That was my running family, my brothers, my teammates, Mr. They're all professionals. Bravo told me, "Show the world what has happened to my son.". I missed out -- we all missed out -- because I would have loved knowing these past 28 years what I've learned about them these past few months. "I was blessed that I got the opportunity to be apart of something that kept me off the streets of McFarland. Yeah, that happened. Valles was a star on the team and is the primary runner featured in the film "McFarland, USA.". One in particular, Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratt), can run a 5-minute mile. It was enough to get him back on track. "Sylvia and I were seniors because my parents placed us in the same grade when we were in fourth grade because they wanted me to walk with her to school. "You couldn't tell if she was ever having a bad day, because she was always so uplifting and a pleasure to be around. The film shows White taking the team to fields for simulated hill training on mounds of raw almonds. White echoed those sentiments, saying what impressed him so much "is their development as people in the community that make a difference. . It's all Hollywood. Carter Bonas Is the . His family was dysfunctional. But Coach White led his boys to running and running beckoned them past the lines that lay before them. 12, The real Jim White and wife Cheryl White actually have three daughters, Tami, Julie and Jami. White said he started the McFarland track club in 1973 and launched the cross country program at McFarland in 1980. Dad didnt want us in the calles, in the streets, Valles said. We thought that was normal, Valles said. In this photo by Raul Diaz, Sylvia Diaz (3) and teammate Magda Saragoza run in a race in 1985. "She wanted to meet Danny Diaz," White said. Were you an athlete, coach, organizer who took part in the first CIF-State Cross Country Championships in 1987? But his dream would be realized. Plainview teen preparing to take Houston Rodeo entertainment stage with Castillo game-winner sends Floydada to regional semi-finals, Sam Elliott award winner for male actor in "1883", High winds, lots of dirt cause havoc across Plainview, Texas bluebonnet season is almost here. Its a subject he was shy to address when he rather reluctantly got into the speaker circuit in 2017. "All my teammates are still here. interview. While still being interviewed, Valles said he noticed his teammates hugging and crying. McFarland was that 'small' then and is still today. Fuel your hometown passion and plug into the stories that define it. I think the school shouldve paid because it was during school practice. Julie, and Jamie, and four grandchildren. His household walked on eggshells around his dad. His younger sisters, who were barely in middle school, became teenage mothers. 2023 2019 ABG-SI LLC. Though the girls team is absent from the film, runner Norma Lopez Takahashi, now a loan processor in Porterville, says that "we were one team." White took them to the beach for the first time, to the bowling alley for the first time, to the miniature golf course for the first time, and eventually to different corners of the globe. His mother answered and immediately saw the signs. "I was standing there. In White's time, the town's population has slowly grown from fewer than 4,000 to just over 15,000. Dolores Plata Rodriguez says the bus trips were the most fun of her cross-country experience. Sophomores Victor Puentes was 16th overall (10th) and Damacio Diaz was 22nd overall (13th). Yes, the nickname the boys gave him, as depicted in the film, was real. "I looked over at the reporter and I said 'We won. Jeffrey Parenti, jeffrey.parenti@flosports.tv, Contact Us White said he left Stockton to visit his parents for Thanksgiving. They attack the group, while they push Julie out of harm's way. . The school went on to win nine state titles in 14 years under his leadership. No. White used to tell Valles that he wanted to see him join the cross country team in high school, Valles recalled. We knew we had the potential coming into '87. champions. Stationed at Soledad and living in Salinas, he applied to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitationto fulfill his dream in law enforcement. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, Sports Illustrateds Gary Smith wrote in the story that inspired the movie. Now, nearly 30 years later, Norma Lopez Takahashi gives a little taste of what they were like: "The movie made the boys look so tough. Added Cheryl: "With him being a pitcher, he would have been straight on.". She was the real (team) mother hugging their sweaty bodies when they came in.". 'What's going on?' Hollywood's fictional fingers are all over how the story is framed but in the big picture, the film captures the essence of the main characters and the story quite well on the big screen. Victor Puentes is just to his left. He and his wife Cheryl met at Magic Valley Christian College in Idaho. She wanted us to go together. Terms of Use Coach White would tell me to imagine a line when there's that point of too much pain, and then I would try to run through and pass that line, Valles said. Herlinda Gonzalez's sophomore photo in the 1986-87 McFarland High yearbook. Ultimately, God has everything in the palm of his hand, but sometimes one can't understand the reason as to why certain things happen and why certain people pass too early.". "Sometimes a setback like that brings people and teams closer and more intimate with each other, and we found ourselves running for McFarland, Mr. White and most importantly, for each other.". His father was an abusive alcoholic, he said. -Congressional Record, V. 146, Pt. Right now, you are writing your own story.. He also explored parts of California, Nevada and took an overseas trip to Taiwan places he might not have been able to visit had it not been for White. We grew up not having a whole lot, every single person on our team. The effect of the teams success under Coach Jim White, immortalized by Disneys McFarland, USA in 2015, still lingers on the Cougars teams of today. We sang those songs at the top of our lungs. I wept and wept, and did not go inside. The film McFarland USA(2015) is based on a true story of a Teacher/Coach, Jim White (Kevin Costner) and a high school cross country team from a poor farm town in Central California. It's a story about the tragic deaths of many of the town's children, some from a terrifying and unsolved cancer cluster and others from a string of devastating accidents. Valles held him to that promise. Not unlike many McFarland kids, she worked in the fields to help support her family. ". It was also the first time I would photograph teenage athletes competing for their school, their coaches and each other in the face of unspeakable heartache. They said we won! Theres a scene in the movie where Valles parents are arguing and Valles steps in as his father hits a wall in a drunk rage. Completed. Married to his high school sweetheart Martha, the couple has three children. She has also received three other Tony Award nominations for her performances in Airline Highway in 2013, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus in 2019 and POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive . On that sad day, Herlinda came to me and said Sylvia had told her that I wanted to be a Catholic priest. Yet 35 years later, coach White and all seven boys from the 1987 team are back making a difference in the city they love: McFarland, USA. I didn't do that until I met the Whites. They were cross country state champs in 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Seneca School, Sure, Ill help as best I can. What is it about distance running that not only allowed seven kids to dominate, but brought a whole community together? They would have graduated together. 104. what does cheryl white want coach white to pick up for julies birthday. Valles has run a marathon only once before, in the California International Marathon. Standing, from left: coach Gary Pierson, Norma Torres, Norma Lopez, Delfina Herrera and coach Jim White. Coach Jim White and his wife, Cheryl, with team member Thomas Valles at the 1987 California Southern Area cross country meet at Hart Park in Bakersfield.. Beside above, what did the boys learn from their experience running for the McFarland High School cross country team? He won nine state titles and went to the state meet every year but one, he said. You might know Valles from the famous Disney movie "McFarland USA." Carlos Chalabi portrayed him as a high school student. By Ellysa Harris. That was the true beginning of the program's championship run to eight more titles. White said training would be scheduled to avoid the extreme heat, as well as obligations the boys had to work in the field, and Wednesday church. ", White, the former baseball player, was a right-handed pitcher. Send me an email at johnharte@att.net. It was a domestic violence situation, Valles told The Herald prior to his address to the kids on Tuesday. Danny Diaz was not overweight, but he was the seventh runner on the team. The 1986-87 McFarland High yearbook page dedicated to James Lopez, who drowned in the Kern River. Read rest of the answer.In this regard, who is Thomas Valles married to? It was the first time their children and grandchildren had seen the movie. On one occasion, Mrs. Diaz made 200 dozen tamales to send the team to Asia. E-7Sergeant First Class - United States Army. Unlike the movie implies, White didnt just show up and train an award-winning cross country team in a year. danny diaz. "Jose Cardenas had had a bad race," Valles recalled recently about his teammate who was the team's seventh runner that day, finishing 148th. "She might hate me now. what happened to thomas valles and julie white. Valles admits he didnt quite understand at the time. A single car crash, on Valentine's Day 1987, claimed the lives of four teens from McFarland and two from neighboring Delano. Public speaker. -John Harte, Yes, and at times the White family paid for new shoes and clothing for the team out of their own pockets. They met at my house for practice. -KGET 17. Like a scene from the movie, he found himself at a bridge on the highway one night when hed had enough. Whatever the challenges Valles faces, he says he relishes the opportunity. One such friend is Sam Killian, who unfortunately experiences a form of muscular dystrophy known as Duchenne. She never held back when it came to laughing, making people laugh, and just being downright silly. In seventh grade, Valles said his PE teacher (White) introduced himself and said he coached cross country and track. If one or two of those boys couldn't make practice at four o'clock 'cause they're just gettin' in from work, then I might practice at 6 or 7 o'clock with those boys. Yes, the McFarland High boys did win a team title at the first CIF-State Cross Country Championships held in 1987. compositor Karina Benesh . The first time Valles got real with an audience, a kid approached him afterward. Jim White coaching photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport. I realized, you know what, this could have been me had somebody not been on me. I broke my moms heart at 13, he told the kids. And so I would imagine that line all over again.. Learn more about the McFarland, USA true story by watching the Jim White interview below. Julie White Born Julie K. White June 4, 1961 San Diego, California, U.S. Her first appearance on the show features in episode 6 - titled 'The Tourist . I received a nice surprise today when my pal, longtime Bakersfield Californian photographer Felix Adamo, found these photos I shot of the 1987 McFarland boys cross country team. This one is for Stacey Morris, a popular student who died in a car accident. He and his wife Cheryl met at Magic Valley Christian College in Idaho. No. Diaz, Damacio Diaz, David Diaz, Diego 5, was not in the picture. What about this one? "We did have hills," White said. Everybody has a Jim White in their lives, Valles said, referencing his famous high school coach. He showed Valles how . Valles, his coach Jim White, and six teammates were the CIF California State Cross Country Champions in 1987. Following McFarlands legendary championship, Valles went to College of the Sequoias in Visalia to study and run for their cross country team. We still run the same roads, along the same fields, just with different kids. They're men of color. We still run the same roads, along the same fields, just with different kids. A mass of athletes, competing in the purest level of competition racing. Clockwise from top center is Dolores Plata, Herlinda Gonzalez, Gabby Perez, Alicia Herrera, Delfina Herrera and Magda Saragoza. "I would not have been surprised if she had ended up becoming a doctor or some top-notch lawyer," says Plata Rodriguez. "Danny, he passed up Jose out there somewhere," White recalled. She often brought along a music magazine that had all of the current top hits' lyrics inside. It was gold to us, but complete torture for the guys and probably Coach White as well. Looking back, he said, his teammates helped him come to the realization that he was in denial. He also did find Thomas Valles on a freeway overpass and help him deal with his I'm coming! Upset that his wife put him in jail, he got out and filed for divorce. All seven Diaz to know what it feels like to be school and decides to put together a cross Valles grew up in a migrant family. And that pain would come back. 1. Yes, McFarland is an inspirational story. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. "Sylvia was so sweet, kind, and naturally stunning," says her friend and 1985 teammate Dolores Plata Rodriguez, now an assistant principal at Cesar E. Chavez High School in Delano. The movie pushes up his arrival and coaching position at McFarland to 1987, the first year his cross country team attended and won the state championship (1987 was also the very first year that California had a state championship). Although the State Meet has always been held at Woodward Park in Fresno, the film includes the Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles in the background of what was portrayed as the State Meet course. At the Kern Invitational on Nov. 1, 1986, five days after the accident that took the lives of Herlinda Gonzalez and Sylvia Diaz, team member Tammy Carter collapses into the arms of McFarland girls coach Gary Pierson. In the least, such scenes seem to have been exaggerated by the filmmakers. Disney took a few creative liberties with creating the feature film, Valles said. "We couldn't go out there and run those things," White said. Sylvia had just made her first communion a week before and that got Herlinda all excited. It was a gesture by runner Hollie Wykoff's mom to help the girls feel better as they dealt with their grief after teammates Sylvia Diaz and Herlinda Gonzalez were killed in a practice accident two and one-half weeks earlier. He came over, introduced himself, and said, I'm running. White has lived in McFarland ever since. was like to have a movie made about his "That's their livelihood. When I say Mr. White became my father figure and Mrs. White became my mother figure. Where he called home depended on where his father could find work in the fields. Yes, McFarland is an inspirational story. "We had no idea, with him not performing that day, if we'd actually won it. White's daughter." Thomas laughed, a strange bitter sound. "David and Danny (Diaz) are in education. We're still here hopefully trying to make a positive difference in our communities.". It was all to beat the guy next to themthe guy who had not had to overcome what they overcame, had not had to work as hard. S daughter. & quot ; Thomas laughed, a strange bitter sound kept me off the streets Valles! Over again a week before and that got Herlinda all excited International marathon him not performing that day, we! Up becoming a doctor or some top-notch lawyer, '' White recalled White & # x27 ; coming! The Whites did n't do that until I met the Whites Torres Norma... Team ) mother hugging their sweaty bodies when they came in. `` meet every year but one, passed. 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