Grandview Track & Field - Where Winning Isn't The Only Thing

Grandview Track & Field - Where Winning Isn't The Only Thing

One thought kept rolling around in my head as I drove to Grandview High's campus on the southwestern edge of Kansas City. If I write an article about Grandview's six straight Missouri Class 3 boys' state titles, will it jinx them in their pursuit of number seven?

I posed this question to Harvey Kendall, or Coach Harvey to everyone who knows him. Coach Harvey is one of the key assistant track coaches who has been instrumental in building and maintaining the Bulldogs' track and field dynasty.

  "Ain't nothing about no jinx," Harvey responded in a slow drawl that contains remnants of his North Carolina roots. "It's about doing things the right way."

  Harvey knows a thing or two about molding youngsters into state champions. Both he and his wife were track All-Americans at St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, NC. Their two sons, Harvey, Jr. and Maliek, were former Missouri state champions at Grandview and a big part of building the Bulldogs into one of Missouri's most respected and decorated high school track programs.

"The main thing is you come out here and you be disciplined," preaches Harvey.  "You understand what we're doing. Stay with the program, be a model citizen at home, in the community and when you're here at the school. If you master those three things - take care of business at home, take care of business in the community and take care of business at school, everything else will flow right here on the track."

When I went looking for head track Coach Russell Dotson at one of Grandview's first practices this year, I didn't spot him until one of the students pointed him out to me. His youthfulness allows him to easily blend in with his athletes. Earlier this month he tweeted out a selfie of himself doing a live backflip. Coach Dot knows how to enjoy life and he knows how to instill a work ethic into his athletes that produces state titles.

"We work with these kids a lot on character and how to properly react to success and failure," explains Dotson. "You might not think a six-time state championship team knows much about failure but I can tell you every point we lost at the state meet due to a dropped baton or a false start. It's not easy to get teenagers to act like role models but that's exactly what we asked of them. Not every athlete succeeds with how we want them to practice, act and perform but we've been pretty good at getting our kids to buy into what we are doing."

Easy to do if you're surrounded by a supportive family and plenty of resources. That is not the case for some of these Grandview student athletes.

"Some of these kids have next to nothing," says Dana Bedwell, the head girls track coach who spends almost as much time working with the boys' team. "What some of these kids overcome to be here and be champions is just remarkable. I could not be prouder of their success."

When I asked Dana how long she's been part of the Grandview track program she froze mid-step as we strolled off Grandview's Columbia-blue track.

"I usually answer that question with, 'Longer than you've been alive.' But I don't think that applies with you, Greg." For the record, Dana has been coaching at Grandview since 1991 - and she still looks like she could turn a pretty mean 400.

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"We talk to (our athletes) about what we have accomplished with what we have. We tell them we are going to 'Rocky train!' We are going to be out in the snow, punching trees - if that's what we've got to do, cool! We have to be creative with what we have and how we adjust our training. You can get a lot done in a school hallway. You can get a lot done over 50 meters if you do it right."

Coach Dotson is showing his sprinters how he wants them to pace off the placement of their blocks as they get ready to race their 100-meter time trial. He places the heel of his right foot just inside the start line and then places his left heel against his right toes.

"Place your heel on the inside of the start line," teaches Dotson. "Not the outside or just close to it. Place it on the inside every time!"

As Dotson demonstrates this to the two dozen sprinters who crowd around him, he explains why this is so important.

"These are small things," he explains. "They may seem insignificant but these small things can make a big difference."

Much more than teaching high school kids how to run fast and jump high are going on here at Grandview. On this March afternoon the temps are sprinter warm as they reach into the mid 80s. Despite the heat, the kids listen intently to their coach and he hopes they hear what he says.

  "It's about consistency," says Dotson. "It's about doing things the same way every time. You don't want them coming up to their blocks all willy-nilly and different all the time. It's about routine."

  Routine is not something familiar to many of these Grandview athletes.

  "We have a lot of single-parent moms," says Coach Harvey. "If they are having problems at home, we're gonna come see you. Clean up that nasty bedroom! Clean up that bathroom! Put them dishes away! It's just little things but we as a community need to have our kids focus on these things. It's not just about athletics."

This theme of taking pride in what you do off the track is omnipresent in the Grandview track program. In the weeks I spent with the GHS team this spring, I observed as much teaching about life as I did the proper technique for taking a relay handoff or the optimum stride technique when sprinting around a curve. 

"The main thing is that focus of accountability and being respectable," explains Coach Harvey. "Knowing that wherever you go, people are going to look at you with a higher standard. When people see Grandview, I don't want to see us doing something out of character. A lot of people may think of Grandview and think of something different but Grandview is a great community."

Angie Annelus is a Grandview graduate and one of the state's most decorated sprinters. Her rare talent has her running for UCLA now as a sophomore. I asked Angie to explain why Grandview's track program is so successful.

"Everyone is on the same page from the first practice until the final meet," said Annelus. "We all have the same goal and that is to win state. We want to be part of that legacy and tradition that is Grandview track."

Angie spoke highly of her coaches, especially Coach Bedwell who she recalls as a positive female role model for herself and the other girls on the team.

"All the coaches take their time and they make sure to shape the program around the athlete rather than force the athlete to conform to a standard," said Angie. "The coaches make sure every athlete has a chance to be on the track team. If you need a ride home, they'll make sure you have one."

When I told Angie I heard Coach Harvey kidding with one of his girl hurdlers that he didn't want to see her talking to any boys, she laughed and replied, "That's Coach Harvey. Coach Harvey would always listen to your problems but he wasn't there to sympathize. He practiced tough love. Coach Harvey was like a dad figure to the team."

Coach Harvey does not exude warmth when you first meet him. I got the feeling he was sizing me and my camera up as he watched me from across the track on my first trip to a Grandview practice last month.

Kentwan Blackstock, a senior high jumper who Grandview will depend on to score some valuable points at state next month, caught Coach Harvey's eye as he was in the high jump pit and Harvey worked the hurdlers 50 yards away.

"Is that bar set at 6'6?" Harvey loudly questioned Blackstock.

Without waiting for a replay, Harvey bellowed again. "Don't you be lying to me!"  Harvey then took a few threatening steps toward the high-jump pit to underline his concern.

"Make sure that high jump bar is set at six foot!" yelled Harvey. "First time out, we don't want to get hurt."

When I asked Blackstock privately about Coach Harvey and his relationship with the student athletes his face lit up into a smile.

"Coach Harvey, when you look at him, he seems scary," said Blackstock. "But he's hilarious. He is always encouraging us. He'll never put you down and he will always be there for you if you need him. When you talk smack to Coach Harvey he'll say, 'What'd you say? I'll drop kick you!' He's always playing."

On my third trip to Grandview for track practice, Coach Harvey appeared to be warming to my presence. He stopped his hurdlers' workout to make sure I was introduced to one of the track team's equipment managers, a junior named Cody Willoughby.

"Make sure you get a picture of this man," Harvey said as he motioned toward Cody. "He is the guy who makes everything happen."

Cody allowed a sheepish grin to cross his face as he loaded pole vault poles onto a cart. When I asked Cody to step over to where Harvey stood so I could get a photo of them together, he did so with all the confidence of a sprinter lining up for the 800.

Watching how Harvey treated Cody as not only a member of the team but an important member of the team was a subtle message to his athletes that everything and everyone matters to the success of the team. Even more importantly it was genuine.

"I look as these kids as if they are my kids, said Harvey. "A big misnomer is that kids and athletes don't want discipline. They want that discipline. They want that love. You can't be fake with them though because they'll realize that. That's how you capture them."

There is nothing fancy about Grandview's track program. The weight room is ancient when compared to many other high school's facilities. The fieldhouse where the team meets would be just as comfortable storing lawnmowers. Their track uniforms are simple and devoid of bling.

"We're never going to be braggarts or predict that we're going to win state," Harvey tells me in the quiet of the Grandview weight room. The room shows decades of wear from athletes long gone who have toiled here to make their marks.

"There's no special elixir," said Harvey. "The only thing we do is we put these kids in the right direction to move forward. We want to be healthy and we want to be ready to compete. That's what we've been doing for the last six years - competing."

"Our goal is to give these kids something they've never had before," said Harvey with a touch of determination in his voice.

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 "We're competing in a sport determined by milliseconds," said Coach Dotson. "Everything counts. I'm one of the few coaches who wishes they wouldn't have gotten rid of the jewelry rule. Every ounce counts!"

Dotson was a sprinter at Lincoln High his first two years in high school and then transferred to Hogan Prep his final two years where he graduated in 2002. He was also a summer teammate in high school to the great Olympic female sprinter, Muna Lee.

   "I trained with Muna Lee (who ran 11.3 at KC's Central High) in high school on my summer team because none of the guys were fast enough to run with me," recalls Dotson.

   "She was a senior when I was a sophomore, so every day at practice I lined up next to Muna. As I slid into the blocks I said to myself, 'If I lose, I lose my man card.'"

  I asked Dotson if he ever lost to Lee at practice. He paused for just a second or two before answering.

"I'm gonna say, 'No'...(another short pause followed by a chuckle)...because I can't remember her beating me."

Dotson then shuffled his feet and refolded his arms.  

"Now, she might - she MIGHT remember a day differently. But hey, she was fast. There's no shame getting beat by Muna. She was a stud."

Dotson has been with the Grandview track team since 2010 and has had a hand in all six state titles. He started as the sprints coach in 2010 and took over as the head coach last year.

"We had a pretty talented group of sprinters my first year but they were knuckleheads," recalls Dotson. "They ran a 42.1 4x100 and won the 4x200 at Sectionals but they goofed it up at state because of off-the-track stuff. They had an opportunity to win at state but they were more concerned with having fun."

Dotson remembers the ride home from state after his first year at Grandview. He had a bus full of juniors who had seen how talented the seniors were but how they had messed up their chances at state.

"We weren't riding in that nice big bus either," laughs Dotson. "We were in Dodge Caravans! We came in tenth overall at state in the biggest class, which is not a bad showing for a school our size. I told the juniors, 'We are going to come down here and win the whole thing next year.' All those juniors bought in and as soon as football was over the next fall, we were in the hallways working. We were doing acceleration stuff, fast stuff because that's what they're built for. We worked from November to May and we won state."

So what is it that makes Grandview's program special? Sure, they have great athletes but a lot of schools have great athletes. How do you win six consecutive state titles in a row?

"A lot of high school track coaches are coming from a cross country background where they were cross country athletes," explains Dotson. "Their practice model is then a product of distance training. They think that running a bunch of 300s or running kids long is going to make them better in the short races. It sounds right, but when you get educated on the proper training you find it's the opposite."

Dotson has one eye on me as we talk on the track and another on a group of athletes working with Coach Bedwell on core exercises. Bedwell yells over to Dotson and asks if he wants 30 seconds or 60 seconds on this particular drill.

"One minute! One minute each! Get 'em up, Josh! Get better!"

A coach is always coaching - and the little things add up to big things here at Grandview.

"Everybody is looking for that magic bullet," said Dotson. "A lot of high school programs don't lift weights but you've got to! We try to match it up with what we do on the track. To run your fastest you need to be your strongest."

If there is a magic bullet to Grandview's success at state it is in their weight training. As the team completed an early-season practice, Dotson challenged his team with this statement.

"Those of you who want to be making that drive down to state with us in May will want to join us in the weight room."

 I didn't see a single athlete head to the parking lot.

I followed the team up to their weight room and heard Dotson ask if they wanted this to be a three-set day or a two-set day.

"THREE!" the boys responded in unison.

The willingness to work hard and be great is evident in the kids who wear the Grandview name across their chest.  

"It feels good to have Grandview across your chest when walking around at a track meet," said Verrell "Sonny" Garrett, a junior sprinter. "We've got a target on our backs at every meet. Everybody wants to beat the team that's won six straight state titles. The seniors from last year taught us the Grandview way. They were a great example. I let the young guys now know that everything you do at practices is going to show in the meets. When we leave Grandview, I want the team success to continue through these young guys."

Grandview is no different than a lot of schools in that they too deal with kids making poor decisions. An openness with the coaches and athletes allows those issues to become known and resolved.

"We just had an incident where some girls were getting after each other on social media," explained Coach Bedwell. "Some girls came to me and said, 'Coach, we need to have a team meeting to address this and put a stop to it.' So, we had a meeting to let everyone know we need to be supportive of each other. It was the girls who made me aware of the issue and initiated that meeting."

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High school coaches make sacrifices that go unnoticed by many athletes and parents. Grandview coaches make more sacrifices than most.

"I would drop kids off at home when their mom couldn't get off of work to come get them," said Dotson. "You have to do what you have to do. I look around and see how many shoes I have donated to my kids. I've told them I will take the shirt off my back and give it to you if I have another one in my bag."

"We're a Title I school, man," said Dotson, sounding a bit frustrated for the first time in our many meetings. "Our kids don't have a lot. I have to help with that. I try to get them shoes - if you wear my size and I've got an extra pair - boom, you've got 'em! We don't get new stuff every year. We can't charge kids athletic fees - I wish we could - but we're Title 1. If we started charging for sports programs we might not have sports programs because people couldn't afford it."

Coach Harvey works with many Kansas City area athletes over the summer months to improve their talents.

"One of the things that make our Grandview athletes different is that a lot of them commit themselves throughout the summer and even throughout the whole year, said Harvey. "Track in the KC metro area is a large sport that not too many people talk about. They'll talk about soccer, they'll talk about football and basketball but we can have 10,000 or 15,000 kids competing on a weekend at track meets. Nobody seems to understand just how huge track and field is in this area."

"We teach kids how to run with correct body placement and posture," explained Harvey. "When kids go through growth spurts, the naturally fast kids will slow down if they don't know the basic principles of running technique and mechanics."

"These kids that have helped us win these last six state titles, these kids were year-round track athletes. You need to give kids reassurance that you care about them, that you're just not concerned with them during the season. They need to know that you care about their future. You're giving them discipline and making sure they understand that they can do a lot of things in life if they dedicate themselves to it."

Harvey slowly rubs the palms of his hands together as he tries to articulate the core philosophy behind Grandview's success at the Missouri state track meet.

"You have to make kids understand that I love you but I'm not going to tolerate any foolishness from you," Harvey stated. "I make that perfectly clear. They know if they need something I'll be there for them. They can call me at four o'clock in the morning and I'll come and see what's going on. But if you're out there fooling around and messing up, I'm gonna come check you on that as well!"

A teacher sent Coach Bedwell an email last week regarding the deportment of Deyvion Franklin, a freshman on the boys' track team.

"The class was pretty rowdy and many students were off task," the email began. "However, Deyvion stood out as a leader. He was mature, completed all of his work in a timely manner and conducted himself as an outstanding student athlete. He is a great representation of the track team and his effort should not go unnoticed."

"I'm so happy one of our kids got caught being good. He's a great kid," replied Bedwell.

"It's important to be a leader and to encourage others to do good in class and on the track," Deyvion told me when I asked about being recognized for his leadership. "It's encouraging to help people move forward and do what they've got to do. The way my momma raise me is the way you act at home is the way you're supposed to act at school. You are representing your parents when you are at school."

Coach Dotson was impressed. "It's hard to be that," said Dotson. "It's hard to be the kid who does the right thing when everybody else is acting up. I know that's inside our kids. I don't think that's just from the track team but rather that's from that kid's parents and his community. Hopefully, we can help foster that."

"Talent is not always the deciding factor of winning," explained Harvey. "You have to have that respectability of hard work and being smart. Doing things the right way at the right time all the time. Not some of the time! Not 90% of the time - but 140% of the time! If you can do that, you'll succeed in life whatever you do. And our main focus here at Grandview is about succeeding in life. We want people to see Grandview kids and say, 'Man, those kids are remarkable!'"

Greg Hall
greghall24@yahoo.com
 

Quotes and Notes

There are always a number of quotes and notes you can't quite fit into a story but you don't want to leave out. Here are a few from my time with the Grandview Bulldogs.

·        "I like that Belton track. Nice wide curves. Kids think it's more than 400 meters because of those curves. They come back to me after a race and say, 'Coach, that's more than 400 meters!' I have to tell them, 'Guys, every track is 400 meters.' I've got seniors I'm still arguing with on that!"
-- Coach Dotson

 

·        "Every year we're always counted out and people say that we're going to lose state. To be honest we don't really focus on winning state. We focus on being able to compete at state and get PRs. If that happened we're going to be in the hunt. Then when everything is all put together and said and done, we want to be standing up there on that podium."
-- Coach Harvey

 

·        "Put some cocoa butter on that cut! Girls aren't supposed to have bruised up and scraped up legs."
-- Coach Harvey

 

·        The Grandview coaches are very high on the freshmen talent on both the boys' and girls' track teams. Dotson believes there are about ten guys who, if they stick with it and work hard, could all be very special.

 

·        Talk about young talent. Coach Harvey has one more child at home who might be the family's best track star yet. Essence Kendall is only in sixth grade but she already owns a national age-group high jump record. And Essence is just as sweet as you would expect coming out of the Harvey home.

 

·        "We had a pole vault state champion - which is crazy. Romey Reaws won the pole vault out of nowhere in 2011. He had no-heighted the year before. That's one thing we need to get back to - and our guys don't look like all the other pole vaulters. You don't see too many black guys pole vaulting."
-- Coach Dotson

 

·        "A better coach than me said the climb to the top is easy but staying there takes character. We get on our kids on a daily basis about language, grades, how they act in the community."
-- Coach Dotson

 

·        Coach Harvey and his wife celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary recently. When I asked him how he met his future wife in college he stated, "She saw me." The skepticism must have been obvious on my face because Harvey broke into a huge grin and we laughed loudly together. "True story!" he chuckled. "She'll tell you!" I will need to get to the bottom of this the next time I see Coach's bride.

BIG S/O to @deyvionfranklin for being a leader in the classroom and a Beast on the track! #STUDENT-ATHLETE #BeBoth I want more emails likeBIG S/O to @deyvionfranklin for being a leader in the classroom and a Beast on the track! #STUDENT-ATHLETE #BeBoth I want more emails like