Thursday, April 25, 2024
ENTIAT - The most ancient athletic events in human history belong to track and field. Based on that very moniker, these competitions take place on both—wait for it—a track and a field. Yet during practice, the Entiat squad enjoys only the latter half of the sports’ name. Lacking a track at school, all Tiger runners simulate their events on a grassy field. Despite its disadvantages and humble re-beginnings, Entiat’s track and field program sent at least one athlete to the State tournament each year from 2005-2021.
“Our kids work so hard and have always done really well with what they have to work with. They never complain,” EHS head coach Erika Ward said, citing the football field on which her athletes practice. “It’s a horrible ground to run on. When it rains it gets pretty slick. We have kids go around the corner and they wipe out.”
Like the mythological phoenix, EHS track and field became reborn in 2003 after lying dormant for about a decade. Julie Cannon served as head coach that first season up to her retirement last year. At the time, tennis, baseball and softball were all the rage at Entiat. This left very few students for Cannon to recruit. Ultimately, seven kids signed up for the team. Among that septet was a young junior runner named Erika Griffith. Little did she know, but that challenging first season served as the stepping stone of her journey toward head coach.
During that first year, Tiger track faced a myriad of challenges. Entiat only had two shoddy hurdles in its inventory. Ward’s father constructed hurdles out of PVC pipe so that the runners could better practice. The throwers also lacked proper facilities.
“We really didn’t have any equipment,” Cannon recalled. “We went to Cashmere so we could long jump and high jump and actually run on a track.”
During practice John Barnes, the father of one of the Tiger athletes, watched the budding athletes from the stands. A former thrower himself, he felt called to support the cause.
“I just couldn’t stand seeing some throwers without much coaching,” Barnes said. “I asked if I could help out with (Cannon) a little bit and she said, ‘Yeah, come every day if you want.’”
The next year, Barnes joined as a full-time assistant. With each passing season, the Tigers team grew. Eventually the baseball and fastpitch teams faded away due to lack of athletes, so track and field received an influx of participants. The team’s equipment inventory slowly improved as well. Now, the Tigers have built pits for shot put, discus and long jump/triple jump. The high jumpers now have mats. The pits finally have sand rather than dirt which tends to harden quickly. The current roster includes about 21 athletes and has peaked at 30 competitors.
In 2015, Ward returned as an assistant coach focusing on hurdles, long jump and triple jump. Remembering how the team started, Ward felt awed.
“It was impressive coming back and saying, ‘Holy Cow, you actually have people,’” Ward recalled.
After the 2021 season, Cannon and Barnes officially retired, handing the baton to Ward. Despite the program’s growth, challenges remain. Entiat still has no track, so coaches set up hurdles around the field and have to measure the distances. Even though the hurdles stand at the same height, the ground makes them look uneven. The long jump runway has been cracking and falling apart. Every year, coaches have to paint lines so the jumpers know where to start.
Ward feels hidden advantages may exist from practicing on the fields. While running on grass in practice, the hurdlers can barely three-step the barriers because their feet stick to the lawn. Grass tends to slow runners down, so when the athletes hit the track, they feel faster.
“I’ve always told them, ‘When you go to a meet, treat this as a practice as well, because you’re actually getting the chance to run on a track. Work on something. Do it. Push yourself because this is where you’re going to get better,’” Ward said.
Ward would love to have proper facilities and longs for a track for Entiat. In the meantime, she sets a positive example for her athletes and pushes them to avoid complacency. For years, Cannon and Barnes told Ward that she was the chosen one to take over for them. Though Ward felt hesitant, her former coaches turned colleagues placed trust in her which has paid dividends.
“Entiat is very lucky to have Erika. She’s passionate for the sport. She’s a coach,” Barnes said. “She loves the kids. She’s firm when she needs to be firm and gentle when she needs to be gentle, which is always a challenge.”
While coaches navigate the ship, Ward, Cannon and Barnes all know the program’s success rests on their resilient athletes’ shoulders.
“It’s been the kids. It’s been the athletes that we’ve had that were willing to work, that were willing to put up with facilities that weren’t great and how to use that to our advantage,” Cannon said.
Sometimes at meets while watching her athletes, Ward catches herself being grateful for the heartiness and dedication of the track team without a track.
“It’s really fun to see because they do have a passion for it and it would be very, very easy for them to say, ‘Well, every time I jump on the high jump mat, stuff flies in my face and I have to jump with my eyes closed,’ or ‘The hurdles are uneven on the grass,’” she said. “They could easily say, ‘This sucks. I don’t want to do this,’ and move on, but they love it. They have the same love for it that I do and it’s just fun to watch.”
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