Larry Bassett is taking notes from Joe Newton and Jim Nagel is taking notes from himself.
Tradition plays a big part in high school cross country, as in any sport. Newton`s boys` team from York, the Long Green Line, have the tradition. They`ve won five straight state championships. Nagel`s Wheeling team would like to get some of what York has.
In girls` competition, it`s Nagel`s girls from Wheeling who have what Bassett and his York team wants.
Whichever way you look at it, the 1985 state cross-country season shapes up as a York-Wheeling race. Last year, the two schools became the first to capture trophies in each state meet. York took first in the boys` state meet and third in the girls` and Wheeling was first in the girls` and third in the boys`. This year, both schools have a shot at becoming the first to win the girls` and boys` championships in the same season.
The boys` competition features York, with four returnees and a transfer, trying to fight off Wheeling, with four returnees, and Homewood-Flossmoor, which has six returnees and a transfer.
Wheeling`s girls, going for a third straight state title, probably have the best 1-2 punch in state history in defending champion Dana Miroballi and fourth-place finisher Alice Doyle. York has a deep squad with everyone returning from last year`s third-place finisher.
York`s boys have won a record 12 state championships under Newton. Last year`s team, led by state champion Jim White, established a state record for most consecutive titles. White has graduated, leaving seniors Dave Braun, Bob Berger and Zack Boudreau and junior Scott Brooks to continue the Long Green Line tradition.
”Our tradition has been to our advantage,” said Newton, who has coached for 25 years. ”When certain teams show up, in any sport, they have an advantage. When you have a good tradition, it can work for you.
”The pressure is on our guys and we keep it on every year. Each year before the state meet, when we put our spikes on, about 100 of our old runners come by and shake our guys` hands and tell them `We did it, now it`s your turn.` Our graduates send letters during the season letting our guys know people from all over the country care about York cross country. These guys don`t want to fail. They don`t want to be the ones who screw up.”
Braun was York`s top finisher last year in 39th, followed by Berger in 41st place, Boudreau in 50th and Brooks in 73d. Braun and Brooks are running 1-2 in early workouts with Berger third and Fenwick transfer Mike Browning fourth. Junior Kevin Buhrfiend has been running fifth and Boudreau is off to a slow start and has been running sixth. York won its first meet of the season 17-44 against Glenbard West, but Newton didn`t like the 50-second split between his first and fifth runner.
”The way we ran against Glenbard, Wheeling or H-F would have blown us out,” Newton said. ”We`ve got a lot of work to do. If we run up to form, we should be tough. We`re four or five weeks away. I haven`t given up yet. Our meet with Glenbard might shake these guys up a little.”
Wheeling`s boys will be led by senior Marc Burns. Burns, who finished 26th in last year`s state meet, got off to a fast start this season with a course-record 14:48 on Fremd`s 2.97-mile course at Union Oil in Schaumburg. Returning seniors Wendell McRaven, Rick Timm and Bob Lytle are trying to build a tradition of their own, while sophomores Jay Kahn and Javier Salazar push them. Having a girls` team with a winning tradition hasn`t hurt.
”I think it has been positive,” said Nagel. ”The girls have been a very positive influence. It was interesting to see how the girls reacted to the boys` team taking third. Probably my biggest thrill was to see how thrilled the girls were when our guys got third. The girls had to go back to the hotel to get dressed and missed the race. When we got back, the girls were there in the lobby clapping for the guys. There is a carryover.
”We should benefit from having gone Downstate last year. We`ve had a year`s experience and shouldn`t be awed by York. I don`t believe you go down there and run against York. You`ve got to run your race. I think we`ll be better than last year.”
Homewood-Flossmoor has a solid tradition, one that would be greatly enhanced by a state championship. Viking coach Ted Van Dorn lost just one runner off a team that finished ninth in the Class AA meet last season and has filled that vacancy with Springfield transfer Mike Rakov, who was 55th in the state meet. Brian Tupper, who was 22d, and Don Bonfiglio, who was 35th, are just rounding into shape, but the Vikings had little trouble winning the Maine West Invitational Aug. 31 at the expense of Lake Park and Rockford Guilford, last year`s state runner-up.
The York girls` program has been overshadowed because of the boys` long history of winning. A state championship won`t put Bassett`s Dukes on equal footing with Newton`s boys, but it will raise the level of recognition.
”Last year, Wheeling`s boys took third and they were overshadowed by the girls winning the state championship, just like we were when our boys won,”
Bassett said. ”We won our first state trophy, but were still overshadowed by the boys` record fifth title. That`s not the way coach Newton wants it, it`s just the way it is. In the last couple of years, we`ve been successful enough to get other people to notice us. At our awards banquet, Val Cothren, the girls` athletic director, introduced us by saying the girls were starting their own Long Green Line. I think we`ve started to establish ourselves. Once when you said `York cross country,` all people thought of was the boys. They are starting to notice us.”
The Dukes must overcome the Miroballi-Doyle combination to have a crack at the state title. There is a possibility the two Wildcat runners could go 1-2 in the state meet, giving Wheeling a head start toward another title. York will count on juniors Mary Beth Driscoll, a former state champion, and Nancy Klatt and senior Vicky Brown. Depth could be the deciding factor.
”The title is not won or lost by the top two,” said Bassett, whose team lost to Glenbard West by a point last week with four of his top seven runners out with injuries. ”The 3-4-5 runners determine the winner. I have so much more confidence than last year. We`ve had talent before, now we`ve got the depth to go with it.”
And maybe the start of a new line.
