12/6/07 And The First Shall Be Last I’ve been involved in track & field in some capacity since the 4th grade. Over that many years, you’re bound to have some accomplishments which leave an indelible mark on your psyche; but not all the sweet memories are necessarily bourn of your own hard work. One such memory stands out, not only because it involved one of my best friends, but also for its justness. I have a good friend named Bill Gehrhardt. We met about 25 years ago when I first started coaching at St. Anthony’s and he was an accomplished coach at Commack North H.S. Commack was two high schools back then. Bill’s specialty as a coach was the relationships he built between himself and his athletes and the way he could sell his ideas and passions to his teams. Bill’s passion was the 800m; but more specifically, the 4x800m relay. I’m not sure why this came to be “the” distance for him. He was an average sprinter and jumper, in college. He did graduate from Chaminade H.S., and the CHSAA is 4 x 800 crazy, but Bill didn’t run track in high school. His strict father wouldn’t allow it. I suspect he caught the bug at St. John’s University, where he was a teammate of Tommy Farrell, who won a bronze medal in the 800m at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Whatever the case, I know he was enamored with speed and aggression; which seemed to be an extension of his fighting personality. He was confrontational, passionate, and one of the nicest guys I ever met. We hit it off right away despite our 20 year age difference. There wasn’t a thing we couldn’t talk about and we enjoyed a good laugh; the kind of laugh that makes you sick to your stomach, and only happens with the closest of friends. While at Commack, Coach Gehrhardt had a herd of half milers under 1:58 and three under 1:54, including John McNelis, who held the Suffolk County record of 1:51.46 from 1982 until 2000, when it was broken by the slimmest of margins by Paul Ciurlys of Walt Whitman in 1:51.35. John’s brother Brian ran 1:52 open and 1:50 on a relay. He would later run 1:46 for Georgetown on the DMR at the Penn Relays, that broke Villanova’s string of 13 straight victories. The relay was led off by Phil Reilly of Baldwin and anchored by a guy named Gregorek, in 3:56. “G-Man” had another boy named Ahearn run 1:53. That’s all great stuff but as previously noted, he LOVED the 4x 800. In 1981 his 4 x 800 won the Eastern States Meet in 7:43.5, which is still the Suffolk County record. Coach Gehrhardt’s relays won many County Championships and his teams did very well, but he never won a County Team Championship or a 4 x 800 state title. The year his relay ran 7:43, he decided to run them in the 4 x 400 in the County Meet/State Qualifier. His team ran 3:18, Brian McNelis anchored in 47, and they lost to Rich Panker’s North Babylon team led by the current HHHWest coach, Jim Christian. NB ran 3:16.9. That decision, to run the 4 x 4, would haunt him until the end of his career. Around 1988, he started coaching at Northport, and the County 4x800 Championships continued, as well as numerous sub 2:00 runners, including sons Bobby (1:57) and Billy (1:59). I joined Bill at Northport as the Girls’ Coach in ’95 and a couple of years later took the Boys’ Spring team, too. Bill continued to coach XC and Winter Track. Then, after 25 years of coaching, he announced that XC 2001 and Winter Track 2001-2002 would be his last. Over the next several months, we spoke often of his career, successes, failures, and McNelis’ 800 record going down the year before, but that he still had his 7:43.5. The fall of ’01 held some promise as Northport had a talented leader named Frank Corrigan, who would vie for a county title, and a freshman named Kevin Tschirhart. His team started the season well and only got better. Corrigan got his title and Gehrhardt got his first County Team Championship; strangely enough, in XC, a sport he didn’t coach at Commack North. The team would go on to bring home a 5th place plaque from the State Federation Meet and put a stamp on one of the best seasons of his career. The 2001-2002 Winter Track season started amidst great excitement, as the team was strong with nice balance. The focus of the season would be the County Championship and of course, getting the 4x800 to the State Meet. The team developed nicely by the Counties and had one of those perfect meets that coaches dream about. So, in the last team championship Bill Gehrhardt would ever coach, he got his 1st County Team Track and Field Championship. Imagine that, his last two seasons and his first two county titles. But there was still that matter of his beloved 4 x 800…which qualified for the State Championships in Syracuse. I remember that 4 x 8 in the Carrier Dome as being a bit surreal. Northport wasn’t favored, but expected to be in the mix. I don’t think Coach Gehrhardt thought a state title was likely because he let his lead-off leg run the 3200m first, where he finished far out of the money. You know when a pitcher in the major leagues has a no-hitter late in the game and they show the pitcher sitting in the dugout when his team is up and there’s no one near him? That’s kind of the way it was when the relay started. Northport got out to an early lead and increased it. I started to get very nervous as Arlington started to make up some ground. I looked over at G-Man and he was overtly nervous and mumbling to himself. With about 300m to go, it was looking pretty good to me, so I yelled out, “I think they’re going to do it, Bill”! Without even looking at me he yelled, “Shut the hell up, Timmy”! As Northport’s anchor entered the last lap, it was starting to look good to him, too. G-Man seemed to be in disbelief and at the same time, waiting for the sky to fall in. Surely, after so many opportunities this wasn’t going to happen, was it? “Stay on your feet”, “Hold on to that stick”, were repeated over and over until the last straightaway, when I looked over at him and he had his arms in the air and bellowed, “I think we’ve got it, I think we’ve got it, oh my god, we did it”. When the anchor leg crossed the line, my eyes immediately welled up. I looked over at Bill and he was crying. I went over and put my arm on his shoulder and shook his hand as he hurried down to see his boys. I slumped into my chair. I couldn’t stop smiling. I was so happy for him, and couldn’t believe the beauty of it all. This terrific man, my good friend, who gave so much of his life to teaching and coaching youngsters, who was the most successful middle distance coach of his era on LI, who had never fulfilled his dream of winning a State Championship in the 4 x 800, did just that in the last race he would ever coach. Tim Dearie
11/22/07 - Footlocker Memories I have some fond memories of this meet. During my first 10 years of coaching, from 1984 to 1993, at St. Anthony’s, although I had some tremendous teams which would have had a great chance at an NTN meet, if there was such an animal, I never had a Footlocker Qualifier. I did however, have some guys who stepped up and ran very well there. During my second life in coaching, at Northport H.S., from 1994-2005, I was fortunate to coach some very good teams that weren’t good enough to qualify for an NTN but I also coached Kevin Tschirhart, a two time Footlocker National Qualifier. In Kevin’s first foray at Footlocker, as a sophomore, he was coming off a lackluster performance at the Federation Meet where he placed 4th in a pedestrian (for Bowdoin) 16:22 or so. He had been burning up the season with victories over the likes of Brian Dalpiaz and PRs of 16:04 at Sunken Meadow and 12:42 in a downpour, at Vanny. At the Public School States, at Sunken Meadow, he was in an epic battle with Hakon Devries of John Jay when he made a monster, pre-planned move, 20 yards from the top of Cardiac with a little over a mile to go. He gapped Hakon a bit but Hakon, the proverbial junk-yard dog, hung tough and got back on his shoulder with 800 to go. In the final straightaway, Hakon unleashed his patented kick, cracking Kevin a bit and allowing a fast closing Mark Allizi of Syosset to nip him, too. In the chutes an exhausted Devries hugged Kevin and exclaimed, “You’re awesome, man”, giving Kevin props for almost breaking the race open at the toughest part of the race. That race took something out of Kevin, physically but also emotionally, which explained his race at the Feds. We spent the week of the Qualifier focusing almost entirely on mind-control during his training and then the race; terms like “grace under pressure”, “calm amidst the storm”, were repeated over and over. I also built his head back up with reminders about his toughness and incredible season. On the day of the race, he seemed nervous but resolute. I tried to exude nothing but confidence, when I was really like the storm amidst the calm. The race turned out to be one of the closest finishes between the qualifiers in the history of the meet, when the top 7 finished something like 5-7 seconds apart; with Kevin getting 4th or 5th and setting what was then a Van Cortland Park record for sophs, in 15:36. There are two moments of clarity for me about the race. When Kevin came onto the field for the final 800, his face was completely passive. I knew, at that moment, he was going to make it. I was so proud of him for being able to stay mentally within himself for so long in the biggest race of his young life. The second was when he was whisked away to the qualifiers tent. I went over there but wasn’t allowed in. I heard Kevin’s excited call for me from within and answered in kind. It’s one of the highlights of my 23 years of coaching. Kevin also qualified his senior year, had many, many outstanding races in XC and Track and as exciting as they were, his race, as a sophomore, at the Footlocker Northeast Qualifier, is something special. It has been stated, in cross country circles, that this is a weak year for the NY boys as individuals and teams. If this is true, it’s a good year to have our own region for NTN, isn’t it; but what about the individuals? These runners still have to go against the best from the northeast for 10 measly spots to the Footlocker National Championships in San Diego. I’ve even heard it mentioned that this could be the year the Empire State gets shut out in the boys’ race. How about the girls? Many of the top individuals from NY are skipping Footlocker to give their team a chance to get to Oregon for NTN. SteveU, of Dyestat fame, has weighed in on the subject and sees the NY boys as an after-thought. He gives Pat DuPont of Fairport, the Federation Champ, a precarious 10th place spot, and that’s it. He also sees Emily Lipari, the Girls’ Federation Champ from Roslyn, as being 6th with Shelby Greany of Suffern, on the bubble. After doing a little research, I’ll tell you what I think of “our” chances. Pat Dupont knows how to race and he knows how to win. He is the New York State Federation XC Champion and ran 15:52 on the tough Bowdoin Park course. Kyle Merber knows how to race, too. He won everything this season until he went head to head with Dupont. That might have been different, too, with one little change last Saturday. With about 1000m to go, Merber, who had been laying off the front pack a bit, closed up the gap and put himself right alongside Dupont. For a second it looked like he wanted to keep going but backed off. I thought at the time that he should have kept right on going. It may or may not have made a difference, but I digress. My point is, I think Merber, on any given day, is capable of beating Dupont. Zac Rivers of Victor is no slouch either with his third place time of 15:58. In the past eight years, only one runner that broke 16:00 at Bowdoin in the Federation Meet didn’t make it to the Footlocker Nationals. Dominick Luka from Tully ran 15:52 in 2003. I feel very confident when I say that Dupont and Merber will make the team and if Rivers runs as tough as he did at Feds, he has a chance, too, especially since 10 runners make the team now instead of just eight. I feel pretty good about the first two but I don’t know much about Rivers. We’ll see… Pat Dupont Fairport 3rd Kyle Merber Half Hollow Hills West 7th Zac Rivers Victor 10th On the girls’ side, I am so impressed with Emily Lipari. The Federation Meet was the first time I got to see her race. Her poise was readily apparent and despite the wealth of talent all around her, I never had a doubt that she would win. She just had that winning aura about her. There’s a lot of talk about the top two girls from PA, and rightfully so, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Emily will split them up and finish 2nd. For her to win, she’d have to have the race of her life up to this point. I don’t see her any less than third place. Shelby Greany of Suffern is a “big race” kind of girl. Her performance at the Federation Meet wasn’t up to her usual standards but she should be right there for the final spot. Long Island has a rich tradition at the Footlocker Nationals. There have been 25 qualifiers from LI and we should add to that by getting two more, in 2007. The breakdown: Girls Qualifiers: Nassau – 3 Suffolk – 8 NSCHSAA – 1 Boys Qualifiers: Nassau – 5 Suffolk – 7 NSCHSAA – 1
This is a big weekend of post-season cross country with the NTN Northeast and New York Qualifier and the Footlocker Northeast Championships, for those individuals whose teams don’t have a shot at NTN glory. I don’t want to get into the logistical problems of having these scheduled on the same weekend; rather, I’d like to share a personal story about the 2002 Footlocker Qualifier.
Tim Dearie
11/22/07 - Footlocker Northeast Analysis
Tim Dearie
10/22/07 - Just a few thoughts as we enter the post-season
The regular season is over! Over the next month there will be League, Divisional, County, Intersectional, State, Federation, NTN and Foot Locker titles to decide. HOLY COW! It's time to reflect on your races, correct mistakes, repeat the positives and put together your best races when it counts the most.
Speed ratings and rankings are a fun way to compare individuals and teams during the season. What they do not and can not measure are your dreams, heart, spirit, and the desperate yearnings to come through for the team and make a difference. Sure, you'll see results that back up the prognosticators but you'll also see inspiring individual performances where improvements of 15, 20 & 45 seconds make you shake your head in wonder and admire the fire within. That's what this sport is all about; the individuals who, day in and day out, struggle with the inner turmoil that goes hand in hand with a task so difficult.
So where do you fall in all of this? Are you going to make all the hard work pay off? Can you forget to be afraid for yourself and focus on the team? Here is a suggestion: Instead of letting the atmosphere of the championships overwhelm you, absorb it, feed off it, and drink it in. Pay attention to the excitement, all the fall colors, the uniforms and the crowds. Remind yourself this is why you do cross country.
I'm 46 years old. When I was a senior in high school at St. Anthony's in the fall of 1978, we lost 4 of our top 6 guys to injury during the season. We knew that if we were going to have a shot at winning the Catholic Intersectional Meet against Chaminade and a very good team from Nazareth, we would have to step up in a huge way. I went from being a 13:47 guy to 13:19 and my teammates had a good day too. We won by 2 points. I am in no way tooting my own horn. My point is this - you will remember what you do over the next few weeks for the rest of your long lives. It's been 28 years since that day at Van Cortland Park. I am still proud of myself for that performance and also for the following week when we got 4th at the NYS Federation Meet. I am most proud that I came through for my teammates and school. I remember it like it was yesterday. I hope all of you put it all together and create a proud moment that will last a lifetime.
Coach Tim Dearie