MONTEREY COUNTY — Thomas Valles, who was portrayed in the Disney movie, “McFarland, USA,” visited Monterey County last week as a guest of North Monterey County High School (NMC).
Members of the Gonzales High cross country team were invited by Valles and NMC cross country coach Francisco Cornejo to attend a meet and greet on Sept. 11.
In “McFarland, USA,” Valles’ character in the film is the No. 1 runner on the cross country team that captured the school’s first-ever California Interscholastic Federation State championship in 1987 under the guidance of Coach Jim White, who was portrayed by Kevin Costner. McFarland High School won nine state titles under White.
The “McFarland” movie is based on the success of the cross country team from the small Central Valley town and how the head coach turns the program around by teaching the boys to become strong runners and set goals in their lives. All members of the first McFarland team attended college and were successful in their careers or in the military.
Valles attended College of the Sequoias in Visalia after graduating from McFarland High, served in the Coast Guard and worked as a correctional officer in the California Department of Corrections. He first worked as an officer at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, and then transferred to Delano State Prison, just a few miles from McFarland, where he also helped coach the girls cross country team.
As a motivational speaker, Valles has shared his message that, “Champions come from anywhere,” to thousands of middle school, high school and college students, as well as business owners throughout the nation.
“Cross country has grown in California by leaps and bounds starting with three divisions in 1987, now to five,” Valles said. “Participation in cross country has grown throughout the United States. I’m proud the Disney movie ‘McFarland, USA’ has played a little part in that. As a high school runner at McFarland, my coach Jim White encouraged me and my teammates to keep up our grades, work hard and make goals for ourselves. That is what I encourage all of you that are here today to do. There are people that cut corners that don’t do all the work to get better as a student or as runners or question their coaches on practice plans and running distances. Don’t cut corners in anything you do and listen to your coaches.”
Gonzales High cross country head coach and Athletic Director Margie Daniels was pleased that her team was invited to hear Valles speak at the North Monterey County campus.
“We were grateful to Thomas Valles and North County coach Francisco Cornejo for inviting our student-athletes to attend the event and hear Thomas’ inspiring story,” Daniels said. “Our students were excited for the opportunity to meet him, and we hope his message motivates them to pursue their goals, overcome challenges and believe in what is possible.”
Not only did Valles speak to a large crowd of runners on Friday at the NMC campus in Castroville, he also attended the Seventh Annual Jackie Henderson Memorial Cross Country Invitational the following day, where he met with many runners and their families.
“My time at North County High School was well received,” Valles said. “I had a lot of kids and coaches coming up to ask questions from my time at McFarland and about my life now. I was happy that Gonzales High School was invited to hear me share my story and about the time I spent in the Salinas Valley, when I worked at CTF. The landscaping has not changed since I was there in ’96 and ’97. I sometimes reminisce of the workouts I did at Hartnell College and Toro Park. I had a great weekend with my wife, Martha, visiting and reminiscing about a little chapter in my life in the 1990s.”
The runners that attended the meet and greet from the Gonzales cross country team were pleased with the presentation given by Valles.
“Today’s presentation was very inspirational,” said Gonzales runner Naomi Flores. “Coming from a poor hispanic background, the runners came a long way. Although the movie had some changes from the real story that Mr. Valles talked about, we learned that anything is possible if we have a plan and work hard to attain our goals. We also learned how having good mentors in your life, like the McFarland team had in Coach White, can make a difference in decisions that you make.”
