Interview with Great Oak cross country/track and field coach Doug Soles conducted Sept. 26, 2020, in advance of the South Temecula Track Club's trip to the Phoenix area for the Desert Twilight XC Festival. Soles, who has guided the Great Oak XC teams to a combined 14 CIF-State Division I titles and the boys to one national team title and runner-up spots each of the past two years, is bullish on this year's teams despite loses on both sides via graduation and departures. The boys team, in fact, turns over all but one regular from 2019s top seven but Coach Soles is quick to remind that his team won the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 title last November while running the Wolfpack B team. Depth has always been a staple of the Great Oak program, especially on the boys side. The girls return a strong group of rising sophomores as well as UC Davis-bound senior Brianna Weidler. In this interview, Soles discusses the development of his team, outlook for Desert Twilight, and challenges of coaching during the COVID-19 pandemic that has kept CIF sports shut down since mid-March.
