Wells: Honor reflects team makeup
EHS track and field coach named Class 5A girls coach of the year
By Michael Ashford
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Four years ago, Emporia High track and field coach Randy Wells made a change in the way he and his assistant coaches began their practices.
Instead of each group — the sprinters, the distance runners and the field athletes — working separately during warmups, Wells determined that it would benefit his squad more if the entire team spent warmups as just that — a team.
“We wanted to try and emphasize the team concept more,” Wells said. “We went to a warmup where all kids were working on five bio-motor skills every day together, at least for a small amount of time. I think that has made a difference for our kids.”
The freshmen at that time have just completed their senior seasons, which might explain the overwhelming success the EHS track and field team had during the 2007 season.
The EHS boys finished second at the Centennial League and Regional meets before turning in a runner-up performance asam at the State meet, while the EHS girls won the Centennial League title over the favorite, Junction City, won the Regional title in a landslide and took fourth at the State meet.
With success comes recognition, and so, four years after he put his new plan into place, Wells was named the Class 5A girls track and field coach of the year Tuesday by the Kansas Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.
Wells was chosen from a field of 10 coaches from the 5A classification and will be honored at an awards luncheon on Jan. 5, 2008 in Junction City.
“It’s a great honor, one because it’s picked by your peers,” said Wells, who was named the head track and field coach at EHS in 1998. “When it comes down to it, it’s really a reflection of the type of kids that you get to work with and the type of people you work with — the coaches on our staff and those people in our school. It’s not just an award for me, it’s an award for all the people involved.
“It’s an award for our total track program.”
Expectations were high entering the season, as the Lady Spartans returned a wealth of talent led by athletes like middle-distance runner and jumper Heather Coe, sprinter Angela Finch, high jumper Lindsey Hollond, pole vaulter Samantha Kraft, middle-distance runner Layne Moore, field athlete Raelynn Pearson, distance runner Michaela Reynolds and sprinter Leslie Stanbrough, among others.
The Lady Spartans proved every bit as formidable as they appeared to be once the season got underway, and by the time the postseason meets — League, Regionals and State — rolled around, the EHS girls squad was in peak form.
At the Centennial League meet, the Lady Spartans used their all-around depth to edge past the Junction City Lady Jays, whose strength lay in the sprint events, by a mere 8 1/2 points.
“That was quite an accomplishment,” Wells said. “We really thought Junction City was going to win that.”
The high-water point came at Welch Stadium in Emporia on May 18, when the EHS girls dominated the Regional meet by posting 21 State-qualifying marks en route to winning the Regional team title by nearly 100 points over Bishop Carroll (166-78.5).
“The Regional meet was fabulous for our kids,” Well said. “It was just phenomenal.”
The State meet saw several top finishes, highlighted by State-championship performances by Moore in the 400 and the 800 and by the 4x400-meter relay team of Coe, Finch, Lindy Arndt and Moore. Other highlights at State for the EHS girls included Coe finishing fifth in the 400, Kraft placing second in the pole vault, Reynolds placing third in the 3,200-meter run, Hollond finishing sixth in the high jump and Stanbrough taking seventh in the 300-meter hurdles. All told, the EHS girls racked up 56 team points to place fourth, while Great Bend won the title with 80 points.
Though Wells said he believed the EHS girls might have peaked at the Regional meet, he still was pleased with the postseason showing not just by the girls squad, but by the entire EHS track and field team.
“You want to try to culminate the season with those three meets — League, Regionals and State. That’s what you shoot for,” he said. “We finished fourth on the girls side and we finished second on the guys side. It’s just a great feeling to be able to be at the top like that.”
He said aiming for the end of the season was much like the thought process that went into the changes he and the coaching staff implemented four years ago, with the fruits of those changes becoming more prevalent with every passing season.
“Sometimes it’s hard to get kids to understand its a developmental process and you’re not always going to have success right away,” Wells said. “But if you stick with it and stick with the plan, it will happen. For some, it might be a three-year process. For some it might be four.
“But if you stick with it and you’re willing to work at it and you’re dedicated and disciplined, good things can happen for you.”
outdoorsman25 (anonymous) says...
Congrats!
June 13, 2007 at 8:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )