SR Says Good Bye to Coach "J"!
Legendary SR Cross Country and Track Coach Jason Jacobson recently submitted his resignation and announced plans for he and his wife to relocate to Oregon. SR owes a deep debt of gratitude to Coach "J" for all of his efforts, brilliant success but more importantly to his commitment to the athletes at SR and the Cross Country and Track community in Northern California. Coach "J" has left a proud legacy or success with honor! Although we wish him the very best he will be greatly missed!
Below is Coach's message to the SR family:
Dear SRHS T&F and XC Friends, Family, Alumni, Athletes, Parents, and Supporters,
After an incredible 18 years at San Rafael High School, I would like to officially announce that this will be my final season here. My wife, Sheri and I, will be moving to Salem, Oregon at the end of the season.
I can still vividly recall my first day at the SR track some 18 years ago, showing up as a young twenty something, not that much older than the students, with just a weekend to prepare the workouts. Hard to believe it has been 18 years, so many generations, so many moments and memories. When I started this program, I wanted to create something special, to instill a sense of pride, to inspire everyone to reach for the stars, to make it to their proverbial gym, to be among the state’s best, to make a mark, to find meaning in the simple exercise of just putting one foot in front of the other.
One of my favorite all time quotes is a simple one, If you give, you will get. Well this program, this school, this community has given me more than I can ever imagine. Certainly many lows and many highs, many cherished relationships, from the track workouts to the hill repeats, from Piper Park to the Silver Bullet Workouts, the invitationals, the trips to the State Meet, and more. Being a small part of so many student-athletes’ lives, watching them mature as adults, seeing them push their limits, and believing in the program, its tenets, its ideals, and trusting me, well, I will never forget and I will be eternally grateful.
I have had some time to really reflect on my time here and it is in equal parts a blur and spliced into a plethora of moments. I hope the legacy and the traditions continue. You have all been a part of something incredibly special here. You have proven that good, no great things can happen at this small, public school that can and does time and time and time and time again.
In track & field, we sent 5 athletes to the State Meet, set school records, and set marks for the MCAL All-Time List.
In cross country, we won the State Meet, still the biggest upset in history, 3 times won NCS, 4 times won MCALs, and had 3 athletes in the Top 10 at the State Meet.
In both, we put up a lot of NCS Scholar-Athlete banners, displaying the true meaning of student-athlete. So many have graduated from very prestigious colleges and are now making a life for themselves. There are teachers and doctors, real estate agents and physical therapists, those with doctorates and some still in school and so much more.
Beyond those accomplishments and numbers and statistics and success, is the journey together. The start of each season to the end. The milestones each of you accomplished from simply starting out and ultimately finishing each season with courage and cardinal red pride.
So thank you, for everything. Keep on working hard, keep on showing up every day, keep on dreaming big, and keep on believing and this program will continue and thrive with the next leader.
I will be coaching and around through the end of this season and back in the Bay Area for some of our running events and hopefully will have a chance to say goodbye to everyone.
As I have ended all of my “Sunday Sermons” over the years, I will do so here with my favorite quote that encapsulates what I would like for my legacy to be at San Rafael.
Thank you,
--Coach J
"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough, they'll say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. They will tell you no. And YOU WILL TELL THEM YES.”
Cross Country
Munir Kabbara Medals at the State Meet!!!!!!
Munir Kabbara medaled at the State Cross Country Meet a tremendous accomplishment for an underclassmen. Way to GO!
Woodward Park in Fresno, California. 3 hours from Marin, a long drive along 580 ...more
Prep of the Week - Blake Delaney
CONGRATS to Blake Delaney | History SRXC Performance!!!!
Congratulations to Blake Delaney for an excellent performance at the 29th Annual CIF Cross Country Meet. Blake ran an incredible 15:37 time finishing 16th overall in D-III. What does 15:37 represent?
- #1 All-Time SRXC time at CIF!
- #2 MCAL time today and #3 NCS D-III time today!
- #8 All-Time MCAL time at CIF!
Coach Jacobsen had this to say about Blake:
“A well-deserved cap to an incredible high school cross country career. You represent what the exact ideals of the SRXC program. We will definitely name a workout after you! And when I get the privileged opportunity to write one of these up, I have the chance to say to Blake and everyone else, when you set high goals, when your work hard, when you give your all, when you BELIEVE, good, no GREAT THINGS happen in sport, in life.”
