Columnist

October 23, 2006

Excellent Article on Recruiting from Chicago Suntimes

'I'll take anyone who can walk and make him a champion'

Newton's passion undiminished after 25 state titles

October 22, 2006

BY TAYLOR BELL

For someone whose life has been timed by a stopwatch, York cross-country coach Joe Newton was trying to explain why he was 25 hours late for an interview.

''I forgot,'' Newton said. ''I was in the gym recruiting freshmen. All day, from 6:30 in the morning. You know, that's the lifeblood of the program. Then I go into every class and make my sales pitch to the kids. Hey, out of 150 candidates, I got 70.''

And the heartbeat goes on.

Newton has an aching back and needs surgery to replace his right hip.

''But I'm in great shape for a guy who is 77 years old,'' he said.

And, he might add, a guy who has been coaching for 50 years.

''I had a running streak from Aug. 3, 1973, to Aug. 27, 1994. I never missed a day,'' he said. ''I was trying to beat a marathoner from England who ran for 25 years.''

Goals always have been an important part of Newton's life. He is one of the most successful coaches in the history of high school sports in the United States. How many others can boast of 25 state championships? How many have produced 150 runners who have earned college scholarships?

Newton is having too much fun to consider retirement. He wants to win 30 state titles if his health holds up. He was going to quit after winning 20, then 25. If he gets to 30, he said, he might not quit until he reaches 35.

But this year, his goal is No. 26.

''I have a passion for it; it keeps me young,'' Newton said. ''It's all about setting goals and living your dream. If you can find five guys who can run 15 minutes or better for three miles in the state meet, you have a good chance to win.''

That's the secret to Newton's success. Every year, he seeks to identify incoming freshmen who have the potential to join York's Long Green Line. He insists he knows who they are in two or three weeks. But he concedes the best freshmen sometimes are the worst seniors and the worst freshmen sometimes develop into the best seniors. So he must train them.

''I didn't know who [Newton] was when I was in junior high school, but my counselor said he would change my life, and he did,'' said volunteer coach Jim Hedman, a member of the 1978 state championship team. ''He is a fantastic motivator. It isn't the workouts; it's the motivation and the tradition.''

The process begins in April. Newton asks the coaches at the three junior high schools in Elmhurst to identify ''anyone who has a talent for running.'' He then mails 400 letters to invite potential runners to participate in his summer program. He usually gets 200 to 230 responses.

The kids train for five weeks, from mid-June to the end of July. They train from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday at East End Park in Elmhurst, 10 to 12 miles each day. Then they return in the afternoon and run five more miles on York's track.

On the first day of classes at York, Newton recruits freshmen. He dispatches some of his older runners into the halls to pitch his program to kids who have shown some interest. The next day, Newton talks to each freshman class in the gym.

''I make my pitch,'' he said. ''If you don't do it, they won't come to you. You have to have talent to play football, basketball or baseball. In cross-country, I'll take anyone who can walk and make him a champion.

''Ninety percent of the guys I recruit as freshmen aren't very good. But four years later, they are all-state, All-American, and get college scholarships. ... We train them correctly. I know what I'm doing is right, and I take care of my kids. We're a family. They come and buy into the program.''

Ron Craker (1975), Jim White (1984), Donald Sage (1999) and Sean McNamara (2004) are the only individual champions Newton has produced. Sage was a 12-time All-American at Stanford in cross-country and track. Another standout, Marius Bakken, won the mile and 2-mile runs on Newton's only state championship track team in 2000. He later starred at Indiana and has competed in two Olympics for his native Norway.

But that isn't the norm for a Newton-coached team. He claims the size of an average freshman runner is 5 feet tall and 80 to 90 pounds.

''For the first five days, they run one lap, a quarter-mile,'' Newton said. ''It isn't hard. They ask: 'Can I run a little more?' Then I've got 'em hooked. They start out easy and build from there. That keeps them in the program. If I run them too hard, they'll all quit. I make sure it is fun.''

They run 20 miles a week as freshmen, 40 as sophomores, 60 as juniors and 80 to 100 as seniors. Newton reminds them that if they have the same talent as the other guy, if they run 80 miles a week and the other guy is running only 40, they'll be more prepared for the state meet.

Guys such as Dan Ruecking, a 1991 graduate who now is a soldier in Iraq, couldn't break seven minutes for a mile as a freshman, but he ran 4:20 to 4:25 as a senior and was the best runner on the cross-country team.

This year's Dan Ruecking is senior Kevin Spicer, who wasn't good enough to run in the state meet last season but is one of the Dukes' best runners this season.

Even though his uncle and brother had participated in cross-country at York, Spicer never thought about running until a friend persuaded him to join the team as a freshman.

''I just wanted to be in the top seven coming into this year, but I was the fourth man in our last meet,'' Spicer said. ''It wouldn't have been possible without [Newton]. He has definitely pushed me -- from not caring much about running to running being one of the biggest priorities in my life.''

''When kids come to high school, they've heard I am tough and we work very hard,'' Newton said. ''Right away, they don't want to go out. But the perception of me changes after they start. I'm fair and I'm tough, and we have discipline and love every guy out there. We make everyone feel he is responsible for the state title.''