By John Wise, WSU Sprints/Hurdles Coach
Introduction
At least once a week I get the question, “What do you do besides coach track?” I figured I’d keep this journal as an example of what a typical week might be for a college track coach – although there are rarely two weeks that are the same. This journal begins just before the MVC Outdoor Championships and I warn you its quite lengthy …
Wednesday, April 11
6:30am – Up and at ‘em!
7:30am – Roll into Cessna Stadium and grab a few final things before our trip – batons, video camera, anything else I see laying around my office I might need.
8:00am – I get on the bus and head to Iowa with the first of two groups of Shockers. The rest of our group will come tomorrow. We do this because it’s finals week and many student-athletes are taking finals all the way up until they leave and then as soon as they get back to Wichita. It’s a quiet ride to our first stop near Kansas City and I mostly pass the time by chatting with Coach Hunter and Coach Hetzendorf about recruiting and reading Tony Dungy’s book “Quiet Strength” – highly recommended.
11:30am – We stop at William Jewell College to workout. We’ve been to Northern Iowa several times over the years and most recently for the indoor MVC meet. We’ve found a good thing to break up the long trip is to figure in a couple stops so we workout for about 90 minutes and then hop on the bus and head to our usual lunch stop in Liberty, Missouri.
1:15pm – Steak and Shake – 5-way, chili fries, and a milkshake. Hey I’m not running this weekend. J
2:15pm – Back on the bus for the final half of our trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa. The kiddos watch the movies “Coming to America” and “Wedding Crashers” while the coaching staff pours over the heat sheets that were just emailed to us. I re-calculate the team projections and it works out well for us. The women are a big 46 point favorite while the men’s lead is a projected 14 points – on paper that’s basically a tie. Even though the meet hasn’t started yet, this shows we are in good position to accomplish our goals of winning both team championships. We were also picked to win both titles in the pre-meet coaches’ poll, and while we are glad we are considered the favorites we are very aware that being the underdog has its advantages too. The final hour of the trip is pretty much devoted to texting the coaches about where our teams stacks up and talking to Coach Rainbolt about how we present this to the team in tomorrow night’s team meeting.
7:00pm – We roll into Cedar Falls and check into the Clarion Inn. We’ve stayed here many times before and the kids know where all the local restaurants are. We think this is very helpful to create low-stress environment without distractions for the team. Everything is the same from the indoor championship. Several Shockers are playing ping pong and pool.
7:45pm – I head to dinner with Coach Hetzendorf, Trainer Jeff Deits, and Grad Assistant Nate Thiesfeld at Old Chicago. It’s a little bit of a walk but it’s a beautiful night. Several people commented that it was the first time they’ve been in Cedar Falls and it wasn’t snowing. Unfortunately this looks like the best weather of the week.
9:00pm – After dinner I come back and hang out by the pool to chat with some of the athletes. There is a lot of down time for the athletes at a meet like this so getting a chance to just sit and talk casually with them is a rare treat. Coach Rainbolt texts the staff to meet at 10pm in the War Room.
10:00pm – The coaches that are here gather in Bolt’s room. Coach Rainbolt always gets one of the best rooms in the hotel, complete with a separate meeting room that we have affectionately coined “The War Room”. We meet for an hour or so talking a little bit about the meet but mostly about Coach Rainbolt’s vision for improving our stadium – a constant topic in our offices. Bolt is always a big picture thinker and we use this time to brainstorm about ways to improve several parts of our program. He is also VERY happy Coach Hetzendorf brought him some leftover Old Chicago Double-Deckeroni pizza. We end the evening talking at length about our current state of recruiting and how Coach Hunter is going to get the men’s cross country team to the top of the MVC. Most people don’t realize that even though we are very focused on winning this year’s championship – we are in a crucial time of recruiting to ensure the success of future teams. This is the first of nightly staff meetings at Cedar Falls for our staff.
11:30pm – First chance to settle into my hotel room so I unpack my things and crash onto the bed and fall asleep around midnight.
Thursday, May 12
8:00am – Sleeping in felt great and I roll over and grab my laptop and surf the web for half an hour. There’s a great article in the Wichita Eagle about our team this morning – front page with a picture of our top decathlete Krzysztof Slupkowski – a rare treat for our team. Thanks Paul Seullentrop!
8:45pm – With the weather being good once again today I decide to take advantage and get a workout in around the area near our hotel. While I doubt I could keep up with many of the girls I coach, I chalk it up as a successful workout and take the next 30 minutes to try and stop sweating.
10:00am – I send one of about 20 texts I’ll send this weekend to the athletes I coach. Several are traveling today and I hate not being able to be at their practice. Texting the athletes on a daily basis helps me keep in touch and I have several conversations during the morning about practice and the group’s overall demeanor. It’s very important we come to this meet feeling loose and confident.
10:30am – Pre-meet haircut, this take about 10 minutes. Being bald has its advantages! Shower.
11:00am – Lunch at Quizno’s with Coach Hunter. Chicken Carbonara, mmmmmm.
12:00pm – I’ve got a couple hours before practice so I use that time to do some work. A couple years ago I started a tradition of typing out a personal letter to each athlete I’m coaching at the MVC meet. This year I have 27 athletes here so it takes about 3 hours to complete the 27 letters (I can work quickly). I’ve had a few of the athletes say they really appreciate the kind thoughts and it helps motivate them and keep their mind in the right place. If it helps by one point then I figure it’s successful.
2:30pm – Off to practice and to check out the facility for the first time. UNI has a nice little outdoor track that should be a good place to have a solid meet. We practice for 90 minutes with some various activities – nothing strenuous, just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.
4:00pm – Back to the hotel where I start preparation for our team meeting later that night. We really want to let our team know where we stand at all times so we bring a couple large dry erase boards to the hotel and show where all the teams stack up in all the events. One of our seniors, Rachel York, helps get everything sketched out and color coded too! We’ve found it helps motivate our team to try to outscore their projection and it shows where we are counting on big points. It does add some pressure but we talk about it a lot and over time we feel like the athletes embrace the pressure and even excel because of the controlled adrenaline it can provide.
6:15pm – Back to the UNI campus for the pre-meet MVC coaches meeting. They also feed us well at this meeting! After dinner we talk about the specifics of the meet and discuss any issues from a meet management standpoint. Usually it’s a pretty uneventful meeting but sometimes there are some disagreements and discussion that gets interesting. Tonight wasn’t too crazy and the meeting lasted about 2 hours.
8:30pm – Back to the hotel and we have our staff meeting in the “War Room”. We get everything organized for our team meeting and then talk about how we’re going to present our vision for how we are going to win the meet. I give all the coaches the pre-meet scoring charts and Coach Rainbolt prepares his remarks.
9:30pm – Men’s team meeting. These meetings last 30 minutes and is our final chance to be together as a team before the meet starts. Bolt always does a great job of getting the team ready and we leave the meeting with a sense of team and enthusiasm. This meeting is always one of my favorite parts of the weekend and I can vividly remember what it was like being an athlete. Still gives me goosebumps!!!
10:00pm – Women’s team meeting. Same as above with some slight changes because our women are more heavily favored than the men to win the meet. The women’s team always does a great job of pulling together.
10:30pm – I meet with the multiple managers on the trip to layout the plans for video and other duties they will perform over the next 3 days.
11:00pm – I head across the street to Applebee’s with Coaches Hetzendorf and Hunter to unwind a little before we go to bed. Of course we talk about the meet most of the time and Coach Hunter’s crazy times as a junior college coach! Dang those guys are outlaws! Haha!
12:00am – One final check of my email before I go to bed, Day 1 begins at 10am the next morning! Good night!
Friday, May 13 - MVC Day 1
7:45am – These beds are VERY comfy!
9:00am – Head over to the track for the beginning of the first day. It is cool and breezy for the multi-events this morning. And while there aren’t a lot of final events, Day 1 is always a long one. Competition starts at 10am and will go all the way until around 8pm with the 10,000 meter finals. Most of the day I am helping Coach Rainbolt keep our big group of multi-event athletes on schedule – a major undertaking because many of these athletes will need to do other open events throughout the meet. I feel like I’m always the one saying, “Let’s pass this jump so he’ll be more fresh for the Pole Vault on Sunday.” Haha! It’s a successful day as all of our athletes end the day with the potential to score points tomorrow.
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| The multi-eventers are major studs during the MVC meets |
12:00pm – Thank goodness for free food in the hospitality area! Lunch on the run!
4:00pm – It begins to rain off and on, it could be worse (see Saturday).
6:00pm – Sprinters show up to practice. I work with our 4x1 teams on some handoffs and make sure everyone is feeling ready to go tomorrow.8:00pm – The 10k ends the night and then we head back to the hotel.
9:00pm – Brief War Room meeting to see how we stand after Day 1. Today went pretty much as scheduled and we feel good heading into Day 2.
9:45pm – I have a meeting with the women’s sprinters (who start competition tomorrow) to get everyone into the right mindset for the predicted bad weather tomorrow. The girls are in good spirits and we feel confident we are ready.
10:15pm – Men’s sprinter meeting – ditto. I feel we are ready to roll!
10:45pm – Back to Applebee’s again to have some late night food and to talk about the meet with the staff. We close down Applebee’s for the 2nd straight night. The waitresses seem to have been warned about us last night.
12:00pm – I settle into my room and enjoy some HBO before I go to bed.
Saturday, May - MVC Day 2
7:30am – I wake up and walk out to check on the weather, it doesn’t seem too terrible – maybe it’ll be better than we thought!
8:00am – Quick breakfast before heading over to the track for Day 2.
8:45am – Arrive at the track. I was wrong, the weather is just as terrible as predicted. L
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| Rain, rain, go away |
9:00am – All of the fellow MVC coaches have a funny smirk on their face. We know today will be a very long, tough day for the athletes and coaches because of the weather.
10:00am – Day 2 begins! The Shockers are doing well.
12:00pm – Another quick lunch. UNI is doing a nice job with the hospitality this week!
2:00pm – Changing into my 2nd pair of shoes and socks because the first pair is completely soaked. Luckily our WSU T&F rain gear is holding up well. It is absolutely pouring buckets on us with no relief in sight. I get two plastic bags from the trainers and put them on outside my socks and inside my shoes to keep my feet wet. Genius!
4:00pm – I begin to see some of my sprinters arrive at the track, I try to get them directed to the indoor practice area and give some last minute words of wisdom.
5:00pm – Prelims begin in the sprints, we are advancing well but the weather is really taking its toll. The timing system breaks down in the middle of the 100m prelims and we are delayed indefinitely. Very frustrating time and on top of it my feet are wet again. Craaaaap.
6:30pm – Meet management decides to hand time the 800m prelims and run the steeplechase before any of the other prelims. We may or may not run any more sprints tonight so I get the whole crew together to let them know to stay indoor and keep their cell phones handy.
7:00pm – Meet management decides no more prelims tonight and the meet will resume tomorrow. I get the message to our group and tell them to get the heck out of here and back to the hotel where it’s dry!
8:00pm – I stick around for the end of the steeplechase races before heading back to the hotel. We have a 9:45pm team meeting and I have to have all the scoring updated and ready to go by then.
8:30pm – War Room meeting. We come to realize we’ve had a below average day on the track and our women’s lead has been cut in half. The men’s day was even worse and now we are trailing SIU and in a tight battle with UNI and Indiana St for 2nd-4th.
9:45pm – We gather the entire men’s and women’s teams together and let them know how we stand in the meet. The 30 minute meeting ends on a high note and I talk to a few of the athletes about tomorrow’s relays.
10:45pm – One more time to Applebee’s. This time most of our staff is there. We eat heartily and the conversation is more about college story telling than the meet today. Myself and Coach Hetzendorf bring out our best ones from Kent State. Many of these are not fit for this public journal. We close it down for the 3rd (and final) night of the week. I think half the waitresses love us and the other half hate us.
12:30am – I prepare new score sheets with all updated information for any of the coaches who want it (mainly Coach Rainbolt). I finally get online for a bit and email a few recruits as we have some visits coming this week.
1:30am – Time to turn in, I get to sleep in a bit tomorrow.
Sunday, May 15 - MVC Day 3
8:00am – Up and at ‘em for the final day of the championships! The weather already looks better! I have a pep in my step!
9:15am – I hitch a ride over to the track with Coach Rainbolt, first event begins at 11am.
9:30am – All of the coaches in the MVC are smiling today because of the weather. It’s like we are in a different place! I talk to the meet director about the schedule changes and text some of our athletes back at the hotel the updated info.
11:00am – With the field events beginning, the sprint crew begins to show up. First race at noon (100m prelims) with the finals beginning at 1:00pm.
11:30am – The next 2 hours will be crucial to our women’s chance of winning the meet as our star sprinter Audacia Moore will have to be all over the place. With the 100m prelims moved to noon today it directly conflicts with the triple jump. There are pretty specific rules about how to go between 2 events at this level so we strategize what to do. Since she is in heat 3 of the 100m we decide to have her take a jump first then run the 100m then back to the triple jump. I have one of our managers follow Audacia around to give her clothes and shoes wherever she needs them. We can’t afford to be lackadaisical for even minute right now.
11:45am – With Coach Yost talking to the jumps official, I go over to the starter and let him know of Audacia’s situation. He is gracious and says they’ll wait for her as long as it’s not too long.
12:00pm – Audacia takes her first jump, not great. Heat 1 of the 100m still hasn’t started yet so we get Audacia to take another jump – this one is a foul.
12:08pm – Audacia runs to the opposite side of the facility just in time for her heat, I advise her to run as easily as she can to advance.
12:10pm – She wins the heat with the fastest time in all the prelims – so much for taking it easy. She continues around the curve to the triple jump pit, changes shoes and gets on the runway as her name is being called for her last attempt. Didn’t they just see her run over here? It’s not a great attempt but she sneaks into the triple jump finals with the last qualifying mark and sits in 9th place.
12:40pm – Audacia has to wait for the 2nd flight to finish before she jumps again so I watch over our 4x1 relays (including her) do some last minute handoffs before the race. All looks good except the TJ finals will be at the same time as the 4x1. Grrrrr!
1:00pm – Our women win the 4x1 championship! Audacia runs back to the triple jump pit to take her last 3 jumps. From this point on my work with her is mostly done, she should be done with the TJ before the 100m finals.
1:30pm – Bolt calls me to say Audacia jumps a PR and finished 3rd in the triple jump. All of the craziness was worth it! I talk to her on his phone just as she finishes her last jump to talk about her time schedule for the 100m. She’s such a stud and never once did she doubt anything we were trying to do.
1:45pm – The meet is going well, After SIU drops the baton in the 4x1 our men are sneaking back into it and the women appear to be in control.
2:00pm – Just like that the men are now back out of it with a rough 1500m. Finals are being contested like crazy, I’m splitting time between trying to coach and keeping a handle on all the scoring places in every event for every team. It appears it’s gonna come down to the wire between four teams on the men’s side and SIU is doing just enough to keep it interesting for our women.
3:00pm – The women’s meet is getting too close for comfort as our best 400m hurdler Natalie Morerod falls and it turns out to be a major momentum swing in the wrong direction. The men’s meet is crazy with 4 teams all within shouting distance of the title – déjà vu from indoor!
4:00pm – We need a good 200m and 5k for the women to clinch the title and we get just enough to have a secure lead heading into the 4x4! Audacia breaks 2 school records in the 100m and 200m – what a stud.
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| School record #1 for Moore with Pruitt and Williams also scoring valuable points |
4:10pm – The men’s meet is very crazy right now with the 5k, Triple Jump, and Discus all being contested at the same time. We have people keeping track of all the field events and the stress level is through the roof for Coach Rainbolt. We need some help but it appears we may come up a little short.
4:20pm – Our women only need to finish the 4x4 to win the title and they run a solid race. We win by 7 points. Waaaaaaaaay to close but they’re still going to give us the trophy. Whew.
4:25pm – Our men need a miracle to win the meet. We pull out all the stops, I get 7 different guys together before the race to figure out who our best team is – pretty sure this is the first time these 4 have run together on the 4x4 this year. Our 4x4 runs their hearts out and wins the title in a last dash effort by our anchor Dylan Hartnett. We end up losing the meet by 5 points and finish in 3rd place overall. Bummer. Major conflicting emotions right now.
4:45pm – As the MVC hands out all the awards, I make my way around to our fellow MVC coaches to say congrats. I feel bad for SIU’s Connie Price-Smith as they lost both meets by a combined 8 points.
4:55pm – I crack a smile seeing Audacia Moore and Todd McKown receive MVP of the meet awards.
5:00pm – As our women continue to celebrate their victory, all I can think about are all the places we could’ve scored 5 more points on the men. Looking at a couple events it turns out to be about 12 one-thousandths of a second. Are you freaking kidding me?
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| 2011 MVC Champions - this is why we do it! |
5:30pm – After a very brief team gathering, I hop in our rented vehicle to get an early start on the ride home. The athletes will get back around 4am but we should be able to make it by 2am.
6:00pm – The mood in the van with myself, and coaches Rainbolt, Hetzendorf, Hunter, and Thiesfeld is somber. We get philosophical for about 30 minutes about what we need to do to not be in the position of losing such a close meet in the future. Most of it is just venting and in the end we feel pretty good about our teams. We are all very competitive and just hate to lose!
7:00pm – We have a team banquet in 24 hours and I’m responsible for having a highlight film ready with everything from the MVC we just finished. I get started in the backseat with 4 video cameras full of film to sort through downloaded onto my laptop.
9:00pm – The long day is catching up to me as I crash out in the back seat. I’m pretty sure I was so tired I snored a bit. I’ve been told I don’t snore.
10:00pm – Back conscious, I start texting the women recruits I’ve signed this year to tell them about our championship and how excited we are to have them help us win some more next year!
10:30pm – I decide I have enough work done for tonight that I can finish the film project tomorrow. The rest of the trip is mostly filled with listening to Bolt sing country songs on the radio, give his political opinions on the state of our country, and texting Brooke Demo at Kent State about how the MAC meet went. The Golden Flash women won by one point!
2:00am – We roll into Wichita. I tell Bolt I’m going to work from home tomorrow morning and head into the office in the afternoon.
3:00am – Back at home, I fall asleep on the couch without setting my alarm.
Monday, May 16
8:30am – I wake up, wishing I could’ve slept longer but I know I gotta finish this video stuff before it gets too late.
9:00am – In my home office I start cranking out the film editing along with a much needed load of laundry. I text my group a few reminders about today and tell our NCAA qualifiers to get an easy shakeloose on their own to help get the travel out of their legs.
11:00am – Pouring through mounds of video. Wondering why I always volunteer for this kind of stuff.
1:00pm – I feel like I have the hard part of the film done. I take a shower and plan on going to the office around 2:30pm.
2:30pm – Can’t resist Chipotle on my way to the office.
3:00pm – Up to the office, our golf coach Tom McCurdy congratulates me on our victory. He also says it looks like I could use some sleep. Why would he say such things?
5:00pm – I put the finishing touches on the highlight video a good 2 hours before the banquet. It’s a record! J
5:30pm – Sitting in the office with nothing to do so I make 3 recruiting calls.
6:30pm – I head down to the Champions Club, where our banquet will be, to set up the audio visual equipment.
7:00pm – I meet Coach Rainbolt in his office to discuss some last minute details for his speaking details tonight. We try to make sure he doesn’t forget any seniors!
7:30pm – Our banquet begins, it lasts 2 hours. It’s a beautiful night full of laughs, tears, smiles, hugs, and a heck of a 25 minute highlight film. J
9:45pm – I catch the end of a meeting Coach Rainbolt and Coach Hunter is having with the men’s distance team and then on the way out to the parking lot I talk to Bolt about tomorrow’s morning’s Shocker Sports Report which Bolt will be a guest. It’s a 30 minute WSU highlight show, tomorrow’s show will be about Shocker Baseball and Track. I remember I have to put together a 3 minute highlight dvd for that show.
10:15pm – At home, with all the highlights I gathered earlier today, a 3 minute highlight dvd takes about 30 minutes to put together.
11:00pm – Start watching Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiam and Entourage before heading off to bed. Gotta remind myself what I have to do tomorrow to figure out when I need to wake up: I have the Shocker Sports Report to get Bolt to, two recruits coming in on visits, and we are hosting a small Heptathlon in which I’m in charge of getting the Finishlynx timing system ready – which is being brought by tomorrow morning from Cowley Community College. I set the alarm for 7:45am. Good night!
Tuesday, May 17
7:45am – I wake up and am out the door by 8:15am.
8:30am – I finish up the Shocker Sports Report Track highlights and get them to the production crew in Koch Arena, where the show is filmed.
9:00am – Coach Delgado from Cowley CC drops off the Finishlynx equipment for us to use for timing our small multi-event competition today. Unfortunately he forgot the laptop that is required to read the times. I start thinking about a Plan B.
9:40am – Bolt is on time for his segment for the show but unfortunately our baseball coach Gene Stephenson is not. While we are waiting for coach, I start making calls to see if I can find a laptop with the proper Finishlynx software. I leave two messages with the best options. Bolt wants to start the first race at 2:30pm.
10:15pm – Coach Stephenson arrives and now Coach Rainbolt is gone to another meeting, he gets back in time for his segment on the show. The highlights look good and KS22 boss Mark Ewing thanks us for our contributions all year on the show, commenting it was the best coverage of T&F they’ve ever had. Well duh! J
10:45am – I find out my recruit that’s supposed to be here today isn’t arriving until tomorrow morning. It’s a blessing in disguise for my busy day but I am disappointed he’s not coming.
11:00am – I start getting calls back for the laptop search. Nothing concrete but Maize HS is trying to help me out. They will call me back when they know where their equipment is.
11:45am – Our starter pistol, which had gone missing for the past 9 months, is found – which is good because we’re gonna need it today! Not sure if there are any blanks available so I make 3 phone calls to see where I can buy some blanks if needed. The Bullseye Shooting Range comes through and I head to meet our facilities guy Jesse Torres to get the pistol.
12:00pm – Upon getting the pistol I find a box of shells that are inside. Sweet.
12:30pm – I call the guys from Maize and they said to head their way (to the West side of Wichita), and I could pick up the proper stuff to help time the meet.
12:45pm – I realize I haven’t eaten all day.
12:50pm – I get a text to go to Maize South Middle School where the right laptop is located.
1:15pm – After a bit of a search I find the middle school and then report to the principal’s office. I’m meeting Jess Herbig, the middle school principal, who also works for their timing company. After listening to him give some teenager the riot act for getting into a fight he takes me out to his truck to get the laptop.
1:40pm – I head back to Wichita State. Bolt has told me he wanted to start the multi at 2:30pm. It’s a 20 minute drive. I still haven’t eaten.
2:00pm – I stop at Sonic and whoof down a chicken sandwich while in my car then arrive at the stadium and immediately begin to setup the Finishlynx system. It takes about 30 minutes to get everything working and plugged in correctly and at 2:45pm we start. Geez I suck, haha!
2:45pm – Since the wind in blowing from the South that means in order to run with the wind we have to run in the reverse direction. This means there are going to be 3 different finish lines for today’s events and thus, 3 different setups for this Finishlynx system.
5:30pm – We conclude the first day’s events and everything is cleaned up.
6:00pm – Since my recruit won’t be here tonight I decide to head home. Tomorrow we have 3 recruits on campus, the 2nd day of this multi competition, and practice with the 10 kids I have going to Oregon for the NCAA Championships.
6:30pm – I head out for the first non-track related activity in the past week - a date. No joke. This is where my journal will end. J
Epilogue
Unofficially that’s about 97 hours I’ve “worked” in the past 7 days. As you can tell, being a Division I college track and field coach is a 24/7 type of deal that you have to embrace as part of your life to do well. I really enjoy it and couldn’t think of doing anything else!
So THAT’S what else I do besides being a track coach!
