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Leo Long retired from coaching Los Altos High School track years ago, but he can still recite his players’ records dating back to the 1950s.
In recognition of his dedication, inspiration and many accomplishments, the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School Board passed a resolution in November to rename the school’s track the “Leo Long Track,” and last month former athletes and locals gathered to celebrate the coach.
On Sunday, April 27, more than 300 former athletes, teachers and community leaders dedicated the school track to the coach, who led the team to a state championship and 18 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League titles.
Long first coached from 1956 to 1963, and returned to coach the team from 1970 to 1981. He also taught social studies for the school and headed the physical education department.
“My four years at LAHS were made extra special by the thrill of track,” Long’s son Brian wrote in a letter to other former athletes. “My dad’s, or should I say Coach Long’s, pep talks and inspirational stories and coaching have influenced me well beyond the confines of the track and field domain.”
During the dedication, which was organized by a committee of former students, district board president Judy Hannemann and Mountain View council member Matt Pear read proclamations on behalf of the district and city. Former athletes also spoke about their coach.
The track now has a sign honoring the coach, and a plaque from the 1970s state championships.
“It was quite a dedication,” Long said. “Some of the kids I had coached, I hadn’t seen in 50 years.”
Long, now 77 and living in a retirement community near Sacramento, started coaching right after Los Altos High School opened. During his tenure, the team had 128 wins and 3 losses, and won two Central Coast Section championships. While talking with the Voice, Long was more focused on the accomplishments of his individual players, calling the high school a “discus capital.”
He added that one of his students still holds Los Altos’ mile record.
“Mostly every other record has been broken, but not that one,” he said.
Long took some interesting breaks during his career at Los Altos High <0x2014> traveling, for example, to Pakistan and Sudan to coach their Olympic teams. He also helped set up a school and athletic program in Argentina with the Kaiser Corporation.
After retiring in 1992, Long left the area, but says he still checks in on the school’s records once in a while.
“I hope they can come back and match our records,” he said of the current students. “Records are made to be broken.”
unfortunately, I WASN’T ABLE TO MAKE THE DEDICATION ON APRIL 27TH FOR PERSONAL REASONS. I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT LEO LONG IS ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED AND DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS THAT I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF KNOWING. AS A FRESHMAN POLE VAULTER IN 1958, HE WAS THE SOLE REASON FOR ALL MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING MY FOUR YEARS AT LAHS. HE TOOK ME FROM A SEVEN FOOT FRESHMAN POLE VAULTER TO A THIRTEEN FOOT LEAP AS A SENIOR. HE TOUCHED MANY LIVES IN MANY WAYS DURING HIS COACHING YEARS AT LAHS. I WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT HE DID FOR ME AND SO MANY OTHERS.
Coach long is the type of person who walks into a room and you will look over after a few minutes, and he will have several people standing around simply listning to him. He is not overbearing, animated or loud. I can’t quite make it out but there is some sort of attractive quality he has. As an athlete who has had many coaches, high school, college and pro, coach Long is by far the one coach who I wanted to succeed for!
Long live Leo the Lion!
I am the Brian quoted in the article, one of Coach Long’s 4 sons. He was and is an outstanding example of what great coaching (and parenting!) is all about. I never won a Varsity event, but my long (of course!) and triple jump marks I attained at LAHS in 1972 have never been surpassed by the school I now coach at (can you believe it? I am coaching track here in the Sacramento area and my dad STILL comes around to give some pointers and help out!) due mostly to the incredible ability Coach Long had in ‘getting the most out of yourself’. His example lives on in not only in his sons and grandsons and great-grandsons (all of us were there for the dedication) but in the amazing athletes over 4 decades that he coached.