Track Coach Demetrius Snaer: sprinting toward his dreams

Demetrius Snaer is now entering his fifth year as track coach here at Modesto Junior College . Born in New Orleans , Louisiana , Snaer is the middle child out of four kids (two older brothers, younger sister). Raised by a single mother, Demetrius often longed for that father figure that he rarely had in his life and the rugged streets of New Orleans was not the place to find it. Right around his sophomore year of high school tragedy struck the Snaer family. Snaer's older brother, Jack, was shot and killed. This unfortunate event opened Demetrius's eyes and it led his family to make decisions that would ultimately better the family.

"I think what it did for me is make me realize that there is so much value in education and living a good life," said Snaer. In search of a better, safer life, Snaer and his family moved out to Manteca , California, a growing but quieter town than New Orleans .

"The reason my mom moved us to California was to get us out of the neighborhood in which we lived and start a new life in a small town. That was the best thing my mom has ever done and she will always be my hero for realizing the importance of raising us the right way," Snaer said.

Once in California , the Snaer family settled in and Demetrius and his brother attended East Union High School; where the Coach Snaer legacy ultimately began.

Coach Snaer became involved in track accidentally.

"It's a funny story actually," he recounts. "In high school a P.E. teacher asked me to race a fast kid in class. Half way through the race I was winning so bad, I turned and began to taunt him. I beat him bad."

The high school track coach got hold of the word about this fast kid in P.E. Class and he asked Demetrius and his brother to join track. From that moment on, Coach Snaers' track career took off. 

After graduating high school, Demetrius ran for San Joaquin Delta College and California State University, Fresno.

The humble Snaer failed to mention to this reporter ANY of his athletic accolades during our conversation but a little bit of research reveals a pretty impressive resume. Coach Snaer was the California Community College 200 meter state champion and National JUCO 200 meter and 4x100 meter relay champion for Delta College. He was also a California/Nevada 100 meter and 4x100 meter relay champion and school record holder of the 4x100 and 4x400 relay at CSU-Fresno.

Snaer also has an outstanding academic resume to match his athletic feats. He earned a bachelors degree in mass communication and broadcast journalism, as well as a masters degree in Kinesiology. Prior to coaching, he worked for an NBC affiliate in Fresno and also spent some time working for a local ESPN radio station.             His coaching career began in his first year out of college. Coach Snaer returned to his high school Alma mater, East Union and coached the track team there for about three years.

After his tenure at East Union, Demetrius made a coaching stop at San Joaquin Delta College before finally ending up at MJC in 2003.

In MJC's 82 year track history, before Coach Snaer's arrival, the Pirates have never had a state champion runner. Yet in his first five years alone at MJC, Snaer has already helped the Pirates produce two state champion runners with Brant Gilbert in 2005 and Joe Turner in 2006. The Pirates track team has also qualified for over 70 state meets. Having helped Modesto's track team accomplish so much already, Coach Snaer continues to strive for the program.

"My goals here at MJC are: one, to bring respectability to the program; two, to bring up the retention rates and three, to win the state championship," he said. Coach Snaer added that he wants to create a tradition of winning at MJC, a goal that is already well on its way to being achieved.  "I want to be here 30 years from now and maybe the kids of the athletes I coached will return here," he said.