Coyote runner and coach look back at historic season

Eduardo Miranda

The Daily Independent

In only its fourth year, the Cerro Coso cross-country team had one of its best seasons with plenty of program firsts. In its first year under first-time head coach Devin Fahey, the Coyotes scored at a meet for the first time as a team, competed and reached the podium at the Inland Empire Athletic Conference Meet, competed as a team at the SoCal Regionals Meet, and had a runner, freshman Ryan Morrison, qualify and run at the 3C2A Championship Meet.

Fahey spoke on the many first accomplishments his runners accomplished in their first season under him and in the program.

"I am as happy and as proud as I can possibly be," he said. "I remember about five months ago sitting back home in Texas, talking to my parents, maybe if a couple of great runners dropped out of the sky, came out of nowhere, and maybe if training goes perfect, and everything lines up well, then maybe we score a team. Maybe that team can beat another team and get fourth, maybe third. Maybe that team can qualify for Regionals and get somebody to State"

But he didn't actually know how much he should expect that.

"I know I wanted it; I know a kid like Ryan wanted it, I know a couple of the guys on the team wanted it really bad, so that's why it happened," Fahey said. "I'm still in a little bit of disbelief. I really can't believe that those were the things we were able to accomplish in a short amount of time. I feel quite strongly that those five guys, Ryan, Walker, Greg, Leo, and Andrew, they did something that was pretty spectacular. I appreciate them buying into my vision for what I saw for this season, but vision and going out and running it are something different. And if everything went perfect, I think I would be happy. Things didn't go perfect and we still made it happen, so I'm over the moon for that."

One of the biggest surprises for the program was Morrison qualifying for the 3C2A Championship Meet in Fresno. The freshman Coyote runner had an impressive finish to his season. He led the team in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference Meet finishing in 23rd place with a time of 23:44. At the SoCal Regionals Meet he placed 78th with a time of 22:12 to qualify for the 3C2A Championship Meet as an individual. At the Championship Meet, he placed 125th with a time of 22:21.

Morrison spoke on being the first runner from Cerro Coso to qualify and run in the Championship Meet.

"I'm really happy to have made it to that meet. I'm really happy and excited that I got to that meet and it wouldn't have been possible without having a team around me the whole season. At the beginning of the season, I didn't really expect that I could have made it there. I figured Regionals would have been a little bit more of a stretch, trying to place well there. But State was at the back of my mind, but it felt like was more of a reach. It became more and more possible as we went out throughout the season. I'm happy to be the first, and hopefully there are many to come after me," he said.

He wasn't alone in being excited at making history for the program. Fahey was beyond excited for what Morrison accomplished.

The Coyotes coach said, "I was ecstatic. That was a meet I lost my voice for. I was jumping up and down a whole lot, shaking Ryan, he was probably annoyed right after the race. I was just going crazy. We knew it was possible. I very much believed in Ryan and his ability to execute on that day." 

Fahey figured that Morrison would need to be in the top half of the finishers in the race, which would be in the 90-95 range or better. At the one-mile mark, he was right there at between 93 and 95.

"I think he got the message that he needed to move up," he said. "He really did that better than most are capable of, moving 10, 20 spots up toward the end of the race. And still having his signature kick to do that. We knew that put him in position to then qualify for State, and as much as we wanted that for Ryan, maybe didn't expect it in his first year. That really, really pushed the ceiling very far forward. I think if we had a great race at Regional and nobody moved, it would have still been an amazing season and we all would have been psyched. Because Ryan qualified, it means the people we have now and the next generation see that State is an option and an opportunity. Because he was there, there are a lot of other kids who can now see themselves there, even future guys and girls who might be in high school right now and are not in college yet. Because of that success, our future success is much, much more possible. I couldn't be happier that he was able to do that all in one year, off just a couple of months of training. I'm glad I don't have to race him next year with another year of training under his belt."

Morrison gave plenty of credit for his success to teammates. As a team, the Coyotes had their first season of scoring points as a team and even reached the podium at the Inland Empire Athletic Conference Meet with a third-place finish to earn a spot at the SoCal Regional Meet. Morrison spoke on the team's success in the conference and regional meets.

"Getting the podium at the Inland Empire Conference was really big for us, because before this year, we didn't have a team. We didn't have a scoring five. To finally having a scoring five and progress throughout the season and get better and better and better, to at that point to podium, that I think was really big for Cerro Coso to be building this program. As far as Regional, I think we all ran a really good race. The fact that we were there was really big for our program, again not having a scoring five, even struggling to get five toward the beginning of the season, and at that point have a scoring five that could make it to Regional was really big," he said.

Fahey echoed his freshman runner on the success the team had this season.

He added, "the goals for this team were low coming in. I think it is a little bit of a shock and exciting for everybody to see this. I know Ryan remembers the meeting early on in the season where we talked about our goals as a team were to essentially show signs of life. Really show the community, show our conference that this is a team that is up and coming, and that it's going to be a problem in the future. I felt like if we scored a couple of good guys at conference, we would have accomplished that goal, to go from being a team that most coaches didn't know about and didn't know that Cerro Coso even had a program to now a team that's beating a lot of other teams. There was a lot of other teams in conference looking at us being like I wish I was Cerro Coso. It would be nice to be on the podium right now. That would be nice to have the first runner who finished after the whole San Bernardino mob. That would be nice to have three guys in the top 30."

Fahey said that as good as this outcome is for this year, it's even better for next year and future seasons because it set a standard.

"We did this off a good set of work, coming late into the season," he said. "I got into town on July 11, and most of these kids didn't start training until August. To be able to do it all again but have more preparation, and for me as a coach to have more time to recruit and bring in more people, it can only go up. I think it's very exciting for me as a coach, but mostly for the athletes looking towards the future, get to maybe relieve some of the Burroughs success here at Cerro Coso."

The success the team had and Morrison's own personal success of reaching the Championship Meet, Morrison said, is a testament to all the hard work he and his teammates have put in.

"It really shows that our hard work pays off. We have some pretty difficult workouts that certainly make us better. But I think it's really good for us because we work so hard throughout the entire season to be able to make it past conference and know that we can work beyond just the bare minimum. I think it shows how dedicated we are, how hard working we are, and how motivated we are to keep pushing and maximizing what we can get out of this season," he said.

But the Coyotes runner added it also sets up an excitement for the upcoming season for himself and for the team.

"Next season, I'm hoping we can almost recreate the same success plus some. Hopefully we can podium at conference again and make to Regional. Depending on how the team looks we can have a team at State, which would be great. If we don't individually, I would want to be pretty far up in the pack in State. This season I did a lot of what I have done with no base. I didn't train much over my summer, so I think once I get a lot more training under my belt, under coach Fahey, I think I can go pretty far and do well at State. Hopefully lead a team to do really well at Regional and if possible, make it to State," Morrison said.

Fahey agreed with his runner as Morrison and his teammates should be motivated from the success they saw Morrison achieve. This makes the upcoming spring season of track and next year's cross-country season in fall very exciting.

He said, "I think there is a huge internal intrinsic motivation piece to this that I know Ryan experiences and I'm sure a lot of kids watching feel that kind of inspiration toward. That being said, a lot of life is about the perks. I think Ryan just showed a bunch of kids that running has some perks. It's cool to get to go to San Diego, it's cool to get to go to Fresno, it's cool to get to run against the best. I think there are a lot of kids now, a couple of Ryan's teammates who are, 'hey man, I think I want that trip. I think I want to do that.' And that's great.

"A huge part of running when you are young is just learning that there are a lot of opportunities out in the world for you. That how I felt and a huge motivation on my part to run at the D1 level. I was like, 'hey, if I can go to Philadelphia, New York, or California to race just because I can run and I'm fast, that's a good deal, and I'll take that.' Ryan showed a bunch of kids right now that running has opportunities. Running brings cool stuff that adds to your life, and we love to add to people's lives and take them on a trip."

Fahey expanded on the excitement of his cross-country runners going into the first ever Cerro Coso track season and a full off-season for his runners.

"As a coach from the long-term view, it's really exciting," he said. "The immediate thing that brings more excitement is the track season. I think these kids have learned that if they are willing to work for a little bit of time and kind of stack this up — and running is a sport that's all about stacking — that can get me pretty far. Now they have been consistent for one full cross-country season, but some of these kids have never run a track season in their lives. Ryan is one of the few who is very experienced in track, and he is looking forward to it because he knows what he is getting himself into. Some of these kids don't even know yet."

Fahey said that running a spring track season is great way to get fit and ready for the fall cross-country season, but it's something previous cross-country runners haven't done at Cerro Coso, even the best ones.

"In my humble opinion as a coach, track is great," he said. "There are a lot of benefits to running track, so I'm really excited to see how they can translate some of that cross-country fitness into this spring. Then I'm really excited to see how all of that fitness builds across the summer and then into next fall. And then we start to really see some exciting stuff because we will have a team with two generations of runners that have now been training consistently, have been building for a long time. The more this team can build, the more we have kids who trained consistently, the more success we will find."

During the season, Morrison and his fellow runners had the chance to run in multiple meets that included D1 and D2 runners. Morrison spoke on that experience and a goal he has for himself from those meets.

"It was certainly an experience. I have been in some fast races in my past like in high school, but that was next level. In an 8K, I was like, 'how can these guys keep going as fast as they do across this distance?' But then coach looks at me and said, 'you can be at that point if you keep working at it.' It's pretty crazy to see some of these guys go as fast as they can for as long as they can. Hopefully someday I will be at that point if I keep working at it. It was pretty cool," he said.

It's a goal Fahey believes Morrison is more than capable of reaching if he wants. He truly believes the Coyotes runner has the potential to be a top runner at the NCAA level.

"Selfishly as a past runner, I'm so excited to watch Ryan," Fahey said. "As someone who knows what it is to run these longer distances hard as well as some of the shorter faster stuff, I'm really excited for Ryan. A part of me wishes I was him. Ryan is fast. Ryan is fast, fast to a certain level me and my assistant who have run some cool stuff, we haven't experienced. Ryan can run 51 in a quarter. That is speed. That is speed that a lot of kids right now who beat him in State don't have. So, for Ryan to keep building his aerobic fitness and add that to his speed is incredible, but just coming in to this next track season and next year is really exciting to see." 

He said Morrison has a chance to qualify for the Brian Clay Invitational, possibly the No. 1 track meet in the entire nation, with times very close to qualifying already.

"I think he will get those qualifying time this season and get to run in a meet that a lot of D1 teams are paying big dollars to travel across the nation for, and we have it in our backyard," he said. "Immediately it will be great to see Ryan run some cool stuff in track and continue showing Cerro Coso this is something that we do and can do into the next year and after that. It's incredible. Ryan is a guy who can run sub 14 minutes in a 5K all day long, as long as he stacks it up and keeps training for years. It's easy to say but hard to do. It's easy for me to sit here in a comfy office in my sweater and say, 'Ryan, keep training for years,' but it's hard for him to go out and do it. But if Ryan can just do that simple thing, training for the next four or five years, he will be one of the top runners in the NCAA, he can go to an NCAA school D1, D2, or D3, and compete for that and add to that program. Does he have to? No, but he could. For me as a runner, selfishly it's very exciting to see those things."

Morrison did look ahead to the next cross-country season, and he has nothing but excitement knowing he will be going in with a full off-season of workouts. He is nothing but excited to compete again and make a return to the Championship Meet.

"Definitely (excited for next season and returning to Championship Meet). I want to be a lot further up. Maybe top 20 or top 10, those would be good goals to really reach for," he said.