Mike Walker Feature

"There is a track team in our school as good as the one I have out here. But they just don't want to do the work."

Mike Walker (pictured to the right with Paige Miller at the 2000 Steel City Invitational) began the Wissahickon Track & Field team because three sophomore girls asked him to. One of his teams came within a point of the state championship in a year when an opponent was setting national records which still stand. And the past two years have produced elite athletes who are making their marks in Division 1 (or will soon), and a team that is among his best in 30 years. Earlier this season PennTrackXC spent a few moments talking with Mike Walker, the head coach at Wissahickon. The PIAA meet 5/24-25 is his final meet. He and his wife are retiring to their beach home in Cape May. But Coach Walker still wants to coach. So he's looking for a south Jersey team interested in his talent and his patience. Meet Mike Walker. And be sure to say thanks when you see him this weekend. - Don Rich, PennTrackXC

Career Highlights

How Did You Get Started?
I was a phys-ed major. I knew I wanted to be a coach, but I took a long circuit. I graduated from Temple ten years after high school, and started teaching at Wissahickon in 1970. In 1972, three girls who were sophomores approached me about starting a track team. I was still running road races then, so they had heard me talk in class about that. So we approached the school and started the program. Three years later we started XC, and a year later, indoor.

How Did You Build Your Teams?
I recruit in my classroom. If you can walk and breathe, we'll take you. But expect to work hard and get better. A lot of kids found out they were good runners that way. I've often said there is a track team in our school as good as the one I have out here. But they just don't want to do the work. 

Best Team(s)?
The 1979 team was the best. We won three relays in the State meet. Relays were different then. They had the 4x100, 4x400 and a Sprint Medley. We focused on the relays from the beginning (of the team founding) because it was the best way to get the program going. The 1982 team came closest to winning the State Championship. We should have won, but we lost by one point. In the 4x800, all we needed was two points. After two legs, our girl went out faster in the quarter than she ever had and collapsed nearing the finish. She was up and down seven times. I jumped the fence and pulled her off the track.

That year's 4x400 went 3:51 and beat Upper Dublin and Gallagher (Kim - the U.S. prep record holder in the 800 in 2:00.07, who was in her junior year, the year she set the record). She had already won three events at States. They had beaten us at the Trojan Track Classic, and I knew I had to move a better leg up front to keep us in it. We did 3:58 at Districts. And we won it all with Americans. We also took the 4x100 and Lesley Martin was 2nd in the 3200.

And this year's team (whose state team members signed this shirt sported by Coach Walker at Shippensburg 5/24) can approach what they did. They will either be my first or my fourth best team. It's hard to tell. The surprise this year is the 3200 relay. With Michelle (Polish), we're there. Erin (Franklin) is faster. this year's can approach what they did. will probably be my first or fourth best team. hard to tell. 

I had heard Krista (Simkins) was good, but I had no idea how good. We have two other good freshmen sprinters with Randi Smith (12.7) and Jamie Morgan (13.0), to go with juniors. That will make our 4x100 and 4x400 go. We have a good chance of all three making States. (Their 4x400 is the only one of the three which qualified.)

This team will still be good next year. Only five seniors on this year. If the juniors can do what the seniors are doing this year, and with (Michelle) Polish starting to put it back together, she could make the difference. (As a frosh she was 3rd on our XC team and ran a 2:19 leg at States. She took last fall off and just trained. 

Best Athlete(s)?
There are two. Gina Bundy. In 1998, her senior year, she won the Triple Jump at States with 39+, and was 2nd in the 100 Hurdles. She should have won that race. It was won by her best buddy from Cheltenham who had struggled all year. She should have qualified in the 100, but didn't get by Districts. She is tall, 6-3 or 6-4, and it was windy, so they reversed the start. It threw off her rhythm and she went down on the last hurdle. She went on to Pitt and won the Heptathlon as a freshman, then finished her career at St. Joseph's (Philly). She was an alternate this year for the US team in the bobsled at the Winter Olympics. I think she'll stick with that. It's her last semester at St. Joe's.

The other was Suzi McCaffrey. She was with the '82 team. Until two years ago, she held the quarter record at Wissahickon in 57. She anchored our 3:51 state champions. She still holds the High Jump record of 5-02.25. She went 16.2 in the 100 Hurdles as a freshman, and 2:22 in the half. Suzi went on to LaSalle where she played basketball. She's now coaching part-time with me. She'd make a good candidate to replace me next year.

And there are lots of others. I have had kids that internally have what they need, and know what they have to do to excel, and they go and run with it. Paige (Miller) was important for Erin (Franklin) to see how close she was and what she had to do to reach that level. Erin doesn't have Paige's leg speed, so her 2:24 last Saturday (a 3-second PR 4/13 @ Villa Maria) was a surprise.

Hardest Worker(s)?
There are lots of kids who have exceeded my expectations. Lisa Zeddy was probably my hardest worker. She came out in 1982 and made the 4x100 team that won States. She did 12.6. She never made the relay again over the next three years because of the talent we had on the team. Our slowest one year was 12.4 that went 48 flat. Lisa went as an alternate to States all three years. She was in the high 15's in the Hurdles, and the high 16's in the Long Jump. She never complained. Just asked what else she could do.

And Alex Baptise has stepped up this year. I just love her enthusiasm. She loves what she is doing. Loves to excel. She just bubbles. 

Differences Between Kids Today And 1972?
There is more for them to do other than track and field these days. But I've always had large teams. This year we have 50. Some kids think they need a job, and you lose them. In the beginning, we had all kinds of kids. Today at Wissahickon, we have the best and the brightest. And they're very involved. So I have to have more give. Practice starts at 3, but some have clubs. So they come to practice at 3:30. But as they start to get good, they soon only go to the club for five or ten minutes so they can make practice.

What Do You Do Well?
I get kids in the right events. I get them into their best event, and sell them on the idea that they can make States in that event. The good coaches get the right kid in the right spot. I do think that head coaches often get a lot of the credit. But it's many people who have helped me build this program. Floyd Garis is one of the greatest. He's been honored at the Penn Relays. He left four years ago and was invited back and is coaching the Jumpers (Long + Triple) and the Hurdlers. And Bill Wetzlerhas been with Wissahickon 25 of my 28 years. Technically, he is one of the best around. And there's Mary Lou Kent. I took ten years off from XC, and she took over the program and her teams did very well. 

And we've gotten along with the boys' coaches and worked together. Bill Gallagher is still coaching XC, and we work well with each other. And all this is due to Garis. 

Coaching Philosophy?
I see a lot of kids get beat up in high school, then when they get to college, they're done. I want my athletes to have a long and enjoyable career. I want my kids to want to excel. If they want to challenge another athlete, they just have to ask. I'll put them in the same event in the next meet. It saves a lot of arguments. It's really kids pushing kids in a nice way. But I have a simple approach in discipline. Not in school, you don't practice. Miss practice, you miss a meet. Miss two practices and you've quit the team.

Why Do You Want To Continue Coaching In Retirement? 
I love it. It's still fun. And it keeps you younger psychologically. I enjoy seeing kids develop their abilities. Looking at Paige, she was not noticed at Districts as a 9th grader. As a sophomore, she should have made it in the Mile, but didn't. But she realized what she had to do, and she did it. And I love teaching kids discipline and what you have to do to be good. I like to win, but that's not the most important thing.

 

Coach Walker's Career Highlights: