Back at Forbes Mill (for runners)

Jake and I met early (7:30 AM) to beat the heat. We ran up and back in 24:32 which seemed very easy to me. Good Sign! Then we jogged over to the track that swarming with the San Jose State Girl's Cross Country Team. Jake went off and ran some drills and then 30 meter dashes. I ran 8 x flying 100 meters starting gingerly (my calf is fine. I want it to remain that way). 21-21-21-20-20-19-19-18. 300 easy jog recovery. I ran into Augie Argabright the head coach over at SJ State. He stated the Cindergals back in the 1960's which spawned Francie Larrieu. She made the Olympic team at various distances 5 times! Cyndy Poor also came out of the group. She ran on the 1976 Olympic Team.

Here's the scoop on him from the SJSUS web page.

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Augie Argabright embarks on his 14th season as the San Jose State University cross country head coach in 2007. The women’s head coach since 1994, he added the duties as the men’s head coach in 1997 when the program was reinstated.

His student-athletes have earned 15 All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) honors, 61 Academic All-WAC accolades and two Cross Country Only national championships. In addition, two of his women’s teams were honored for academic excellence by the Women’s Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association.

During his five-decade professional career, he has coached 12 high school cross country All-Americans, 10 U.S. cross country and seven high school state track and field champions.

A pioneer in women’s cross country circles, he formed the San Jose Cindergals Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team in 1967 and was its director and head coach until 1982. The Cindergals were recognized as one of the world’s top teams under his direction and won nine AAU national championships.

Argabright coached five-time U.S. Olympian and 1992 Opening Ceremonies flag bearer Francie Larrieu and two-time U.S. Olympian Cyndy Poor. He was a three-time coach of the U.S. Track and Field team and a two-time coach of the U.S. National cross country team.

The 1971 San Jose State graduate established the cross country and track and field programs at West Valley College in 1977. West Valley won two state championships in cross country and two in track and field. He was named the 1980 California Community College Coach of the Year.

“This is a great place to run if you want to be successful in the classroom and on the course,” said Argabright. “With our main schedule in the fall and our lighter schedule in the spring, you can take more classes or harder classes in the spring. If you want to run in college, academics must come first. Then, this is the best place to come.”

“Augie is one of those very rarest of coaches who combines science and knowledge, with passion for what he does to help young people better themselves,” said Brooks Johnson, former Stanford University and USA national team track and field coach.

Argabright and his wife, Kathy, reside in San Jose. They have two grown children, Jeff and Meg.

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