Coaches emphasize fast finish

Silverado coach Mike Bashay had to yell over dozens of rowdy teenagers Monday, explaining what it takes for a track coach to tip the scales on the eve of the region meets.

Unlike football or basketball, where one good pregame talk can cover up inadequacies, Bashay said that's simply not possible with track.

So instead, he had the Skyhawks gather for a raucous premeet meal on the eve of the Sunrise and Sunset Regionals, which begin at 3 p.m. today at Del Sol and continue with preliminaries and finals Wednesday and finals Friday.

"With the sheer numbers of individuals you have, you can't win them over with one great, 'Win one for the Gipper' speech," said Bashay, whose boys squad will attempt to defend its Sunrise Regional championship.

"When it comes to this point, all the section coaches take their kids aside and they explain that this is what we've been training for all along. And hopefully this is the time that starts to bear a little fruit."

Area coaches agreed that this far into the season, there's not much that can be done. The figurative baton has been handed off -- all the wisdom, all the training, all the technique has been passed. Now, coaches are left crossing their fingers that a handful of their athletes will simply outdo themselves.

"Sometimes people come out of the blue and have a (personal record) that you might never expect," said Cimarron-Memorial first-year coach Nikole Szczepanski, who inherited a Spartans team that won both the girls and boys Sunset Regional titles in 2007. "A few kids I expect great things from, but some of the others step over that line and are better than you'd ever expect them to be."

Said Cheyenne coach Scott Thrasher: "When you get into regionals, if you have one strong day, it could all possibly turn on for you. But if you have a couple of bad events, your team could feed into that, too. It can turn bad really quickly."

To prevent that, Bashay said it was important to identify multiple athletes in each event early. This season more than others, Silverado has had to rely on its strong numbers. With no clear-cut stars, the Skyhawks have had to discover hidden gems, from top to bottom.

"As much as we've always talked about 'team' and the effort that we've needed from everybody, we've always had those athletes that really helped us out," Bashay said. "Now, it's our depth that's gonna give us a shot. We talked to our kids a lot about expectations, and we've explained to them how important it is for the least they do to be their entry mark -- and then they'll have an opportunity to finish higher than what they were seeded at.

"I don't care if you're in the performance list or the seeding list or listed 11th, I tell them to do better, get 10th."