It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks with our state championship meet followed days later by graduation and then high school recruiting in overdrive with the OAL track and field championships, North Coast Section (NCS) Meet of Champions, and the high school state championships at Buchanon HS in Clovis. Onboarding new students, finding college homes for grads, and starting up our high school summer program with Oakland Pal (over 100 high school students this year!) has kept me movin' and groovin'.
In any case, the cycle is well underway again, and I want to shout out our (now former) Athletics Counselor for the last 4 years, Douglas Cobb, who has been an absolute godsend for our program. The list of students at the bottom are our track and field transfers for the last couple of years and reflect the great success Doug has had with our students – primarily students of color – who built trusted relationships with Doug as he guided them through the sometimes murky financial, academic, and athletic pathways on the way to transfer. Doug helped students every step of the way from applying, training them on campus solutions, registering for classes, making ed plans, walking students through FAFSA, addressing financial aid issues up in the R building including financial aid appeals/personal statements, A&R issues from identification, grade changes, course adds, all the way to AA petitions all while checking in with instructors and working as a liaison when students needed support with a class or instructor. I will always appreciate and admire how Doug sat with student after student, making sure college application deadlines were met. Doug gave out his cell phone number and allowed students to text and call him any time of day or night. This kind of care and attention to detail saved me over and over and over again because without him, previously I took on much of that role but not nearly as effectively. When we talk about closing the achievement gap, equity, and what we need to do for our traditionally underserved students, Doug is the embodiment of those principles. He did all this on 10 hours a week in fall and spring—absolutely amazing!
Before I get to the state meet results, I just want to note that I received news from several of our former students below letting me know how close they are to their bachelor's degrees and several who proudly informed me that they did graduate this May with their 4 year degrees: Markus Clayton (CSU Fullerton), Anthony Coleman (CSULB), Dylan Gong (CSU East Bay), Chun Huang (Cal), Amelia Liao (Cal), Isela Ochoa (CSULB), and Kaleb Vance (Indiana State).
Ok, state championship: Micahela Trapps finished her Merritt career with a 6th place in the state, a very impressive athletic growth curve from her high school days at Oakland High. She is considering San Jose State and CSU San Bernardino (where she will visit this Friday) as her final choices.
Finn Gohlke achieved the silver medal in the 400m and, since he was in the top 4, he was named a National Community College All-American for his 2nd place finish at the state championship — our 42nd All-American since the designation began in 2009.
I wish you all a great summer and look forward to doing it all again in 2025-26. With tremendous gratitude, I thank you all for doing what you do for our students.
Brock
