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Show IP 1 Page 7 Orem-Geneva Times Wednesday, November 2, 1994 Orem's Kara Ormond captures first W irk iip (Ota m M Cfciuepneoiiiip In the weight room at Mountain Moun-tain View High School there is a wall dedicated to the school's State and Region championships. The wall sports several painted pennants and though there are a few blank spots remaining most have the words State Champion or Region Champion etched into history. A couple even have the words "National Champion." Many of the titles belong to the Mountain View's Girls Cross Country team, that, not surprisingly, surpris-ingly, spends plenty of time pumping pump-ing iron in the basement room. While the wall has grown somewhat some-what out of date-the school's titles often come faster than the wall can be changed-it is one more title behind be-hind after the Girls captured their t v " - s f X , . Kara Ormond sprints ahead place finish. Kara Ormond by Gina Clark, Sports writer In last week's cross country state championship race, Orem's Kara Ormond wasn't the clear-cut clear-cut favorite. Nagging shin splints had kept Ormond out of some of the earlier races in the season, so she hadn't really established herself her-self as the one to beat. Still, Ormond was by no means the underdog. As a sophomore, she took fourth in the state race, then moved up one slot her junior year at the championships. champion-ships. "I think she had to go in as one of the contenders," Orem Coach Terry Bell said. "Everybody knows that she can run." And run she did. Ormond outpaced out-paced her competitors in the championship race, crossing the line in 18:03 to take the state cross country title. In winning the race, though, Ormond even surprised herself. "I think it's a h ! I - Mtn. VieVV rUnnerS Win State . . . seconds ahead of Curtis Moore. Both were among Bingham's toughest competitors. Even with first and second place victories in the bag Mountain Moun-tain View's victory was in question. ques-tion. As runners streamed across the line Bingham and Mountain View runners seemed to be everywhere. But neither team had crossed its fifth runner. While the clock ticked away time slowed to a crawl for Houle, the team, and a healthy contingent contin-gent of Bruin fans. Less than a minute after James captured the individual title Bruin Senior Wade Allen crossed the finish line with a 15:43.5 and became the fifth Bruin across the line. Like teammate team-mate Parkinson, he too had a battled bat-tled a last minute duel against Bingham's Jeff Hopkinson. Allen's fifteenth place finish was the icing that helped clinch the Bruins' fourth State Championship Champion-ship victory in five years. It was particularly fitting that Allen was the nail in Bingham's coffin. Last season Allen ran on the J.V. team through the school year and watched from the sidelines as the Bruin boys won ninth State Championship at Sugarhouse Park last week. "Our girls got out and turned it into a two team race," said Head Coach Dave Houle, "Orem stayed with us and didn't give up. But luckily for us, we were able to hold them off." In a pre-race strategy session earlier in the week the team agreed the secret to a team crown would be putting dreams of the individual titles aside. They also agreed they would have to eliminate the other teams early in the race. The race started with one false start but that didn't keep the team from executing their strategy. A runner from Orem High School led the group of 115 at the mile split with two competitors in tow but " ! 1 of the pack on her way to a first ' Orem's State Champ really good achievement," she said. "I just wasn't really expecting expect-ing it." At the beginning of the race, Ormond said she got caught in the back. When she finally worked her way up to the front, she thought there were more runners run-ners ahead of her nearest competitors, com-petitors, a runner from Bountiful and one from Kearns. But there was no one else, so when Ormond overtook them, she took the lead. By the last mile, Ormond said, "it kicked in", and she managed to cross the line just four seconds slower than her best time of 17:59 recorded in last year's tournament tourna-ment race. The lower leg trouble that plagued Ormond throughout the season bothered her during the championship race as well. "I ran with the pain," Ormond said. Still, the pain was likely a small price to pay for a state title. Ormond also runs track for the State. He yearned to make a contribution con-tribution to a Championship caliber team and from thatrday on he was committed to taking a victory vic-tory lap with the State trophy. Exactly 364 days later Allen got his wish. For the day Mountain View finished with 35 points, Bingham with 42. Though they didn't know it at the time, the dedication dedica-tion of James and Allen combined with the gutsy performance of Parkinson, Andrus, and Farrer were the difference between the Championship and second place. "We are grateful for the opportunity oppor-tunity and the moment," Houle says, "yet we realize it could have turned out different one dny later." 1994 State Cross Country Championships - Boys 1. Zak James, MV, 14:54.0 2. Dula Parkinson, MV, 15:01.3 3. Corbin Talley, Bingham, 15:03.6 4. Adam Stark, Taylorsville, 15:14.2 5. Curtis Moore, Bingham, 15:15.5 two seconds back a cluster of Lady Bruins had their sights set on a the team title. The Veteran runners had set the tone and their younger peers followed the lead. Both Orem andMountain View battled over much of the course and as the seconds ticked away the field opened up. With three-quarters of a mile to go, Bonneville's Heidi Weir and Keams runner Nicole Hyer were in the lead but Orem Senior Kara Ormond was within striking distance of the win. With less than a half-mile to go, Ormond had closed the gap on Weir and Hyer. Moments later Ormond crossed the line with an 18:03.4 finish and captured the individual title. On the sidelines. n 1 1. i By Kevin Young, Sports Writer From the looks of Dave Houle's office - if you can call it that -you'd never know he is one of the most successful coaches in the state, maybe even the nation. His chair isn't a high-back like the one La-Vell La-Vell Edwards uses. Nor does it have the prestige of Jerry Sloan's. Instead a government surplus desk sits in a dimly lit corner under a pile of grade books, papers, and old copies of Harriers magazine. Just the same, Houle's teams have a way of striking it rich. During his career Houle has racked rack-ed up 21 State Championships of one sort or another during an 11 year career at Mountain View Last week Houle coached the Boy : Tigers in the two mile and one mile events. As a sophomore, she earned a third place state finish in her favorite event, the two mile. With the state title under her belt, Ormond now has time to think about college. She has received some 85 letters and several calls from colleges across the country, but is still "just looking look-ing around right now", Ormond said. Kara, daughter of Pat and Dianne Ormond, would be a great pick for any college program because be-cause of her natural ability. But according to Bell, it goes deeper than that. "She's been extremely tough mentally," Bell commented. com-mented. "Basically, she knows that she can run with anybody." Ormond's teammates Elissa Perkins, Melanie McClellan, Marie Hodson, and Adrienne Sorenson also finished in the top 25 in 5A. Continued from FrontPage 6. Jon Green, Roy, 15:21.4 7. Ryan Andrus, MV, 15:23.0 8. Lee Lorenz, Bingham, 15:30.1 9. Ryan Bullock, Bingham, 15:31.1 10. Andy Farrer, MV, 15:32.2 15. Wade Allen, MV, 15:43.5 20. Schuyler Judd, Orem, 15:56.8 34. Kevin Casper, MV, 16:23.4 50. Chris Whetten, Orem, 16:41.9 51. Devin Bybee, MV, 16:42.3 52. Dan Hodson, Orem, 16:44.1 56. Tommy Peterson, Orem, 16:46.5 61. Jacob Anderson, Orem, .16:50.8 '' 65. Christian Vesterfelt, Orem, 16:55.0 90. Josh Barna, Orem, 17:36.0 Team Scores 1. Mountain View, 35 2. Bingham, 42 3. Roy, 84 7. Orem, 235 As fans, coaches, and parents waited, runners from Mountain View and Orem flooded the finish chute. In the end Mountain View's team edged the Lady Tigers for the team title but it didn't come without a fight. Of the competition's top 25 runners, over half were from Orem or Mountain View. "We figured we'd have to have four of our girls in the top ten to get the win," said Houle. "We tried to eliminate the other teams to avoid a surprise and the work paid off." Houle also cited the team's injury-free injury-free status as a big contributor to this year's success. The win is the Lady Bruins' ninth State Championship in ten years. and Girls Cross Country teams to State Championship Titles. It was the third time Houle's teams have accomplished the feat. It is also something no other 4A or 5A team has ever accomplished. Both teams have been nationally nation-ally ranked five straight years. (The Boys are ranked third and the Girls are perched at fourth.) ESPN television caught wind of the team's successes and sent a film crew out earlier this summer. The program will air on November 28th. This month the team is featured fea-tured in the LDS publication The New Era. Houle's kids are also academic wizards. (Many of his graduates have written their own tickets to the university of their choice.) This year, 12 of 35 Boys have a 3.90 GPA or higher. Two have 4.0s-five if you ad the three 3.99s. His girls do even better, 16 of 39 are 3.9. Eleven of the 39 have perfect 4.0 record. Through all the success, Houle is..., well..., Houle. In interviews he is cautions with his wording for fear someone will take it out of context and call his statement "sour grapes." Each year he wonders how it happens, how such seemingly random opportunities oppor-tunities land at this doorstep. Yet every time, Houle manages to make lemonade of the lemons. He also acknowledges help from a higher deity, because as he tells it, their is no other plausible explanation. ex-planation. He was wasn't a superstar. su-perstar. Nor did he set any school records. After last week's victories, The Orem-Geneva Times had a chance to chat with Houle about winning, kids, and life. Orem-Geneva Times: What is it like to coach a school to its third consecutive Boy and Girls titles? On the Sidelines with Zak James, State Cross Country Champion By Kevin Young, Sports Writer If you were to pass Zak James in the hallway of Mountain View High School he would be hard to distinguish from any other kid. There would be a Michigan baseball hat atop his head and he'd be surrounded by a cluster of friends. Eavesdropping you might overhear something about how english class rated near the bottom of favorite school subjects. Then again, he may be talking about some recent mountain bike trip to the slickrock ridges of Moab. But if you had seen him make his move just past the mile mark of the State Cross Country Championships Cham-pionships you'd realize he wasn't "just another kid." Zak started his career with Mountain View's cross country team by accident "It looked interesting," inter-esting," he explained, "so I decided to give it a try." In December the team will travel to California for the Foot Locker classic in Sacramento. 1994 State Cross Country Championships Girls 1. Kara Ormond, Orem, 18:03.4 2. Not Available 3. Heidi Weir, Bonneville, 18:06.1 4. Nicole Hyer, Kearns, 18:19.6 5. Wendy Allen, MV, 18:24.8 6. Shelby Steele, MV, 18:36.8 7. Robynn Hill, Fremont, 18:42.8 8. Susan Taylor, Skyline, 18:52.7 . 9. Jenny Bybee, MV, 18:54.6 10. Heidi Naylor, Roy, 18:56.8 Dave Houle: I can't tell you how glad I am that it's over. People don't understand the pressure pres-sure a coach feels when you're trying to keep both boys and girls at that level. When ydu've got a shot at having both teams win state, it doubles the pressure. You feel a responsibility to get them at their best. At the same time you're doing your best to keep your own sanity. Grin OGT: But you've got to feel good about the win... DH: First and foremost I'm grateful for the kid's effort. They've worked hard all season and they deserve the recognition. Secondly, to get just one of two you'd better be grateful. To win both is just.. I don't know... mind boggling I guess. This year we were blessed enough, maybe not qualified enough, but blessed enough, to win the gold. OGT: You sound so humble... DH: Over the years I've made mistakes and I'm still trying to make amends. When you win a State Championship it humbles you because you realize you've been given a very rare opportunity. oppor-tunity. OGT: Care to divulge any secrets to the success? , DH: The reason we win is because be-cause we're blessed. The kids visit the elderly and volunteer for service projects. It isn't Coach Houle, it is their charity, volun-teerism, volun-teerism, and their knowledge of what's really important in life. OGT: How do you motivate them though? DH: The motivation comes from within. This year Wendy Allen had a cold the week before the race. But she went to State convinced she was going to help the team and she ran as hard as she possibly could. Or take Wade Allen. As a J.V. runner he wanted to run varsity his whole At the time he was a Sophomore at Mountain View with few interests other than mountain biking, golf, and some occasional rock climbing. It didn't take Head Coach Dave Houle long to recognize Zak's natural athletic talent "He had great form, a runner's build, and was highly competitive," recalls Houle of Zak's first season, "I thought that if he put it all together on, a given day he might just become be-come a state champ." The years of cycling, or to Houle "cross training," paid off that in the first season when James lettered in cross country. That same year he and some friends made a pact: someday they would win a State cross country championship. As the months passed James running ability and talent improved im-proved dramatically. His cross training built his legs while the 11. Kathryn Henrie, MV, 18:57.5 14. Lissa Perkins, Orem, 19:03.0 15. Melanie McClellan, Orem, 19:03.6 17. Leslie Vanoy, MV, 19:07.0 21. Heather Dewitt, MV, 19:12.2 22. Katie Steele, MV, 19:17.6 23. Marie Hodson, Orem, 19:23.6 25. Adi Sorenson, Orem, 19:28.8 27. Jill Neilson, Orem, 19:30.9 68. Cristi Reid, Orem, 21:24.1 Team Scores 1. Mountain View, 38 2. Orem, 70 3. Roy, 94 PJ1 DAVE HOULE lite. After watching the team win last year he told me he wanted to run in State. One year later he finishes as our fifth runner. OGT: Any thoughts on your battles with Orem High? Every year they're right there... DH: We have a lot of respect for Orem's runners and over the years they have consistently improved. im-proved. Kara Ormond is a good example. She's a tough competitors com-petitors and she's always been right with us. At State she ran extremely well and I'm glad she had the opportunity to win. Orem is also very well coached. I have a lot of respect for Head Coach Terry Belt. OGT: Speaking of coaches, what role do your assistants play in the team's success? DH: Our coaching staff is the best bunch of people I've ever worked with. Coach Steve Ravelli is one of the most loyal assistants you could ever ask for, Terry Thomas is brought energy and enthusiasm to the program, and Laura Romo... she's just awesome. All of are so supportive and each understands their role. OGT: And what about you... DH: Me? I just feel lucky. Very, very lucky... rock climbing built his mental edge. "Like running, when you look up the side of a rock wall you have to be able to say you're not going to let it beat you," he says In his junior year he took second place honors at Region and placed fourth in State. Last week James pulled his experience, wisdom, wis-dom, cross training together and ran away with the State Individual Championship thus fulfilling Houle's prophecy and the dream of he and his friends. Despite the trophy and the publicity, Zak hasn't changed much. He still prefers fruits and vegetables over fast food. Even though he knows he shouldn't eat Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream, he still does. Still, given his penchant for and active lifestyle and success it's safe to assume hell be out there working off the few extra calories. After all, he's just your average kid. n n i |