"Why do you stay Coach" - 2001 - 2002

It seemed to be getting harder and harder to get kids to want to be involved in most programs. For the first time in my career I was even seeing football struggle to have numbers. I attribute this partly to the fact that we had been through three new administrations in a relatively short time after and each of the three principals came in with the idea that they were going to "fix" Sierra. Did we need "fixing"? Not in my opinion. We needed to continue working every day to help every student be the best that they could become and often against their own wishes. But the reality was that we had a culture that was reflective of our community and the values of that community. We had people come in who were going to change everything. In my opinion they were going to do so with no regard or appreciation for the past successes at Sierra and even insisted on downplaying those successes in many cases. Any problems that we had as an institution were not new problems and they were problems that I honestly believe we were doing a good job improving. New people came in and wanted to throw the baby out with the bath water.

Additionally this was a time when a lot of staff members who had been loyal to Sierra from the start were either retiring or leaving in droves to other jobs because of the new "leadership". I'm not going to spend a lot of time giving examples but just know that it included everything from changing the way attendance was dealt with, discipline, school safety, student participation, regular as opposed to block scheduling, new math curriculum and so on. And finally many of the new staff members had no knowledge of and therefore no appreciation for the history of the school and therefore they were more than willing to "drink the kool aid" no matter who was serving it in the front office.

Our cross country team continued on its downward slide and no amount of recruiting seemed that it could change it. Our first meet I did something that I had never done before, I ran the majority of the kids in the open division where they might not be as overwhelmed. I ran Ross our top boy varsity and he was 51st of 88. The other 3 boys ran open and finished 20th, 32nd and 68th out of 73 runners. On the girl's side I ran Sara varsity and she ran the 15th fastest Sierra senior girls time but was still 27th of 87. The other four girls were 9th, 40th, 53rd and 63rd of 70. The highlight here was Soraya, a freshman was 9th. After the meet my comments focused on effort.

"Many of you during the race commented on how much it hurt and how uncomfortable you felt. That's normal and you'll always feel some discomfort if you are competing to your potential. That's the nature of any endurance sport. It's up to you now to accept the challenge to meet that discomfort in practice as well, it's the only way you will see significant improvement. If you are content to run at a comfortable pace in practice, you will not improve".

From the team picture it is pretty clear how bad our numbers were and that was also evident in meet results all season. Our 3rd meet of the season we had 5 boys for a team score and that was the only time until the last two meets of the season, League and Region when a senior who was our number one runner in those two meets became eligible. We did manage to have enough girls run every meet so that we were able to field a scoring team after the first meet when I chose to split the team. The highlight of the season was Sara returning to state after going as a sophomore and missing as a junior with an injury. She was a great team leader who gave her best all season.

After the cross country season, on November 1, 2001, and when swimming was getting started I sent the following email to a former student who went on to become a teacher and coach himself.

Rashaan;

     When you visited here a couple of weeks ago you commented on the "oppressive" atmosphere of the building. You heard the bell to change classes ring and your question was, "Is that the bell for lock down like at Shawshank?" After spending some more time with us you asked, "Coach, why do you stay here?"
     I suppose my answer might have sounded trite at the time. Remember the answer I gave you? "Because if I don't stay here, who else will?" I've thought about your question the last two weeks. I thought about it that day, I thought about it over the weekend and again when I saw you at the State Cross Country meet and with some of the continued nonsense and negative happenings here at Sierra, I thought about it long and hard last night and today.
     Here's a more complete answer, maybe no better and maybe some just as trite but it is from the heart.
     I had lunch yesterday with Laura Carroll who ran for me for 4 years of cross country and 3 years of track. It would have been 4 years of track but I kicked her off the team one year because she used me to lie to a teacher. She asked me to lunch because she wanted to thank me, not only for what I had taught her but for continuing to work and teach the kids here. And although I don't hear it often, I hear it enough to know that I do sometimes make a difference. That's why I stay.
     She is one of so many young people it has been my privilege to watch grow and become successful adults, parents and citizens. I like to think I had a small role in them becoming the people they are today. That's why I stay.
     There will always be a Laura, an Amanda, a Dale, a Jeremy, a Charlie, an Alana, a Sara and on and on that I can be proud because I had an opportunity to share in their lives. Because of that I stay and because of that I continue to coach.
     There are young people in the programs I coach who would never have the opportunity to even participate in some schools and some programs much less have an equal chance to letter. I try to provide everyone with that opportunity no matter what their ability. The best kid doesn't work any harder, and sometimes not as hard, as the weakest or slowest kid. So where is it written in stone that only the best should have an opportunity to letter?
     I had a young lady this year tell me that I, :Took pity on me and lettered me my freshman year". As I told her and will repeat tonight at our banquet, pity had nothing to do with it. "We had a small team, you were one of only six runners at the Regional meet, if one would have dropped out or been injured, you would have been a scoring runner". I try to have programs where everyone can be an important part and have an equal chance to earn a letter. Does that take away from the value of the letter? On the contrary, I think it makes it more meaningful because the letter is not tied to ability but to all around participation and effort. That's why I stay Rashaan. I think I'm doing things the right way for kids and I will continue to do things like that.
     Finally Rashaan, I stay because of you! I stay because I am so proud of the person you have become. The person who is a single father raising a fine young man, the person who became a teacher and a coach and who influences young people every day and the person who overcame adversity to do it. The Rashaan's, the Laura's, the Susan Kings in Law School, The Tara Strachan's at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the Jeremy Ebert's, a father of four, recent junior college graduate who still hopes to become a teacher and coach, the Sara Suhar's who as a freshman was awful and made up her mind to be the best and became a two time state qualifier and families like the Frandsen's and the Fredericks and the Hendricks where I had the opportunity to watch them all grow.
     That's why I stay here Rashaan and thanks for asking and making me think about my answer.
Take Care; Coach

Before swimming started I found myself having to find a new assistant coach and no one in the building or the district was interested so we opened the job outside the district. I had very few applications to look through and it was obvious that if the interview went well that Sandy Lombardo would be an outstanding asset. She had been a college swimmer and had extensive coaching experience. However, once again in its infinite wisdom the the Human Resources department insisted I interview at least 3 candidates despite the fact that none of them were qualified. The first one that I called to set up an interview acted as if I had two heads and was the most ignorant person in the world. "I didn't apply for a coaching position and I'm sure not interested in one. I don't understand why you're even calling me". That one was easy to eliminate. The next one however in my mind was tragic and I don't use that word lightly. A woman who lived at the Red Cross homeless shelter had applied for custodial or kitchen work. They made me call and schedule an interview with her. I tried to explain that it was only a part time, seasonal job and she was excited to be called for an interview so we set one up. The interview started late because the city bus didn't come as close as she thought it would and she had to walk farther than expected. Her response to the question, "Why would you be interested in being a swimming coach"? "I like to swim". It was tragic because she so desperately wanted a job. Human Resources and their rules were stupid. After the nonsense, Sandy was hired and she was an outstanding addition to the program.        

As far as won - loss record we had a very successful season. As a matter of fact we had the first winning season in school history. I had more input in our schedule going into the season and I made a point of scheduling programs with similar student body make up. Our kids were excited to be competing against teams and individuals with similar experience. We won 5 meets and lost 4 and finished 3rd in the Fountain Fort Carson Invitational, beating one of the teams that earlier beat us in a dual meet.

Our top swimmer, Crystal graduated midterm and didn't complete the season. Would she have made a difference in the Colorado Springs Metro League meet? Probably not. We finished last with 16 points and Mitchell was next to last with 36. The winning team? Cheyenne Mountain again with 388 points. The comments after the meet emphasized improvement and effort.

     "Ladies anyone looking in the paper and seeing the score is going to wonder, "What happened to Sierra?" Trust me, any of us who know what this league is like know that nothing happened to Sierra. A 15 team league with 8 5A teams would be tough for any team but when the 4A teams are the likes of Cheyenne Mountain, Liberty and Lewis Palmer, it is always going to be tough.
     If people want to know how you did, you can tell them that you did very well. In the prelims we had 24 individual swims and there were 17 personal bests. In addition there were 10 changes in the All Time lists. You would have had a season best in the 200 relay had you not been disqualified and you did have a season best in the medley on Saturday. All in all it was a good meet. The season went very well. That is obvious by your improvement over last year as swimmers, by your winning team record and by the number of changes in the top 10 list".

Possibly the best description of our program was written in the Gazette after our dual meet with our District 2 rival, Harrison. The headline, "Just enjoying the pool party"!

     "There were no state qualifying times. No school records were set. The score was only a side note because the teams were district rivals.
     If there was one thing present at Sierra's 111-69 victory over Harrison on Tuesday afternoon, it was enthusiasm.
     It didn't matter that the fastest 200 individual medley time was more than 30 seconds slower or the 500 freestyle was nearly 2 minutes off the pace of the state qualifying time.
     It didn't matter that Sierra and Harrison each have only one female state qualifier ever.
     And it didn't matter that the Stallions lost their school record holder in the 100 butterfly to a mid-season graduation.
     Repeatedly during the meet, swimmers showed emotion because they set personal records in their respective events. Hugs and high-fives were handed out to everyone who finished a race, no matter their place.
     Both Sierra coach Dana Anstey and Harrison coach Karin Lundin said the reason behind the eagerness was the little achievements.
     'This year it's been easy to motivate them because they can see their improvement,' Anstey said. 'Our assistant coach (Sandy Lombardo) has taught them so much, and they can see that by looking at the results.
     'This is also the first time in school history we've won four (dual) meets. 1992-93 was the last time Sierra won three meets.'
     

In a class essay one of our swimmers Amanda T. wrote the following:

     "Looking back, even after this previous swim season, I can say that my first year on the swim team was a turning point in my life. When I first joined the team, I was unsure of myself and of my skills. I had few close friends, but did not share myself outside of that familiar circle. I pushed others away, and kept to myself. I was weak, and out of shape. Within a few precious weeks, I began to change...not just in physical form, but in my mind as well. With the team, I have learned the value of being a contributing member of a team. I have experienced team spirit and school spirit, two things I have never felt before. After my first 200 I.M., I have learned what a difference you can make for someone if you encourage him, or her, regardless of place or team. I have learned that even though you swim alone in a land during a race, it takes a total team effort and support to win a meet.
     I had always depended on my brother to open any avenues for me, but this time I learned that I could open avenues for and by myself. I increased my confidence, and learned that if I refuse to give up that I can do anything that I set my mind to, even if it pushes me to my limits. I have also learned that my limits are unlimited. I can always improve and reach higher, no matter how hard it may be."

I think she summarizes the goals of our program very well!

The 2002 track season brought about several changes and none bigger from a time and responsibility perspective than the fact that in addition to being the head girls coach, I unexpectedly became the head boys coach. When the season started the boys had a coach but he was relieved of his responsibilities literally the week of our first meet. Looking at my pre-meet newsletter it was obvious that preparing for the meet I was only coaching the girl's team. Then if you were to look at the result newsletter, it's obvious that I am coaching both. That first meet was a sign that it was going to be a long hard season even though the girls won it.

I agreed to take the boy's job until they found someone else to take it and without going into a lot of detail I was still the boy's head coach at the end of the season. Fortunately we had shared assistant coaches so there was no difficulty with that transition. One of the biggest difficulties was the fact that the boys didn't appreciate the discipline that I expected from the team all of the time. It's ironic in a way because many of my best athletes on the boys team were part of the basketball program and Coach Garretson ran a very disciplined program. It was going to be a challenge to get them to buy into the way that we ran the girl's program because we certainly weren't going to change.

Another big change was actually just "same song - different verse" when discussing coaching at Sierra. Our State Champion 4 x 1 from last year should have only lost Joelise who graduated; instead we didn't have any of the four back. Taryn who was a sophomore last year moved to live with her Dad in Texas and Cassie and Precious who were freshmen moved to Fountain Fort Carson. Precious was even enrolled and started attending one of my classes because I have an essay that she wrote dated January 7, 2002; and then she transferred. She also had an outstanding younger sister that we wouldn't be getting in the future. We did get Selethia back who was here as a freshman, at Mesa Ridge as a sophomore and now back as a junior; however we didn't get her sister who was a freshman and had attended our feeder middle school. She ran for district rival Harrison where her club coach was the head coach and her middle school PE teacher was her jump coach. Recruiting was not allowed but you do the math.

The first thing that had to be done with the boy's team was change the culture. If you have been following this blog then you know the struggles we have had year after year getting new kids to buy into our expectations just for the girl's team. You can imagine what it was like doing it with an entire new team in addition to the new members of the girl's team. I'm not going to spend time talking about it except as it shows up in quotes from newsletters.

As I said, the girl's won the first meet and did so easily with 102 points to Pine Creek's 50 and Mitchell's 15. 102 points was a lot of points where the meet is scored 5-3-1 for individual events and 5-3 for relays and we were disqualified in two of the 5 relays. You might think that result showed a lot of potential but if you looked at actual performances you would probably hold back on your judgement. We just weren't very good and we had no competition. The boys on the other hand made it clear that it was going to be a long season but the encouraging part is that it was obvious that we had a few good athletes. It was just a question of whether or not we could make them good track athletes. They finished 3rd with 48 points behind Mitchell's 67 and Pine Creek's 50. The post meet comments I made were pretty clear and simple.

"Guys this is not to be critical but it is a coaching opportunity. One of the things we have always emphasized in the girl's program is the importance of every point. You let second place slip away from you yesterday. Just an average 4 x 400 team would have been 2nd place for 3 points and you would have defeated Pine Creek 51-50. Just something to keep in mind the rest of the season. You have to be able to finish a meet as a team.

To the entire team I wrote: "We have a lot of work to do. As I explained today, for the time being we are a coed track team and we will act accordingly. I want to help you all be the best you can be during the season. That also includes being the best person you can be. There is no place on this team for individuals. You're either with us or don't waste your time or the coaches'. Leave all the socks, rags, bandannas, pant leg up, pant leg down, jewelry, etc. etc. etc. at the house. We're all in this together."

And so the workload more than doubled! For the next several pre and post meet newsletters I had to write and rewrite expectations because a lot of them were new to the boys. I had already provided the girls with a 4 page handout basically outlining the culture of our program and leaving nothing to chance. Now the same information had to be presented to the boys so that no athlete or parent could plead ignorance if they had to be removed from the team.

Because of weather, we wound up running our next two meets back to back. Our Saturday meet was rescheduled to a Monday and we already had a Tuesday meet scheduled. While this wasn't one of those times we sometimes scheduled meets back to back to simulate the state meet. In the Icicle Invitational the girls were 9 of 15 and just 2 points out of 8th. Ironically after just telling the boys about the importance of every point and the need to have a 4 x 400 relay, the girl's 4 x 400 didn't compete. The boys were also 9 of 15 and finished 7th in the 4 x 400 relay. On Tuesday both teams ran 4 x 4's and the boy's relay won and showed some potential for the first time. The girl's 4 x 400 was 2nd and ran their best time of the season but still had one weak leg; unfortunately she was weak in more ways than one and didn't complete the season. The girls team was 2nd and the boys were again 3rd.

A new thing that we started this season was a program that recognized 3 levels of performance standards. They were set up on three levels, Gold, Silver and Bronze and were based on a percentage of state qualifying time. I was fortunate to have an assistant who made the kids certificates the first time that they reached a level and they were presented in team meetings after meets. It turned out to be a good year to incorporate the program because it served as a good motivator for the kids.

We continued to struggle and both teams finished 3rd of 3 in our next meets. Both teams were just 4 points out of 2nd and we scored zero points from either team from the 800 meters and up. Our lack of numbers in cross country was certainly impacting the depth and balance of our track team. One positive was that the boy's 4 x 400 was continuing to improve winning the triangle and finishing 4th in the next invitational. The good news is that we went from our first meet when we couldn't find four guys to run the relay to guys wanting to be on the relay because it was obvious that it had the potential to be our best relay.

Our next two meets we continued to show some progress while still fighting to change the culture. The girls were 1st and the boys 2nd in a triangle meet; the boys beat the 3rd place team by 1 point so we were able to point out several clutch performances where that point was gained. We went to Limon next for a large meet but one that was made up of primarily small schools and the kids did very well finishing 2nd in both divisions. The boys won the 4 x 400 and set a new meet record and we finally had the right combination for the girls and they finished 2nd, 11 seconds faster than they had run all year. Brandon our senior hurdler won both hurdle events and set a meet record in the 300's. He was also the 3rd leg on our 4 x 400.

"One thing you should have all learned at this meet, It's not the size of the school, it's the heart of the athlete!

     Very nice job on Saturday. It was a long day to say the least and with very few exceptions you did what we asked and acted with class the majority of the time. Some of you still have a hard time knowing what appropriate behavior in public is and that's sad.
     Competitively you did an outstanding job and will just continue to get better if you are at practice, work hard and do the right thing. Our biggest weakness is still handoffs. We will continue to work to get better."

Our next meet was the CSML that combined 4A and 5A teams. The reason I mentioned Brandon was because League would be the last time he competed for us. On Friday he was League runner-up in the 300's and qualified 1st for the finals of the 110's on Saturday. A "funny" thing happened on the way to the finals. Saturday got snowed out so the meet was moved to Monday and we got eligibility checks in our mailboxes when we got back to school Monday morning. You can figure out where this story is going. Our boys finished 8th of 18 and had they had the 10 points in the 110 hurdles would have been 4th, the second 4A team. The girls only scored 17 points and finished 13th of 18. And the 4 x 400 relays? Our boys were 4th running without Brandon but still ran a season best and the girls ran their fastest time of the season but were disqualified. We did get our first two state qualifiers in this meet when our two male discus throwers, Ray and Andre met the standard.

We ran at the Fountain Fort Carson Invitational and had a respectable performance. The boys were 4th of 17 and the girls 7th. We placed in both 4 x 400's and for the first time all season we had a 4 x 800 relay that placed with our top 2 cross country runners and two freshmen running. Another highlight was winning the freshman boys 4 x 400 in meet record time.

Our final meet before region was the Canon City Invitational. The highlights were the girl's 4 x 400 winning the meet and the boy's 4 x 400 placing 2nd with a season best effort. Also, Hilario pre-qualified for state in the high jump. I'll let the meet comments tell the rest of the story.

     "I am really proud of the way you all competed at this meet. To go to an invitational with only 14 boys and 12 girls and finish 5th in both divisions and not that far out of the top 3 in either is outstanding. The coaches enjoyed the day and we hope most of you did as well. Look at your team totals and see how many points you needed to place in the top 3 and bring home a trophy and then figure our how many points you might have earned if your "teammates" had been there.

     One more week ladies and gentlemen for all of you but the state qualifiers. This week is your chance to qualify; by time, height or distance or by being top 3 in the Regionals. There is no extra pressure. Until the past couple of seasons the only way to qualify was by placing top 3 at Region. There are many of you who have a chance to qualify this weekend if you take care of business. You have to rest this week, get enough sleep. Eat and drink right. Keep your grades up. And stay off the basketball court and out of the weight room for one week. We have you where you need to be, only you can get yourself to state."

As for a lot of those missing "teammates", where were they? We had what was called "Spirit Day" at school which was basically just a disorganized, poorly run, play day. Part of that play day was an intramural basketball tournament and it meant more to some of them to stay back and play there than go to a varsity invitational and represent their team and school. We even went so far as to leave school early and go to a river park in Canon City and provide a picnic for the teams before the meet so they wouldn't feel like they would miss out on the "cookout" back at Spirit Day. There were no easy days coaching at Sierra and now I compounded the difficulty by agreeing to take over the boys until they found someone else.

The regional meet was nothing like we had been used to with Sierra girl's track until we saw the first sign of change at region last year. The girls finished 9th of 10 and only 10 points from last; the worst performance in school history. Rock bottom? I certainly hoped so at the time. The boys didn't do much better finishing 7th. We didn't win an event and had we not pre-qualified them we wouldn't have had our high jumper who tied for 4th or our discus throwers who finished 5th and 7th going to state. We added Becky, 3rd in the high jump and Ross, 2nd in the 400 as individual state qualifiers and both of our 4 x 400 relays teams qualified for state; the girls were 2nd and the boys were 3rd and both teams ran season bests.

At the state meet both teams ran season best times and the boys finished 3rd; the first state placers I coached in boy's track. The girls didn't make the finals but ran very well. Additionally Ross was 9th in the 400. Neither high jumper cleared opening height and neither thrower made the finals. My season coaching a coed track team was done!

Back to the Beginning - 2000 - 2001

Originally, while taking notes and doing research for this post I thought I would title it, "Feels Like the Wheels are Coming Off". And while it did feel as though that was in fact happening I also realized that it was necessary to go back to where I started at Sierra, particularly with cross country and that was rebuilding a program from scratch.

I have to admit to being spoiled by our success in both cross country and track. Even though the '99 season didn't bring a lot of team success we still had two girls qualify and represent us at the state meet. This was a step back after the entire girl's team qualifying the previous 9 years and 2 previous boy's teams qualifying as well as two individual boy's state medalists, but it was still something to hang our hat on. There were a lot of teams that didn't have any state qualifiers and we hoped to use that fact to motivate others to come out while we tried to rebuild.

Unfortunately that didn't happen. For the first time since 1987 my first year coaching cross country at Sierra we didn't schedule a scrimmage. We didn't have enough kids available to make it worthwhile for another team much less the expense of traveling to Parker. The decision proved to be the right one when we only had 2 boys run in our first meet and the second of them would have been 3rd on our girls team. We did have 7 runners finish for the girls but after our first two, Tara and Sara, there was a dramatic drop off only one other had run the previous year. The girls were 8th out of 8 scoring teams.

Usually with a strong 1-2 punch at the top you could find at least three more runners to bring the team into the respectable category in most meets. For some reason we never found that this season. By the third meet we did get a freshman girl out who showed a great deal of potential. Unfortunately, Toni would become another one year runner. Even though I was also her coach in swimming she chose to do soccer instead of track in the spring because that's what her friends played and then she didn't come back to cross country her sophomore year or swimming after her sophomore year. Even more frustrating was the fact that she was still #17 on the all-time freshman list in 2004. Of course our 1-2 punch was once again Tara and Sara but after the first meet the order changed and never changed again until Sara got injured before the League meet. They were always finishing close together but Sara always came out on top. While Tara was one of the top cross country runners I coached while at Sierra and she went on to run at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy it never seemed to be her passion. She was a middle distance runner at heart but that heart contributed to her 4-year success as a cross country runner in high school and beyond. Sara on the other hand also swam but did soccer in the spring and had a drive to succeed in cross-country. If you remember in an earlier post I called her the most improved runner I coached at Sierra. This comparison of their progress including their place on the all time class lists when I left Sierra provides a clear picture of what I'm talking about.

Tara - 9th - 1st 21:35 - 10th - 6th 21:14 - 11th - 6th 21:08 - 12th - 15th 22:13
Sara - 9th - not in top 25 - 27:30 - 10th - 9th 21:39 - 11th - 12th 22:01 (injured) - 12th - 7th 21:23

After the 3rd meet which was the Cheyenne Mountain Invitation where we still had only 4 boys finish and one of our seniors who was a 3-year letter winner would drop out of what would turn out to be her last race because of health issues, I wrote the following in the newsletter:

"This is the point in the season where I have to inform you that I am not the Wizard of Oz. I can't help you find a heart. You have to look inside yourself and see what's missing and then you have to find it. The majority of you are not racing, you are simply running at best. You have to get out of your Comfort Zone and realize that there is pain and discomfort involved in being a successful cross-country runner. And to be willing to run through and fight through the pain and discomfort, you have to have heart. You have to want it at least as bad, if not worse, than your competitors. So far this season, that has obviously not been the case".

I also did something I had not done in the past after this meet, I wrote a letter specifically to Tara and Sara about what it would take for them to qualify for state as individuals. The likelihood of our team even beating another scoring team in our region let alone qualifying for state was slim and none. I provided them with everything that I had from every team in our region and then wrote the following:

"What you two had better start focusing closely on is what it is going to take to qualify as individuals. Remember that you must be in the top 7 individuals from non-qualifying teams. I'm giving you all the information that Coach Payton has collected from the first three meets. You need to take a close look at it and start figuring out what you need top do. The answer is simple, get more competitive and do it soon or you will be staying home this year. Just "running" together every meet and not "racing" the field is going to cost one or both of you a trip to state. It's up to you to decide how bad you want to go back to state this year. There is nothing Coach Payton or I can do to get you there. We will train you properly and we will see that you have all the information that we can provide. We cannot run the race that you both need to be running".

As predicted, the only teams we beat were nonscoring teams. Had Sara not been trying to come back from an injury at region we would have beaten one team that only beat us by 5 points. Unfortunately her injury time off prevented her from running to her potential and she was actually our 3rd runner. Tara did qualify for the 4th year in a row by being one of the 7 runners from nonscoring teams.

The next meet was in Denver at the Liberty Bell Invitational and that is when we had a scoring boy's team for the first time. The good news is that we would have enough to have a scoring team the rest of the season except at the league meet. 10 of the 12 runners who competed at Liberty Bell had season bests.

Tara - 4 year State Qualifier

For her English class Tara had an assignment to write a sample college essay using the following prompt, "Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence".

     "It's hot and the sun is beating down on my head. It hurts all over, my mouth is dry and I can't breathe. 'Dangit, another hill!' 'Tara! Go catch those girls! Get the ones in front of you! If you're going to do it, then you have to go now!' he shouts from the side of the path.
     I hear those very same words every time I run. You would think I'd be sick of them, but I know they are said with hidden meaning. Each and every time I run past my coach, he is always shouting words of encouragement. His voice gives me focus; my breathing, out of control, is now steady. His demands distract me from the cramps in my stomach and the pain in my legs. I lengthen my stride and give it everything I've got.
     Droplets of sweat fall from my face with every step I take. I keep telling myself over and over again, just keep going, not only for me but for my coach, too. As I com,e to the finish of the race, I see him, my coach. How proud he stands his arms across his chest, his eyes, hidden by his sunglasses. He knows exactly what I have left to give and asks for it.
     He yells his last words of advice as I run by 'pick it up, Tara!' I listen to these final words and kick it in, one more time. I dig down and give it everything I have left. The race ends and all my energy is sapped. My knees buckle, and I fall to the ground. Even though I feel as if my heart is about to stop beating, and my lungs are going to cave in with every breath, I know I did well, and my coach will praise me.
     Mr. Dana Anstey, my coach, knows my limits and pushes me to them. He is not afraid to challenge me each and every time I run. He accepts no excuses and he doesn't back down to anyone. Coach Anstey may push me until I'm hurting all over, mentally and physically, but I have more respect for him than anyone else in the world. Ever since I was a freshman, he has always been there for the good, the bad, and the ugly times. He has seen the best and the worst of my efforts. Yet, not for one second, has he ever given up on me. After four years, somehow I know he will always be there, and that's the one thing that I treasure most.
     A few meets ago, I was upset after my race, and he knew it too. He told me something I will never forget. He said, 'You are like one of my own.' These words filled my heart with pride and happiness. I will never in my lifetime forget him or those words! Thank you coach, for everything."

For the '01 - '02 swimming season there was another significant change in my role. After having her first child, Laura decided that she no longer wanted to coach so I decided to bite the bullet and just apply for the head coaching position. I'm going to attach a copy of the questions and answers I had to do in order to apply for the position because I think they show a trend that the district was showing in regards to hiring practices. Remember, this was just one coaching position that nobody else wanted. It carried over in all areas of hiring. So, here it is in it's entirety.

HEAD COACH GIRL'S SWIMMING

2000 - 2001

1. Why are you interested in this position?

     Because the girls deserve to have some continuity in the program. The juniors and seniors will be having their 3rd head coach. The first 8 years that the school was open we had the same head coach. This will be the 4th head coach since. There are too many programs in this school that have no continuity. I think we owe it to our students to provide that continuity whenever and wherever possible.

     And another reason, just as important, and maybe more so, is that no one else is interested in the position.

     In case no one is paying attention, here are a couple of tidbits. Sierra boys swimmers had to swim at Harrison last year because no one wanted to coach the boy's swimming program here. Sierra's tennis players had to play at Harrison this past season because nobody wanted to coach it here at Sierra. This was in spite of the fact that the majority of the players on the combined tennis team were Sierra athletes. The majority of the football coaches at Sierra come from out of the building. The entire softball staff is out of building. The gymnastics coach is out of building. These coaches are not here to provide the daily support that our student-athletes need and deserve.

     If I don't take the position, who will?

2. What is your experience relative to the position?

     I have been a coach for 25 years. I have coached at Sierra High School for 16 years. I have coached 48 teams at Sierra, the majority of them girl's teams. I have had experience coaching very successful teams and in swimming, teams that have not been successful in the traditional sense. (Winning and losing). I have been the assistant girl's swimming coach at Sierra for the past five years. I would be happy to create a resume of my experience and successes if necessary.

3. Sierra has a diverse student population. What is your experience working with diverse populations?

     As I already stated, I've worked at Sierra as a coach for 16 years, the past 14 as a teacher in the building. Prior to that I coached and taught in Lovington, New Mexico a school with a high Hispanic population and a significant African American population. I did my student teaching and also coached in Ruidoso, New Mexico where there is a high percentage of Native Americans in the school. I grew up in Southern California, which is very diverse. While attending college I worked for the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department as a playground director and coach.

4. What do you bring to this position that someone else may not?

     That's simple. Loyalty. Loyalty to the community. Loyalty to the school. But most important, Loyalty to the parents and student-athletes that I will be working with. A characteristic that is obviously missing at several levels in this district. Starting with Human Resources.

5. Tell us a little about your philosophy.

     I believe that every student should have an opportunity to participate in programs that will help them grow in all areas. Not every student-athlete will be a top competitor. As a matter of fact, in a program where there are only so many events and some of them are highly technical, not every athlete will get a chance to compete. But, every athlete will get the opportunity to work and show improvement and every athlete will be treated as a valued member of the program.

     I believe that all of our athletes need to be students first. In the past three years, I have coached 6 teams that achieved Academic All State Team honors. I emphasize the importance of success in the classroom first.

     I believe that our student-athletes should try to be positive role models for our other students and their behavior in the classrooms and halls should be exemplary.

     Those are just the highlights. I have a written philosophy that I developed over 20 years ago that I can find and provide if necessary, it hasn't changed.

6. Why should we offer you this position?

     For the same reasons that I said I was interested. And probably the main reason is that nobody else wants it. People in this district better get a clue. People don't want to work here and it's this type of jumping through hoops that creates that attitude.

7. Is there anything else you would like us to know?

     You are losing coaches faster than you can replace them. Making imaginary hoops for coaches who are willing to work here, to jump through, isn't going to make the situation any better. Human Resources better realize that the Human in the name means something and start treating people who work here with the respect they deserve.

     Requiring me to do a dog and pony show to satisfy some need that someone in Human Resources has to justify their job is not the type of action that is going to keep coaches in this district. Get your head out of the process long enough to look around and see what is happening to programs district wide. Nobody wants to coach here. Don't alienate the few of us who do.

I was fortunate enough to hire Gayle Hinrichs as my assistant because she was in the building and knew the girls. She was one of the few people always willing to jump in and learn. Despite our lack of experience actually coaching swim technique we had a reasonably successful season by Sierra standards. We went 2-7-1 for the season and Tara became the first swimmer female or male in school history to qualify for the state meet. The only way to qualify for the state meet in swimming was by meeting the time standards. Tara did it several times that, her senior year, in the 50 freestyle. (Remember what I said earlier about her being a sprinter at heart?)

We had our best showing in the CSML meet since joining the league. We finished 11th of 15 with 42 1/2 points. Success is relative! Cheyenne Mountain won the meet with 458 points.

     "Ladies congratulations on a good performance at the League meet. This was by far our best performance since we came into the Metro League. As those of you who competed know, the competition is incredible at this meet. Many of the girls who you swam against will go on and win medals at the state championship meet on Thursday and Friday.
     Speaking of the state meet, good luck to Tara who will be the first person to ever represent Sierra at the state swimming meet. Also, congratulations to Tara on being the first individual to make it into the consolation finals at the Metro League meet. She placed 5th in the 50 freestyle and tied for 2nd in the 100 freestyle. Her performance and that of our three relays made it possible for you to finish 11th out of 15 teams. Great job by all of you."

After finishing 2nd in the state for three years in a row we were entering the 2001 season with some unanswered questions. One of the biggest questions was how much was Leslie going to give us this year? Another big question was what was our throw team going to look like after several years of having almost guaranteed points in both throwing events. Another area where we had some consistent and steady success was in our distance program. With our down years in cross country how would that impact the track team? Probably the biggest question was who would and who wouldn't be back from last year; this of course was a question that we had to ask every year.

All of the questions were quickly answered. Margaret a sophomore who was our best returning thrower had moved. Selethia, a hurdler who showed real promise particularly in the 300 hurdles had moved. As far as the distance question, While she was still a top cross country runner, Tara had become more versatile the previous year and was a 300 hurdler as well as 200 and 400 relay runner whenever we needed an alternate to fill in. Our other two top cross country runners were soccer players. And Veronica, a junior who had shown promise the past two years decided to not run. While losing Selethia hurt our hurdle development, ironically the previous year Tara had set our junior class record for the 300 hurdles. Unfortunately she fell over the last hurdle at region and crawled across in 4th just missing out on a state qualifying spot. Her senior year she was still willing to run them but she never attacked them the same way again.

And finally we got our answer from Leslie after the first meet. She only wanted to be a jumper this year and because she had already had such tremendous success at the events we were willing to let her focus on jumping as long as she worked out with the rest of the team and did the same workouts as everyone else. In our first meet a triangle Tuesday, League meet she won the long jump by over a foot but over 3 feet under her best and she won the triple jump by over 4 feet with the 3rd best jump by a senior in school history. The next day she informed us that her heart wasn't in it and she quit.

That first meet also gave an indication that it was going to be a tough season. We scored 0 points in the distance events and only one girl placed in the throws with very short throws. We did however look good in the sprints with senior Joelise leading the way, sophomore Taryn having a good meet and a nice core of freshmen sprinters, Precious, Cassey, and Stephanie to go with sophomores Taryn and Shamica and senior Joelise. Sprints, relays and jumps, even without Leslie, were going to have to be the core of our program. We also had a first year sophomore who showed good potential as a 300 hurdler.

We lost that first meet to 5A Coronado 96 -71, Pine Creek was 3rd with 27 points. That may not seem like a big deal to someone not familiar with the history of our program but to those of us who knew and lived that history it was something we were not used to. My first year as head coach at Sierra we were 3-1 in 3, 4, and 5 team midweek meets; that was in 1988. After that we were 32-0 until this loss; undefeated for 12 years.

Our next meet, the Icicle Relays, was canceled by weather and we then won a triangle with Woodland Park and Mesa Ridge before competing at our first invitational of the year. We were 7th of 14 teams despite some less than stellar performances from people that we could normally count on. For example Joelise was 7th in the 100, 3rd in the long jump, jumping a foot less than she had on Tuesday and anchored the 4 x 100 relay that was disqualified. She then scratched from the open 200. To say that we had to scramble our relays for various reasons would be an understatement. I had a parent challenge me about my decision to run the relays the way that I did. I explained why we did what we did and that it was not always about using the "best" kids on relays if you needed them in individual events and could still be competitive in the relays with different people. We ran a season best in the medley with her daughter running the 400 leg and we ran a season best in the 4 x 200 with her daughter running a leg. She didn't run on the 4 x 100 that was disqualified because she was entered in the next event, the open 400 where she ran 10 seconds slower than her leg on the medley. This is how I addressed the issue with the team in the newsletter.

     RELAYS

          "I had a parent ask some very reasonable questions about relays on Saturday. She wanted to know why I "change the relays every meet". Let me go over a few things with you so that you understand how I feel about the relays and why I have done relays the way that I have for 25 years and will continue to do them.

     1. First it's important that you understand that the relays have always and will always belong to the coach. Who runs them, when they run them and why they run them will always be determined by the coach and no one else. No one else knows about injuries, illness, attitudes, etc.

     2. Here's something no one ever thinks about. A relay is worth only 10 points IF you win it. The four people running that relay could potentially earn 40 points in individual events IF they each won one. All they have to do is each finish 6th in an individual event and they would score 12 points. It's not hard to figure out the math and what is best for the TEAM.

     3. I want the relays to be the best that they can be, but I want the TEAM to be the best it can first.

     4. Right now we are experimenting. That's why we change a lot. Not only that, look around you, how many people have been unable to run what they are supposed to already this season because of illness, injury, or other reasons?"

That newsletter went home on April 9th. I soon received the following letter from said parent and it was written the night the newsletter went home.

April 09, 2001

Dear Coach Anstey,

My name is -------- and I am the mother of -------, first let me apologize if I have spell your name incorrectly. As I read your "Power Letter" to your athletes and as I understand it you took my question a little personally. If I offended you, that was not my intentions. But as a track athlete and state representative in Track and Field in my day myself, I think I know a little something about the sport. I know that in a relay the two most important things that will contribute to a win is speed and a correct handoff. I know that your relay teams should know one another like a book, i.e. one person should know how fast the passer of the baton is coming in. If you have four different people running in every race they will never get it right. That can be very frustrating for young athletes especially girls. I too very much know about injuries having incurred some myself, so that is why you have an alternate runner on relays. Your girls have the speed you just have to know how to use them and where to put them.

I resent the fact that you have expressed that I or any parent that does not have "25 years" of what ever it is that would make us qualified to ask a simple question or know anything about the sport. Your right it is your relay and you do it the way you want to, but I must say that is not very professional to express that especially to the girls the way that you did. I asked you and I feel you should have told me and only me. It was only a question, it wasn't intended to frustrate, humiliate, or embarrass you.

You should want your girls to settle for nothing less than 1st place, that is the goal in Track and Field especially in high school. I teach my daughter that she has the potential to be the best, yes 3rd is good, but 1st is better.

I am forwarding a copy of this letter to the Athletic Director and Principle (sic), and let there be no misunderstanding, I am not angry because of your words I am disappointed that someone with 25 years of experience would let a simple question cloud your judgement and act in such a way."

You'll have to keep reading to see how we did with our relays the rest of the season but I had a much bigger problem to deal with than a parent who thought that she was a coach. Joelise decided that she wanted to quit because she just didn't want to do it anymore. This is a girl who had already been to state in 12 events and placed in 11 of the 12. She had won multiple regional championships and countless invitationals. On April 8th I wrote the following and gave it to her.

"What you will give up by quitting now:

     1. 4 year letter winner

     2. 4 year state qualifier

     3. Winningest state medalist in school history

     4. Potential 3-time regional long jump champion

     5. Finishing what you started

     6. You will always be part of Sierra's Track and Field Family

     7. You will almost be assured a spot on the 2nd All Decade team

     8. When Sierra starts a Sports Hall of Fame, you will probably be one of the first put in if I'm around.

What you will gain by quitting now:

     1. You won't finish what you started.

     2. You'll give up on yourself and your teammates

     3. You'll walk out on the Sierra Girl's Track Family

     4. What kind of example will you set for your brother and sister?

     5. You won't accomplish any of the things that I listed above.

     6. You will always be "just another quitter"

There are only 6 more weeks left in your entire high school career. You can put up with anything for 6 weeks."

Fortunately for her and the team she didn't quit but it was obvious that outside issues were causing her a lot of stress that had nothing to do with track. Our next meet was a triangle and she only did two events, anchored the 4 x 100 and long jumped. The irony in the long jump is that it was the first of only two times that Tara would try it and she won with a jump of 13'9". Joelise was 2nd with 13'1"; almost 5 feet short of her best. We then ran the Glenn Peterson Invitational and finished 7th of 18 with Joelise again not competing. Our freshmen and sophomore sprinters were performing consistently. Cassey won the 100, Precious was 4th in the 200 and they teamed with sophomores Taryn and Shamica for 3rd and 2nd in the sprint relays. The medley was 6th with 2 freshmen and 2 sophomores.

In our next meet we hit a new low. Joelise didn't compete, Cassey scratched after making the finals in the 100 with a sore leg, Shamica didn't finish the meet because of an injury and Taryn didn't compete so even our cadre of freshmen - sophomore sprinters was almost nonexistent. We finished 15th of 17 teams in the combined 4A - 5A League Championship with 16 points. In the newsletter I wrote the following:

"Wow! Now I know how the other half feels. Whew! Now I know how people have felt when they competed against Sierra the previous 16 years. We haven't been in this position before and I hope those of you who are freshmen, sophomores and juniors don't want it to be this way again. 16th out of 18 teams is something that we've never experienced before and hopefully will never experience again. But you know the surprising thing? I'm not disappointed because I honestly believe those of you who competed did the best you could and you are going to continue to get better between now and Regionals."

"Look at the scores of teams in our Region, they are the only scores that matter. Now put Cassey, Taryn and Shamica in the meet full strength and add in the points they would have earned and it doesn't look nearly as bad. Remember what I said above, I still believe that you are going to surprise some people, continue to improve, do well at Regionals and get some people to State. You just have to believe in what you want to accomplish and work towards your goals."

Notice that I didn't mention Joelise in that newsletter; she was still questionable at the time and I wanted the kids looking ahead with the idea that she probably wasn't going to be there to help with the relays or anything else. We only had two more invitationals left before region and state. If there wasn't some positive change in those last two meets and region we wouldn't have to worry about state.

So we've had kids move, kids quit, parents complain, what am I missing to complete the toughest season I've ever coached to this point? I know, how about a first year coach that couldn't get along with the girls! Here is a copy of the letter I wrote her while we were still in preseason conditioning.

"Coach;

     Take this for what it is, simply constructive criticism and coaching education. I want you to step back and think about what our role as coaches is and particularly your role as an assistant who is new to the program.

     My philosophy is simple. I want to have as many student-athletes as possible participate and stay with the program. I want them to have a positive experience. I want to see them improve throughout their time in the program. And I want them to have fun. And believe me I know we all have more fun when we win and that becomes our ultimate goal.

     We can't do any of these things if coaches and athletes can't get along. I'm sure the incident yesterday didn't seem to be that big of a deal to you but to some of the kids who came and talked to me it was. It was pointed out by one of our athletes that there hasn't been a day yet that, "she hasn't yelled at us about something". I don't necessarily agree with that obviously but I do think you need to take a look at your approach with the girls.

     Our role as coaches is 4 fold as far as I'm concerned. 1. Get as many kids out as possible and keep them out. 2. Be a cheerleader. Preseason is no fun for anyone. But it is less fun for a bunch of kids who are out of shape. It is no fun being out in the cold and running three miles when you think you're a sprinter, hurdler or jumper. And it is less fun when someone is criticizing. I'm not saying we can't criticize or correct or discipline if necessary. The question becomes, when is it necessary and how should it be done? 3. We are out there to teach. And 4. We are there to develop relationships, coach/athlete relationships with our kids. Until we have those relationships, criticism falls on angry or at best deaf ears. You need to be working on getting to know the kids now and leave the correcting to me unless it's a serious issue. Loafing on a cool down which is simply going through the motions at the end of practice isn't worthy of the type of incident we had yesterday. 

     I think you're going to be a positive addition to our coaching staff but, get to know the girls and let them get to know you before they see you as, "someone who yells at us all the time" and "she doesn't even know us".
     As I've said since day one of the season, we're going to keep things "low key" for now. Coaches and athletes arguing is not low key. I just got rid of a coach that made me play "good cop" to his "bad cop" for two seasons. I'm not going to have a season like that.
     I will always support you when there is a coach/athlete problem. I don't want to be put in a position of having to support you when I think the athlete is right and yesterday I felt the athletes were right.
     The reason I'm sending this in email instead of simply talking to you about it is because I've had about 20 hours to think about it and I didn't want to leave anything out.
     Like I said, I know you will be an asset to our staff and I look forward to working with you throughout the season. The track isn't going to become a battle ground. These kids get beat up around here all day as it is. I want them to see track practice as a place where they want to be.
     I hope you don't find this offensive. I guess if you do, you can let me know and we'll discuss it further.

With two meets to go before region we did have two state qualifiers. Becky our pole vaulter had qualified in addition to Joelise in the long jump. Our next meet was the Fountain Fort Carson Invitational where we finished 8th of 16. We came out of the meet with some confidence that we certainly didn't have after our performance at league.

"Ladies I can honestly say that yesterday's meet is the first one this year where the coaches left feeling like we had been at a track meet where it felt like we were coaching the Sierra girl's track team. You competed hard, you supported one another, and for once you acted like you really enjoyed being part of the program. It was nice having someone make the finals in every running event that had prelims. We just missed having finalists in a couple of field events."

It was starting to look like a good thing that Joelise had pre-qualified in the long jump because she only went 14'9" and failed to even make the finals. She did anchor the 4 x 100 to a season best and state qualifying victory. So now we had one relay qualified for the state meet.

At our next meet, Cheyenne Mountain we again improved, finishing 5th of 13 and only 1 point out of 4th. Joelise got it back together winning the long jump with a 17'4 1/2 state qualifying performance. She also ran on both sprint relays although neither of them were anywhere near our best.

All season I had been using passages from a book by Michael Johnson, Slaying the Dragon, to supplement my newsletters. After the Cheyenne Mountain meet I wrote this in the newsletter:

"Coincidentally the next section of Johnson's book had to do with pressure. For the first time in 17 years, you're going into the regional meet with no pressure on you. No one expects you to do well, so if you go and perform to your potential, you will surprise a lot of people. The last two meets have been outstanding, much more like the Sierra Lady's Track program is used to. Keep up the momentum through Regionals and State. Good luck this weekend, do your best, have fun, and represent the Sierra Lady's track tradition to the best of your ability."

After the Regional Championship meet I wrote:

"How appropriate that the last section of Michael Johnson's book, Slaying the Dragon, is about performance. You certainly performed at the regional meet. With very few exceptions, you stepped up and performed to the best of your ability for that time and place. I told you on Friday about the importance of every point and almost without exception you competed to earn every point. It's because of that type of effort that we finished 4th in the 10 team region after being written off for dead only a few weeks ago.

Congratulations ladies; all of the coaches are very proud of the way that you stepped up and performed on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was an outstanding total team effort! Something that has been missing for the majority of the season."

Tara unfortunately didn't qualify for state for the first time in 8 seasons of track and cross country but she did run on the 7th place 4 x 800, the only 2 points we got from distance events, and the 5th place 4 x 400 relay team that ran a season best. Senior Ashley, a hard working four year letter winner placed in the 100 hurdles at region for the 3rd year in a row. Joelise qualified to state for the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th times by qualifying in the long jump and the 200 as well as anchoring the state qualifying 4 x 100 and 4 x 200. Freshman Stephanie was runner up and set a freshman record in the 400 and anchored the state qualifying medley relay. And sophomore Taryn qualified in the triple jump.

Those relays that were being questioned all season? We won region and qualified for state in all three sprint relays, the 4 x 100 set a new school record and the medley ran the 8th fastest time in school history. Did I feel vindicated? No because I knew that what we were doing worked if it just came together at the right time. And the early question that I said we had about the throws? We didn't score a point in either event.

This was the first time in my career as a head coach that we had not finished 1st or 2nd at the regional meet but I was just as proud of what we overcame for the fourth place finish that we did get as any team I had coached. It had been a brutal season for every reason imaginable and we qualified for state in 8 of 19 events.

We went to state and finished a very respectable 12th place. Joelise placed in all four events so in her career she qualified for 16 and placed in 15 of the 16. She became the state champion in the long jump and placed for the 4th year in the 200. Our relays? We were state champions in the 4 x 100 and ran a new school record in the prelims; we were 3rd in the 4 x 200 and we were just out of the medals finishing 10th in the medley.

It was a stressful year to say the least!