Randy Rau
6/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Randy Rau was named head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams in the summer of 1999 and wasted no time elevating the status of the program. In his first season at Saint Mary's, Rau guided the men's team to a second place finish at the West Coast Conference Championships - smashing the team's previous best finish (5th). For his effort, the rookie was named the WCC Coach of the Year.
Under his tutelage runners have earned four All-WCC selections, a Freshman of the Year honoree and five honorable mention accolades. Individually, both the men and women's school records have been shattered. Members of his men's team have posted 29 of the 30 fastest times in the history of the program. In the 2000 season, Enrique Henriquez ran the 8k course at UC Davis in a time of 25:33. Henriquez's time was matched in the 2003 season when junior Andrew Parsel ran the record time at the UC Riverside Invitational. On the women's side, Rau coached one of the greatest runners to ever set foot on a WCC course in Allegra Porter. Porter has run five of Saint Mary's 10 fastest times. Her 5k time of 17:42 at the 2002 WCC Championships set her own school record by 11 seconds and was the second fastest time ever run at the WCC Championships. Academically in Rau's stint as the head coach his Gaels teams have been selected Academic All-Americans in 2001 and 2002.
Rau joined the Gaels program after leading the men's and women's teams at Dominican College from 1992-98. After starting the program in 1992, Rau had three runners qualify for the NAIA National Championships just two years later. He produced four Academic All-Americans at Dominican, qualified three runners for national championships, had seven individual national qualifiers and trained 13 all-conference runners. In addition, he is a two-time California Pacific Coast Conference Coach of the Year, earning the award in 1997 and 1998.
Rau earned his undergraduate degree in Physical Education from Ohio State in 1985, where he was a member of the cross country team. He also earned his master's degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in Exercise/Sports Facilities Management from San Francisco State.
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