Coach Jim Tracy

Hello Friends of Coach Tracy,

Today we are writing with more great news! Over the past week, donations have been piling up in the school garage. There were items both large and small, from a couch to a serving spoon! Yesterday, a ‘highly-qualified’ crew of movers (see below) loaded everything into the school truck, made the short drive to Jim’s apartment in the Presidio, and unloaded everything (they got paid in cheese steaks!). After a few hours, Jim’s apartment was transformed from a sterile-feeling, empty apartment, into a warm, well-appointed home. Thanks to the UHS community, Jim now has a TV with a DVD player he can watch from his couch or recliner. He has a brand new queen-sized bed with clean, new sheets where he can sleep at night. He has a warm bathmat outside of this handicap equipped shower and tub.

All told, we asked for about 110 items and 80 have been provided to date. We’d like to complete the task of furnishing his home and I’ve listed some of the more important missing items below. You can see the full list by clicking here. If you have any of the things listed below, or know how we can acquire them, please let me know.

Washer

Dryer (Electric)

Toaster

Small Chair with Back (for bedroom)

Twin Duvet Cover

Twin Mattress Pad

Queen Fitted Sheet

Queen Duvet Cover

Coffee Filters

Coffee Maker

Pots

Pans

Toaster

Trash can (kitchen)

Dining chairs (3-4)

Lastly, all of this would not have been possible without the UHS Community and there are a few folks that deserve to be publicly thanked.

For generous donations:

Allick Family

Cook Family

Furlong Family

Carl Grunfield

Horton Family

Judith Brass

King Family

Matthew Noel

McLean/Imhoff Family

Neri Family

Reynolds Family

Sue Davenport

Wendell Family

There were many other families who offered donations, but were turned away because we already had many of the items. Thank you to those families as well.

Yesterday’s moving team:

Ned Tannenbaum – Class of 2011 Cross Country and Track & Field Captain

Holland Reynolds – Class of 2012 Cross Country Captain and Track & Field Runner

Will Carroll – Class of 2013 Basketball Player

Jack Gale – Class of 2013 Basketball Player

Zach Karrasch – Class of 2010 Former Track & Field Captain

Trey Linke – Class of 2011 Boys Lacrosse Captain & Soccer Player

Attached is a picture of Jim signing his lease. Our ability to take on this financial obligation for him is solely due to the generosity of all those who have contributed to the Special Needs Trust. We have about $50K in the Trust and that is enough to see us comfortably through the next year. Thanks to all who have contributed!

I know that when Coach Tracy moves into his new apartment on Sunday and he will see and feel the support from the UHS Community and those who care about him.

Best,

Mary Beth Todd, Asst AD

Trustees: Jim Ketcham, Sue Davenport
Special Needs Trust Organizing Committee: Meridee Moore, Diane Rice and Kat Taylor

Mary Beth Todd

Assistant Athletic Director

University High School

marybeth.noel@sfuhs.org

p) 415-447-3143

f) 415-447-3187

Dear Friends of Coach Tracy,

Today we have great news to share: we have found a long term housing solution for Coach Jim Tracy.

Through Carlyn Hunter, we had put Jim on a wait list for an ADA rehabilitated unit in the Presidio. Jim was #2 on that wait list. On May 31st, we were informed that a unit would be made available on June 2nd. When the #1 person passed, we got the call and accepted the unit.

The unit is 2 bedrooms, 1 bath and is in the Quarry section of the Presidio at the base of Portola just 2/10ths of a mile from Paul Goode Field. His runners will know it as they often run intervals in that area. It is a ground floor unit with no steps and has other ADA features that will be important over time.

With about $50,000 in the Special Needs Trust currently, we feel comfortable that we are capable of covering the rent, utilities and his other costs of living through the next school year. As Jim has led a nomadic lifestyle, our next challenge will be to furnish and appoint his apartment. Mary Beth Todd has worked with Jim to develop a list of items, both big and small, that Jim needs in order to be comfortable in his new apartment—click here, or on the link below, to see our current list of needs. If you can provide any of the items on this list, please contact Mary Beth at MaryBeth.Todd@sfuhs.org or 415-447-3143. The list will be updated daily or as needed.

Jim’s move-in date is June 19th. We hope to have a lot of the needed items in hand or available to be delivered on that day. Additionally, if you are available to help move items, please contact Mary Beth Todd.

We should also add this update on Jim’s health. He is getting weaker—but, thankfully, the disease has not yet affected his respiratory system or his facial muscles affecting his speech. He is pretty much resting all day to save energy for his 3 hour period of practice activity each afternoon and that is different than was the case in the fall. While the ALS is progressing as the doctors have predicted, it is on the slower end of the expected pattern—I am sure that Jim’s level of physical condition and his connectedness to coaching are positive contributing factors.

Finally, on a great note, Jim is planning on coaching XC this Fall! We know the kids are all very much hoping that he would be with them. We are lucky to have a great set of assistant coaches to support Jim and the team as well.

Thank you all for your wonderful support of Coach Tracy.

Trustees: Jim Ketcham, Sue Davenport
Special Needs Trust Organizing Committee: Meridee Moore, Diane Rice and Kat Taylor

Link: Current Needs for Coach Tracy

ESPN will broadcast a story about the UHS girls cross country team (Eight-times state champions) and their coach, Jim Tracy, this weekend. The story focuses on all five of the student athletes who scored at the CIF state championship meet in November and goes into considerably more depth than the television coverage from last fall. An accompanying article will be posted on the ESPN website as well.

Update: The ESPN segment and accompanying article can be viewed here

To watch the segment, tune into your ESPN channel for:

1. 6:00 a.m. PST Sunday, April 17, for the sports news feature show Outside the Lines

2. Sunday evening for the national primetime SportsCenter which begins after the major league baseball programming, around 8:00 p.m.

3. A re-airing of SportsCenter overnight on Sunday.

UHS has not seen the segment but it was filmed over the past four months during several visits by the ESPN crew on campus and should run about eight minutes.

Go Big Red!

Hi everyone,

As some of you already know, some of us have started working with Emmy-winning filmmaker David L. Brown on a documentary covering Jim’s amazing career and all his runners through the years.  The working title is “Running for Jim”. Currently, we’re looking for sponsorship with all net proceeds going to our Jim Tracy Special Needs Trust.

If you’re a current or past UHS runner who is interested in getting involved, please leave a comment and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible.

A few more pictures after the break.

Continue reading →

It seems that Holland Reynolds’ heroics at Fresno have caught the attention of the national media with this morning’s article in the New York Times and a segment on her and Jim on tonight’s ABC World News.

Runner Crawls to Finish to Win Title for Her Ailing Coach – The New York Times

ABC World News segment and accompanying article.

Please also look for them tomorrow morning on ABC Good Morning America with George Stephanopoulos at 7:30am (supposedly exactly at 7:30am).

We’ll have a more extensive post on the state meet soon.

Update: We now have a press page set up.

There was a fairly good article in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday detailing Jim’s condition and the recent NCS win by our girls at Hayward.

University High coach Jim Tracy fighting ALS

Best of luck this weekend to everyone going to State at Fresno!

We just came back from an incredible meet in Los Angeles- Mt. Sac Invitational!
The girls team, with particularly strong performances from Holland Reynolds, Bridget Blum, and Adrian Kerester, won the D5 Sweepstakes!
The boys team placed 6th.