Teams to Look Out For: Central Catholic Boys

I caught up with the coach of the defending 6A state champion Central Catholic boys, Dave Frank, to talk about his team and how they are preparing for the season to come. His squad took the state title last season after their top three runners, Sam Lomax, Sam Truax, and Gunnar Vik, finished seventh, eighth, and ninth respectively, leading the team to victory with 54 points. However, those three guys have all graduated and Central Catholic will have some shoes to fill this year if they want to defend their state title.

Coming into this season, the squad is ranked 5th based on its returning runners, led by rising senior Zack Lavier, who finished 20th at the state meet last year. An important piece of the puzzle for Central Catholic is junior Michael Mccausland. He finished ahead of Lavier at state with his 13th place PR run of 16:08. If he can dip under 16 minutes for the 5K, good things could happen for this team.

5Central Catholic (OR)341
1) Zack Lavier15:38.005
2) Michael Mccausland16:08.0035
3) Daniel Thompson16:20.0057
4) Gavin Macpherson16:45.91116
5) Cameron Thompson16:49.70128
Average Time: 16:20.32 Total Time: 1:21:41.61 1-5 Split: 1:11.70
6) Jacob Hillman17:05.90169
7) Brady Lance17:21.40
235


Here is my Q&A with Coach Dave Frank:


How has summer training been going for your team? What do you focus on during the summer months?

We focus on strength and building a great aerobic base in the summer. Our experienced athletes max out at 70 mpw (although we only reach that peak 4-5 times throughout the season).

We meet four evenings each week beginning July 1st. Two of those evenings are moderately paced runs combined with some General Strength work and strides or accelerations.

The other two evenings rotate between easy hill work, tempo runs, progressive runs, and fartlek work. Virtually none of this work is at anywhere near maximal effort.

We also do a long run of 20-25% of weekly volume on the weekend.

The great majority of our summer running is done on the fantastic trail system (Forest Park, Tryon Creek Park, Leif Erikson) available to us in Portland.

Many of our boys also supplement their running with alternative aerobic work, including swimming and elliptical training.


Who have you been most impressed or surprised with their improvement and/or fitness from their summer training?

Truthfully, we have had a wonderful summer. Having graduated four outstanding seniors many of our runners have realized that this is their opportunity to contribute on the varsity level for the first time - and their diligence and effort has been a joy to witness.


Who are your team captains or leaders and what stands out about them as examples for the rest of their teammates?

We have a large group of seniors who are in their fourth year in the program, and all of them have their own niche in terms of making our program better.

Jacob Hillman, Jackson Frank, Daniel Thompson, and Zack Lavier have emerged to take the mantle from last year's outstanding group in terms of leadership, and it appears that they are prepared to handle the responsibilities associated with that job.


What will be the biggest obstacle or challenge facing your team this season?

The group of four from last year comprised 4 of our top 8 EVERY year they were in our program. They earned 14 All State Awards between them and were significant contributors in three consecutive State Team Titles; in other words, they will be difficult to replace.

The athletes hoping to earn varsity spots this season have little or no big race experience and will need to mature very quickly as racers in order for us to be a factor on the State level.


What will be the biggest reason why your team is successful this season?

We like the phrase, "Tradition Never Graduates" (suggested by David Beltramo ' 07).. Our "tradition" is not built around winning but refers to working hard, doing things right, and making decisions that move the individual and the team in a positive direction. The by-product of this tradition has been success on a pretty high level.

Our current athletes have certainly bought into this tradition and appear ready to compete at a high level because of their commitment.


What are some staple workouts your team does during the season?

The Washington Park Fartlek is one of our all time favorites. We also do a series of 1000m repeats on the bark chip trail at Wilshire Park. Devil-Take-the-Hindmost is another that the boys seem to enjoy.


What are your top 3 goals for this year's squad?

We simply want to see our boys progress and learn to compete. Any extrinsic goals sort of cloud that ideal.

Certainly these seniors would like to continue the State Title streak, but they know the process and day-to-day effort is the thing that will give them a chance to do so.


Any impact freshmen or transfers to join the team this season?

No transfers.

A really nice group of freshmen - but none that appear to be varsity level athletes.


How will the team bounce back this year after losing the top 3 runners from the 6A state champion team from last season?

That's really the question for us, but I love this group of young men and am incredibly excited to see them take to the challenge.

On paper we are certainly not as good as South Eugene, Jesuit, and Lincoln. In comparison to the last couple of years, this will be a wonderfully challenging season - and we are looking forward to the challenge.



Want to have your team featured as a team to look out for this season? Send me an email at runjwill97@gmail.com and we will make it happen!