Track and field losing its drawing power on local youth

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Except for the real standouts, like Mike Mansour and Scott Vicker, not many Creston athletes have truly loved track and field. But enough of them continued to go out for the sport to establish a fine tradition under coaches Dick Skarda and Curt Jeffyres, and later the duo of Pat Schlapia and Steve Birchard. I recall the excitement of watching some top-notch sprint relay teams at state, as well as a tradition of 4 x 400 relay units wearing the Panther red. With anchors like Nate Brotherton and Vicker, some really fine medley teams performed for Creston, as well. Then you have all those hurdlers, of late led by the Coenen brothers. And who can forget high jumpers like Brian Bucklin and Sam Katzer? Michael Buck long jumping at state. Rusty Zimmerman throwing the discus. Gutty middle distance runners like Justin Linderman, Maclaine Sorden and Matt Buck. The pure track excellence of Neil Lang, Mansour and Vicker. When they ran, everyone stopped talking and just watched. The Panther Relays was a happening in Creston. Most of the west-side bleachers were filled, and the crowd noise would rise as dueling runners neared the finish line. This year, the Panther Relays won’t even be held, victim of this crazy litany of events postponed by the winter that wouldn’t end, followed by incessant showers. Had it been held, the host team wouldn’t be what it once was, however. While there is a core of 16 dedicated team members, there just isn’t the usual Panther team depth anymore. There are only five freshmen. No juniors. Schlapia and Birchard hope it’s just a low ebb of a cyclical trend, with a chance to rebound in coming years. I mean, we’re talking small schools like Murray having nearly as many track team members as Creston, and area teams like Mount Ayr, Corning and East Union being considerably larger. Creston has shown improvement, however, with a season-high 40 points scored this week in a meet at Carlisle. That sure beats the earlier totals of four, six, seven and 13 points. You can’t blame this effect totally on soccer, because schools like Atlantic, Harlan and Glenwood have thriving soccer programs, yet tremendous depth on track teams. Glenwood, ranked No. 1 in soccer, has more than 50 track athletes. “Soccer certainly has its benefits,” Birchard said. “It’s hard to argue against a sport like that, where the kids go out and have fun. Over the years, not many of our kids have really loved track. But a lot of kids just came out, maybe because they knew they should go out.” In years past, guys who were football players knew they needed to go out for track if they weren’t out for another spring sport. Especially all of the backs and receivers. It would help them as an athlete, and as a competitor. Coach Dick Bergstrom has always preached that. To their credit, all of the current track kids are either in football or cross country in the fall. Birchard wonders if some of that cross-sport concept has faded. Instead, kids who don’t think they’d be real successful in track meets just don’t want to do it. “We try to talk to kids about the benefits to their other sports,” Birchard said. Two examples the past two years are Bryant McCabe and Jake McGehee. Neither was considered a speedburner, but they have both become fine hurdlers and 400 runners, which in turn made them better athletes. I’ve seen it happen to a lot of guys over the years. “I told Jake, I wish he’d been out four years for track,” Birchard said. “Had he not been out for track, I’m pretty sure he would not have picked up that extra step he has now.” McCabe was noticeably more athletic in football and basketball after last year’s experience, when he was running 400s in the low 50s. This year’s team has needed the weight guys to run on the track. Adam Riley, headed to Grand View to play football, is getting benefits out of running on sprint relays. Ryan Maitlen and Jordan Hayes will be better football players here next fall for it. Coach Dick Clark said numbers aren’t what they were at the middle school level, either, although there are some really good individuals. Depth to form all of the relays isn’t what it once was when virtually every decent middle school athlete just automatically went out for track. It used to be a big deal to team up and try to break a relay record on the board in the school gym. “I don’t know if it’s apathy or what, but a lot of kids aren’t involved now,” Schlapia said. “Some aren’t doing anything.” That could be true. The boys tennis team is in serious trouble for numbers after this year’s juniors graduate. Schlapia said the high school coaches try to have contact with the middle school kids while they’re practicing together at the track, encouraging them to keep it up in high school. “We still have some good quality, but we’d like to have the quantity to go with it,” Schlapia said. “Some of the teams with more runners, they can fill all of the events and not tax the kids like we have to do. Sometimes we have to pick and choose what we want to do in terms of relays or individual events.” While the scoring is low, it’s not for lack of effort. You’re just not dealing from a full deck with a squad of 16. “Some of those schools that are good might have a stronger influence from the other coaches to be out for something in the spring,” Schlapia said. Whatever it is, hopefully we get it back.