Fall '04  Winter '05  Fall '05 Fall '06  Post Season '06

---

Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association Post Season Newsletter 2006

 

 

As 2006 draws to a close, I wanted to take this opportunity to fill coaches in on what has been going on with your association this year, as well as what is on the horizon for the future. For those of you who were in attendance a t the State Meet Coaches Association Meeting, some of this will be a review.

 

 

 

 

State Meet:

            Congratulations to all of you who were able to qualify teams or individuals to the state meet this year. That is quite an honor. Even more congratulations to those who were able to coach their teams and individuals to places on the podium.  It’s not easy, and requires a very special mix of talent, desire, coaching, and effort. Patty Ley (Gig Harbor), Mark Kerr (Sehome), Tim Irvin (Squalicum), Rod Wilcox (Kings), Sue Wright (Burlington-Edison), Bill Kehoe (Northwest Christian) Mike Hadway (Ferris), Jon Knight (North Central), Steve Olson (Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls) & , Josh Hayes (Saint Georges) were all able to lead their teams to state championships this year. Great job! You can see all the results on line at  http://www.jcrawford.net/06ccstateresults.html . Also, we want to recognize the hard work of Le Burns, John Crawford, the WIAA staff, and the many officials and volunteers who worked hard to make the state meet a success once again.

            The association was pleased to see that your concerns about increased viewing and congestion were addressed by moving the awards into the driving range and adding a spectator loop. As always, we are very interested in your feedback on these changes as well as any other thoughts on the state meet. What worked? What didn’t? What needs to be tweaked or left alone? Let us know. Hopefully we can pass along any feedback to the meet staff in a timely manner, so that we can continue to make a great meet even better.

 

 

 

Honors:

            This year the association added more members to the Hall of Fame. They included the late Ed Thenell (Blanchet), Ken Ruud (Issaquah), Leo Genest (Blanchet), and Dave Annonen of Tumwater. Patty Ley (Gig Harbor) and Mark Kerr (Blanchet) were honored as Girls and Boys coach of the year, while Mike Hadway (Ferris) and Tim Irvin (Squalicum) were nominated as our Boys and Girls NFHS Coach of the Year candidates. All they did this year was to go out and repeat as state champions. Talk about a tough act to follow.

            While we are on the topic of honors, we will be adding plaques for all of our Hall of Fame members to a wall at the WIAA offices in Renton. We’ll also be adding two traveling trophies for the new classifications. It will be an expense, but those are worthy expenditures. Hopefully, those of you who aren’t association members will immediately drop your check in the mail and sign up as soon as you finish this, since a portion of your WSCA membership will go directly to cross country. Right now, only about 30% of coaches are members of our association. I would like to see us double that. Why not become the organization with the greatest percentage of coaches who are Washington State Coaches Association members? Registration goes towards things like the all of Fame, Coach of the Year, and East West Scholarship. Think about it this way. If every coach joined the association, we could add another scholarship immediately. Along with this newsletter, I’ve attached the Registration form for joining the WSCA. Please consider it.

 

 

 

 

Changes:

            There are some changes on the horizon, and some already in place. At the state meet, the constitution was amended to allow constitutional changes to be voted on via e-mail and done at any time during the season, not just at the state meet. There will still be a three month window between a proposed change and its taking effect. This is just to ensure that there are more opportunities for coaches to provide input, since not everyone can attend the state meet coaches meeting. We are also in discussions with the WIAA about rules clinics for cross country coaches. Given the dramatic increase in new schools, and therefore new coaches, it is probably time to make a clinic a part of our coaching responsibility. The clinic would be on-line, just as it is for other sports. Our position is that we need to make sure our coaches are educated on all of the rules. The bottom line is that we and our athletes all benefit when everyone knows and follows the rules. For those of you who have ever tried to explain how to score a double dual meet, or how individuals don’t impact a team score, you can probably see what we mean.

            We are also working on a document that provides recommendations for championship course requirements, whether they are league, district, or state level. It will be advisory in nature, to be used as a reference when setting up a meet. We hope it will be of particular benefit to any one involved with championship meets. It is not intended to challenge or change any long standing traditional meet sites or organizations. We envision it simply as a resource to be drawn upon as needed.

            For those of you that are already members of the WSCA, you may have noticed the career recognition guidelines for sports such as football and basketball. The WSCA goal is to have guidelines in place for all sports. We face a unique challenge, since there are so many ways to determine league champions in our state. Some leagues count the regular season, some don’t. Some teams have to qualify for districts, some don’t. Our only common denominator is the state meet. The executive board is working on honors using the state meet and longevity as two of our criteria. You can read more about it in the latest association minutes on line at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/WSCCCA/Main.htm . They will be posted shortly.

We are also moving forward with the length of season proposal as well. Overall opinion seems to be in favor of the proposal, but at this point, we are still in the fact finding mode. We have begun surveying leagues and coaches through our advisory board. We will survey every coach’s association member as well as any head coach who is not a member of the WSCCCA to gather their opinion. The entire proposal will be posted on the WSCCCA site at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/WSCCCA/Main.htm along with frequently asked questions and answers. Early feedback indicates support for the issue. While on that topic, it is critically important that you contact your advisory board member or an executive board member on this or any issue concerning our sport. We need to know your opinion, and we need to hear from everyone. That is the only way that we can make sure we are speaking for everyone, and also, the best way to be an effective voice for you with the WIAA.

  

 

 

 

Hall of Fame:

            We have established a nominating committee for our Hall of Fame. The committee is headed up by our Founding Father Tom Campbell. He will be joined by past presidents Steve Bertrand and Mark Cullen. There will be a nominating form posted on-line shortly at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/WSCCCA/Main.htm . You can also help out by sending us the coaching history of your high school. It’s very difficult to keep track of all of the former coaches in the state, and we want to make sure that every deserving candidate is considered. There will be a “handy information sheet” that you can use to send that out. It’s an excellent task for a TA or highly motivated athlete with some free time.

 

 

 

 East West All Star Race & Scholarships:

            These are separate, but yet linked. You don’t have to be an all star to apply for a scholarship (but you should attend the race). Doug Fulton is once again heading up the scholarship committee. Please encourage any deserving seniors to apply. You can find all of the information on-line at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/EastWest/EWMain.htm

            This year, the All Star Team has been expanded to accommodate the added classifications. You can view the entire all star team at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/EastWest/EWMain.htm

We are also adding coaches of state championship teams this year. This year’s All Star coaching staff are:

West: Patty Ley, Mark Kerr, Tim Irvin, Rod Wilcox, Sue Wright, Bill Kehoe

East: Mike Hadway, Jon Knight, Steve Olson, Josh Hayes

There will be a social function at Super Jock n Jill on Friday evening (July 20) with the race on the 20^th. The race is open to all, with divisions for underclassmen and “elderclassmen” (coaches, parents, etc). We are looking for more volunteers to help with the race, and in particular, a coach who is willing to take on the organization and set up of the race. Please contact an executive board member or Doug Fulton if you are interested. Brooks will once again be supporting the race with uniforms and scholarship dollars.

            We will also be looking for volunteers to help with another scholarship fundraiser, the Run of the Mill run. The scholarship fund comes solely from funds we raise through donations and sponsorships. If you have a donation, or a source for donations, please contact our fund raising coordinator Jeff Sowards (jsowards@lwsd.wednet.edu) or any board member.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Coaches Poll:

            It will be back, and better than ever. It’s a great tool to stimulate discussion and give recognition to our sport. Next year we are going to add another dimension, and recognize outstanding performances around the state, both individual and team. The goal is to recognize great racing. To do this, we need the help of meet directors in particular. Let us know about those great races. Teams and individuals will only get listed once, and they don’t have to be ranked to qualify. There will be more information coming out on this in the future, but basically, this will rely heavily on “anecdotal evidence of outstanding performance submitted by coaches or officials having an official capacity in an invitational or otherwise highly competitive meet.”

 

 

 

 

Who We Are:

            In an effort to help you know who your board is, we will be posting pictures alongside the executive board and advisory board members names. They will be posted soon at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/WSCCCA/Main.htm

In the meantime, we have included some of our favorite running songs.

Joe: You Cannot Win If You Do Not Play (Steve Forbert), Faster (George Harrison)

Phil: Give Ireland Back to the Irish (Paul McCartney), The Unicorn (The Irish Rovers)

Bruce: I Want It All (Queen), You Got Another Thing Coming (Judas Priest) 

Patty: Taking Care of Business (Bachman Turner Overdrive)

 

Have a great holiday season. We have a great sport. Almost everyone can do it…But very few can do it really fast.

 

Fall Newsletter 2006

Hello Coaches, I hope you summer has been enjoyable. We are well into the 2006 season, and I wanted to take a moment to update you on what your coaches association has been doing, and what’s on the horizon. With elections this past spring, the association has a new look, with several new members on the executive board and advisory board as well. I think that I can speak for the entire executive board when I say that we are looking forward to the next two years as your officers.

 

For those who are new to coaching or our association, here is a basic framework of how we operate. Each district has two representatives whose role is to serve as a conduit between the coaches and the executive board. That way we can make sure that we are hearing the voice of all coaches throughout the state. The Executive Board then serves as the conduit between the WIAA, the state meet, and Coaches Association.

 

If you have a question, idea, or concern, please contact one or both of the advisory board members for your district. Feel free to contact me or another advisory board member as well, particularly if it is a pressing issue. We are here to serve the coaches.

 

East West All Star Race & Scholarships

Treasurer Report:

E/W race.  Approximate earnings of $1412 and expenses of $1099.63 for a profit to go towards the scholarship fund of $312.37. 

Thanks again to Columbia Funding Mortgage for their $1000 donation to the scholarship fund. 

A CD account was opened with a deposit of $10,600.  After this year's scholarships are given out, we will have about $1400 for next year unless we use $ from the CD.  It is important that we continue to strive for more funding for our scholarships. 

The membership dues are an immense part of our financial situation.  The money spent pays for coaches of the year awards, all state certificates, East-West All Star race expenses, and other bills.  Please continue to join the Washington State Coaches’ Association and write in Cross-Country as the sport group receiving credit for your membership!  Also, you should have received a brochure on the scholarship fund from Jeff Sowards at Lakewood High. Please consider making a donation, or passing it on to somebody else who may want to support our athletes through a contribution to the scholarship fund. You can contact Jeff for more information.

State Meet

There are some changes to the state meet this year. First will be a schedule change to accommodate the new classification. John Crawford is also tweaking the course to round the turns. Also, coaches need to make sure that they have the appropriate pass in order to get into the coaches pen. You can get all of the information from the state meet website at http://www.jcrawford.net/ccmain.html Please take some time to familiarize yourself with it. Even though there are very few changes in our sport, from time to time they do crop up and it’s good to be informed.

            Also, make it easy on the officials and your athletes by making sure they know the rules. We don’t have a rules clinic for our sport, and it’s always unfortunate to have a controversy or disqualification due to something preventable like a uniform violation. I have yet to meet a coach or official who enjoys enforcing some of the more obscure rules (knotted singlets or rolled down shorts) but they are the rules. It would be outstanding to have the entire championship season go by without a single uniform disqualification!

Constitution & Association News

In the early days of our association, electronic communication was not readily available. Therefore, constitutional changes were handled once a year at the coaches association meeting. However, not all coaches are able to attend. Therefore, we are proposing to change the constitution to allow for electronic communication as well, along with a few changes of an editorial nature. You can view these on-line at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/WSCCCA/Main.htm

In other news, the executive board has appointed the following coaches to fill advisory board positions due to several coaches leaving the coaches ranks this year. The new advisory board representatives are: Bob Isitt and Dan Colby from Shadle Park and Connell respectively. We still have a position to fill in district 6. If you are interested in serving, of know of a coach who may be, please contact me.

On the Horizon

Next summer we have a new statewide ruling on practice dates. The cut-off date is now Aug.1, not three weeks prior to the start of the season. Students can still take part in school wide conditioning programs, but you do need to make sure you follow the guidelines in the WIAA handbook.

As most of you know, the proposal for an extended season was defeated this year on the third reading. The executive board has received a lot of feedback on this, and it is clear that we need to do a better job of communication. Before we consider submitting the proposal again, we need to ensure that all coaches have an opportunity to voice their opinion. Once that process is complete, we will decide how to proceed. We want to make sure that we are speaking as one voice for the coaches, and that all questions and concerns are adequately addressed. We are your voice. Please contact your advisory board member or an executive board member with any questions you may have. They can be found on-line at http://www.watfxc.com/XC/WSCCCA/Main.htm

Finally, if you have something you would like to share for the next newsletter, please let me know. When you go to a meet, take a little time to thank a volunteer, they help make this sport go. And do something for those who are close to you, and support you as you spend countless hours coaching kids and impacting lives.

Joe Clark

WSCCCA President

 

Newsletter – February 10, 2005

 

Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association

 

 

Executive Board

Mark Cullen, University Prep, President

Joe Clark, Lakes, Vice-President

Craig Bowen, Jackson, Treasurer

Patty Ley, Gig Harbor, Secretary

 

Service Board

Tom Campbell, Hall of Fame Coordinator

Joe Clark, Lakes, East-West All Star Race Coordinator

Doug Fulton, South Whidbey, Website Manager and Scholarship Coordinator

Ernie Goshorn, Lake Stevens, Scholarship Fund-Raising Coordinator

Dr. John Robertson, Seattle Prep, Medical Advisor

 

Advisory Board

1 - Bill McClement – Bellingham – 3A

1 - Dan Parker – Snohomish – 4A

2 - Leo Genest – Blanchet – 3A

2- Bruce McDowell, Cedarcrest – 3A

3 - Bill Sumner, Auburn-Riverside – 4A

3 - Matt Ellis – Bellarmine Prep – 4A

4 - Richard La Londe – Rochester – 2A

4 - Frank Swenson - 3A

5 - Phil English – Eisenhower – 4A

5 – Pete Steiner – East Valley (Yakima) 2A

6 – Jennifer Carpenter, Moses Lake – 4A

7 - Bill Kemp – Riverside – 2A

7 – Mary Downey – Odessa - B

8 - John Preston – Central Valley – 4A

 

 

Greetings, Washington State Cross Country Coaches,

 

I was not far from pressing “send” when great news arrived in my inbox…

Pete Steiner named District 8 Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year!!!

His selection by the National Federation of High Schools makes him one of 8 finalists for the National Coach of the Year Award. (District 8 is Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Orgeon, and Alaska.) The coach at East Valley of Yakima, Pete’s girls have won the State title three years in a row, this year by an impressive 53 points. Congratulations to Pete on this well-deserved recognition of his ongoing excellence.

 

The Executive Board of the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association met on Saturday, January 15 at University Prep in Seattle. With a long agenda and several guests, the meeting lasted almost four hours! Surely a record for our association, but much good discussion took place and it was a milestone meeting for us as…

 

It was Joe Clark’s first meeting as vice-president and Patty Ley was approved unanimously as our Secretary, so it was her first as well. In addition, Jennifer Carpenter, Mary Downey, Pete Steiner, and Bill Sumner all were also approved unanimously as members of our Advisory Board. Congratulations to them, and welcome a-board!

 

In addition, WIAA Executive Director Mike Colbrese spent the first two hours of the meeting with us, and we are grateful for his dedication to us of expertise and time on a cold and icy January morning.

 

This newsletter will, for the most part, be a review of the first half of the 1/15 meeting, which constituted a fairly extensive review of the State Meet and which was led by Mike Colbrese. I’ll conclude with an update on the minimum practice requirement proposal, as well as with some information about the Billy Mills appearance in Everett on March 7, which our association is supporting.

 

A second newsletter will follow in March to address some of the topics raised in the second half of the meeting, especially regarding the end of season and the date of the State Meet (I’ll get that discussion underway here), the scheduling of our East-West All-Star Race, and qualification of individuals to State.

 

1. State Cross Country Video – Dr. John Robertson, Medical Advisor to the Association, reported on the development of a State Cross Country souvenir video. This fall, with the approval of WIAA, Robertson Communications (John’s daughter’s company) and Solutions Films produced a video of the 3A and 4A races on a trial basis, with the intent next fall to include all classification races. The video will be advertised on our website and will be available for ordering there. While the current plan is for each classification to have its own souvenir video available for purchase, discussion took place about the possibility of having all 10 races on one DVD as well.

 

2. Mike Colbrese led us in an extensive discussion about and review of the 2004 State Meet. In addition, John Crawford was very helpful in advance of our meeting in helping to generate a list of points for review; many thanks to both.

 

1. Improvements will take place in marking the State Meet course. Marking flags will be used, as well as a new more highly visible product from Rainbow Racing System for marking the course (this product is currently in the testing phase).

 

 

 

 

 

Almost all in attendance agreed that the National Federation blue/yellow/red flag system is not only of little use (we understand it’s required), but it’s confusing to the runners, almost all of whom have never seen the system before they get to State.

 

Also suggested were:

-         arcs of flagging at key corners;

-         having the golf cart stay with the lead runners longer;

-         having the cart keep greater distance from the lead runners so as to minimize the effect of exhaust on the lead runners; it was explained that electric carts were tried before, but that they ran out of electricity before the finish;

-         a spray chalk for lining the course made by Wolverine Sports (if the Rainbow Systems one does not work out).

 

2. Alternates will be assigned a race number, their number will serve as a pass into the State Meet, and they will be listed in the State Meet program.

3. WIAA is looking into awarding medals to the top 12 instead of the current mixture of medals and ribbons. Mike Colbrese is working with the WIAA Executive Board on this.

4. WIAA will take a look at the number of medals awarded in wheelchair competition to reflect the fact that this, too, is a State competition.

5. Mike assured us that we will be able to continue to present the traveling trophies at State. He clarified the history of traveling trophies for WIAA and explained that they have traditionally been provided by WIAA for sports in which there is not an individual (as opposed to team) component, as individuals in ‘solely’ team sports do not get any further recognition (football, basketball, volleyball, soccer), but they do in individual sports (XC, T+F, golf, swimming, etc.). Our board did make the point that a public perception/expectation of a team trophy is created by the broadcast of victory ceremonies of state basketball and football. (Editor’s note: in this newsletter, ‘State Cross Country’ is capitalized; ‘state football’ is not!)

6. Coaches in the clerking area: a lively discussion took place regarding coaches in the clerking/start area. First, coaches in attendance reported similar – and not exactly positive – experiences with overzealous gate monitors at the start area. To address this and other issues, such as coaches not getting out of the start area in a timely fashion before the race begins, John Crawford has designed a system to separate the start and clerking areas. The runners will be at the start with the coaches and managers in a fenced area only for them immediately behind the start. Board members urged that meet management look at ways of being more flexible about letting people in, though we recognize we do need to keep parents and fans out. (My suggestion that this area be dubbed the ‘koaches kennel’ did not get far – understandably.)

 

It would look something like this; thanks to Patty Ley for the diagram:

(the bottom row is to your left as you approach the start area in Pasco

 

7.  Several suggestions were made to improve the program, such as including the previous year’s scores and individual times. South Whidbey’s Doug Fulton reported that this was “the best cover ever.” 

8. Lining up at the start – who knew we could spend 20 minutes on how teams line up in the start box?! The start box is intended to allow only 3 or 4 runners across the line – whatever meet management decides is the most appropriate for the space provided. Concern was expressed regarding teams not complying with the spirit of the guideline. Again, in terms of preparation for State, there is inconsistent lining of starts and start boxes in league and district meets -understandably, given the differing courses. But the issue here is the spirit of the rule – if three are allowed across the front, then that’s what everyone should stick with, and coaches can then decide how to set up their second row. It was suggested that a box might be drawn for the second row, though not everyone agreed with this suggestion.

 

The theme of preparing our athletes for State led to the consideration of two additional topics:

 

9. First, that league and district managers include John Crawford’s detailed pre-race instructions in their meet packets so coaches review these guidelines and procedures with their runners for three weeks in a row. This should lead to much more consistent running of championship meets, and to more consistent preparation of our runners. They will better know what to expect.

10. Second, a recurring theme in the meeting was ‘best practices for xc coaches.’ There tends to be much focus on and discussion of what league, district, or State Meet management does or doesn’t do – but what is our role as coaches? What can we do to help make these events run more smoothly? How can we better prepare our athletes for State? What suggestions, for example, might we be able to share among ourselves regarding how we effectively conduct course walkthroughs with our athletes? And wouldn’t having our passes with us make getting into the start area easier on everyone?  We agreed as a board to keep the topic of best practices in the forefront to see if we can develop some statewide standards for XC coaches.

11. This led, in turn, to a discussion of a suggestion by Lee Cave, chairman of the Games Committee at State, to have rules clinics for cross country coaches. We will survey our Advisory Board to see if there is support for this. Certainly, part of ‘best practices’ for xc coaches would be to have all of us on the same page regarding not only the rules, but the State syllabus as well.

3. Eric Hrushchka led us in a discussion of the season ending date – in other words, of when the State Meet should be held. The cross country season is shorter than any other WIAA season by a week, and Eric presented information regarding projected State Meet dates over the next seven years if State should be held on the second Saturday of November (and some of the currently scheduled State Meets dates are already on the 2^nd Saturday); Eric’s proposal is to standardize State on the second Saturday. I will survey our Advisory Board about this issue, discuss the results with our Executive Board as well as Mike Colbrese and John Crawford, and give you a progress report in the next newsletter. Mike Colbrese explained that if we as an association decide to pursue this proposal, we should be prepared to present it to the WIAA Executive Board at their April meeting. Clearly, this will be our association’s major focus over the next two months.

 

Updates:

 

4. Minimum practice requirements for cross country

A proposal to change the minimum practice requirement for cross country from 12 practices to 10 was reviewed by the WIAA Representative Assembly and league contacts at the Winter Coalition meeting on January 24 in Auburn. Our association had taken a position in favor after receiving responses statewide from our Advisory Board that were unanimously in support. This proposal came from District 3. The proposal appeared to be received favorably, with the caveat that we not ask to start practice on the same day as football. Voting on this proposal will take place at the spring Representative Assembly on April 29.

 

5. Billy Mills

Our board voted to support the appearance by 1964 Olympic 10,000m champion and distance running legend Billy Mills on Monday, March 7, at the Everett Civic Auditorium, with a contribution of $100.00. This appearance is sponsored by the Tulalip Tribe and is being coordinated by the second president of our association, Steve Bertrand of Cascade High School in Everett. Mills will speak at 7:00pm; coaches are invited to bring their teams – there is room for 1,552! It will be a great way to spend the first evening of track season… I have the honor of introducing him that evening… and I’ve assured organizers I’ll keep it under three hours!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I probably should mention that if you reply to this newsletter – and I encourage you to do so – it will take a least a couple of weeks for me to be able to reply,

in turn, to you. This Thursday I’ll have an old shoulder injury repaired, and I’m under strict instructions not to type until given clearance to do so!

 

Hope this finds you well.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Mark Cullen, University Prep

President, WSCCCA

 

 

 

Newsletter of the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association

Halloween 2005

Executive Board

Mark Cullen, University Prep, President

Joe Clark, Lakes, Vice-President

Craig Bowen, Jackson, Treasurer

Patty Ley, Gig Harbor, Secretary

Service Board

Tom Campbell, Hall of Fame Coordinator

Joe Clark, Lakes, East-West All Star Race Coordinator

Doug Fulton, South Whidbey, Website and Scholarship Coordinator

Ernie Goshorn, Lake Stevens, Scholarship Fundraising Coordinator

Dr. John Robertson, Seattle Prep, Medical Advisor

Advisory Board

1 - Bill McClement – Bellingham – 3A

1 - Dan Parker – Snohomish – 4A

2 - Leo Genest – Blanchet – 3A

2 - Bruce McDowell, Cedarcrest – 3A

3 - Bill Sumner, Auburn-Riverside – 4A

3 - Matt Ellis – Bellarmine Prep – 4A

4 - Richard LaLonde – Rochester – 2A

4 - Frank Swenson – Centralia – 3A

5 - Phil English – Eisenhower – 4A

5 – Pete Steiner – East Valley (Yakima) 2A

6 – Jennifer Carpenter, Moses Lake – 4A

7 - Bill Kemp – Riverside – 2A

7 – Mary Downey – Odessa - B

8 - John Preston – Central Valley – 4A

Happy Halloween, Cross Country Coaches,

Hope your dreams came true at District; now it’s on to State this weekend!

1. Coaches Meeting, Spaghetti Feed, and WIAA 100^th Anniversary Featuring Gerry Lindgren

I’d like to invite everyone to join us for our annual coaches meeting this Friday evening in Pasco at the Red Lion Inn.

The format will be different this year.

We’ll begin with the Spaghetti Feed at 5:30, and then there will be a program celebrating  the history of cross country in this state as well as the 100^th anniversary of WIAA. Gerry Lindgren will be the featured speaker, and past individual XC champions and coaches of State championship teams will be featured in a program that will be focused on coaches as well as athletes.

Then, at 7:00, the coaches will separate for our annual meeting, which should take no longer than ½ hour. The athletes will have entertainment and supervision provided while we are in our meeting. Among other items on our agenda, we will induct Hugh Tower and John Chaplin into the Hall of Fame, and we’ll present the Coach of the Year and Service Awards as well.

2. Spaghetti Feed and Pass List Registration

Your registrations for the Friday night Spaghetti Feed, as well as for passes to the State meet, are due now to John Crawford at jcrawford.net/ccpasslist.html.

John Crawford does much for us; please help make his life easier by registering in a timely manner.

3. Coach of the Year Awards – if you won a State team title last year, you are a finalist for the award this year. Please be sure to be in attendance at our coaches’ meeting!

4. Traveling Trophies

Double-duty for those of you who won team titles last year:

1. show up at the coaches’ meeting, and
2. please bring the traveling trophies to the clubhouse at Sun Willows Golf Course.

If there are any retired coaches, or coaches with no other duties at State this year, who would like to assist with the presentation of the traveling trophies, please let me know.

5. Uniform Rule, esp: Livestrong Bracelets

I will repeat here what I’ve said before: we have 364 days to work on changes to any rules, including the jewelry rule, which is a subset of the uniform rule. No matter what your personal feelings may be about any aspect of the uniform rule, the time to resolve them is not the starting line at the State meet. It’s upsetting to the kids whose uniforms are questioned. They’re 15 minutes from the start of State and suddenly they’re unsure of their status – not fair to the kids, and it distracts them from the business at hand. And yes, Livestrong bracelets and their offspring are considered jewelry.

6. Treasurer’s Report, by Craig Bowen

As a long time officer in the WSCCCA, I encourage you to voice opinions.  There are  representatives from each district.  Continue to keep lines of communication open!  There are some groups that meet and discuss the state of Washington high school cross-country.  Keep the dialogue constant and constructive.  Try to be proactive locally and statewide.  I repeat this every year because I strongly believe it!  Remember that each of you is actively involved in coaching a sport with lifetime benefits for everyone, not just the elite.  Some of the kids most affected in a positive way are the middle to back of the pack.  Celebrate their successes as well as those of the team!  We all love seeing former team members who still run.

Remember, Cross Country is the best sport in the world!

As treasurer, the 2004-2005 WSCCCA Treasurer’s Report shows us ahead with a balance of about $14,297.75 in the scholarship fund and about $3,400 in the general fund.  The dues from the state association members are critical to our success.  The money spent pays for mailing the newsletter, coaches of the year awards, all state certificates, East-West All Star race expenses, and other bills.  The money raised by coaches (especially Ernie Goshorn and myself) funded $4000 in scholarships. Please continue to join the Washington State Coaches’ Association and write in Cross-Country as the sport group receiving credit for your membership!  Applications will be available at State for you to use.  The association year encompasses August to July, so it covers the entire school year and all sport seasons.

A copy of this report will be posted in the notes on watfxc.com under WSCCCA notes.

Yours in running,

Craig L. Bowen

Teacher - Coach, Jackson High School

Treasurer, Washington State Cross Country Coaches’ Association

7. The Political Landscape, by Mark Cullen

Last spring, in response to our ‘Celebratory Newsletter,’ we received a number of very thoughtful responses, and I’d like to address a couple of them here.

a. The first comes from Ken Paul (Kentridge, 4A, District 3), who writes:

“One problem jumped out at me as soon as I read the reclassification issue… with the implementation of the new ruling, (classifications) won’t lose quotas to state if some of the schools in that classification “opt up.” However, what that does is decrease the selection opportunity for schools in the higher category… I understand not wanting to hurt the lower classifications by reducing their quotas to State. But in all fairness their selection opportunity is then increased. On the other hand, the larger classification now has more schools chasing after statistically fewer slots. Am I missing something here?”

Not at all, Ken. In fact, you couldn’t have summarized better the remaining flaw in our classification system. What this year’s changes did was to make the system better, but not perfect. As long as opt ups are allowed, the system will be inequitable to some extent. The good news about the new system is that it will be impossible to have the disparity that the old one had,

when 4A numbers soared to 91, and 1A and 2A plummeted to 52. (Each classification is projected to have about 65 schools in the new system.) In some ways, I would be better off answering this question in January once we know the number of opt ups and how they affect each classification; I’d be happy to pick this up again then.

Meanwhile, Ken also asked, “Might it not be fairer if a number of schools competing in a classification surpasses a predetermined level, the WIAA would then permit a twenty team competition?” A number of different systems have been proposed in the past, and certainly this would be one option. Another would be far simpler to me: don’t allow opt ups. Multiple classification leagues operate all over the state with notable success. It’s remarkable to me to see how much time we spend on getting classification systems right – only to then allow opt ups which throws that work at least partially out of whack.

I’ll comment further once we have the numbers; certainly there’s a difference between 5 schools opting up into a higher classification and 20. It will be interesting to see where these numbers fall.

b. The second comes from Brad Donovan (Willapa Valley, B, District 4), who writes:

“In determining the number of schools participating (8 or 16), will that still be based on the number of schools with full teams, or will partial teams enter into the mix? In the past it was based on a formula that figured 40 programs got a 16 team tournament and 20 programs got an 8 team tournament; and a cross country program was defined as a scoring team of 5. When you say 60% participating, do you mean 60% of the schools in a classification have to have 5-member scoring teams, or is it partial teams? If it is still scoring 5-member teams, then is there any wiggle room for district cross country formulas?”

It is full, 5-member teams. No change has taken place in the team definition which was a standard developed by the WIAA Executive Board when the 40/16 and 20/8 system went into effect. As for wiggle room, I know of none. It would require an application to the Executive Board to have this changed. And, realistically, any change would need to apply to all sports,

not only cross country. I am certainly sympathetic to the problem of turnout in small schools,

and am well aware that it’s frustrating to have, say, three out for a team but not have them count towards team allocations.

Finally, there has continued to be much discussion and debate about our proposal to extend the cross country season by a week. As you know, John Crawford recently wrote us to say that he would prefer the season to start earlier. Our WSCCCA Board has reaffirmed its position regarding our proposal, which is that the week should be added at the end, and not the beginning, of the season. The WIAA Executive Board will make its final decision at its December 4 and 5 meeting, and I will attend to support our position.

Look forward to seeing you all this weekend.

Happy Halloween, everyone… now go eat some candy!

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Cullen, University Prep

President, WSCCCA

Fall 2004 WSCCCA Newsletter

Greetings, Coaches, and hope your seasons are off to a good start. It’s been a busy summer for the WSCCCA, so here with, news and notes about our activities since June.

1. Pat Tyson and Dan Parker Win Regional Coach of the Year Awards

District 8 of the National Federation of High Schools represents the states of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska… and remarkably, both the girls and boys Region 8 coach of the year winners are from our state. Pat Tyson of Mead won on the boys side, and Dan Parker of Snohomish won the girls award! (The national awards went, respectively, to coaches from Mississippi and South Carolina.) Congratulations to Pat and Dan on this wonderfully well-deserved recognition. Their recognitions come on the heels of Phil English’s winning of the national girls coach of the year award two years ago. They are indicative of the great depth of quality of cross country coaching in our state, as well as the national recognition it receives - and deserves. You do us proud, Dan and Pat.

2. East-West All-Star Race Results

The East-West All-Star Race was held on Saturday, July 28, at Fort Steilacoom Park near Tacoma on a warm but beautiful morning in conjunction with the Watermelon Run. Race Director Joe Clark did another great job of pulling together two races at once. The results are as follows:

Boys

Mike Quackenbush - Ferris - 16:00

Drew Polley - South Kitsap - 16:01

Tyson Eberhardt - Bellevue - 16:24

Allen Wood - Tahoma - 16:30

Chuy Chavez - Eisenhower - 16:36

Caleb Knox - Jackson - 16:48

Curtis Suver - Tahoma - 16:58

Saul Hansen - Riverside - 17:14

Baraka Poulin - Skyline - 17:33

Adam Berg - Riverside -18:09

Jesse Carnes - Colville - 18:26

James Cummins - Riverside -20:22

Girls

Isley Gonzalez - Sunnyside - 19:25

Allison Ritchie - Seattle Christian - 19:35

Amber Nicholson-Lake Stevens-20:11

Janelle Probst - Mead -20:22

Andrea Brown - Mount Baker - 20:33

Karin Rohde - Mount Baker - 20:36

Sara Thon - Squalicum - 20:38

Sarah Benson - Kentridge - 21:13

Rachel Giffey-Brohaugh - Christian Faith School - 21:15

Amy Scott - Nooksack Valley - 22:28

Whitney Stohr - Eisenhower -22:44

Allison Harmon - Lakes - 24:19

Thanks to all who participated, including those who made the trek from Eastern Washington. Special thanks to Bill Kemp of Riverside for his ongoing support of this event, and to our sponsors, including Brooks, Super Jock ‘n’ Jill, South Sound Runners and South Sound Cross Country Camp, Ft. Steilacoom Running Club, Talking Rain, and the Lakes High School XC Booster Club.

Our board has spent a lot of time reviewing the all-star race, and is considering ways we could make it more visible to our membership and our runners, as well as more worthwhile for our sponsors. Among other things, we are considering changing the date to either the fall after State, or the early summer after school is out. We are working with WIAA to see what the out-of-season implications/ramifications of a fall date might be. While we feel that the all-star race in July is a great event for those who are there – and we don’t want to lose the wonderful spirit it has during the picnic and the scholarship presentations – we do feel we could make it a bigger stage for our athletes.

3. Scholarship Award Winners

Winners of the $1000 WSCCCA scholarships were Allison Ritchie of Seattle Christian and Jesse Carnes of Colville. Winners of $500 awards were Janelle Probst (Mead), Sara Thon (Squalicum), Saul Hansen (Riverside), and Baraka Poulin (Skyline). Thanks to Eric Hruschka for his great work in coordinating the scholarship selection process, and to Craig Bowen and Doug Fulton for joining in that process. It’s a wonderful evening when we go through the applicants and select those who are truly the best among the best. Final thanks go, of course, to our fundraising king, Ernie Goshorn, for once again making sure that we have the funds to continue this longstanding tradition of our association. As I said at the coaches meeting at State last November, I feel strongly that this is the most meaningful work our association does every year. Thanks to everyone involved.

4. Coaches Poll

Phil English of Eisenhower High School remains the tireless coordinator of our cross country coaches poll. The poll is posted on our website at watfxc.com every week, and Phil may be reached at englishp@wolfenet.com. Meet directors, please include Phil on your results list and send Saturday invitational results on the day of the race.

5. Membership in the WSCA

You can join the Washington State Coaches Association by going to the front page of the watfxc.com website. Scroll down to the link on the left side of the front page. Membership gets you National Federation coaches insurance, a vote in our upcoming elections, and supports our WSCCCA, as part of the membership fee comes back to our association.

6. Meeting Dates 04-05

The Executive Board meeting schedule for the 04-05 year is as follows:

1/15/05 – regular meeting

7/18/05 – scholarship and East-West All-Star meeting

(9/26/04 – date is saved, if needed)

7. Practice Days

Mike Colbrese, Executive Director of WIAA, forwarded a question from Maya Zeller, the girls cross country coach at Port Angeles High School. She says, “I was wondering if you could clear up something for me. I noticed the following discrepancy in fall sports: Sports such as volleyball, tennis, and soccer all require 10 practices before competition and begin practice August 23rd. Football requires 12 practices and began August 18th. It makes perfect sense that football should begin earlier if it requires more practices. However, cross country ALSO requires 12, and doesn't begin until August 23rd. Shouldn't it follow, from pattern of start dates, that cross country only require 10 practices? Why the inequity?”

1. Great question – and I think there’s a question within the question as well. That is: why does cross country have 12 practices to begin with? I don’t know the answer, as that standard precedes even a geezer like me; in other words, that standard has been around a long time. This is my 24^th year of coaching and the 12 practice requirement was on the books when I began. The sense I had then was that there were higher standards for sports that were perceived to have higher requirements - football, with its safety issues, had 14, gymnastics – 15, wrestling – 12, and cross country, with fitness requirements that go well beyond say, tennis or golf, had 12. In other words, running three miles required a higher minimum practice standard than playing 9 holes of golf.

2. I’m not sure the WIAA Representative Assembly (of which I’m a member) considered the inequity in start dates when we considered the proposal to reduce the number of football practices from 14 to 12. It’s a good point that Maya makes, one I think likely will be up for further discussion this year. We did acknowledge that the reduction of football practices from 14 to 12, combined with the earlier start date, would likely open the door to reconsideration of the whole minimum practice issue.

3. Another approach was discussed by the Rep Assembly – that is, why not have all sports start three days earlier, no matter what the practice requirements? The answer to this had to do with football needing enough weeks to get in their 10 games, while other sports had enough time to get in their season maximum with an August 23^rd start.

4. Another option: have fall sports with 12 or more required practices start three days early (Wednesday) and those with 10 on the regular start date (the following Monday). However…

5. Two years ago, when the WSCCCA successfully proposed to the Rep Assembly reducing the number of practices required for a cross country jamboree from 12 to 10, we had considerable discussion within our board about the 12 practice rule, and were split as to whether or not it was the correct standard. There is strong feeling on our board that cross country starts too early as it is, and that we lose potential new team members when they show up for the first day of school two weeks after practice has begun and perceive themselves as not having a chance to break into a by then well-established squad.

So let the fun begin – what do you think should be the correct minimum practice requirement for 5k in cross country? We would welcome hearing from you, and I will survey our Advisory Board and report back to you their responses. Also, if there are any coaches who know where the 12-practice standard came from initially, we would welcome that information. And thanks to Maya for her insightful question.

8. Elections

The final part of our new constitution will be phased in this fall when our organization holds its first elections for Executive Board positions. Our board has spent considerable time over the past year discussing process and procedure, and we have all made decisions about our intentions for the next two years – and in some cases, beyond. Our constitution states that the president’s position must be filled from within the Executive Board, and that the vice-president, secretary, and treasurer’s positions may be filled from the Advisory and Service Boards.

President - I will stand for election for a third term as president, and since no one else is running from the Executive Board, will run unopposed. This, then, will be my final term as president of the association, as I have notified our board that I will not seek a 4^th term two years from now.

Vice-President – Craig Bowen will step down as VP.

Treasurer – Craig will run for one more term as Treasurer, and also chooses one more two-year term to be his final term of service, if elected.

Secretary – Doug Fulton will step down as Secretary, and will take over as Scholarship Coordinator from Eric Hruschka.

Further details about the elections will be covered in a separate note. However, there are a few important items to be covered now:

1. Advisory and Service Board members who wish to run for office need to let me know by September 27.
2. Votes may be cast only by dues-paying members of the WSCCCA – so now is the time to re-up your membership! See item #5.
3. Voting will be done online from October 10-20, with results to be announced at the coaches meeting at State on the evening of November 5.

9. Allocations to State

Team counts were due to WIAA last Friday, and now it’s number-crunching time at WIAA. Allocations to State will be calculated over the next few weeks and will be approved by the WIAA Executive Board at its October 3-4 meeting. Allocations will be posted on the WIAA website immediately after that meeting.

In Memoriam

We in the Emerald City 1A League are deeply saddened by the loss on September 9 of Bush head coach, Damian Potts, to cancer, after a two year struggle. Damian’s boys team won the inaugural league title three years ago, and Damian was named our league’s first boys cross country coach of the year. A service was held on Sunday, to be followed a month from now by a ceremony celebrating his life. Our condolences go to his wife, Leah, family, and the entire Bush community.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Cullen

University Prep