Maddie Nerad
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa High School track and field team held a memorial service and record board dedication ceremony on March 20 at Waller Stadium to honor late Costa teacher and coach Robert “Bob” Fish who passed away last November.
Fish coached Costa’s cross country and track and field teams for 24 years from 1988 until this past fall when he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. He, along with his fellow coaches and the track and field booster club, planned the record wall, which lists the freshman, sophomore and varsity records for each track and field event. The record board, located on a wall facing the Costa track, was dedicated to Fish for his influence on the program.
“It wouldn’t be an accident that many of the records came from the late 1980s until today,” Costa history teacher and former track and field coach Steve Singiser said. “That represented the two-plus decades that Fish led the track and field program.”
To commemorate Fish, a permanent bronze plaque will be installed underneath the record wall. The plaque cost approximately $2,000. The Costa faculty raised almost $800 and the track and field booster club paid for the rest.
“Costa office assistants Peggy Froseth and Mary Glunt told me that the staff and faculty had started a fund to get something for Bob,” booster club president Cindy McMahon said. “We pooled our resources so that we could have that beautiful plaque.”
McMahon wrote the inscription on the plaque, which includes a formal dedication and represents the love Fish had for his athletes and students.
“I wanted the words to reflect Fish’s personality: a little bit of humor and a lot of love,” McMahon said. “He appreciated hard work and improvement, whether an athlete won or not.”
After the plaque dedication, coaches Robert Calderon and Moe Russell personally recognized 33 record holders, including 11 current students. Russell previously ran for Fish and holds the record for both the freshman and sophomore 100- meter races.
“I’m honored as a former runner to still maintain those records to this day,” Russell said. “They still mean as much to me now as they did when I first earned them.”
Directly following the ceremony, the Mustangs competed in a meet against the Palos Verdes Sea Kings. It was Fish’s original plan to unveil the record wall at the Palos Verdes meet, as the two teams have a close relationship and PV’s head coach, Costa alumnus Jeff Atkinson, holds the boys’ varsity 3,200-meter record at Costa.
“Fish cared about the other programs in the South Bay,” PV coach Damian Capozzola said. “He was always a true competitor and a true sportsman.”
At the meet, all athletes wore “Coach Fish” stickers on their uniforms. Costa won both girls and boys freshman/sophomore and varsity meets.
“Ever since Coach Fish passed away, I have been inspired to run harder,” junior Sam Reese said. “Wearing the stickers helped bring back all the memories we had with him.”
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