Joe Newton

i dont think these guys less than average college careers make newton look like a better coach. goes for the argument of frying them in h.s. anyone can be on almost any college team...the trick is to be productive. Lucchesi was the most- 1 all-district and a 14:45 ind 5k...as a freshamn= nothing faster. palumbo cant run a 3k outdoors as fast as he turned 2miles and is a high 25: man on fast courses. stasiulis and janulis arent even on the roster anymore and didnt produce their short time running. Walters wasnt very good and the roche kid doesnt look to be off to a promising start but he's young and Iowa looks to have a good group of young guys. or you could use the argument that the UofI program doesnt get them to imporve. i would like to see a list of all the york all-staters and what they did in college. that would tell the tale on whether they are for the most part out of gas when done in h.s.

Dave Walters, Loyola; Mike Lucchesi, Illinois;Adam Roche, Iowa; Adam Palumbo, Iowa; Pete Stasiulis, Illinois; John Janulis, Illinois;

my bad, the Torres twins did go to Wheeling. I don't know what I was thinking.

Punctuation and capitalization are your friend and make it slightly easier to read a post.

My kids were not all state in HS but were productive runners in college. I guess the point here was whether they run at all when they get to college, and many do. Really, goals change when you get to college and for some running becomes secondary. Not for my kids, though. Lucchesi is now working for North Central College as a recruiter for the running program.

It is weird how runners seem to come out of nowhere. My kids ran against many very fine runners in college, most of whom I had never heard of. But they all run every bit as well. Who ever heard of Adam Booth, Homer, Michigan (Grinnell), but he is the top D3 runner right now with Tom Kreger (Hamline).

The York program seems to be a double edged sword in many aspects. I have met Newton and did a few workouts over the summer, and they do work hard. Newton is an incredible guy and a great motivator. You can tell that every person on his team enjoys the program, and has fun, even if they are running 20 miles a day. He is able to get more out of his kids than most coaches do. He takes kids that would most likely be top 50-100 in the state if coached through another program and gets them to become all staters. He is incredibly humble and many of his runners have an incredibly high level of sportsmanship and class.

However, it is somewhat surprising that he hasnt had one of his guys to improve signifigantly in college. They run well in college, but you would think that one of the many York runners that ran between 9:15 and 9:25 would be able to make all american status in track or xc by the time they graduate college. Still, there are plenty of kids just as talented as the York kids that do much less on the college level. I have met Donald Sage, Adam Roche, and Peter Cioni. All are really nice guys. But there are plenty of York kids that are rude, cocky, and show very little sportsmanship. This was best seen at the 2001 state track meet in the 4x800m relay. York anchor Todd Jones was battling with Downers Grove anchor Mark Eckerle and with about 150 left, Jones dropped the baton. They still finished a respectable third, but when all the 4x8 teams were receiving their medals, people asked all the teams to stay for pictures. All of the other teams stood at the podium, York simply walked away. There have been other instances of York guys doing the same thing. I'm not saying all York guys are like this, but just as there are many classy guys that come outof the program, there are some very rude ones too. Overall though, I think the York program is great and even if newton does burn out his runners if every school did what he did and produced 1 don sage think of how good the US would be.

no way wrote:

i would like to see a list of all the york all-staters and what they did in college. that would tell the tale on whether they are for the most part out of gas when done in h.s.

"If" they didn't do as well in college, it would just prove the York program was better.

Not that they were out of gas. Unless by that you mean the college programs emptied their gas tanks.

How many college programs do you know of that have 125 runners out for XC and where virtually all of the runners keep improving for 4 years.

Probably zero. And that's your answer right there.

Most college programs are simply not as good as the one at York high school.

Man i have to respond to this!!!! Physical maturity can make even the runners with the worst work ethic improve year after year. And to what college program has 125 runners??? Get Real!!! Title 9 is your answer. Also what college coach wants to deal with 125 runners at the collegiate level? Run in college and imagine 125 kids showing up day in and day out....

hall wrote:

what college coach wants to deal with 125 runners at the collegiate level? Run in college and imagine 125 kids showing up day in and day out....

Exactly.

I can't address the rudeness, but I can guarantee you that if Newton saw it, he'd have blown his fuse- he does not accept poor sportsmanship. In the state meet in track, the coaches are not allowed on the track during the meet, so it is possible he was not there at all, and the team let its unhappiness get the better of it. Also, I think, though I could be wrong, that he had already given up coaching track then- the team coach would have been Stan Reddle. Newton only coaches xc now and has done for the past couple of years.

Newton really does stress personal responsibilty. You never see a York runner make excuses. They will root on the last runner in a race. They generally show very good sportsmanship, and all will dress for each race- coat and tie required in school that day. No earrings or jewelry or long hair or beard allowed (and I am an old hippie so never did like this, but it's his game and part of his discipline). You must keep a 2.5 gpa on a week by week basis,

and he does check. No playing with grades, like in football. You cannot miss practice, not once, except for death in the family, one college visit per season, or illness, which must have a doctor's note. If you break a rule, you are gone- smoke and you are gone, drink and you are gone. Skip practice and you are gone. He took his best runner off the team when my kids were there because his folks caught him drinking, and this cost them state, but everyone knows the rules. They cannot leave practice without shaking

coach's hand. I have seen gazillionaires show up to watch a meet, such as Rich Melman of Luttuce Entertainment. Peter Coe has spoken to the team as well. York does not recruit outside of district- and this happens a lot more than you might think, as I talk to coaches I know in high schools around the country.

BTW, Peter Cioni is one of the great raconteurs. That kid will go far, let me tell you. He can be funny as hell, is incredibly bright, and gave up a scholarship (for golf caddying, of all things) so he could go to Princeton. Don Sage is humble to the nth degree, and will rarely talk about himself. He is sort of a hidden secret, though less so now. And Adam Roche should have

lived in the late 1960s... :-) I just saw him at the IL state meet.

Dunes Runner posted that most college programs are not as good as the Yorks program, that is why my original post stated that Joe Newton would have (should have) been an outstanding College or University coach. I believe you should take your running to another level when you decide to continue past high school. Because of their program, most York runners never had that opportunity. I can not agree with anyone who thinks that our best coaches should continue at the high school level.

Why? If you're in coaching purely to affect lives, then Joe Newton is in the right place. By all accounts, he makes a positive impact on 125 kids a year, most of whom would not have been exposed to any kind of competitive running had they gone to another high school. This creates lifelong, knowlegeable running fans, no matter whether they make an "impact" on the college or international scene. Presumably, they'll impart that love of the sport on the lives they touch, whether it's the children they have, the athletes they coach, or others. Isn't this what we, as similar knowledgeable fans of the sport, want?

Also, why should success as a high school coach be measured solely by stopwatches and college media guide appearances? People constantly complain that the children of this generation only sit around, play video games and get fat. Joe Newton's athletes defy that stereotype, and they do it every year. They're getting good grades, not getting arrested and not becoming prematurely obese. And while people always nitpick about York athletes not running in college, what I'd love to see is a breakdown of what percentage of York cross country runners ATTEND college versus the rest of the high school. I'm betting there's a significant difference. Again, isn't this what we want?

It seems Joe Newton has just made a choice: as opposed to turning out world-class athletes (Sage, Bakken excepted), he's turning out world-class people. Who happen to win state titles every year. Good for him.

I fully agree with DT and completely disagree with dpcc.

I see no logic in dpccc's original post that you move to the next level (i.e. college/university) to contribute more. Joe Newton is doing what he loves. It is facile to suggest a "value judgment" that coaching at the college level is more important than coaching at the high school level. DT is correct that Joe Newton significantly impacts people's lives. Just stand under the oak tree (York HQ) in Detweiller Park in Peoria on IHSA Championship Race Day, and you cannot fail to be impressed by the devotion of the York fans, including former runners for York.

Don't forget also that Joe Newton was a USA Olympic Coach (in 1984 I believe) so he can operate at all levels. He just chooses to work with high schoolers. Good for him.

I ran for the "other" team...Willowbrook HS. York's program goes beyond words. Success breeds success. Not only was he a great motivator, but he also got the best althletes. I lived right off the Prairie Path, and to see the "green line" working together as a group was something to watch. Great discipline, and to be honest, most of us at Willowbrook were quite envious of thier runners. It sure was humbling to get beat in the DuPage County meet by ALL of his runners.

: - (

Ugh.

I do agree that Coach Newton has and continues to have a possitive impact on peoples lives and not just the runners but parents and fans too. But my point is that it impacts mostly those at York. Look what one person (Frank Shorter) did in the \'72 games for a whole nation!

We started turning out the best marathoners in the world in the mid 70\'s and early 80\'s.

I guess I\'m just trying to say that if Coach Newton did

take his program to the college or university level it is possible that we may very well have some of the best distance runners in the world today. His impact might have been worldwide, dare I say another Lydiard!

But, hey, Willowbrook made it to state his year, so props to them!

You know, if we could get the word out about Newton to the general press, there would be a great story and perhaps there would be an increase in interest in this kind of running.

Truth is, though, that there are plenty of people running, both in HS and in college, but we he have some trouble developing world class distance guys now. Many reasons for that, I know.