Cavemen Looking Ahead to NXN

Nov 12, 2008

The American Fork cross country team stormed through the 2008 season as one of the top programs in Utah State. At the State Championships, American Fork posted one of the fastest team times in state history. The Cavemens 81:22 team time ranks them between Mountain Views 04' and 05 squads. Both Mountain View teams competed at the NTN finals each finishing those seasons ranked #5 Nationally. With such a great season the Cavemen set their sights on NXN Southwest Region Championships Saturday, November 22 at the legendary Kiwanis Park course in Tempe, AZ.

Head Coach Timo Mostert has been able to organize a largely underclassman team into one of the best the state has seen in recent years. We asked Timo some questions about the 2008 squad, their goals for NXN, and the upcoming season. We also get some insight into the man behind the American Fork Cavemen, Timo Mostert.

MilesplitUT- Please talk about your own personal track and XC background, from your first involvement to your getting into coaching.

Timo- I was in my first track meet in 6th grade- long jump. In Junior High, I ran the 880. I had great coaches in high school and college including Angelo Rinchiuso at Quincy (Il.) High School, Dike Stirrett at Champaign Central (Il.) High School, Lee LaBadie at Parkland College (Il.) and Sherald James at Brigham Young University. Their training philosophies and particular workouts are incorporated into our program at American Fork. We have also incorporated things I've learned from Paul Pilkington, Ed Eyestone, Paul Cummings, Brian Kuhlmann, and other friends in the coaching profession. I started college in an engineering program, but switched to education and coaching my Sophomore year after I got the coaching bug. I haven't lost the bug, yet.

MilesplitUT- You have been at the forefront of the sport in Utah in the past few years, what are your goals for the sport in the state of Utah and nationally?

Timo- Utah has always been recognized nationally for its running tradition. I just want to give the kids in our program an opportunity to realize their potential and perhaps contribute to this tradition.

MilesplitUT- You had an amazing showing this year with a largely underclassman team. At the state championships your team posted one of the fastest team times in meet history. Was this a surprise and what are the challenges unique to maintaining or even improving your program?

Timo- At the start of the Summer, I knew we had a lot of rebuilding. Half the team were newbies, but they worked together all Summer and kept improving at the Summer road races. Noone gave us any love in the preseason, so we used this for motivation. We set goals, and kept raising the bar as those goals were met.

MilesplitUT- What are some of the training principles that are the cornerstone of the American Fork program? Off-season/base training? Mileage at different points of the season? Particular favorite workouts?

Timo- I'm a fan of Arthur Lydiard and Bill Bowerman, so we like high mileage(45-70 miles) during the Summer and early season. Fartlek, tempo runs, hill runs,long Saturday runs and repeat workouts are staples. Most Mondays during the Summer we do an 8.5-11 miler with a 1.3 mile steep uphill in the middle that the kids affectionately call "The Grinder". They earn a t-shirt when they can do the hill under 9 minutes. We keep records of their best times. I get them spikes if they can beat 8:00 up it.

MilesplitUT- Your top runner Ryan Bradshaw ran a superb race at state, he is surrounded by a slew of phenominal underclassman, how has his leadership affected this team? Tell me a little about your team. I am curious to know more about Austin West, Robbie Lee, MacKenzie Morrison (unreal freshman), and Derek Day, they posted phenominal performances at the state championships.

Timo- Ryan started running Summer track with us in 7th grade, his older sisters were on the team. He saw a lot of success by our former runners like John Bell and Mike and Ben Felix. He kept working and improving. Last year's success certainly gave incentive for our boys to want to return and improve on our finish at NTN Regionals. He has done a great job as team captain of helping teach the younger boys how to race to win. Robbie Lee was all-state last year as a sophomore. He is just a highly motivated kid who works harder than anyone. He is another team leader that pushes others to excel. Austin was injured most of last year, but is starting to realize his potential during the Summer. The rest of the varsity are all rookies. Robbie brought Jeff Nelson to run, because Jeff is a great natural athlete (he played basketball with Robby on the soph squad last year) and a fierce competitor. Derek wrestled last year and ran track at the Junior High. Mac ran with our Summer track club before 8th grade. He is a competitive swimmer and triathlete. He preferred trying to stay up with the varsity guys rather than running in the back. Our other super-frosh, Clayton, moved from Yakima, Wa. at the end of July. He did track at his Jr. High there and was excited to join our team. You might see the most improvement out of him next year as he finally gets used to the altitude.

MilesplitUT- What were your teams goals coming into this year? Has the success of the team this year surprised you, the team? What drives the fierce competitiveness of the Caveman Cross Country Program?

Timo- They are a motivated bunch. I subscribe to the philosophy of Lou Holtz: "I'm not a great motivator, I just get rid of the guys who can't motivate themselves."

MilesplitUT- Who are your up and comers for next year, you have a team of very young athletes, a large developmental program, any new guys ont he horizon that look to add to an already dominant team for 2009?

Timo- Our JV runners did a great job this year and are improving all the time. They took second by 17 points at pre-region, but won region handily: a good sign of things to come. We hope they'll keep improving and be able to contribute next year.

MilesplitUT- What was the highlight of your coaching season this year? What are your thoughts on Timpview and Alta?

Timo- The highlight was seeing boys (varsity and JV) get big P.R.'s as a result of their hard training and dedication. That's a big focus of our Program: "When you work hard, good things happen." We are very close to the Timpview program; we were in the same region for many years. The boys are friends and we were happy for their 3-peat at State. This was only our 4th year in 5A, so we haven't seen much of Alta. I thought they ran fantastic at State. Their group of Seniors and Juniors went through several years of growing pains of learning how to be successful. Coach Murphy did a great job this year preparing them for the season and for State.

MilesplitUT- What are your thoughts on NXN Southwest Region Championships? You have been attending for two years now, what motivated you to shift from Footlocker to the NXN format? Do you anticipate competing for a NTN National berth in the coming years?

Timo- The New Mexico teams are way tough. Our boys didn't run as well as they wanted to last year, with only 2 returning from that team, we've been addressing those issues that kept us from racing better at practice and in team meeting. With such a young squad, our goal this year is to be competitive, but also give them that high level experience so they will be more comfortable next year. As the boys improve in their level of achievement, we'll keep moving our individual and team goals to the next level.

MilesplitUT- What are your goals as a coach for the team for next season?

Timo- Get them to all return to run, 2. Get them to influence a friend or younger sibling to join the team, 3. Get each boy to improve on their performances from this year. If we can achieve these things, the team success will take care of itself.

MilesplitUT- Every team has a funny story, what is a moment with your team that surprised you that you would like to share?

Timo- The boys sometimes play wall ball while waiting for the 9th graders to arrive from the Junior High. One day, I was playing with them: I was throwing left handed because I dislocated my right shoulder right before the season started. I got three quick strikes and was standing at the wall. The boys never seem to hit anyone, but I ended up with 4 or 5 welts and bruises from all the direct hits. No otter pops for the boys after practice on that day!

American Fork Accomplishments

All Region:

3rd Robby Lee (Academic All-Region)

4th Ryan Bradshaw (Academic All-Region)

6th Austin West (Academic All-Region)

7th Derek Day

Academic All-Region (3.7 Cumulative GPA): Corey Jackson

2008 State Championship Team Time: 81:22 (16:16 avg.)

15:58 Ryan Bradshaw(12) (All-State 4th)

16:02 Austin West(10) (All-State 8th)

16:17 Robby Lee(11)

16:27 Mac Morrison(9) (2nd fastest Freshman All-time on state course behind Provo's Jared Rohatinsky 16:25.7 in 2002)