By Alexis Terrazas @AlexisGTerrazas

“Why don’t we win the state championship?”

It was a question worth asking, especially in 1994.

The girls’ cross country team at University High School had not claimed a single state title up to that point. And then newly hired Jim Tracy, merely an assistant coach 19 years ago, showed up.

Tracy, a high-caliber Bay Area runner himself in his prep and collegiate day, answered his own question.

Fast.

“I realized that when talent comes your way, you ought to be able to recognize it,” he said, winning his, as well as his team’s, first state title two years into his University coaching career. “I think that’s a key thing.”