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Harry Marra, coach to Olympic gold medalist and decathlon world record holder Ashton Eaton, came back to his home turf last weekend. The 1965 graduate of Christian Brothers Academy in Albany presented a track and field clinic to raise funds for CBA's capital campaign, which will include resurfacing the school's track.

Coach Marra, a native of Cohoes who now lives in Oregon, was on the East coast for the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston and the Millrose Games in New York; Ashton Eaton performed in both.

The day after the Millrose Games ended, Coach Marra sat in the gymnasium at CBA, talking with The Evangelist as he prepared for the track and field clinic.

"The fundamental principles haven't changed over the years," he said, referring to the concepts of performing well in running, jumping and throwing events.

In "any profession, you have to keep learning or you're dead," he said. "I'm thinking 'decathlon' 24/7."

The decathlon is made up of 10 events, performed over the course of two days. The Olympic gold medalist in this event, currently Eaton, is widely regarded as the world's best athlete. On the first day, decathletes participate in the 100-meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter run. On the second day, the decathletes run 110-meter hurdles, throw discus, pole-vault, throw a javelin and, finally, run 1,500 meters. The event is scored by a point system.

"An awful lot of coaches today are specialists," Coach Marra told The Evangelist, shaking his head. But "there's a direct relationship between how you plant your foot in javelin and in the high jump."

Coach Marra, who competed in sprinting events and the pole vault himself between 1961 and '74, has been coaching ever since. At the CBA clinic, he wanted to give coaches and athletes tools to succeed in a variety of track and field events, from sprints to the high jump, long jump, shot put, hurdles and javelin.

Some of those tools include creating short phrases to help the athlete remember a specific concept. Coach Marra has pages of seemingly random phrases, such as "hold the landing," "attack" and "Elton John," that all mean specific things to his athletes. The phrases help them remember a certain hand placement in the javelin throw or a foot landing on the high jump.

Tools like this helped Coach Marra be named the 2012 Nike Coach of the year after Ashton Eaton won the world championships and broke the world record in decathlon.

"I didn't know I was up for it till I got a call," the coach said of the award.

High-school junior Ryana Kelsey is a long-time fan of Coach Marra and his athletes. The night before the CBA clinic, she traveled three hours from Groton, Conn., to learn from him.

The Fitch High School student specializes in triple jump, long jump and hurdles. She was hoping Coach Marra might be able to help her with her technique and form in the triple jump.

"Last year, I was second in the state," she noted.

Coach Marra began the clinic with some pointed advice: "Don't expect that you're going to know everything."

He urged participants to take notes and review them, going over their mistakes: "The best athletes in the world do their homework."

The students at the clinic were definitely willing to put in the extra time, sacrificing five hours on a Sunday afternoon to hear the coach talk.

"When you get a chance to learn from the best in the world, you can't pass it up," said CBA senior Mike Carnavous, who was attending the clinic. Mike is co-captain of the school's track and field team. He specializes in running the mile and two-mile races.

Colin Mance, a freshman at CBA, was excited to learn more about how to improve his long-jump form, noting that "a jumper is never satisfied with his jump."

CBA track coach Tom O'Malley said that he may have been more excited over Coach Marra's presence than his athletes were. A runner himself, Coach O'Malley remarked that he still had a lot to learn about the jumping and throwing events.

Having Coach Marra at CBA also boosted the track team's morale. Athletic director Blaine Drescher said that the clinic supported everything that the school stands for, especially brotherhood.

Because Coach Marra is a CBA alumnus, Mr. Drescher was looking forward to seeing him interact with current students. "It's a great experience," he concluded.

About 40 people turned out for the clinic, raising around $3,000 toward resurfacing the school's track.[[In-content Ad]]

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