Mira Costa coaches keep their students grounded with an annual training camp in the Mammoth mountains
Mammoth photos by Damian Court
Four-time U.S. Olympic marathon runner Meb Keflezighi was preparing for his final training run before leaving for Rio de Janeiro when he was met at the Horseshoe Lake trailhead in Mammoth Lakes Basin by 100 unexpected wellwishers.
The well-wishers were cross country runners from Mira Costa and Palos Verdes high schools, who were enjoying one of the memorable moments they would experience while attending the annual training camp started in 1998 by former Mira Costa and Olympic distance runner Jeff Atkinson.
Some of the boys painted their chests with “Good Luck Meb” before the team took off on a run with him. Keflezighi was so moved by the show of support that he changed his Facebook landing page photo to one showing himself with the high school runners.
For Atkinson, who finished 10th in the 1,500-meter race at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, the run added to the lore and lure of his Mammoth camp trips.
The former Mira Costa runner (class of ‘81) returns to Mira Costa this year as an assistant coach under head coach Roberto Calderon. Atkinson spent the past 14 years building Palos Verdes High School’s cross country program into one of the strongest in the state.
Despite being Bay League adversaries, runners from Mira Costa and Palos Verdes have had a close relationship for many years thanks to the Mammoth training camp. This year’s trip began with a caravan of nine 15-passenger vans, which took the student athletes to condos, where they cooked their own meals and cleaned up after themselves.
Training events included a run to Duck Lake, climbing from 9,000 to 10,600 feet in only four miles and a 16-mile trek through the wilderness to Iceberg Lake,
“We try to make the work as majestic and beautiful as it is difficult,” Atkinson said. “It makes for a winning formula. We run runs most teams, or even pros, don’t do. This year we added Tuolumne Meadows to our agenda. We ended at the river, had a picnic, ran back and had a dance party.
“It’s the best week of a high school kid’s life. Nine days in the mountains in a remarkable part of the country. Training twice a day like a beast. We get to see the full spectrum of teenage behaviour. It’s a wonderful mix of enthusiasm.”
Renee Williams-Smith, head coach of the girls cross country team, was on her 12th training trip to Mammoth this summer. Like Atkinson, Williams-Smith returned to her alma mater to coach. She was the first girl to run cross country at Mira Costa and earned a full scholarship to Kansas State,
“Training in the high altitude helps our conditioning. But having the runners challenge themselves and accomplish things they never thought they could do before is the real reward,” Williams-Smith said. “The trip is a great bonding time and there are no distractions like at home. You really get to know your teammates after running with them for one-and-a-half to two hours.”
Savannah Pio, who won the CIF State Division 2 Cross Country Championship in 2010 before continuing her running career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, said running cross country played a significant role in her life and was her favorite high school experience.
“I was fortunate to have Renee as a coach,” Pio said. “She taught me a work ethic that translated to all areas of my life,”
Pio, who ran a sub 6-minute mile as a 6th grader at Hermosa Valley School, remembers being disappointed when told of Williams-Smith’s policy of not allowing freshmen to attend the Mammoth Camp.
“I had the time of my life in Mammoth. There was not one bad day during my three trips there during high school,” Pio said. “I’ve never been a morning person but meeting a large group of people for at 5 a.m. for a run made it doable. Duck Lake was my favorite run. I focused more on that run, which was one of the earlier runs of the trip, and had fun competing with Palos Verdes’ Rebecca Mehra (2009 CIF State Division 3 champion).
Pio’s experience had such an impact that during her sophomore year at Cal Poly, she served as a chaperone during the Mammoth Camp. And has entertained the idea of coaching at Mira Costa in the future.
Another former Mustang enters her third season as the girls assistant coach and is a running icon in the South Bay. Annie Seawright-Newton has either won or been among the top female finishers in every South Bay running event,
“Annie has a positive outlook every day,” Williams-Smith said. “Along with her running expertise, she is so encouraging for the girls. I’m so lucky to have her coach with me. Annie and I were both coache at El Camino College by Dave Shannon and both of us, along with Jeff Atkinson were coached by Dave Holland at Mira Costa.”
A few years younger than Williams-Smith, Seawright-Newton has looked up to her longtime friend since high school.
“It’s amazing to see how Renee has improved the program and I learn from her everyday,” Seawright-Newton said. “She really makes an effort to make every girl feel special and part of the team, which is a feat with more than 80 girls. I love how Renee, Jeff, and I have been able to come full circle and return to the program where it all started for us. We all have had so many positive experiences through running that it feels great to be able to give back to the sport.
“Jeff’s racing and training knowledge and experience are incredible, but what stands out most about him is that his enthusiasm is contagious. He is super creative and is always thinking of new ways to promote team bonding and to make running fun for the team.”
The Mira Costa coaching staff hopes the trip to Mammoth will pay dividends for a program that continues to improve. In the CIF-Southern Section preseason poll Mira Costa’s boys team is ranked No. 2 and the girls No. 6 in Division 2.
The teams will be challenged in the next two weeks when they compete in the Laguna Hills Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 10 and the following Saturday in the 36th Skechers Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at Silverlakes Sports Park in Norco.
Seniors Mike Yaskowitz and Caleb Lloren will lead Mira Costa’s boys team, which reached the CIF State Championships last year for the first time since 2011. In last year’s State meet at Woodward Park in Fresno, Mira Costa finished 12th out of 115 teams and was the fastest Mustang team ever to compete in the event.
Family bonds
More than a talented team lured Atkinson back to his alma mater, where he was an assistant coach from 1998-2000.
“Both of my children are running for Mira Costa now so I felt the time was right to come back,” Atkinson said. “I had a great 14 years at Palos Verdes. I volunteered last year and Roberto (Calderon) and I work well together.”
Atkinson’s daughter Lucy is a sophomore while son Billy is a freshman who is a surfer/skater and is going to “give running a try.”
Atkinson believes maintaining a strong running program is based on the community. Students joins the program become members of a family, leading their friends want to join as well.
Fifteen years ago, Atkinson founded the Manhattan Beach 5K, an event that has grown to become a twice-a-year tradition during the Summer and Winter Solstices. Runners run on the hard packed sand at low tide, starting and finishing at the Manhattan Beach Pier.,
“Ideally, we’d like to have 10 percent of the students at the school participating in cross country and track and field,” Atkinson said. “It is the No. 1 participation sport among high schools in the United States, so winning a championship in cross country indicates you are among the elite teams.”
“Watching the light bulb go on is what I enjoy most,” Atkinson said. “Like any kind of teaching, to be able to share information with a person who then makes it their own is special. To watch them climb a mountain — both literally and metaphorically — is the greatest gift one could have.”
Williams-Smith is also expecting another successful season. She has five of seven varsity starters, including some runners who were on the cusp last year, returning from a team that finished 25th out of 115 teams at last year’s CIF State Championships.
Senior Melia Chittenden finished 11th overall in State last season and will lead a team that includes returners Sierra Andrade, Gabby Guerrero, Brooke Inouye and Emily Jones.
Williams-Smith’s legacy at Mira Costa runs deep.
Williams-Smith was instrumental in starting the first girls cross country team at the Mira Costa. In 1977, she was told by her soccer coach that her playing time would be limited. Then her English teacher suggested she try out for cross country. Because there was only a boys team, she asked some friends to join.
“I started running for Costa my junior year with a handful of friends,” Williams-Smith recalled. “There were maybe 10 to 12 girls on the team when I graduated. There were 30 when I returned to coach.”
Williams-Smith had 29 new runners in the summer program and 85 girls on Mira Costa’s cross country team this year, making it one of the largest athletic programs at the school.
The goal of each runner is to gain a yellow T-shirt with the words Mira Costa Cross Country bordered by two, green horizontal stripes. The status symbol is given to runners who complete a 10-mile run on a selected Saturday on a course in Palos Verdes,
“Most kids haven’t run much before so I love watching them overcome personal challenges and accomplish things they never thought they could do,” Williams-Smith said. “It’s exciting to see kids earn their stripes. It’s a team-oriented sport, where bonding and making new friends is as important as the athletic benefits,”
Williams-Smith runs about 40 miles every week and tries to run at least one marathon each year. She has competed in two Boston Marathons, the first coming as a 49-year-old, the year of the terrorist bombing. She returned the following year “just to show them we cannot be intimidated.”
Annie Seawright-Newton’s legacy will also live on when she has the opportunity to coach her freshman daughter, Piper, who is giving cross country a try after she stopped playing indoor volleyball to focus on the beach version of the sport.
“I hope she ends up with the same love for running as I have,” Seawright-Newton said. “Running has been such a big part of my life and enriched it in so many ways. My favorite part of coaching is helping kids develop a love of running and to see them start reaping the benefits — the friendships with teammates, the confidence that comes from being able to push yourself and achieve your goals, the rush you get when you set a personal record and the satisfying feeling of being in top physical shape.”
Seawright-Newton is beginning her ninth year coaching the Hermosa Beach Run Club where about 50 kids in third through eighth grade run once a week, starting with 1-1/2 mile runs and working their way up to five mile runs. The goal of the kids is to earn a 101 Mile Hoodie by the end of the school year.
“It is amazing how far and fast some of these kids go without even realizing it because they are busy talking with friends and enjoying the scenery,” Seawright-Newton said. “During cross country season we put together a team and compete against local schools, including Manhattan Beach Middle School and Palos Verde Intermediate School. It gives them a little taste of cross country. The hope is they will consider competing in high school. Even if they don’t, I hope they all come away with good memories and since running is a ‘life sport’ some may go back to it later in life.”
