Naomi Kruh
Staff Writer
With the the new cross country season right around the corner, Mira Costa girls cross country coach, Renee Williams-Smith, was named the 2014 Brooks Most Inspiring Coach of the Year.
Every year, Brooks, a company that makes men’s and women’s running attire, holds a competition to find the most inspiring coach in the United States. Sophomore, Eliza Davis, saw a promotion for the competition on Facebook and nominated Williams-Smith. In order to be in the running, other people had to send in testimonials as to why Williams-Smith should be nominated.
“I was surprised by how many people knew about the nomination,” Williams-Smith said. “They were all doing this and it was supposed to be a big secret for me.”
In June, the finalists from the competition were announced. Voting took place from June to August. As a way to determine the whether, voting was open to the public on Facebook. The first week of August, 25 finalists were flown out to Seattle and Williams- Smith was announced the winner that Tuesday.
“I was stunned because I had met so many, what I considered inspiring people,” Williams-Smith said. “I am beyond honored that I got picked for it.”
The Mira Costa girls cross country team received $2,500 cash and $10,000 dollars worth of Brooks running gear as a result of the award. Williams-Smith decided that she would like to share her prize and will be donating 20 pairs of racing shoes to the Hawthorne High School cross country team.
“I feel like what kids can get out of it is that they can do anything,” Williams-Smith said. “That they can challenge themselves and get over it and get better.”
Williams-Smith is responsible for starting the girls cross country team at Costa. It all began when she would not make the soccer team her junior year, Williams-Smith complained to her English teacher who was the boys cross country coach at the time.
“He told me to come out and run with the team, so I showed up to run, but I didn’t know there weren’t any other girls on the team,” Williams-Smith said. “The next day I brought five of my friends out and that’s how we started the team.”
Since Williams-Smith began to coach the team 12 years ago, the Costa and Palos Verdes cross country teams have gone to Mammoth for a training camp for eight days over the summer. The training camp was started by former Olympian and current Palos Verdes cross country coach, Jeff Atkinson.
“My favorite part about training in Mammoth is the team bonding aspect,” senior Kara Jeong said. “Every year, Mammoth helps us get closer as a team than we were before.”
In order to go on the trip, girls must have a year of Costa cross country experience and be able to run two 10 mile runs. The days are filled with team bonding, daily high altitude runs, and hikes.
“I got close with many of my teammates and bettered myself enough to also be able to train with them,” sophomore Ashley Werre said.
“I feel like what kids can get out of it is that they can do anything,” Williams-Smith said. “That they can challenge themselves and get over it and get better.”
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