The Woodside Wildebeests was started in Fall 2013 by the Head Coach, Tina Lount-Pretre. Several other specialists are now involved, on a volunteer basis, either as advisors, as assistant coaches, or by leading clinics, to make this a fantastic foundational track & field opportunity for the kids:
Current Coaches' Bios:
Current Coaches' Bios:
- Tina Lount-Pretre - Head Coach/Founder/Level 2 Endurance USATF Certified Coach:
Tina brings a life-long love for running and track & field to coaching. She grew up in CANADA and started running at the age of 10 years old, placing 3rd in the Canadian Junior National X-Country Championships at 17. She was a 4-year Varsity Track and X-Country runner (and XC captain) at Harvard University, specializing in the 1500m, 3000m and X-Country and was a multi-time ECAC qualifier. She transitioned to triathlons in her post-collegiate athletic career, completing 7 full Ironman races (including Hawaii) and countless half-ironman/olympic distance triathlons. This is Tina's 11th year spear-heading, planning and coaching the Wildebeest kids. Coach Tina is the mother of three (who were also former Wildebeests and youth soccer players and multi-sport athletes) now focused on competing in running at the D1 University level. Coach Tina also worked 8 years as an Assistant Distance Coach at Menlo School High School in addition to a 30+ year career in the software start-up industry. Tina also offers private running speed/form development coaching upon request. - Brent Cromley - Assistant Coach - Distance:
Brent’s love of running high-school cross-country and track continued when he joined the running team at Dartmouth College. After college, he lengthened to marathon distances and has three Boston’s under his belt. He is a dad to one Wildebeest (Reed in 6th grade) and he can always be found taking photos of all the Wildebeests at the meets. - Peter Kolotouros - Hurdling/Sprint Coach:
Peter was an internationally ranked hurdler for the US and assists the Wildebeests with hurdling clinics, relay handoff and block start technique for sprinters. Peter is a product of the Bay Area, having attended elementary school through college all locally. He began competing in age group track (AAU and USATF) from the age of 10 with the Cupertino Yearlings. While at Stanford, Peter was a 4 year varsity athlete competing in the 110 HH, 400 IM, 200, 400, 4X100 and 4X400 relay teams. Peter continued hurdling after college, competing in track meets throughout Europe and ultimately achieved an Int'l top 50 time in the 110 HH. Peter was later recruited for bobsleigh as a pushman (sprinting on ice) and is a Winter Olympian.
- Wildebeest Friends and Advisors:
Wildebeest coaches also receive constant input and coaching advise behind the scenes from experienced high school, club and college track coaches and former Olympian friends. - Mike Housley:
Mike Housley is the head of the Toronto West Athletics running club in Toronto, Ontario, CANADA and was Coach Tina's high school coach! He has coached for almost 20 years and has coached at the high school and university level, focusing on middle distance runners. In his competitive years Mike won multiple Canadian provincial and national medals and one of his proudest achievements was as a member of a Canadian national record holding 4x800 team, a record that lasted for 30 years. His coaching philosophy is for his athletes to see the big picture and develop their full potential over several years. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. Mike constantly kindly provides Coach Tina with his insight and coaching wisdom for the Wildebeests! - Lara Salamacha - Assistant Coach - Distance:
Lara ran sprints and hurdles in high school and at Stanford, before lengthening to marathon distances in medical school. Following the advice: “when you can no longer go fast... go long,” she has been running ultra-marathons for the past decade with age group and overall wins from 30k to 100 miles, and can now proudly claim to have raced from 100 meters to 100 miles... still trying to find her favorite distance. Along with Mechanical Engineering and Biomechanics degrees from Stanford, Lara trained as an Orthopedic Surgeon at UCSF before specializing in Sports Medicine at Stanford. She is mom of three including two that were Wildebeests (Julia in and Kevin at St Francis Mountain View HS) and Lara loves running (long!) with kids. - Amanda Hess:
Amanda Hess has an impressive background in mid-distance and distance running. She ran track for Cal Poly SLO, specializing in the 800m and X-Country. Post college, she qualified to run in the US Olympic Marathon Trials (with a 2:49 marathon time). Amanda helped coach Wildebeests in the early days when her son was a member of the club. - Travis Edwards:
Travis brings youth and speed to the Wildebeest coaching staff! Travis grew up in Southern California running track and cross country in high school all four years and placing at the state level multiple times. He also went on to run for Stanford, specializing in the steeplechase and distance events (with impressive PRs across the board - 9:04 3000m steeple chase, 3:53 1500, 4:11 1600m, 15:12 xc 5k, 1:55 800m). He graduated from Stanford in 2014 with a Civil and Environmental Engineering degree and is currently working in the software start-up industry. Travis enjoys running and cycling recreationally and is excited to help inspire and coach the Woodside Wildebeests. Travis is currently traveling across the US but we try not to let him forget us Wildebeests! - Andy Pflaum - Assistant Coach - Distance:
Andy is the father of 2 former Wildebeests (Caroline now at Menlo-Atherton HS], and Annie, now at Dartmouth). He ran middle-distance at the University of North Carolina (go Tar Heels!), and today enjoys trail runs in the foothills of the Peninsula. Andy lives with wife Courtney and their 3 daughters in Ladera (Portola Valley), and works at Slack Technologies.
- Mike Housley: