I hope you are a teacher or coach or parent. Because if you are able to inspire and teach character any near as well as Joe Newton, you can take deep satisfaction in your ability to change young people's lives.
That's not meant as a dig. There are many good men coaching and teaching, and it would be great if you aspire to be more ethical, honorable and effective than the most successful high school cc coach in US history. That's one of the reasons Illinois cross country is so good. Generations of coaches and runners had to chase the excellence of York... and some succeeded in going past them.
Living in the western suburbs, I run into people all the time who brag they ran for Newton. It reminds me of the old guys you used to meet who served under Patton. They wanted you to know they were proud of having been part of such a powerful machine.
I have also run into people who ran for Newton and didn't like him. How could he be so bold, demanding and famously successful and not have detractors? For most of those guys, it usually says more about them than him. It's amazing that he could get 100-200 kids to show up every day for a very minor niche sport, then keep them mostly in line every year, all the while motivating more kids to work harder than anyone in the country.
The man is not, and never was Jesus Christ. There's only been one of those. Newton was driven to win, full of ferocious intensity that created glamour and excellence in a sport that is nothing more than a collection of misfits in most places. He could be profane and extremely funny. There's not a politically correct bone in his body. And his bite could be sharp if you crossed his pursuit of excellence.
And that's what ultimately drove so much of the anti-York people. Forget for a minute about the blistering hard workouts that were York's staple. Everything else he pushed was counter-cultural to the new Snowflake America. Kids had to show up - no excuses. They had to be on time. They couldn't let their helicopter parents intercede of their behalf. They had to be respectful. They were expected to work extremely hard if they wanted to be part of the Holy Grail - the top 7. They were expected to WIN, not just compete well. Not be second. The standard of excellence was higher than almost anywhere else. And he might call them out if they didn't hold up their end of the excellence bargain.
Winning, high expectations, no excuses, huge sacrifices of self and no respite from a man determined to achieve excellence all combine to make Newton a dinosaur in a soft society.
That's what York stood for longer than half a century - manly toughness. And that's much less popular today than it used to be. Those Elmhurst boys were lucky to have been a part of it.