Newsletter of the Washington State Cross Country Coaches
Association
September 5, 2000
Mark Cullen, University Prep, President
Craig Bowen, Marysville-Pilchuck, Vice-President/Treasurer
Doug Fulton, South Whidbey, Secretary/Website Coordinator
Eric Hruschka, Jackson, East-West All Star Coordinator
Steve Bertrand, Past President, Cascade (Everett)
Tom Campbell, Edmonds-Woodway, Retired, Founder and First President of the Association
Phil English, Eisenhower (Yakima)
Bill Kemp, Riverside
Richard LaLonde, Rochester
Patty Ley, Gig Harbor
Joe Stewart, Kelso
Pat Tyson, Mead
By Mark Cullen
It’s the fall of 1971[UP1]. I’ve followed my parents to the misty, mysterious Pacific Northwest from my native western Massachusetts. I head for the University of Oregon, where I sign up for the beginning jogging class. Then, the term “jogging” was not yet 10 years old. The class catalogue instructs us to meet in the west grandstand of Hayward Field. Forty of us gather and wait patiently for the 29th graduate assistant coach to show up. Below us, Todd Lathers, Gary Barger, Pat Tyson, Arne and Knute Kvalheim, and Steve Prefontaine are doing intervals on the track. On the infield, future Olympic discus champion “Multiple” Mac Wilkins – the greatest collegiate thrower to that time, perhaps ever – is perfecting his technique.
Finally, the coach appears. Out walks Bill Bowerman, who the week before had been named the ’72 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Head Coach. He stomps out of the tunnel, pauses, turns his head, and announces in that gruff voice of his, “Hi. I’m your coach.”
That same fall, Stanley B. Greenfield taught my Introduction to Literature course. Professor Greenfield was a world-renowned scholar in early English and Beowulf. Graduate students around the world were beating down his door to have the opportunity to study under him. And yet he taught the freshman literature class.
So what did I learn from these two teaching legends? That it’s as important to teach the beginners as it is the accomplished ones. That the base of the pyramid is as important as the peak, for without the base there is no peak. I think, too, that each realized we would carry on their work in ways they – or we – could not then have guessed.
Bowerman taught me to be attuned to the issues of sport, and Greenfield, with his legendary “clarity of writing” drills, did his best to teach me to write about them. Clarity of writing, he always said, is a result of clarity of thinking. I hope I learned a good half of what each tried to teach me, and I’ll do my best to bring their respective perspectives to my running of our association. If I’m not clear to you, I trust you’ll let me know. Remember, I have many audiences - have you coached for 2 years or 20? in Washington State or out? in a large school or a small one? rural or urban? east or west? which is the better version of “Twist and Shout” – the Isley Brothers’ or the Beatles’? – and I’ll do my best to address them all.
And so this brings us rather quickly to the present – to amendments and the state of our sport.
As many of you know, this past spring the WIAA Representative Assembly passed the 40/20 state tournaments amendment. This means that in order to get a 16-entry state tournament, 40 schools must participate in that sport within a classification. In order to get an 8-entry state meet, 20 teams must participate. This amendment will go into effect in the fall of 2001.
For cross country, if our numbers hold, the 2A girls meet will expand from 8 to 16 entries, as the 2A boys meet did this past fall. In addition, the class B numbers are borderline as to whether they would qualify for separate 8-entry girls and boys meets. If they do, the class 1A entries would go from 16 to 8, and all 5 classifications would have separate meets, which has been a goal of this association for 14 years. According to WIAA Executive Board policy, cross country teams must have a minimum of 5 participants to be counted towards the 40 or 20.
In our next newsletter, I’ll have additional comments about 40/20 and how we can make it work best for cross country. I’ll also comment on the rules process revision amendments that passed this spring as well.
I would like to state my goals for our association for the next two years:
- to be open, accessible, and responsive to the Washington state high school cross country community;
- to develop and adopt, with an opportunity for input from all members of the Association, constitution/by-laws for the Cross Country Coaches Association;
- as part of that, to clarify the process by which Board members are chosen;
- to clarify the role of our At-Large members;
- to clarify the process by which At-Large members are chosen;
- to post board meeting dates and times in advance;
- to post agendas in advance;
- to post minutes after the meetings;
- to work cooperatively with the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Association on issues of mutual interest;
- to anticipate the implementation of the 40/20 state tournaments amendment in 2001, and to develop strategies to maximize its effectiveness for the sport of cross country.
I welcome your response to these goals, and look forward to an active interchange with coaches across the state. In fact, in response to my having posted my email address on the website (watfxc.com), that interchange has already begun. At the end of this newsletter, I’ve let you know how to contact our four board members and hope that you’ll take advantage of the opportunity to get in touch.
Put these shoes on: You’re at our coaches association meeting at State and there’s a question you’ve been eager to ask. Ask it now! If it’s something we don’t know the answer to, it’ll give us a chance to help you find an answer, and it may well be something quite useful for lots of other coaches, too. We look forward to hearing from you.
Meanwhile, you’ll be receiving this newsletter at the time of your first meet. Hope your season is off to a great start. If not, I know of some world record holders who did not make the Kenyan Olympic team…
By Craig Bowen
The 1999-2000 WSCCCA Treasurer’s report shows us slightly ahead. The dues from the 87 state association members who declared cross country in 1998 was $609.00. This money paid for producing and mailing the newsletter and other bills, but this year we plan to expand mailings, so the budget could be tight. The money raised by coaches (especially Ernie Goshorn, Doug Fulton, and David LeWarne) funded $2400.00 in scholarships (see the article on the East-West Cross Country race).
Please continue to join the Washington State Coaches’ Association and write in Cross Country as the sport receiving credit for your membership! An enrollment form is included in this newsletter.
By Doug Fulton
Coaches Directory – A statewide cross country coaches directory is now posted on the cross country website at watfxc.com. Also, State Meet Director John Crawford has an up-to-date list of coaches’ email addresses. Please keep both lists updated as changes are made, especially as you find out who new coaches are in your league this season. We must be accessible to improve communication; our collective knowledge is a powerful tool for beneficial change at all levels of the WIAA. Our collective voice can and does have influence on decisions affecting cross country.
By Eric Hruschka
The 20th edition of the East/West All-Star Cross Country Championship took place on Saturday, July 29th in Lake Stevens in conjunction with the Lake Stevens Aquafest. The events of the festival, beautiful scenery, and financial support from the community create a wonderful setting for show casing our elite graduating seniors. More than 100 local runners joined the 2000 All-Stars helping to make the featured race a success. $2400 in scholarship money was awarded to six outstanding student athletes. This years winners include: Barret Ebright (Vashon), Carrie Gibson (Lake Washington), Erica Allie (Lindbergh), Jacob Peterson (Kings West), Jon Carwin (Lake Washington) and Joe Donnellon (Oak Harbor). The scholarships are based on scholastic achievement, community involvement, coaches recommendation, family financial need, and involvement in the GREATEST sport in the world. Congratulations and thanks to Steve Bertrand who has been the race coordinator for the past decade (+) and has handed over the duties to me (Eric Hruschka).
I have been actively involved in a support role helping to
run this classic over the past seven years. In our post race meeting we have
decided to make some changes for the 2001 race in hopes of increasing
involvement and support throughout the state.
1. The race will be scored EAST vs WEST (so all you with opinions about which side of the mountains is better... make sure your top runners show up for the race).
2. Following the guidelines of other State All-Star competitions...we will name Coaches for each team (a chance to honor coaches hard work over the past year).
We did discuss changing venues or dates and are open to ideas that would help this event to grow. Please contact me at ehruschka@foxinternet.net with all ideas, concerns and questions.
Overall, the race is a wonderful opportunity for HS runners to gather one last time before heading off to college. A chance to earn to earn a scholarship with great odds ...usually 1 in 10 that apply earn one. The scholarships are awarded in the names of coaches in the Hall of Fame. Current scholarships are set up in the names of Carl Westling (South Whidbey), Tom Campbell (Edmonds) and Keith Gilbertson (Snohomish). We would like to have scholarships in the names of all coaches in the Hall of Fame. For
- Saturday, November 4, at SunWillows Golf Course in Pasco
- John Crawford, State Meet Manager
- Coaches Meeting – The night before the State Cross Country Meets the Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association will hold our annual meeting after the pasta feed at the Double Tree Inn adjacent to the State Meet site. We’ve had upwards of 200 coaches in attendance; we plan to make this a productive meeting for everyone. Make it part of your State Meet plans!
- Allocations are posted on the WIAA website at WIAA.com, and, as mentioned above, Doug Fulton has created a link to the allocations on our cross country website front page.
By Mark Cullen
The next Board meeting of the cross country coaches’ association is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 1, at 10:00am at my home in Seattle. If you’d like to join us, please contact me by noon on Thursday, September 28, so I can email you my address and directions (this newsletter is also being emailed and I am reluctant to post my home address on the Internet). In case of an overwhelming response, we’ll shift the site to University Prep; this information – as well as the agenda and any possible site/date changes – will be posted on the website. Stay tuned.
(Thanks to Steve Bertrand for the heat exhaustion/heat stroke/running rules of the road information.)
Now is the time of the year to be watchful and wary when it comes to difficulties with heat. Here are some guidelines:
Symptoms:
- heavy sweating
- weakness
- cold, pale, clammy skin
- weak pulse
- fainting/loss of consciousness
- vomiting
Treatment:
- have the person lie in a cool, shaded spot
- loosen clothing
- apply cool, wet cloths to skin
- give sips of water, but discontinue if nausea occurs
- if vomiting occurs, seek immediate medical attention
Symptoms:
- mental confusion, delerium, dizziness, loss of consciousness, convulsions, coma
- chills
- body temperature of 105 degrees or higher
- hot, dry skin; skin may be red, mottled, or bluish
- a strong, fast pulse
Treatment:
-
CALL 911 – heat stroke is a medical emergency
-
While waiting for help, move the victim to a cool
place.
-
Apply wet cloths or ice packs.
-
Do not give fluids.
2. Athletes should carry some sort of identification, or the coach with each group should carry medical emergency cards/emergency medical authorization forms.
3. Be alert for any physical hazards in or around the participation area.
4. Run in three or fours.
5. Watch for objects being thrown from passing vehicles.
6. Approach dogs with caution.
7. Face the oncoming traffic when running on roads.
Mark Cullen, President Craig Bowen, Vice-President/Treasurer
University Prep P.O. Box 369
8000 25th Avenue NE Marysville, WA 98270-0369
Seattle, WA 98115 360 653-0600
206 525-2714, x122 Craig_Bowen@msvl.wednet.edu
Doug Fulton, Secretary/Website Coordinator Eric Hruschka, East-West All-Star Coordinator
P.O. Box 1004 Jackson High School
Langley, WA 98260 1508 136th Street SE
360 221-4300, x5213 Mill Creek, WA 98012
dfulton@watfxc.com 425 338-5050, x3116
We look forward to hearing from you.
(For detailed contact information, take a gander at the cross country website at watfxc.com and click on “Invitationals.”)
9/7 9/30
Montesano Invitational Sunfair (Yakima)
Forks
9/9 Liberty Bell
Shoreline (Girls only) Can-Am (Colville)
Edmonds (Boys only) Chehalis
Bellarmine Co-Ed Relays Mt. Baker
Gig Harbor
Lake Stevens 10/3
Capital Mansfield
Selah
Ocosta 10/7
Berthusen 15k Co-Ed Relays (Lynden) Hoquiam
Tahoma Co-Ed Relays (Maple Valley) Lakewood “Hole in the Wall”
King’s West (Bremerton)
9/16 Richland
South Whidbey (Langley) Thunder (Mountain View) Fort Steilacoom (Tacoma) Spanaway
Highlander (Spokane) Lake Roosevelt
Enumclaw Cascade-Leavenworth
Mid-Basin (Moses Lake) Mary Walker (Springdale)
Quincy Franklin Pierce (Tacoma; New Hampshire)
Salt Creek (Port Angeles)
Prosser 10/12
North County Class Meet (Marysville)
9/19
Lewis and Clark Trail Races (Toledo HS) 10/14
Oak Harbor
9/23 Life Christian/Pacific Lutheran (Tacoma)
Connell Cashmere
Curtis Fort Worden (Port Townsend)
Kelso
Wenatchee Mid-October
Reardan Battle of the B’s (St. John’s)
Wahluke
Lake Sammamish (Bellevue HS hosts near Issaquah)