Dan Gruber: A Legacy of Running

By Michael Oppenheimer

Dan Gruber had one goal when he took over coaching boys Cross Country at Aptos High School in the late 1990s: Help his runners earn the school’s first Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Title.

In 2000, just four year after he was first asked to assist a young distance runner named Gary Passinisi, his training methods helped the Mariners’ boys capture their first title in school history, and Aptos Cross Country has never looked back.

“We’ve stayed competitive since I took over,” Gruber said in a matter-of-fact tone. “We’ve either won or been in the top three in league ever since.”

In fact, since Gruber took over Cross Country, the teams have won a combined 15 SCCAL titles, nine Central Coast Section titles and the girls state title in 2004.

Gruber’s ties to running span the history of Aptos High School.

Gruber was a freshman in 1969, the year Aptos opened its doors. As a member of the school’s first full class, he was also a member of the schools first Cross Country team, for which he ran all four years.

“It wasn’t really a very good team,” Gruber admits grudgingly.

While the team wasn’t strong, Gruber wasn’t bad at all, winning CCS titles and setting Track and Field records in the 1- and 2-mile race — which stood until 1995.

Gruber went on to win conference titles at San Jose State, where he came under the mentorship of Dr. Don Riggs.

“Dr. Riggs taught me about the science and discipline of running,” Gruber said. “Pretty much everything I know about how to teach distance running came from my years with him.”

Gruber continued racing after he left school, running for club teams, winning Wharf-to-Wharf, competing in road courses at the state level, even giving strong showings in national events under the Reebok label.

Gruber was also a strong basketball player at Aptos High, playing under the Mariners’ legendary coach Bill Warmerdam (who was also his cross country coach). Gruber’s exposure to Dr. Riggs and Warmerdam, and his own drive to learn everything he could about his sports all came together to foster his coaching style.

“Warmerdam taught me about handling people and situations,” Gruber said. “There’s a legend there, but there was also a madness and a way to deal with people that he had.”

Gruber’s coaching experience began as the Mariners’ girls basketball coach in 1979. He also coached basketball at Cabrillo College in the 80s, along with distance running there and at Lost Gatos High School before returning to Aptos High in 1991, taking over the boys basketball team after Warmerdam’s retirement.

Gruber also started teaching upon his return to Aptos, starting in the science department and moving into social studies, currently teaching World History and AP European History classes.

It wasn’t until 1996 when the current coach asked Gruber to help some of his stronger runners, first Passinisi and later Anelise Smith, that the groundwork was laid for him to return to Cross Country.

His teams are known for starting slow, but that’s a reflection of Gruber’s coaching style, not his runners’ abilities.

“That’s all on me,” he says of his teams’ reputation. “My training focuses on success for the season, not week-to-week success. Other teams push their runners hard before the season even starts, but our runners are hitting their peak when it counts.”

Last year the boys and girls both won the SCCAL title for the fifth time since 2005, the girls continuing on to win their second consecutive CCS title and the boys finishing second.

“My next goal is to help these teams both win CCS the same year,” Gruber said. “And I think this year’s team has a strong chance at doing just that.”

Having lost only one of his top runners from the 2012 teams (albeit the league’s best distance runner in Nikki Hiltz, now a scholarship athlete at Oregon University), Gruber is excited about his returning crop of runners.

“Both teams have tremendous esprit de corps and heart,” he said. “I’m looking forward to where this team is in November.”

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2013 Cross Country Top 8