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.
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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!
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