For Tumwater High School’s Boys Track Team, Grades Aren’t A Forgotten Chore

tumwater track
Devon Shedd is a senior captain on Tumwater’s track team and has a 3.4 GPA. With 49 on the boys varsity, Tumwater has a cumulative 3.49 GPA to win the WIAA’s 2A state academic award for boys track.
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By Gail Wood

tumwater auto spaAs a high school track coach, Rich Brown always wants his athletes to push themselves, to strive to get better in their events.

Improvement, whether it’s cutting times in the 800 or improving marks in the shot put, is always the objective. But, the Tumwater High School track coach will tell you, those improvements are not done at the risk of forgetting about the classroom. It’s always run to win and study to achieve.

It’s not just about athletics.

tumwater track
Tumwater coach Rich Brown talks with his track team.

“What we do in practice mimics what we do in the classroom,” said Brown, who became Tumwater’s head track coach in 2006. “We’re constantly harping on them about their grades. We do grade checks.”

Brown’s message has gotten through loud and clear. He’s apparently preaching to the choir. Brown’s boys track team, with their cumulative 3.49 GPA, is the WIAA’s 2A state academic champs for boys track.

That focus on grades has paid off.

“We’re constant harping on them about their grades,” said Brown, who also coaches cross country at Tumwater High School. “We do the grade checks about every week.”

To be eligible, everyone turning out for track is aware that they have to be passing in all their classes. But Brown’s boys track team is obviously not eking by, loading up on C’s. This is an A’s and B’s team. There’s no issue with eligibility for these T-Birds. Brown has even raised the eligibility requirement for his teams.

tumwater track
Devon Shedd is a senior captain on Tumwater’s track team and has a 3.4 GPA. With 49 on the boys varsity, Tumwater has a cumulative 3.49 GPA to win the WIAA’s 2A state academic award for boys track.

“We take them to a higher standard in the classroom and attendance wise,” Brown said. “If they’re gone they have to be responsible for their work. If they’re gone during the class day, they have to catch up.”

Andrew Dellsite, a senior and a team captain on the Thunderbirds boys track team, is driven to improve his times in his events – the 400, 800 and 1,600. But he couldn’t do much better in the classroom. His accumulative grade point average is 3.97. He’s never had a B in high school, and his only “blemish” is a couple of A-minuses in Spanish.

Dellsite, who also turns out for cross country in the fall, said turning out for sports has helped sharpen his work ethic in the classroom. By sprinting to the finish in the closing of the 800 meters, picking up his pace when his lungs are aching for air and his legs are tired, has taught him how to push himself in the classroom. Cross country and track have taught Dellsite a lunch-pail work ethic.

“I’ve been doing athletics all my life and it definitely taught me how to try my hardest and not to give up,” Dellsite said. “That applies to school work. It’s taught me to get things done. Not to procrastinate.”

Dellsite, who plans on attending either Embry Riddle University in Arizona or the University of Washington, said his ambitions in athletics have never pushed aside academics. Well, almost never.

tumwater track
Academics don’t get forgotten on the Tumwater track team.

“I think we’ve all done that,” Dellsite said with a smile. “But you just have to rebound from that – just remember that school is why we’re here.”

Tumwater’s boys track team is the true definition of student-athlete. Brown makes sure of that.

Even with the good grades, Brown is always reminding them about the importance of doing well in the classroom. They’re teenagers, Brown said. They need reminders.

“We just make sure we don’t overlook that,” said Brown, who ran track at Tumwater High School and then at Montana State University. “It’s something we address almost weekly in our team meetings.”

The WIAA award to Tumwater’s boys track team is a team effort. As the coach, Brown is part cheerleader, encouraging his teams to try hard. And he’s part nag, reminding them of the importance to doing their homework that night and skipping NCIS reruns on TV.

“Coach Brown always pushes us to try out hardest,” Dellsite said. “He definitely emphasizes us to try our hardest in the classroom. School comes first, definitely. As state academic champions, we really focus on that.”

tumwater track
Tumwater coach Rich Brown puts an emphasis on sports and academics.

With 59 on the boys team this spring, that’s a lot of reminders. But only the ones on the varsity count toward the WIAA grade point average check. Brown’s weekly grade checks act as an ambulance at the top of the cliff, catching them before falling into the safety net at the bottom of the cliff.

“That’s the approach we’ve taken. It’s paid off,” Brown said. “We’ve had a huge turnout as far as numbers go. This is probably the best team as far as being a responsible group. Showing up to practices and working hard in the classroom and at practices.”

When someone scores poorly on a test and their grade drops in a class, that student-athlete becomes a student as he gets bumped from the next track meet. If there’s no improvement, he’s then dropped from the team.

“I know with cross county and in track Coach Brown always pushes us to try out hardest,” Dellsite said. “He definitely emphasizes us to try out hardest in the classroom. School comes first, definitely. As state academic champions, we really focus on that.”

 

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