After a successful 1989 cross country season we came into 1990 feeling that we had the potential to be even better. Obviously at the beginning of the season we didn't know how good we would be. In the season preview newsletter that I gave the team I said the following about our goals, "Both team and individual goals will be reevaluated throughout the season from week to week and meet to meet. You should have short range and long range goals, not just for the season but for your running career. You should also set goals for the classroom and your personal and family life. These goals will give you direction. They will help put you on track to be successful and keep you there.
Our initial team goal is simple and realistic; to improve over last years performance. With the right ATTITUDES and the willingness to put in the WORK necessary, that initial goal will be reached and that goal will set the tone for establishing all other team and individual goals".
Looking at the team picture you can see that one obvious potential roadblock to us accomplishing much was with the girl's team where we had only seven total runners. We had to get through the season avoiding injuries and hoping everyone stayed healthy and they did most of the season. It definitely kept my anxiety up the entire season.
And looking ahead didn't do anything to build confidence for future success, 4 of the 7 girls were seniors including Janie and Laura who would finish the season as our first two female four year letter winners while on the boys team Gary became our second male four year letter winner.
The Air Academy Invitational was a significant event for us because it was the first meet that Lashon had enough practices to be eligible to compete. I decided to run him in the open division because he hadn't earned his spot on the varsity yet. The meet was a good test for both teams because the course was challenging with a really tough hill at 2 miles as well as good competition.
"It isn't easy to pick out the highlights of this meet, all you have to do is look to see who came to compete. The girl's team did an outstanding job finishing 3rd in the 23 team field. They were only 5 points behind Coronado for 2nd and beat top teams like Doherty, Cheyenne Mountain, Lewis Palmer and Air Academy. Great job ladies! Again, just use this meet as a stepping stone to reaching your goals. The other highlight was Lashon's 2nd place finish in the open division. Based on his time and effort it will be the last time he runs in an open race this season. Good job Lashon!
The girls were again led by strong performances by Shay (10th) and Janie (15th). Alanna is finally realizing her potential and was a strong 3rd runner for Sierra (26th), followed closely by Mary (31st). Debbie completed the scoring for Sierra in 46th and Laura was right behind her in 48th. Nicole ran well and finished 67th in a field of over 100 runners.
The Varsity boys were led by Alwyn who moved from 43rd at the 2 mile to finish a respectable 29th. If the rest of the varsity had moved up in the 3rd mile the way that he did, they would have been very competitive. As it is, finishing 9th and ahead of Harrison is nothing to be ashamed of but it certainly isn't anything to be overly proud of or satisfied with either. As I told you after the meet, just talking about going to state won't get it done. If some of you aren't going to be willing to start running past the hurt and competing your season will end with a 4th or 5th place finish at District. Each of you needs to start remembering, "IF IT IS TO BE, IT IS UP TO ME"! No one else is going to do the job for you and carry the load.
A few of you were very upset with your performance, all you need to do is think back to your lack of effort in Thursday's practice and you'll have your explanation".
After his introduction at Air Academy Lashon finished in the top 10 in all but one meet the remainder of the season, including 7th at State. Hard to believe that we didn't get him out until his senior year there's no telling how good he might have been. He joined the Navy after graduation and sadly lost his life in an automobile accident while stationed in Japan.
The headline for the Regional newsletter read:
"CONGRATULATIONS REGIONAL CHAMPIONS AND REGIONAL RUNNER UP!!!!!"
Fantastic job ladies and gentlemen. When we got a ways into the season I started telling you both teams had a chance to qualify for state this year with work and desire. I hope now you all believe me. As you all know already, Friday saw quite a few firsts in Sierra history. First Regional Championship Cross Country team, first Regional Runner Up Cross Country team, first time to qualify a Girl's Cross Country team to state, first time to qualify a Boy's Cross Country team to state and first time to qualify both teams to state. It's what we worked all season for. All of you that have been involved know that it has not been easy, hopefully you also all know that it was worth it.
The job is not done now. Now it is up to each of you to go to the state meet and compete. No one is to go up there just to run or you'll be embarrassed. Finish the job you've started. We'll talk as the week goes on about some goals. Good luck!!!"
The administration, staff and students did something they had never done before by turning out to honor the cross country teams with a send off to the state meet. (It was something they would never do again). It was exciting for the kids and certainly a positive memory.
The state meet brought mixed results. The girls did a remarkable job finishing 4th place just 13 points shy of 3rd. They really stepped up to the challenge of competing on the big stage. With the exception of Lashon who was 7th the same can't be said for the boys and they knew it. The important thing was that we now had experience running at the state level.
"Outstanding job ladies!!! Just like it said in the newspaper, the highest you had ever finished in District before was 4th and this year, your first at state, you placed 4th. Great effort, now let's make it a goal to get back there next year.
Guys, I'm not going to soft peddle it. With the obvious exception of Lashon your efforts were nonexistent. It was obvious by your actions and comments in Denver that you had your minds made up in advance that you couldn't compete at the state level. Those of you coming back I hope after running that you realize that you could have done better and that you can compete on that level. Believing is the first step".
The future? We had the freshman record holder for the boys team. Unfortunately he moved to Kentucky the week after Regionals and didn't even compete in the state meet. The next year he sent me a picture of him placing 7th in the Kentucky state meet. We had the number two freshman boy all time who was our 3rd boy at the state meet but he only ran one more year. We had the 3rd best freshman girl in school history, she was our second girl at the state meet but moved to Denver between cross country and track her sophomore year. It would be an understatement to say that it was tough as a coach to make any plans from one season to the next let alone from one year to the next but we made the best of it.
I started the year talking about goals and in the final newsletter I revisited the subject for the final time that season.
GOALS: Without them, we're going nowhere!!
In 1987 when I became cross country coach at Sierra I set some goals for myself as a coach. They were as follows:
1. A scoring team the first year. We have met it every year.
2. Top half of the District/Region by the 3rd year. Met. Second year with the girls and it took until the 4th year with the boys but we improved steadily.
3. Qualify for state by the 5th year. Met by both teams in the 4th year.
After dealing with all of the "social turmoil" during the 1990 season we might have expected a better start to the '91 season since so many of the girls were returning. We couldn't have been more wrong! In the pre meet handout that I gave the girls for the Rampart scrimmage I wrote this.
"In an earlier handout I emphasized the importance of CONDUCTING YOURSELF LIKE A LADY AT ALL TIMES. Since that handout, we've had some of you suspended for fighting, placed in in-house suspension, I've caught you arguing or having an attitude with adults and other students. Let me make it clear how all of the coaches feel, WE'D RATHER LOSE WITH LADIES AND PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE AROUND THAN WIN WITH PEOPLE THAT DON'T KNOW HOW TO ACT. The choice is yours, act like a lady at all times or find somewhere else to hang around after school".
While everything didn't change immediately and while there were still some problem individuals throughout the season there was immediate and ongoing improvement. We were seeing a lot of positive change.
Despite not defending our Regional Championship for the 4th year in a row, we were 2nd to Pueblo County a well coached, well balanced and deep team 141 - 119, we still felt that our season was successful for many reasons. My final newsletter summarized the season.
"I wanted to wait and write this final newsletter when the season was over and then send it to you at home so that maybe you'd take a few minutes to read it more carefully than usual. I don't know how each of you perceive our season or your season in terms of success or failure but I'd like to share with you my perceptions.
We started the season with basically a young and inexperienced track team. I had a coaches meeting early in the season and told the coaches that basically if we were going to have any success this year we were going to have to do some serious coaching. I hope you recognize and appreciate the job your event coaches did. Had it not been for their efforts and the willingness of most of you to do what they asked we would not have had nearly the success that we had. We will continue to be a good track team because of them and because of you.
Just for the record, how successful were we? We won the D&B Invitational and the Bulldog Invitational with only freshmen and sophomores. We won every Tuesday League meet and won them by wide margins. We finished 2nd at the Panther Relays, the Icicle Invitational at Rampart and the Glenn Peterson Invitational. We finished 3rd at the Cherry Creek Relays and the Wasson Invitational.
We had those successes in spite of many people quitting who could have contributed to our success. In spite of the policy of no pass - no play hanging over your head. And in spite of the fact that many of you had personal problems, health and otherwise to overcome throughout the season. We had those successes because you were a team.
You weren't a team from day one by any means. You were a group of individuals and cliques that eventually grew into a very close and supporting team. We're proud of you for that.
Continuing with your success. You were Regional (District) Runner Up and scored more points than any other Sierra team ever has at the District meet. And finally, you went to state and competed hard and represented Sierra in a classy way as you've done all year. People looking for team points at state would consider our trip a failure. I couldn't disagree more. We set personal bests and ran in the finals of the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200; Antinett was a finalist in the 200 and missed the finals by one place in the 100; Marcia had a lifetime best in the 100 hurdles; Shay had a lifetime best in the 1600 and Toi made the finals in the triple jump. Judi, Sandy and Melissa also competed well. You were certainly not failures".
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| State Meet Dinner at Casa Bonita |
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