In the summer of 1995, I worked a three month internship at The Warroad Pioneer, which I'm sorry to say has since ceased operation. This was the first professional newspaper that I worked for in my career, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I had only worked at Bemidji State University's newspaper for about a year and half before landing the internship. At The Pioneer I gained experience in sports, feature, beat and government reporting. I designed pages, took and developed photographs and was responsible for community relations. The best part is that I remain friends with the owners nearly 30 years later.
June 6, 1995
By Devlyn Brooks
Not only did the Warroad boys and girls teams send over 10 qualifiers to the Section 8A meet last week, their coaches picked up a couple of awards themselves. Coach Dawn Knoll and Coach Richard McBride both were voted Coach of the Year for their Sub-section.
Coach of the Year is voted on by all coaches in the sub-section. Both coaches said that "it was a great honor" to be recognized by their fellow coaches.
"It shows that some hard work by us (the coaches) and the kids has been recognized," Knoll said.
McBride said he thought that part of the reason he was voted for was the success his team had at the sub-section. They scored 106 points, earning the team a second place finish, and sent on 10 individual qualifiers and two relay teams to the section meet.
"I give all the credit in the world to the boys," McBride said.
The second place finish is the best finish the boys team has had in at least 10 years.
Coach Knoll's award was given more on what she accomplished with a small varsity team. In the beginning of the season, she had four varsity runners. At the end, she had nine varsity runners, four individual qualifiers for the section and a team relay that qualified for sections.
"It's amazing what two kids can add to the team," Knoll said. She gained two of those runners midway through the season.
She said with the two extra kids the team could do a lot more. They could do some relays and make it feel more like a team.
"It made it more like a team atmosphere," she said.
McBride has been coaching for the Warroad Boys Track Team for 10 years. Before that, he coached at Montgomery, Minnesota. At Montgomery, he was an assistant for four years and head coach for three.
Knoll has been coaching the Warroad Girls Track Team for seven years, and before that she was at Indus, Minnesota. She was a coach of volleyball and track there for two years.
Both coaches agree that part of their success comes from the coaching arrangement they have set up.
Technically, there are two teams, the boys and the girls. However, this is not the way they coach the teams. Coach McBride said he works with the distance runners and some field events, and Coach Knoll works with the sprinters and some field events. They also have two assistants.
Knoll said that the reason they do the coaching this way is that when "you spread yourself out, you are cheating the kids." She added, "We have the specific titles Boys and Girls Track coaches, but we coach in our specialized areas."
Both teams look like they will be in good shape for next season. The boys only lose two seniors, and the girls lose only one.
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