Eduardo Miranda
The Daily Independent
Going into this season, the Cerro Coso cross-country program will be under the care of new head coach Devin Fahey. This will be Fahey's first head coaching position, having spent the last two years on the staff at Gonzaga University, and he is nothing but excited at the prospect of taking over the program and helping the runners achieve their best.
"I'm somebody who is born in this sport and I plan to die in this sport. I feel every gift I have in my life comes from running, and I'm really excited to give those gifts back to this program," he said. "I do think there is a lot of basics of this sport that you can't tweak too much. People have figured out that those are the core concepts of running, but there are a lot of mentalities and mindset differences that I would like to make with my program and my athletes. As my first shot as a head coach, I'm really excited to see, can I make those differences? And do those differences have the results I would like them to?"
Currently, Fahey is still recruiting both men and women runners for his first season at Cerro Coso. He and the returning runners have released a flyer letting any one both experienced or new to running cross-country know about the program and the new head coach. The new Coyotes cross-country coach spoke on his program and what he wants his returning runners and new runners to see and take from it.
"I'm really hoping that anybody in town seeing our flyers, meeting me, meeting some of my athletes around town, I would hope they immediately get the feel that as head coach my priority is more than running. As much as I would love to help people run a new mile PR, a new 5K PR, I want everyone to see this is a lot more. It's about you as an individual, and its really less about where you have been and where you are at, and its so much about where can you go. And working together, where can we get you — even if you never run a step in your life after you are done with me here at Cerro Coso, I would hope your experiences here reverberate in your life, and make you stronger, smarter, more empathetic, more caring, all these things person. I want people to see that you can realize your best self in your time running here with me," he said.
But that isn't the only thing he wants runners to experience with his program. He wants to whole experience of being a Coyote cross-country runner to be fun for each individual runner.
He said, "fun is a big part of the sport. As much as we need to take seriously the workouts, the mileages, the racing, the preparation, all of these things cross country does not exist without the silly, goofy, fun, family close-knit community that is inherent with our sport. I don't see many if any cross-country teams that are not like a family, and I refuse to be part of a team that isn't a family. Regardless of if you are my No. 1 runner or not making the travel squad, your place in this team is the same, and the experiences you will have will be the same. We are having team dinners, we are having game nights, we are doing team gatherings. We are going to get together and go down to the ceramics place down the street and spend some time painting pottery.
"All of these things are the small memories that sit in between the running that you never forget. Myself going through the sport, I can't help but remember all of these small silly moments in between the serious stuff that feels like it creates the entire experience. Yeah, the racing is going to take a lot of it, but you are going to remember singing songs on runs with your teammates. You are going to remember water balloon fights after long runs and stuff like that. That is absolutely the experience anybody coming in is open to having."
Fahey is open to new and experienced runners. He wants anyone who is interested in cross-country to speak with him about the program and any concerns they may have. He has a different message for both types of runners. For those experienced runners who may want to run at a higher collegiate level, he can help you achieve that goal. For the new inexperienced runners who are curious and interested in cross-country, he can help you become a better runner.
"I would hope from an experienced runner who has seen a little bit more from the sport and is now looking to move forward with it, I hope they see me and what I am about. I am a D1 guy. I ran at the University of Houston for five years under a world-renowned coach in Steve Magness. I trained with sub-four-minute milers, I trained with sub-30 10K runners, I trained with sub-150 800 runners. I have seen that side of the sport first hand, and I'm coming from Gonzaga University working under a very famous, world-renowned coach named Pat Tyson. There I was able to coach and work with athletes again at that very high level, far surpassing the level of the sport that I reached myself as an athlete.
"For an experienced runner, they have to know I can take you further in the sport and that I can take you to a level you don't see for yourself. Whatever you think you are capable of, if you buy into what I'm doing here, I feel very strongly that you are going to push past that level," he said.
"What is a new runner looking to get out of this and what do they see? I would hope for a new runner they can see the value in what I as a coach, but running as a spiritual guide, have to offer. Maybe running is not your favorite and you may not feel very good at it right now. That doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if you don't win the Olympics, don't run at the conference meet. Running has just as much to offer you as it does the experienced guy next to you. Going through these experiences, challenging yourself, pushing yourself toward something that is scary — those are the experiences that make you strong. You ask God for strength; you are never going to get big muscles overnight. You get a gym down the street and you get the opportunity to go get strong. In that same light, I can't make you fast, I can't make you a champion runner but this is the place, the opportunity for you to pick that up yourself. And for you to turn yourself into a champion runner."
Cerro Coso opens its season at the Waves Invitational on Aug. 29, giving any Cerro Coso student interested in the program some of time to reach out to Fahey. He understands that the decision to run is not to be taken lightly, and for those future runners who are on the fence of joining the program, he has a simple pitch.
"If you are on the fence and you are thinking I don't know if this is for me or I don't know if this applies, or if I'm the right person, or if I'm cut out for this, here is what I will say: come talk to me, come meet me, come meet our team. Spend one practice with us and see if that doesn't give you the inherent gut feeling of belonging," he said. "And I think even if you have a conversation with me and you never run another day in your life, you don't come run for me, and I don't see you in a Cerro Coso jersey, that conversation will lead you toward what you are supposed to be doing. Because there is no realm in this universe that it's OK to do nothing. You have to do something and you don't have to run, by no means do you have to run, but you have to find your thing. I was raised to believe that our mission in life is to find your special thing. Find that corner of the world that is you and work it, chase that, and maybe that thing isn't running for you, but doing a couple years of running with me will teach you how to effectively work that. You come out of a successful program and you do it right, you will apply all of those same habits and patterns and lessons to the next thing. And maybe that's the thing you really care about, but you will be so much better at it and better for it, by bare minimum having a conversation with me and my athletes."
For anyone interested in joining the program or wants to know more, you can get in touch with Fahey via cell phone at 281-513-8939 or via email at devin.fahey@cerrocoso.edu. He said, "call me or text me. I'm addicted to my phone like the rest of us so it's hard to put down. I go to bed around 9 o'clock, so past that I may not answer. But I want you to reach out. I want to get that phone call, I want to get that text, I want you to let me know, and then we will take you to the next level. I'm up at trials right behind the school at 6 a.m. every morning, so if you want to come talk to me you can meet me there. I can do a run with you and talk about whatever you want. Besides that, I'm probably at practice or a track meet, and you can come talk to me there."