Building the pyramid is key to success at Medical Lake

There used to be a time when Memorial Day weekend was spent largely watching the rain drip off the blue tarps along Deadman’s Creek or the Lochsa River and trying to evade the so-called smoldering campfire smoke that supposedly “follows beauty,” someone always lamely joked.

But that was in a place far away and time long ago, well before Medical Lake’s resurgence as a track power, and their being in regular conversations about winning 1A state championships.

People at Hart High School north of Los Angeles also probably used to have other plans on weekends, too. That being before Gene Blankenship arrived in 1982 and reenergized their track and cross country programs, just as he has since he came to Medical Lake in 2010.

Often boastful — sometimes even publicly to the ire of his bosses — Blankenship continues to deliver at age 70 as the head coach of both cross country and track programs in Medical Lake. But when you and your team walks the walk to back up the talk, what’s to complain about?

In the past three state track championships at Eastern Washington University’s Roos Field his teams have finished first, second and third.

The Medical Lake boys overachieved almost beyond what Blankenship thought possible Saturday as just six guys scored enough points to earn the Cardinals a tie for third place. “I picked us to finish fifth,” he said.

When Blankenship coached in California, where he attained hall-of-fame status, the dean of students at Hart called him “the pied piper of track and cross country,” he said.

He retired from work in parks and recreation for Los Angeles County and took those skills with him when wife Sue took a job in Spokane years ago.

Blankenship explained his theory when it comes to building track and cross country programs and it’s based on “the pyramid.”

“You get many kids at the base in both cross country and track and let the talent float to the top of the pyramid,” Blankenship said.

The more kids you have out the better the program. They push each other to be better, Blankenship said.

Half joking, perhaps more serious, Blankenship said if he had his way his sports would be a requirement for graduation.

Running sports are unique, he said. “Nobody says they play track or cross country,” Blankenship said and describes track and cross country as, “A group of individuals that come together to be a team.”

Credit the athletes for sure, but Blankenship said that his assistant coaches like David and Crystal McNeill, Durran Bates and Lisa Henry makes the team successful for he and co-head coach Steve Keith, the field events guy.

“David McNeill deserves a lot of credit,” Blankenship said. “He and I have been together for a few years now; he volunteered at West Valley with me.”

When Blankenship came to Medical Lake, McNeill followed. And after his sprints coach quit following his first year, there was no question who would be hired — a distance guy and that was McNeill.

“David is a studier,” Blankenship said. “He studies and videos and all that kind of stuff.”

McNeill, a certified math teacher, worked as a substitute for years but was later hired at Medical Lake’s Alternative High School.

Blankenship added that sprinter Keyhon Ross came out of the alternative school. “I’m not sure how much David did in recruiting him.”

“We’re going to suffer a little bit in track next year, but we’re going to be OK in cross country,” Blankenship said. “We lost a ton of seniors (in track).”

Well past the time in life when most people his age long for downtime, Blankenship can be found oftentimes making the daily commute to Medical Lake from home at Newman Lake near the Washington-Idaho state line border.

When will he retire from coaching Blankenship was asked in a Q&A on a track and cross country website, Don’s Diary?

“When I start waking up in the morning and don’t want to go to practice,” he said. Reading between the lines, Sue parsed the answer saying that would be “Never.”

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.