This thread is shooting, like, 42% accuracy from the field right now. From the top:
"Interviewing DII Powerhouse Coach Damon Martin of Adams State
11 November 2008 at 02:12
The Adams State men and women recently swept the Division II Central Regional Titles. This is neither surprising nor unexpected considering:
ASC's men have won more national titles than any other college or university at any level of collegiate cross country!!!
That would be 17 National Titles Total: 5 at the NCAA Division II level and12 NAIA. (2 more this year)
The women are close behind with 16 national titles, 13 at the NCAA Division II level and 3 NAIA. That includes the current streak of 5 conference crowns.
ASC is also the only school to ever perfect score at an NCAA Championship meet (1992- Slippery Rock baby yea! Although, watch-out, this year, the Washington Women just may break that streak!)
So why and how is this little University with a total (not athlete) population of 2000 soooo good? They produced 63 All-Americans last year alone and won 9 consecutive women’s conference titles from 1991-1999. When it comes to speed and quality, when it comes to the ability to dominate, Divisions mean nothing: if you have the right coach, that is.
Arguably, the answer lies in their Head Coach, Damon Martin. Damon didn’t go to a huge track school. He didn’t go to Arkansas, he didn’t go to Florida State, he didn’t go to Stanford or Texas or LSU. He went to a little NAIA school, University of Arkansas Monticello, and he worked his tail off so much and competed so hard that he qualified for the 1988 Olympic Trials in the 5k and was sponsored by Reebok for awhile.
It didn’t matter where he came from, what division he was in, it didn’t even matter who he was competing against. Damon Martin epitomized John L Parker’s quote from his Once A Runner, “A runner doesn’t run against the clock—They run against the best that’s inside them…against God if you’re good enough.”
Coaching at ASC since 1989, he’s the 22-Time National Coach of the year (Now 24 time national coach of the year). So then why would this guy, who’s been sponsored by Reebok, who’s been to Olympic Trials, be coaching at such a small DII school if he’s so great? Coach Martin explains why he wouldn’t rather be anywhere else:
What keeps you at Adams State?
Coach Damon Martin: We get focused kids and we do this in a small community where everyone apart of the program is proud of it. We get successful doctors, lawyers, even though we’re not in the Denver, Boulder area of Colorado. We get kids like Heather Woods or Aaron Braun, who could have gone to Stanford with a near perfect score on her ACT or a 3.8 GPA. We often have the top chem or top math student at the college, which makes it easier to recruit good students. No kids fall through the cracks. When you have the ability to consistently train someone over 3-5 years, you can really build a strong pack. I can’t see myself working anywhere else: I love Alamosa, Colorado. My family is deeply embedded here and the running here MEANS SOMETHING. At a lot of those other big track and cross country schools, other programs, football, basketball, overshadow what they do. Here, running really means something.
How did you end up coaching at ASC in the first place?
CDM: I was a poor college kid and even after Trials, I was really struggling. I was struggling with training and struggling with money. Sponsorships back then were not like sponsorships for a runner now. I got a job offer from them and I couldn’t really turn the offer down…I may have never gotten such a great opportunity again! Sponsorships have truly gotten better over the years.
Do a lot of your athletes aspire to keep training to get to Olympic Trials or to go Pro like you?
CDM: Less than 10% of my 90 person Track and Field team will train and continue competing at a high level post-collegiately. I have a handful of post collegiates who still train with me though. I have a variety of athletes: some see this as a way to attain lifelong fitness, a smaller percentage want to go to Olympic Trials or compete internationally.
What’s the difference between coaching/competing in Division II vs. the NAIA? I understand the school switched from NAIA to DII in 1992…
CDM: Ya know, I really enjoyed coaching in the NAIA from ’89-92. I was also an athlete in the NAIA. There’s just such a camaraderie around the country; it’s less cutthroat than DII. Since the switch, yes, ASC has established some great relations at the DII level, but I will always cherish coaching/competing in the NAIA. Coaching in the NCAA is great in that everything is at the highest quality level there can be, from awards presentations to them reimbursing your travel costs to the national meet. In NAIA, you had to pay your own way to the national meet.
Will ASC ever transition from DII to D1, like they transitioned from NAIA to DII?
CDM: That could never realistically happen. We couldn’t afford the school to be D1. A D1 cross country program budget is larger than the entirety of the ASC athletics program budget combined. But this is a sport where resources are more than dollars. Money isn’t necessarily the motivation here. Look at distance running: a lot of 3rd world countries are the best.
Tell me about recruiting: Do you get footlocker finalists or the diamond in the rough? Are you competing for the same athletes a D1 program might be recruiting?
CDM: 90% of the kids here contact us first. They weren’t the best. A lot of the kids here were 4th, 5th, 6th best at their state meet, and that doesn’t mean they didn’t have a lot of talent, it means it wasn’t developed. We follow up here at Adams State, if we realize someone wants to come here. We have kids from Jamaica, England, France, Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico, Alaska. I think I’ve only had a Footlocker finalist once before. I just want athletes who want to be here, train here in Alamosa, go to school here. We graduate the upper 80% of our students and that’s something.
What’s your coaching motto/mentality?
CDM: To make the most of what we have. We’re located in the largest valley around, so we have to travel to get to hills, but everything here is pristine, and there’s a 1-22 professor/student ratio here, so our athletes get a lot of attention as students. We also individualize certain workouts or mileage for athletes. The “my way or the highway approach” tends to decrease performances overall.
And what do you have, in terms of facilities, scholarship dollars, etc?
CDM: I’m so excited—we are getting a 12 million dollar renovation for a new training room! We’re getting a new cold tub that will fit 15-20 athletes at a time! There are also Boosters who help me out with the program and assist me in getting items I need: Recently, a Booster bought us an anti-gravity treadmill…when athletes get injured and are coming back, that anti-gravity treadmill is so critical. We have a great full-time athletic training staff here.
We have more men on the team than women, even though our school has more women’s sports than men’s. Men are more likely to walk-on anywhere than women if the roster isn’t controlled. I happen to have more scholarship program money for women.
In DII, about 12.4 scholarships are set aside for men and women each, while at a DI program, they are allowed about 18.6 scholarships total. Most schools, D1 or DII, however, can’t afford to give away the full totality of those scholarships because that’s their total budget…that’s just their maximum. Most give anywhere between 5-8 scholarships.
D1 sucks up a lot of the talent, but that’s not to say that we don’t get any. A lot of my athletes that come in have undeveloped talent. Then we develop it and win national championships.
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Just for kicks, while it’s ludicrous to compare cross country times across different courses since 1 could be quite hilly and another primarily flat, let’s compare the DII Adams State Men’s Times of their top 5 scorers from their conference meet (25:09 average) with what team they might closest resemble at the NCAA DI conference meets:
Adams State Men (1,2,3,4,5): RMAC (1st) vs. FSU Men (1,3,4,5,6): ACC (4th)
Aaron Braun 24:35 Matt Leeder 24:36
Brian Medigovich 24:59 Luke Gunn 24:58
Ryan McNiff 25:15 Daniel Roberts 25:15
Reuben Chebon-Mwei 25:23 Mike Fout 25:23
Babey Wagnew 25:32 Jason Lakritz 25:33
Disclaimer: the above assessment ignores the following:
1) ASC was racing at about a mile high altitude wise- hence, slower times
2) The ACC race was not FSU’s Luke Gunn’s best race, as he is usually FSU's #1 runner and he ended up being 3rd scorer for the team
3) Steeve Gabart, 2nd runner for FSU at the meet, finished with a time of 24:48
...Hence, I’m not saying that ASC’s 1-5 men would score the same way FSU’s 1-5 men scored on that day... I'm saying notice that the ASC men, at altitude, have only a 57s differential between their 1st and 5th place scorer...the same differential between one of the best D1 programs in the nation's 1st through 6th place scorer. Also, it's just fun data to look at IF times were comparable as they are in track, where these ASC athletes MIGHT have placed in a meet against other D1 athletes. Also, as stated before, comparing times on 2 different courses is ludicrous, especially with altitude being another variable between the two conference meets.
Regardless, for kicks and giggles, let’s remember that FSU has been considered an underdog for the National Title (with Oregon, Oklahoma State, etc being some clear-cut favorites) if FSU’s Luke Gunn is healthy and able to get back up front, and if they don’t underestimate the perseverence and talent of the ACC strongholds such as Virginia.
This means that, on paper, albeit, a ludicrous sheet of paper, this Division II Men's program could arguably place within the top 20 of the NCAA rankings, let alone contend with some of the greatest distance programs we’ve ever seen.
This was further supported (on a less ludicrous sheet of paper) at the Roy Griak Invitational, when the Grizzly men bested all 24 Division 1 squads they raced against, 7 which were ranked. The Grizzly Women finished 6th in a 23-field team made up entirely of all Division I competition. The field included powerhouses such as Arizona State and Duke University.
Conclusion: The Grizzlies of Adams State are the real deal. The men, ranked 2nd in DII only to primarily all Kenyan-team Abilene Christian before the regional meet, and now ranked #1 in D1 after their sweep last weekend, are hoping to add another National Title to their belts later this month. And with a 5k Olympic Trials Qualifier and 22-Time National Coach of the Year leading their ranks into battle, they just might do so.
**The Trackshark Staff would like to thank esteemed Coach Damon Martin for this interview, especially as he took out the time last Tuesday when the team was leaving on Wednesday for their regional meet. That was very much appreciated, and as a Staff, we are wishing you the best of luck on the remainder of your season. Congrats on a dominating performance at regionals!!!
**Also, thank you to my readers with a critical eye and sharp ear to the sport who remind me to add in that the altitude difference between the conference times and the change in rankings from #2 to #1 are important edits to add to the article after the time of interview...you make Trackshark a better community as a whole and you are appreciated, as always: Thank you.