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DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 2006 BYLINE: By RICH RUPPRECHT THE PRESS DEMOCRAT ANALY COACH LOOKS BACK ON 20 YEARS When she started her teaching career, if someone had told Lisa Titus Isabeau she would be coaching Analy cross country for 20 years, she never would have believed it. Titus Isabeau is retiring from coaching, but not teaching. The only Sonoma County League cross country coach who has been coaching longer is Sonoma's Butch Alexander. The biggest difference in coaching today from when she started is the number of participants. The Analy cross country program has grown from about 15 runners to 56. ``It's the only sport that doesn't cut,'' Titus Isabeau said. She was never big on getting her teams fired up for races or asking for specific times from her runners, but she did require full participation -- making every practice and taking part in all team activities. The latter included campouts at Sugar Loaf Ridge and weekend runs at Salmon Creek beach and Annadel State Park. ``The part I'm going to miss is getting to know the parents and the kids outside of class,'' said Titus Isabeau, who teaches Spanish at Analy. It was on-the-job training for Titus Isabeau, who didn't really take up running until after college at Sonoma State and Sacramento State. She received key instruction from Analy's track coach at the time, Jay Aliss, and she married Alec Isabeau, who happened to be president of the Empire Running Club. ``I don't remember too many female coaches in the sport,'' Titus Isabeau said. And of course, she'll remember Analy's top runners, including state qualifiers Jenny Dempsey, Walter Dehority, Djerke Dunham, Ruben Mora-Roman and Tyler Cannon-Reese. Some of her best teams include the girls' varsity, which won the SCL championship three times in a row a couple of years ago and the boys and girls winning titles the same season. Titus Isabeau looked at 20 years as a good time to call it quits, but admitted, ``I'm not feeling 100 percent it was the right decision.''
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