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DATE: Tuesday, July 20, 2004
BYLINE: By BRUCE MEADOWS
PAGE: C5
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
EX-TROJAN RUNNER SISLER FINDS NICHE AS DOCTOR
ALDRIDGE TEAMMATE IN 1970S SPECIALIZES IN OB-GYN IN HAWAII
Jon Sisler and Dan Aldridge, both outstanding runners at Petaluma High in the 1970s, have a slightly different way
of looking at how their respective prep careers interacted.
``Dan was a great runner,'' said Sisler, who is now a doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser
Hospital in Honolulu.
``He was so good he scared me,'' recalls Sisler, 48. ``But he made me a better runner.''
Aldridge, track and cross-country coach at Maria Carrillo High, claims were it not for Sisler, a year ahead of him,
he might not have gone on to become the best prep half-miler in the state and later one of the top distance runners in
the nation at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
``If it wasn't for Jon, I wouldn't have gone out for track at Petaluma,'' said Aldridge, explaining how a bad
experience in seventh grade soured him on running.
``I had a coach who wanted me to enter every event ... he turned me off to running.''
Aldridge didn't compete in eighth or ninth grade, but when he reached Petaluma his sophomore year, ``Jon pretty much
talked me into going out ... I was at the point I hated running, but he got me going.''
Sisler went on to Occidental College, then to St. Louis University, where he earned his degree in medicine.
He finished his residency in 1986, then worked for the national health service, a federal program in St. Louis, for
three years.
He moved to Honolulu in 1989 because his wife, a radiologist, was stationed at Tripler Army Hospital on Oahu.
Sisler, who has five children -- Jack (16), Katie (14), twins Danielle and Colton (11) and Joey (8) -- doesn't run
much these days, although he did compete in a marathon in 1997.
``I remember Jon as a little guy with a badger instinct,'' said Petaluma coach Doug Johnson, who recently retired
from coaching track and cross country after 33 years. He still coaches girls' basketball.
``He was an amazing kid, so damn tough,'' added Johnson. ``He was very intelligent, with an innate desire to
succeed.''
He remembers his senior year at Petaluma and a trip to the state meet in the 2-mile.
``I was actually leading at the 220 mark and was 15th at the quarter mile,'' he said. ``A wave of studs just passed
me by.''
Sisler's best was 9:10, and 8:46.5 won the race.
``I had a great view of the finish,'' laughed Sisler. ``From the other side of the track.''
Sisler enjoyed the competition, but ``I understood my place in the world of running.''
Sisler competed at Occidental before an injury his junior year slowed him down.
He competed from time to time after that, although residency cut into his time.
He sees Aldridge periodically and they try to stay in touch. The same goes for Johnson.
``I saw coach at a banquet two years ago ... it was great to see him,'' said Sisler.
He said Johnson was the perfect coach for him.
``I was bent on running well for him,'' recalled Sisler. ``I respected him and he believed in me and always thought
I was going to run good.''
Sisler comes from a large family -- five brothers and five sisters.
His father, David Sisler, has been team doctor at Petaluma High the past 48 years.
When he was pondering his medical career, Jon said his father gave him good advice.
``I had thought about family practice but he said getting into a surgical profession was best, and he was right,''
said Sisler.
Sisler still tries to get together with his family.
``We had a major reunion near Mount Shasta in 1996 and one for my older sister Lynn's 50th birthday a few years ago,''
he said. ``But getting everybody together is difficult.''
He visits the mainland at least once a year, usually with some of his kids, but says the ``island fever'' that a lot
of transplanted Californians get has never affected him.
``The thing I really miss, besides my family, are stadiums,'' he said. ``So we always try to take in a Giants or
A's game.''
You can reach Staff Writer Bruce Meadows at 521-5263 or bmeadows@pressdemocrat.com