Announcement
Alumni Spotlight: Michael Garaventa - CLICK HERE
Who: Michael Garaventa
Monte Vista Class of: 2011
Post High School: Cal State San Francisco
What: We all know that long distance running is a cumulative effort. The miles and workouts that you do over the course of many years builds up over time, leading to improvements in running efficiency and results. It's not always clear when you start, where this sport might lead you if you put in the "work". No MVXC alum might represent this line of thought better than 2011 graduate Michael Garaventa.
Michael was a four year member of the XC team, starting out as an eager freshman, with times that matched his relative inexperience as a runner. Over the tenure of his high school career, Michael worked his way onto our "limited" teams, then the JV team, and finally over his last seasons, a scoring member of the varsity team. As a senior, he "wore the whites" at the NCS meet at Hayward. While there were other runners with faster mile PR's than his, his ability to put in the work is what put him on varsity over them.
He then proceeded to get a tryout at San Francisco State, who under their new Coach Tom Lyon, had started to build a regional power. SF State has a notoriously small squad, but Michael worked, and raced, his way onto the team. Over the course of his college career, he moved up steadily to become one of the Gator's top 5 runners his final seasons. SF State Bio through 2014 season (2015 was his best however!) http://www.sfstategators.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=2485
Closing on this theme, Michael has competed in 10 consecutive MVXC Alumni races, missing only the very first year we had the event. When asked why he didn't attend in 2006, Michael wisely replied "Because I was an 8th grader maybe??" Michael has won the last two alumni races and plans to continue training and racing now that he is out of college. CONGRATS TO MICHAEL - Way to represent MVXC!
Alumni Race Results - M Garaventa
2016 - 1st
2015 - 1st
2014 - 2nd
2013 - 2nd
2012 - 3rd
2011 - 2nd
2010 - 4th
2009 - 7th
2008 - 13th
2007 - 21st (frosh year)
From left: Michael at the 2007 Alumni Race, at the 2010 EBAL Champs, and after the CCAA Conference Meet (with MV Alumni Drew Feldman (2012) in the middle)
