Indians look to add more hardware to trophy collection

The prospect of winning a third straight state championship in Class 2A is a distinct possibility for the 2010 Spirit Lake boys cross country team which returns four runners from last season and three of the top competitors in its respective class. Members of this year's varsity squad are pictured above (from left): Gabe McCoy, Keith Byers, Kyle Anderson, Zach Skopec, Coach Tim Heinitz, Coach Dave Frostestad, Drew Brevik, Alec Baldwin, Will Norris and Daniel Stover.

Jordan went through many trials and tribulations against the Detroit Pistons, losing three consecutive Eastern Conference Finals series before finally getting over the hump and winning Chicago's first ever championship. The Bulls went on to win five more NBA titles after that season, including three in a row from '91-'93 and '96-'98.

Now I know the parallels of basketball and cross country are few and far between, but in any sport achieving success comes with its fair share of challenges and the true measure of a champion is how they deal with whatever adversity stands in their way. Jordan's Bulls and the Spirit Lake boys cross country teams paths to excellence took similar roads, with both squads taking their lumps before accomplishing their ultimate goals.

"Not many people remember that our team 10-15 years ago struggled in cross country. Our first ever boy to qualify for state was Justin Emgarten back in the late nineties," said Spirit Lake coach Tim Heinitz. "I think he really helped pave the way for our future teams. They saw that athletes from Spirit Lake could qualify for the state meet, and our program really started to take off from there."

The Indians had never qualified a team for state prior to making seven straight trips starting in '03. They also didn't crack the top 10 from '03-'05 until finally breaking through with a fourth place performance in '06.

"Our first few teams that made it to state were very instrumental to our present success," Heinitz said. "At first, we were just 'happy to be there,' but as we continued to qualify and gain experience, expectations changed and just being there was not good enough. That first team that qualified raised the bar for future teams. Those boys, while on the team taught the younger ones coming in how to work hard, be dedicated to the program and what it took to be successful. I can't thank them enough for that."

The countless hours of practice and hundreds miles of training finally came to fruition in '08 when the Indians topped PCM of Monroe by seven points to win the school's first state title in a boys sport in 18 years. Repeating as state champions was no easy task as a bull's-eye was on their back all season long. However, SL defied the odds and overcame some injuries to once again bring home a state championship trophy after downing South Winneshiek by 17 points last year.

Now, after becoming household names throughout Iowa the past two seasons, Spirit Lake enters this season atop the preseason rankings with senior Alec Baldwin, junior Keith Byers and sophomore Will Norris predicted to be three of the top 20 runners in Class 2A.

The question still remains to be seen if SL can stay focused and keep their mini-dynasty going strong, but this veteran group of runners seems to thrive on pressure-packed situations and simply hates to lose.

"I feel like when we step off the bus all the other teams notice and are gunning for us," said Byers. "So we have to run our best to stay on top. It's fun and adds excitement to the races. You have to keep on your toes everyday and you can't slack in practice because everyone is working just as hard to beat us."

Heinitz added that there is a lot of work left to do before his squad can start to think about getting back to the top of the pedestal, "I think there is always a certain amount of pressure after winning a state title. Some people expect that since you have done it twice, it should be done again. We have realistic expectations of our team, and in the back of our minds there is always that thought of another title, but we know right now we are not there yet and have a lot of work to do. We just concentrate on the next meet. If you look to far ahead, bad things tend to happen. I have learned as a coach that things never go the way you expect them to."

Heinitz believes the keys to success in cross country are a lot simpler and that they involve being dedicated to the sport in the offseason as well as during the season, a great work ethic in practices, believing in the program and believing in each other.

"It's a lot of fun and a lot of work, but we work really hard and break really hard," said Norris. "You have to train like you are going to race. The harder you work in practice the harder you will race. That's what really motivates me."

The "team" concept has been another one of the secrets to success for the Indians.

"This program is always about the team at Spirit Lake," said Baldwin. "We always train as a team and practicing as a team is the best way to go about cross country because when you're in a race environment, you always have a team with you and you're running your individual race for your team.'

After being the best team at the 2A level the past two seasons, the Indians continue the same practice routines that have worked to put them on top of the sport. They have also bought into Heinitz's one practice, one meet at a time mantra.

"It's really fun. You come to practice and it's hard, but the coaches find a way to get you better," said Byers. "There's the team competition, plus we try to get better and build each other up. It's encouraging and is always a highlight of my day to go to cross country practice."

The Indians are going to need some varsity newcomers to keep their run atop Class 2A going since departed leaders such as Mitch O'Neill, Brandon Griffin and Kenan McQueen will need to be replaced. But that still doesn't alter the expectations.

"We always have the bar raised high in our program, but we take steps to achieve our goals throughout the season," Heinitz said. "We know we have four very experienced athletes returning in Alec Baldwin, Keith Byers, Will Norris and Daniel Stover. We also know that we have three very inexperienced runners on varsity this year that need time to learn. We are not where we need to be right now to compete for another state title, but our goal is to get there by the end of the season. We also know that things out of our control such as injuries can change the look of a team dramatically, so we take nothing for granted."