Vandebilt cross country coach talks shop about running

David Malone teaches American and world history at Vandebilt Catholic High School.

But when the final bell rings and classes let out for the day, the 31-year-old Thibodaux resident teaches winning chemistry to the Terriers cross country teams.

The Sports Net chatted with Malone about the Terriers’ chances of duplicating last season’s success and the reason why runners get little respect.

Sports Net: How did your runners finish last season?

David Malone: We had a pretty good season. Our boys won the parish and district titles and finished somewhere around seventh at state, which was a little disappointing.

But we did have the individual Class 4A state champion in Alex Breaux. He ran something around a 15:30, but it was a really bad day that was really rainy and muddy. His best time for four mile was 14:58.

The girls won the parish title and finished second at district and were 11th at state.

SN: So how do you think things will shape up this fall?

DM: We’re looking pretty good. Our boys team took a hit by losing three of top seven runners, including Alex. But locally, the boys will still be pretty good. We’re hoping to once again take the parish title and the district title as well.

We’ll have a lot more competition this year and we’ll really have to work hard. E.D. White will have a good team again and South Terrebonne will probably step it up this year.

The good news on the girls side is that we didn’t lose anyone. We used a lot of freshman and sophomores last year, and the same thing will happen this year.

We have a very young team, and I’d be willing to say we’re one of the best teams in the area.

E.D. White is always one notch above us, but I think we can repeat as parish champions and reclaim that district title.

SN: Is it hard being the coach of a sport that gets overshadowed in a football-crazed region like southern Louisiana?

DM: It can be because unless you run it, most people don’t know what it is and you have to educate them. Most people don’t know how much these kids run. I don’t know if they appreciate that or not.

I think when the actually come and watch a race they see what it’s all about and respect those kids out there. If you’re not playing one of the major sports, it’s hard to get a lot of press and support from the school, quite frankly.

SN: Nonetheless, you’re still a football fan, of course.

DM: Oh yeah, absolutely. (laughs) I’m a fan of the Rams. I used to live more than five hours from Chicago and only 45 minutes from downtown St. Louis, so it was a pretty easy decision for me.

SN: Do you have a personal background in running?

DM: Uh, no. (Laughs) I actually got this job because they needed someone. I have no running experience like some of these other coaches around here that are Gods of running. I’ve pretty much had to learn on the job for the past four to five years and finally got used to it. I’ve never claimed to be a good coach, but I have a little bit of a clue as to what I’m doing out here.

SN: Do you run now?

DM: I try, but not too much. I’m not in great shape. (Laughs)

SN: You have more of a football coach’s body than a cross country runner’s body.

DM: Probably so, yeah. I’m not tipping the scale at 300 or anything, but yeah. Never been that big of a runner. But the thing at Vandebilt is we have kids who want to come out and run, and basically I just try to motivate them and get them to realize their potential. Our state champion pretty much did it all by himself. And if you want to be that good, you have to be willing to do stuff on the side besides just coming to my practice. You have to run in the morning and after practice. You have to be disciplined. For me, the key here is the talent at Vandebilt. They give me the talent, and I just try to help the school bring home the titles.

SN: Have a favorite running movie?

DM: I like &#8220Four Minutes,” the ESPN movie about the four minute mile, where the guy ran a 3:59 to finally break the four-minute mile.

SN: Why do you think cross country gets overshadowed by other sports?

DM: When you hear the term &#8220cross country,” most people ignore it because there is football, basketball and baseball down here. Most people don’t know what it’s all about. They’ve never been to the big Catholic high school meets in Baton Rouge where you see 500 runners on the starting line.

They don’t see how much runners have to bust their butts running up and down hills against the best runners in the state. It really is an amazing feat. If you can’t respect these kids, you can’t respect anything.

In my opinion, I think these are the hardest-working athletes at the school.

David Malone