Congratulations, Coach!

I continue to be impressed by the coaching job that Jim Schlentz does with the boys and girls running teams at Colts Neck High School (NJ). This weekend, his girls took fourth place at the Nike Team Nationals in Portland, OR. The top girl on his team, Ashley Higginson, won the race outright. Conditions out there were less than ideal, and it played a part in some confusion, with his girls getting third place in the awards ceremony, then having it adjusted to fourth when some scoring problems related to lost shoes and non-working (or missing) chips was discovered.

Higginson's win may have been possible in part due to Betsy Bies, last year's overall winner, losing a shoe. Those of us who have been around running for a while know that unless you're with the leaders, the opportunity for a win won't happen at all, so, you have to be there. Putting it simply, Higginson couldn't have won if she wasn't running with the leaders (and by implication, trained and mentally prepared to take advantage of situations as they develop). Schlentz seems to do an extraordinary job of preparing his athletes, and with two Footlocker finalists this year, it's paying off.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail pointing out that the Northeast seems to be the best region right now in terms of competitiveness, at least among the girls. On the girls side at NTN, the #1, #2, & #4 teams were from the northeast. On the boys side, the top team was also from the northeast, but then it was 6th until the next team I recognized as northeastern appears.