Cross Country is a team sport at Watauga

- Far from being lonely runners, Pioneers win with talent, togetherness

By Neil Amato, Journal Reporter

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BOONE Cross Country is not a sport for everyone, but it is the sport at Watauga High School. The record books prove it, and the runners believe it. They run because they're good and also because they like it, as strange as that sounds to some who think of cross country as boring or too difficult. "The people on the team are closer than in any sport here at the high school," said junior Addie Bower, who was third in the Class 4-A state meet last season. "You have to be in this sport. The whole time in a race you're dying. If I was going to run for myself, I'd be stopping. But I'm thinking, "The girls on my team are running for me right now, so I gotta run for them.'" Last season was the worst finish in school history for the girls, but other programs would be jealous of their "down year," as Coach Randy McDonough calls it. The Pioneers finished ninth in the state last year. Watauga's first girls team finished seventh in 1980. Since then - until last season - the team has finished fourth or better every year. The Pioneers won state titles in 1985, 1990 and 1992, and their accomplishments are noted on a light-blue sign in front of the school. "When the new girls came in (this season), we sat down and had a little meeting," Bower said. "I said, Girls, this is really something special. This is a really special team." I couldn't emphasize it enough, because '92 was one of the best years of my life winning state, even though it was just one day. It was so gratifying. Even if you're not the top runner on the team, it's great." No boys' titles are on the sign, but that's not to say the Watauga boys have not done well. Pat Clinebell (1985) and Patrick Phillips (1988) won state titles, and last season, the boys finished third in the state. This season, the top six runners from that team -- four seniors, a junior and a sophomore -- are back. McDonough -- called Coach Mac by the runners -- is the coach of both teams. He is in his second year as the head coach and was an assistant the three previous seasons. He said he would like to add a boys' title to the sign in front of the school. Watauga is a mountain school, so it has an advantage in training: It can run more often on inclines and at high altitude. McDonough says that the team can practice for a month and not run the same route twice. Coach Ron McGinn of Ledford sees the advantages. His team has been to Boone for distance camp. "We really enjoyed the mountains and the hills," McGinn said. "We didn't see a difference (in the air) but it's a lot more fun running when you have scenery like that. It's just better than running on the same pavement." Other schools are in the mountains, though, and not all of them succeed. The Pioneers have other advantages. Watauga is in the same town as Appalachian State, which has a strong distance-running tradition. The Mountaineers' women's cross-country team won every Southern Conference championship from 1986 to 1992. Other high schools have a university influence though, and not all of them succeed. Watauga has a talented runner on its coaching staff, but it is not McDonough, a Watauga and ASU graduate. He did not grow up as a runner but he runs now. Leigh Wallace, his assistant, did more than just run at ASU. She won four Southern Conference titles in track, including three in one day, and was a standout in cross country. Watauga's runners believe they have something special. It can be heard in what they say, seen in how they interact. They do not just run 30 to 55 miles a week together. They have team camping trips, team dinners, team lunches, team games. That hasn't been the case in the past. "There were too many individuals," McDonough said. "The year before, some of them ran in the top seven, and they were never close. They just went their own way after practice. "This group -- I'll leave practice and they're still out playing ultimate Frisbee or Hacky Sack. It is the closeness of this group that's going to win for them." The boys have talent to go with the unity this season. Senior Will Hodges is the team's top runner and its most modest member. He doesn't boast about his eighth-place finish in the 3,000 meters at a national high-school meet last summer; he wouldn't even tell you about it unless you asked. He also finished third in the 1,600 and 3,200 at the state track meet in May and 14th in last year's state cross country meet. He doesn't waste words, and he has a few for those who view him as strange for running until breathing becomes difficult. "It's all how you look at it." Hodges said. "I guess it's just a runner's high. It makes you feel better about yourself. If you play football, why do you kill yourself gettin' hit all the time?" Shane Austin, a junior, finished 37th in the state meet last season. His goal this season is to catch up to Hodges, his cousin. Jody Corum finished 46th last year as a freshman. One of his goals is to run in college. Seniors Chris Kitchens, Caleb Thorp and Dylan Wright fill out the top six. Kitchens is a former football player who decided he liked running better. Thorp, easily the clown of the group, is the team's only mountain transplant. He was born in New Zealand and moved to Boone from South Florida. He has also lived in Haiti, Mexico, Texas and Pennsylvania. Injuries slowed the Pioneer girls last season, but McDonough said that they also allowed the team to develop depth. Six of the seven Watauga girls who ran in the 1993 state meet will return. Sophomore Sarah Lawrence finished 69th in the state. Senior Jennifer Phelps, who has stuggled because of injuries her first three seasons, finished 72nd. Also returnng are Tara Flanigan, Erin Byerly and Emily Moretz, but Moretz is injured. McDonough said that sophomore Brenda Taylor and some talented freshmen could break into the top seven. Taylor is also a hurdler. She knows she's better at hurdling than she is at running 3.1 miles, but she still wants to be a distance runner in the fall. "Track's my sport, obviously," said Taylor, a sophomore who finished in the top four in the state in the two hurdles events. "I love cross country. Our team is so close. This is my favorite. I might be better (in track), a higher place than I would be in cross country, but this is more fun." Taylor said that cross country taught her discipline. Bower says that runners must delay gratification -- endure suffering to achieve success -- more than other athletes. Thorp agrees that a certain mind-set is needed to be a runner. He has played other sports, including soccer, and he says he likes cross country for its lack of exclusivity. "Running's a lot more fun, a lot more easygoing." Thorp said. "With soccer, it's like, 'Am I gonna start? Am I gonna get playing time?" "Everyone gets a chance in running. It's not a last-name status or a money thing or anything. Everyone just runs."

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