While some students can only imagine their teachers in the classroom, many teachers have had eventful experiences running through the woods or scoring a goal in front of a roaring crowd. These sports experiences have shaped these teachers’ lives.
Photography teacher Ian Danielson began playing soccer around six years old in city soccer leagues in Livermore, California and eventually played soccer in high school, he said. He didn’t play soccer for the first two years at Cal Poly Humboldt University, until his brother, who was recruited to their soccer team, convinced him to try out, he added.
“First year, the team awards awarded me the most improved player, which is one of those double-edged swords,” Danielson said. By his third year, Danielson made the all-conference team, he said. In his fourth and last year, he was nominated for all-conference, all-region, and All-American awards, he added.
“All-Americans is one of the highest honors you can get,” Danielson said. “I was never playing for awards; I was just playing to have a good time. It was kind of surprising and crazy that that’s what ended up happening, and I was obviously super stoked.”
Making All-American meant Danielson was considered one of the top 33 players in Division II colleges across the country, Danielson said. Soon, Danielson received letters to try out for professional teams like the San Jose Earthquakes, but he didn’t pursue professional soccer, he added. “I just decided that it was more important for me to pursue family and career than to pursue a professional soccer career,” Danielson said.
Danielson coached the boys junior varsity soccer team at MHS for six years between 2004 and 2009, coached his son for many years, and is currently coaching his daughter’s soccer team as they aim for the state cup, Danielson said. “If you want to be an athlete at the top of your game, you’ve just got to really work on that balance,” Danielson said. “Stay dedicated and be motivated by the people that tell you you can’t do it.”
Activities Director and leadership teacher Deana Querubin also began sports at an early age, playing her first organized sport, softball, at 10 years old, she said. In high school, she played four years of varsity softball and varsity tennis, one year of junior varsity basketball, and played club volleyball in the spring, she added. “Softball hands down has had the most impact on me,” Querubin said. “It taught me how to be a good teammate; it taught me resilience.”
Querubin played softball in college as San Francisco State University’s catcher, she said. She describes the game and its challenges as ninety percent mental and ten percent physical, she added. She remembers coming to practice early and leaving late to refine her skills, she added. “If you have a strong mental ca-
pacity, you’re going to succeed,” Querubin said. “Those people who do succeed may not have it skill-wise, but they have it mentally.”
Similarly active in her college years, Advanced Placement (AP) psychology and sociology teacher Lauren Byler-Garcia began cycling in events like 100-mile century rides after moving to Northern California, she said. “I started it as a way to try and meet people because I grew up in Southern California,” Byler said.
“I didn’t know anyone in Northern California.” Byler would often bike up Mount Diablo in Walnut Creek with her husband, who was her boyfriend at the time, she said.
She eventually signed up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to participate in the Solving Century Ride, she added. Byler began running soon after and decided to run a marathon; she had already run a couple of short-distance triathlons and 100-km metric centuries, she added.
“I joined a couple of run groups to get to know people and to get myself running faster,” Byler said.
One of her groups signed up for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon, Byler said. She only wanted to see how she would perform and didn’t have any goals in mind, she added.
“I ran my first marathon in June of the year I started and ran my second one with the Napa marathon,” Byler said. By training on Silver Peak trail runs and in interval track sessions, Byler saw significant improvements in her times, she said.
“My time (in the second marathon) was reduced by thirty minutes, from a four-hour marathon to three hours, thirty-five minutes, and thirty-two seconds,” Byler said. “I almost qualified for the Boston Marathon, but they changed the rules. (…) I missed it by thirty-two seconds.”
Byler was self-motivated to pursue spin class, running, and weight lifting, she said. It was challenging to balance her other responsibilities and racing, especially when preparing for her second marathon while completing her master’s degree, teaching, and serving as the senior class advisor in 2013, she added.
“You can be an athlete, and you don’t have to be the best of the best,” Byler said. “It’s really about putting yourself out there and getting out there. I mean, start running-walking, even just walking. Find a good playlist, find a good podcast you love. (…) It’s about your mental and physical health and what makes you feel good.”