College in Walnut, California. I mentioned in another blog that the closest thing to a "scholarship" I received was a note written on a school information brochure inviting me to join the team in the fall. While it was a note that Coach Don Ruh probably sent to every graduating cross country runner in the San Gabriel Valley it was all the motivation that I needed. I loved running and wasn't ready to give up being part of a team after high school. It was a decision that I'm glad I made and an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed for the most part.

Coach Ruh was definitely "old school" when it came to expectations of what his athletes should look like. The fact that this was during the very turbulent '60's made it tough following all of his "rules". Here is a direct quote from the "FALL 1966 - Mt. San Antonio College Track and Field News":

2. "You are part of a team! Track and Cross Country are not individual sports as some may think! We want only those men who can think in these terms with us - others just clutter a real athletic team. Individually, you work for your maximum performances, but you are representing the MSAC Team wherever you go.

And then the real zinger for the 60's:

3. Because of the above point we expect no "individual difference contest" in any area other than athletic competition. Therefore, competition for individual beauty or hair length is eliminated with the standard short side and one inch on top hair cut (parted as Ivy League is OK). Also, because of this philosophy, a variety of practice uniforms is eliminated. You will be supplied with MSAC gear - wear it and take care of it".

He went on and on about other expectations but the main idea was to eliminate individualism. From a "success" standpoint I guess you would say that it worked. While anyone who knows about cross country knows that a "team" consists of 7 runners; I was a part of the second 7 and we were actually better than a lot of first 7's from other colleges. This was evident when our "second 7" ran and finished 2nd in the Orange Coast Invitational against everyone else's "first 7".

Bottom line, we were a very good program and following the rules was a price that we were willing to pay.

Dana Anstey

Al Maples

Bill Sumner

1966 Mt. San Antonio Junior College Cross Country Team
Southern California Champions
9-0 Undefeated Dual Meet Season
4th California State Championships

Bill, Al and I were very close friends in addition to being teammates. They will both show up in multiple blog posts.  

 While we had a lot of fun and were part of a very successful program there wasn't to be a second season for any of us. Al went into the Army the next spring while Bill and I both returned to the team in the fall of 1967. So, why didn't we run in 1967? The rules just got to be to much! We showed up for practice and we had cut our hair after a summer without haircuts. When we got to practice Coach Ruh called us into his office and informed us that we needed to get haircuts. We told him that we had just had our hair cut and he informed us that it wasn't good enough. We left and actually both got second haircuts. The next day we were called back into his office at the top of the stadium and he said, "I thought I told you to get haircuts". We looked at one another like he was crazy and said that we did. His response, "Not good enough". Our response, "******" I won't publish it in something my grand kids may read some day but let's just say that we never ran for MSAC again and we were transferred out of his "Track and Field Fundamentals" class immediately. Did we make the appropriate decision? It's difficult to say but I think that Bill and I must have both learned from the experience because he and I both went on to have very successful coaching careers ourselves.

I always said that I learned everything right about coaching from my high school coach, Marshall Clark and much about how not to coach from Don Ruh.