Latest / Hangin' Out with Bob / The ‘Run’ to a Cross-Country State Championship (with Darryl Landas)

Transcript

The ‘Run’ to a Cross-Country State Championship (with Darryl Landas) · Hangin' Out with Bob

0:07
Hello and welcome to Hanging Out with Bob, podcast
0:10
hosted by me, Bob Edholm. Thanks for joining
0:16
us and let's get started. So, if you're a high
0:21
school coach, no matter the sport, how do you
0:25
define a successful season? Is it only about
0:29
winning a championship? Or is it about developing
0:32
each team member's inner strength? It's been
0:39
said by someone smarter than me that you get
0:41
the best effort from others not by lighting a
0:44
fire beneath them, but by building a fire within
0:48
them. Or is it about the power of perseverance?
0:55
That is, the notion of student athletes pushing
0:59
past the point of perceived inability and conquering
1:03
their own limitations. How about building team
1:07
and personal growth? Emphasizing the importance
1:14
of each team member's contribution and collective
1:17
effort for overall success. How about all of
1:21
the above? Now, imagine accomplishing all of
1:28
those things. Inner strength, the power of perseverance,
1:33
and team and personal growth, and going on to
1:36
win a high school state championship. Well, that's
1:43
exactly what happened in Decorah, Iowa, with
1:46
Decorah High School's Girls Cross Country Team
1:49
in 1976, in only the second year of a team's
1:54
existence. And here to talk about that magical
2:00
season is the man who coached that championship
2:02
team nearly 50 years ago. He's Darrell Landis,
2:06
who was a teacher and coach in the Decora Public
2:08
Schools for 33 years before retiring in what
2:11
year, Darrell? 2001. 2001. Darrell, welcome to
2:15
hanging out with Bob. Thank you. Darrell and
2:21
his wife Beth live in Decora. They were snowbirds
2:25
who spent the winter months in the villages Florida,
2:28
which is about a 65 mile drive from the Orlando
2:31
airport. I know that because I saw Darryl several
2:34
times when I was down there visiting my aunt,
2:36
my mom's kid sister, who also lives in the villages.
2:39
But Darryl and Beth sold their home in the villages
2:41
in 2024 and now live year -round in Decorah when
2:45
they're not traveling, of course. Full disclosure
2:48
here, I've known Darryl Landis for nearly 50
2:51
years now. After I had graduated from the University
2:54
of Minnesota in 1976 with a degree in journalism,
2:57
I accepted a position as sports editor of Decorah
3:00
Newspapers in September of 1976. And because
3:04
Darrell was then coach of the girls cross -country
3:06
team at Decorah High School, I got to know him
3:08
right away. I worked on the newspaper in Decorah
3:11
for three years, and so he and I had a great
3:13
working relationship then, but even better, we've
3:16
remained friends for nearly half a century. I'm
3:19
actually recording this interview in Decora at
3:21
the kitchen table in Daryl and Beth's house and
3:24
not from the usual palatial recording studio
3:27
in my apartment in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.
3:32
So Daryl, let's step back in time to that special
3:35
76 season. Actually, let's step back to the 1975
3:38
season when you started with the Girls Cross
3:41
Country Team. I came to Decorah in 1970, and
3:46
cross -country was a word that I didn't understand,
3:49
but I had a student who had indicated that her
3:52
father had been, at a point in time, a cross
3:54
-country coach at Luther, Kitty Nelson. And I
3:58
better not call her Kitty now because she is
4:00
called Kate. And she's no longer Nelson, but
4:04
that's fine. I became the assistant track coach
4:09
for Bob Topping, the legendary Bob Topping, in
4:12
the 73 -74 year and kind of got the idea that
4:17
there were kids that wanted something maybe a
4:20
little bit longer. had some of the juniors and
4:24
seniors were asking questions about what would
4:27
it take to make that happen. So I asked some
4:30
questions and after some discussion we were able
4:35
to try cross -country on a one -year basis, a
4:39
one -year trial basis, and the trial basis was
4:43
fine. The kids seemed to be motivated. I didn't
4:47
have to motivate. They were motivated. Their
4:50
skill levels were broad skill levels. Try to
4:53
get the best out of everybody and that was sometimes
4:57
we had people trying a little too hard and that's
4:59
you ended up with injuries and kind of bumped
5:02
back and forth with that. First meet we had was
5:07
an invitational where we were in a meet with
5:10
the team who the previous year had been state
5:14
runner -up. Ouch, we're going to get hammered,
5:17
I thought. Well, it ended up that that being
5:19
a 20 to 66 victory. It was a shock for me. It
5:26
was a shock for the girls. It was very much a
5:29
positive influence. Probably the freshman that
5:33
year who made things happen, Karen Evans, Mary
5:37
Monsal, Sarah Nelson, Chris Hovda, and Marcia
5:41
Kephart, along with Nelson and Spildy and Engelhardt.
5:46
Senior leadership came from Karen Pfister and
5:50
help from Michelle Barr. So it was an interesting,
5:54
interesting season. to the districts, and we
5:58
were sweating whether we'd be able to make it.
6:00
We came in second at the district meet, which
6:03
was all well and good. It was our ticket. And
6:05
this was the first year? This was the first year,
6:07
yes. That was our ticket to the state. And we
6:11
were just very happy to be there. Didn't know
6:14
what really was going to happen. Ended up going
6:18
to Adel, where the state championship was held.
6:22
And we shocked ourselves. We finished seventh.
6:25
Very, very good performances out of the team.
6:30
1976, by the way, just to kind of put things
6:33
in context, that was a year of the bicentennial
6:36
in America, when a gallon of gas was about 59
6:39
cents, when the average cost of tuition at a
6:43
public university, say Iowa or Minnesota, was
6:46
around $617 per year. when the average price
6:50
for a new car was approximately $5 ,450. Back
6:56
then in the mid -70s, Daryl, with his darker
6:59
hair, looked like he and Buddy Holly could have
7:01
been separated at birth. Or maybe it was actor
7:03
Gary Busey who played Buddy Holly in the biopic
7:06
that I saw at the Viking movie theater here in
7:09
Decora in the late 1970s. And me, well, I actually
7:13
still had my hair back in the mid -70s. But,
7:17
I digress. Darrell, as much as we reported on
7:20
your cross -country teams when I worked at Decora
7:23
newspapers, why don't you set the stage for some
7:25
of the things that led up to that magical 1976
7:28
season? As I alluded to it earlier, this was
7:30
only the second year of girls cross -country
7:32
at Decora. Well, probably the most important
7:37
thing is we got approval to have a second. Season,
7:41
okay. Okay. That's I guess Superintendent Byrne
7:45
says as we will give it we will give it another
7:48
year on the trial see how things go He said with
7:52
a smile. So was it really like on a trial basis?
7:55
Oh, yeah. Yeah that well, that's that's how we
7:58
Got to get our foot in the door and the girls
8:02
knew that this is a trial because there weren't
8:05
many sports for females. There was golf and softball.
8:11
Track had started in the 72 season, 71 or 72
8:16
season. So yeah, it was a trial basis. So we
8:19
were just into things getting around what Title
8:22
IX was. And I have to say, Decoro was reasonably
8:26
progressive as far as the Title IX was concerned.
8:29
But it was the summer proceeding is that the
8:33
gals decided to put a little more work into the
8:35
summer. They got together as a group. I was not
8:41
around. Anything that they did was something
8:43
that they did because they were self -motivated.
8:46
And it's a whole lot easier working with a group
8:50
of gals that is as self -motivated as this group
8:53
was. It still is. Well, Darrell, talk about each
8:59
of the runners on that 76 varsity unit. As I
9:02
recall, most of them were not seniors, right?
9:05
Not seniors, not juniors. There were three sophomores
9:08
and two freshmen. We had a couple of sophomores
9:13
that ended up injured early in the season. They
9:16
think maybe a little too much work in the summer.
9:19
Marcy Kephart and Mary Motzel. Both lost most
9:24
of the season to some nagging injuries. So that
9:29
opened the door for a couple of new freshmen
9:33
to move in. Those were the twins, right? Those
9:36
were the twins. Those were the Pilgrim Twins.
9:39
They were our number four and five runs. What
9:41
were their first names again? Paula and Julie.
9:45
And Paula, you may know at this point, is the
9:51
mother of a little guy by the name of Josie Jewell.
9:58
a bit larger than his mother, but has probably
10:03
as much or more intensity. He played football
10:07
at Iowa, and now he's in the NFL, right? He was
10:09
in the NFL and has taken an injury settlement
10:11
that he was with the Carolina Panthers. Got dinged
10:16
late on the 24th of December a year ago in his
10:24
concussion. concussion protocol. Right. Oh, okay.
10:28
Interesting. So it was a young group of girls
10:30
on that 76 team then, so. Yeah, very young and
10:33
they like to have fun. They work hard, but they
10:36
like to have fun too. So that made it enjoyable.
10:40
Refresh my memory, Daryl. How were the girls'
10:44
country seasons set up? Was it mostly dual meets,
10:47
or were there invitationals, just like the regular
10:49
season I'm talking about? The regular season,
10:51
you'd have probably a couple three smaller meets,
10:54
duals, triangulars, and you'd have invitationals.
10:58
We had, I want to say, five or six invitationals,
11:02
which included a conference, a district, and
11:06
a state meet, which was... Just kind of a progression.
11:11
We had tabs on times. We'd had previous years
11:15
on given courses. So we knew that a certain time
11:21
at one course is very good at another course
11:24
or isn't. So that was, I guess, after having
11:29
been around for a few years. Looking back, it
11:33
was always nice to know that when you ran the
11:37
Luther course, you know it was going to be probably
11:40
15 to 25 seconds slower than the previous courses.
11:46
You ran the North Fayette. It's going to be even
11:51
more slowed down, because that was a terrific
11:55
course. Okay, okay. Now, that 76 season, were
12:00
you basically undefeated? Did you win all your
12:03
dual meets and invitationals? Do you recall?
12:06
We were on conference district and state. I guess
12:10
those are the big ones and I guess we figured
12:13
everything else was training for that. I do believe
12:15
that we had, I believe the Luther meet, we had
12:18
some of the Dubuque schools and a couple schools
12:23
out of the Twin Cities, which, again, that's
12:26
good competition. Absolutely. You don't learn
12:29
by beating everybody. You learn by competing
12:33
with people who are much better than you are.
12:36
I was going to ask you, who was your biggest
12:38
competitor? Do you recall which schools? whenever
12:40
you met were always, you knew they were going
12:43
to be the main competition. Waverly, Shell Rock,
12:46
Cresco, New Hampton, Walk -On. All Northeast
12:49
Iowa conference schools at the time. At the point
12:52
in time of the mid to late 70s, the northeast
12:58
corner of Iowa was the hotbed of cross country.
13:02
That has changed somewhat today in 2025. Probably
13:09
the center of that is in central Iowa in the
13:13
Ames and Des Moines area, working east and west,
13:17
basically between Highway 20 and Highway 30.
13:21
But again, that's where it's evolved. There are
13:26
what was involved in the postseason and you had
13:28
you had your conference meet. Yeah district and
13:31
then state We had nine day gaps at conference
13:36
meet won that Nine days prepare for the district
13:42
or the state qualifying. Yeah meet and that was
13:46
Again, we we had ways that we prepared for that.
13:50
We once we got qualified For the state meet,
13:54
we would start focusing on things that we had
13:57
to do time wise. We were probably more time sensitive
14:03
than mechanic sensitive. In other words, we'd
14:07
worked on mechanics previous to this. We worked
14:10
on looking at what are we doing when we are fatigued
14:15
and we know we have that hill. So we would do
14:18
some work that would involve practicing that.
14:22
Where did you train here in town? I mean, did
14:24
you go to Luther? Are there golf courses here?
14:26
Where did you go to run? Anyplace we could find
14:28
a hill. Okay. Well, there's a lot of hills in
14:30
this part of the country. There are hills here.
14:34
We've got a couple of secret hills that we worked
14:37
on, and I would not want to divulge where those
14:41
were. When we worked that hill... The gals would
14:45
ask, what kind of workout we have today? And
14:49
when I said it's going to be a short, easy workout,
14:52
they kind of cringed. We knew we wouldn't have
14:56
a meet for three or four days afterwards, but
14:59
it was one that was very sensitive to mechanics,
15:04
transition with turns, uphills, downhills. Every
15:09
two or three steps you can pick up here and there,
15:12
by the time you get to the end of the race, it's
15:15
a big deal. If you can extend your stride by
15:19
three inches, three inches doesn't sound like
15:23
much until you're into 1 ,900 steps. You multiply
15:27
1 ,900 times three inches, and you've got a pretty
15:31
good distance. You were a math teacher, weren't
15:33
you? Yes. Yes. No. No, it's good. How many, at
15:38
that time, how many classes were there? This
15:41
is based on enrollment, right? Right. What was
15:43
your class? What was DeCora's class? We were
15:46
the class. There was only one class. Oh, I didn't
15:49
know that. Classification didn't occur until,
15:51
I believe, 1980. Wow. OK. And then they broke
15:56
it down into 1, 2, and 3A. It presently is 1,
16:01
2, 3, and 4A. Wow. OK, so you really were the
16:04
state champs. I mean, the best. Yeah, yeah. Amazing,
16:07
amazing. Well, you were there. You saw it. But
16:09
I couldn't remember if there were classes. That's
16:11
what I don't remember. I just remembered. Oh,
16:13
interesting. OK. Now I know that the most important
16:16
ranking of any sports squad is the ranking after
16:19
the state championship, but do you recall where
16:21
the Iowa girls high school athletic union had
16:24
ranked the DeCora's cross country squad during
16:27
the regular season, postseason, before the state
16:29
meet? That association didn't have much. The
16:35
writers had us 7th or 8th. Really? OK, OK, OK.
16:39
Which is always nice. Sure, it gives you incentive
16:42
then, yeah. It takes the pressure off. Right.
16:45
And like you said, you won both the NEIC, the
16:48
Northeast Iowa Conference, and the district meets.
16:51
How did that work back then? I'm trying to remember,
16:55
did you have like, did the conference have like
16:57
an all conference squad, individual runners that
16:59
were recognized, or was it as a team? Do you
17:01
remember? I think we had the top 10 were all
17:04
conference. OK. Wow. OK. Yeah, I just wonder
17:08
how that worked, you know, if each school may
17:10
have had runners or if they just rewarded the
17:12
team overall. The girls, the individual honors
17:18
weren't a big deal. That's what made those teams
17:23
special. And it continues to this day with one
17:28
of my former athletes having taken over after
17:31
I retired. It is what we do, not what I do. Really
17:37
a team concept. Oh, yes, very definitely a team
17:39
concept. Okay. Let's talk briefly about the conference
17:42
meet and the district meet. Where were those
17:44
held? Do you remember? I think I went to one
17:46
of those. One of them was in Cresco, I thought.
17:49
Where was the district meet held, Darrell? Okay,
17:52
the district meet was held at West Union on a
17:58
course where 15 years earlier, my dad had the
18:02
contract on finishing the the seating on the
18:06
on the course. So so I know the court knew the
18:08
course reasonably well. Yes. So so both the district
18:11
and the state were held at North Earth in West
18:13
Union. Okay. Wow. Okay. I see I don't I didn't
18:16
remember where the district was held. I was at
18:18
the state meet, but in the conference in the
18:20
conference meeting Cresco that I remember. So
18:22
I must not have been able to go that's Okay,
18:26
so let's go on to that state meet in 1976. It
18:29
was in West Union, Iowa, which incidentally is
18:31
where you grew up, right? That was your hometown.
18:34
West Union's about a 45 -minute drive from here,
18:37
maybe? Just go straight south? How did that feel
18:40
for you, you know, bringing your talented group
18:42
of runners from Decora to compete in the state
18:44
meet, and what was your hometown? A little scary,
18:47
I guess. I had a lot of my friends and former
18:51
teachers. former government teacher Steve Story
18:54
was the the AD there and so it was uh so you
18:57
knew a lot of these people then oh yeah seeing
18:59
a lot of people and it's uh I remember that it
19:02
was it was a very cold day yeah uh it was a very
19:05
cold day that day and it was uh we uh were able
19:08
to do some stretching uh in a in a classroom
19:12
which we were able to get inside Was the school
19:16
like right next to the golf course? Oh, yeah.
19:18
No, this wasn't golf course. This is the school
19:21
campus. OK. OK. Yeah. Their golf course, which
19:25
they don't have anymore, was about four miles
19:27
away. Oh, OK. OK. Oh, I was confused. I thought
19:30
for some reason it was on the golf course where
19:32
you ran the state meet. No, no, no. OK. Wow.
19:35
Interesting. The previous year was at a golf
19:37
course. OK. OK. Because aren't most cross -country
19:41
meets held at places like golf courses? Yeah,
19:45
you usually are, and that's... Okay, you know,
19:48
I'm glad you clarified that, because for some
19:50
reason I thought we were at a golf course that
19:52
day, but it was at the school, right next to
19:54
the school, so that way your team was able to
19:56
get inside and stretch. It was cold, I remember
20:00
that. It was very cold, yeah. I took a picture
20:02
of my brother who came down there with me, and
20:04
he had a stocking hat on and a jacket, so obviously
20:07
when you start running you warm up, but it wasn't
20:09
like today. No, no, no. In the 80s. Okay, all
20:14
right. What was that course like? The condition
20:17
was in late October. Was the ground wet? Was
20:22
it hard? Was it hilly? Was it curvy? It was very
20:27
wet. There were places where it was soggy, and
20:30
places I knew it was going to be soggy because
20:33
they didn't have it tiled exactly the right.
20:37
It had been... Tiled right before it was seated.
20:41
I can tell you that and there was we we avoided
20:45
where it was Sloppy and we probably ran an extra
20:51
20 30 yards, but we didn't get we didn't end
20:54
up with mud up to our heels Yeah, okay, okay
20:58
It was very very good course very challenging
21:03
course. I mean it was It was well Staked out,
21:08
Bob Scott did a super job. Bob Scott was the
21:13
North High coach. The legendary North Fayette
21:18
coach. He's done a lot for a lot of running programs.
21:24
You said your squad was able to warm up before
21:27
the race. These are just young girls. This is
21:30
a state tournament. How did they seem to you
21:34
as your coach? Do they seem confident? It seemed
21:37
like any other meat. I mean, we have a job to
21:40
do. We've got to get ready to do the job. We'll
21:43
do the job. In that way, it wasn't real stressful.
21:48
I mean, I was a little antsy. I was going to
21:51
ask, how were you before the meat? Kind of like
21:53
a cat in a sand pile. Now, back then, this is
21:57
1976, before metric system took over a lot of
22:00
distances. Wasn't it a two mile course it was
22:04
okay okay now once the meat was underway you
22:08
know and the girls out there running and you're
22:09
able to move around during a race right as a
22:11
coach because i remember i'd follow you sometimes
22:13
and when did you start at what point were you
22:17
noticing saying hey i think we're doing pretty
22:19
good i mean we might be able to win this thing
22:21
what at what point did you start to feel that
22:23
way you know we were about to half mile mark
22:26
and uh our Number five would have been Julie
22:31
Pilgrim was still with Paula Pilgrim and We were
22:36
pretty well Paula was within reach of Karen Evans.
22:41
Okay and and Sarah Nelson and Linda Hart were
22:47
still chatting as they were running I think they
22:51
talked through the entire race at least that's
22:54
what the one of the other coaches said that Do
22:58
those girls ever shut up, you know? And those
23:01
are two of the more quiet girls on the squad.
23:04
But I don't know. Wow. Maybe they just like to
23:06
talk and run, but they. What did they talk about?
23:09
I'll have to ask them maybe. I'll have to ask
23:11
them. I could tell you're just walking. Yeah,
23:14
yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's interesting. Well, they
23:16
sound like they were definitely, definitely ready.
23:19
Yeah, yeah. You had them prepared. So OK, wow.
23:24
I know it's been almost a half century since
23:26
that meet now, it's 1976, but do you recall who
23:29
the individual winner of that race was, what
23:31
school she was from? Gala, the Unity Christian,
23:34
Yvonne Meninga. Okay. Where is Unity Christian,
23:37
what part of the state? That's in northwest Iowa.
23:40
Oh, okay. It is a private, that's reformed. Okay,
23:44
okay. She was the individual champion, so I just
23:46
wonder who that was. I got to meet her... Well,
23:51
probably 10 years later, just really, really
23:54
a neat gal. Did she run after that, after high
23:57
school? She ran at a small college. I think she
23:59
may have run at Northwestern, Northwestern, Northwestern
24:03
Iowa. Oh, okay. Very good, very good. The runner
24:09
-up, I knew reasonably well, Marsha Watts, who
24:13
was essentially a family that I was familiar
24:18
with, so it was kind of... She was from North?
24:20
Yeah. She finished second? Okay, okay. And Darrell,
24:23
how did each of your runners place in that race
24:25
then? In that race, they ran quite well, I thought.
24:29
Linda Hart was sixth. Sarah Nelson was ninth.
24:35
Paula Pilgrim was 31st. Karen Evans was 36th,
24:40
and that's where we got our four team scores
24:43
came from. Julie Pilgrim was close behind at
24:47
55th. OK. Awesome. That's great. That's great.
24:50
And this was against all classes. Well, obviously,
24:54
Decor was number one. But who was second, third?
24:56
Do you have the top four, top five schools? North
24:59
Fayette, who was the. visit the host team and
25:03
they were defending state champions. It was an
25:06
82 to 93. So that that was close. It was very
25:10
competitive. And then then you get into the big
25:14
schools. Bettendorf was 143 Cedar Rapids Kennedy
25:18
179 Spencer 191. And you got a lot of the big
25:25
state schools or schools in the state uh didn't
25:28
fare as well as some of the small schools that
25:30
kind of reflects looking back at how girls basketball
25:34
was a lot of your i was just going to say i can
25:36
remember living down here then it was the smallest
25:38
schools that dominated yeah it took it took a
25:40
few years and yes finally By the time they got
25:44
around to the 80s, the classification system
25:48
came in. I can't recall exactly when that happened,
25:51
but I know it happened before 80 because we were...
25:56
we were a two -way champion in in 80s so okay
25:59
okay all right well obviously the girls were
26:02
thrilled to win the state championship how did
26:04
you feel as a coach of that team that won the
26:07
state championship and only a second year lucky
26:09
lucky i was the right place the right time i
26:14
was blessed with parents that understood that
26:17
athletics require sacrifice and hard work and
26:22
it was it had great parents I had great parents.
26:28
I didn't have any assistant coaches, which made
26:31
things nice. Probably some of my preparation
26:36
for the competition, a gentleman who is now deceased
26:40
by the name of Bill Bergen, who was the Iowa
26:43
State track and cross -country coach, his sister
26:48
is my aunt, so he spent some time with me putting
26:52
things together. just from the mental aspect.
26:56
So he was a great help. Yeah. I'm glad you included
27:00
that. What was your inspiration? What helped
27:03
you prepare as a coach and help the girls? Another
27:06
person I would have to mention would be a junior
27:09
high coach that I had. I guess one high school
27:14
track season was Tex Hyer. Tex Hyer, who now
27:18
runs an abstract office in West Union. phenomenal
27:21
guy. The advice he gave me is, take care of the
27:25
kids, the kids will take care of you. And, you
27:29
know, he was right. Well, I know that for me,
27:33
as sports editor of Decora newspapers at the
27:35
time, it was a fun sports section to paste up
27:38
for the Decora public opinion that would be out
27:41
that following Tuesday. Lots of photos, a longer
27:44
story, lots of good quotes from you. This was
27:47
back in 76, of course, no digital photos then.
27:51
I had to take the pictures at the meet, of course,
27:53
and then come back to Decora, develop the film,
27:56
print the pictures, write the story, lots of
27:58
time spent in that newspaper's darkroom. And
28:00
I remember, Daryl, that weekend, you came to
28:04
the newspaper when I was up there in the darkroom
28:05
developing prints, because you had asked if you
28:07
could have maybe a couple of photos I could give
28:09
to the girls. I remember we just kind of talked
28:10
about... We talked about that. We talked about
28:13
life. We covered a lot of ground. But I think
28:14
that's when you and I really became friends as
28:16
well as having a good working relationship. I
28:18
just remember that was a special time that year,
28:22
that team. How did the school community react
28:27
to the girls winning the state cross -country
28:29
meet? Because again, this is before social media.
28:32
There's no Facebook, no Instagram. Nobody's on
28:34
their phone saying, we won the state. Was there
28:37
like a school assembly to honor the team or a
28:40
parade? I remember that Monday morning I was
28:42
busy getting the newspaper ready, but how did
28:44
the school react? We did get back on a... firetruck
28:48
back to the school. That was about it. We had
28:53
our potluck a week later, which we gave out the
28:56
awards and it was that state championship. What
29:00
was a lot more enjoyable? We had one where they
29:04
a later state championship where there was ice
29:08
on the pond and the some fathers had busted the
29:12
ice that the girls were bound determined they
29:14
were going to throw me in the pond. Fortunately,
29:19
sanity prevailed. Wow, wow, wow. And as I recall
29:23
in 76, wasn't it just a week later, the boys
29:27
cross country team won the state meet? Yeah.
29:29
Seemed like a back to back state championship.
29:32
They were down in Waterloo. Yeah, I remember
29:34
going to that. Well, full disclosure. I was with
29:39
the Dakota newspapers through the Nordic Fest
29:41
in July 1979, which means I also covered the
29:44
1977 and 78 cross -country seasons. The Dakota
29:48
girls cross -country squad didn't win the state
29:50
championship in either of those two seasons,
29:53
but there were things that happened. There were
29:55
some injuries to some key runners, which made
29:58
it tough. Plus, it's just hard to repeat. I mean,
30:01
it was very competitive. They drew a target on
30:04
our back. And Karen Evans' family moved to Ames.
30:12
And she attended Ames High School, had some health
30:18
issues, and didn't run competitively again. So
30:24
you lost one of the runners since 1976. Mary
30:27
Motzel was always the over trainer. And she ran
30:32
parts of four seasons and just couldn't keep
30:35
her healthy. The concept of slowing down and
30:40
maybe not pushing quite as hard. Again, she wanted
30:43
to succeed so bad. Marcy Kephart, pretty much
30:47
the same way. Everybody's got a different personality.
30:53
Some can be convinced to take it a little easier.
30:55
Some can be convinced to work a little harder.
31:00
With young ladies, that's a little different
31:01
than dealing with young men. do to motivate guys
31:07
is different than to motivate girls. There is
31:11
a difference. And he said, it's hard to repeat.
31:14
It's hard for anybody. There's competition. That's
31:17
what they have to meet. And just for the record,
31:20
Darrell, how many times did Dakota's girls cross
31:23
country squad win state championships while you
31:25
were coaching? You won 76. 76, 80, and 82. OK,
31:29
so you got three state championships. That's
31:31
impressive. The kids did, yeah. Yeah, no, that's
31:34
great. ride the bus yeah well I'm sure they have
31:40
great amount of respect for you too as their
31:41
coach I'm sure it was so Couple more things.
31:46
Have you been able to stay in touch with these
31:48
girls over the years? It's been a long time,
31:50
but I mean I Chatted with Sarah Nelson probably
31:54
ten years ago at around Nordic Fest time. Hmm.
31:57
She's teaching out in I must say Idaho State
32:02
I believe is a at the time I was talking with
32:05
her she was Foreign language. I believe she was
32:08
a French teacher. I but I really okay Karen Evans
32:13
is in the Des Moines area. I guess she's there.
32:17
I'm not sure as far as the work. Mary Motzel
32:21
now lives in the Phoenix area. She had two sons,
32:28
one of them who played Division I basketball.
32:32
I think the Pioneer League played overseas balls
32:35
for three or four years. Good young man. Julie
32:42
Pilgrim Has What is a teacher she is out in Western
32:47
now, I believe married a juror juror lead boy
32:51
She was teaching Paula Pilgrim is teaching in
32:57
Decorah at st. Benedict's she's got Four kids
33:01
that were athletes and it's in one played pro
33:04
football. Yeah. Well, this is um The people wonder
33:07
where did he get the intensity? I know Bobby
33:12
was a very good and very intense football player.
33:15
But Paula was one in practice. I never wanted
33:18
to be in the path to where she wanted to run,
33:20
because I was always wondering if she was going
33:22
to run over top of me, and that she's a peach
33:26
of a gale. Now, Josie is a son, has done wonderful
33:31
things for people with disabilities. If you get
33:34
me started, you won't get me shut up, but he's
33:37
done a lot of good things. That's nice. That's
33:39
nice. You know, for those that you do keep in
33:41
touch with, Darrell, please let me know about
33:43
this podcast. Send them an email or something
33:45
like that. Maybe they can let their friends or
33:47
families or kids, grandkids maybe. I know it's
33:51
grandkids because you're going to the football
33:54
game tonight. You will look at the head football
33:59
coach is married to Paul's oldest daughter. Wow.
34:05
Okay. And if you happen to watch the volleyball,
34:08
one of the better volleyball players is her granddaughter.
34:11
Oh, that's great. That's great. Or you watch
34:13
the basketball team, the granddaughter. You know,
34:18
it's funny, you and I are both boomers, septuagenarian
34:21
boomers. And what that means is that we were
34:24
in our 20s in the 70s. Now we're in our 70s during
34:27
the 20s. But I digress. Here's another question
34:31
I got for you. Do you ever miss the coaching,
34:34
working with student athletes, seeing them grow,
34:37
develop, accomplish some pretty special things?
34:39
I like the student athletes. I like working with
34:43
them. Some of the other things I don't miss.
34:47
Sometimes unrealistic expectations by community
34:51
or parents. Kids are kids. Kids are going to
34:54
do what kids do. I can't magically touch someone
34:59
on the arm. and make them good. I can't say an
35:03
awful lot or do an awful lot to make them good.
35:06
That has to be something that is in their heart.
35:09
If it's not in their heart to be good, I'm wasting
35:12
my breath. And when I get advice from people
35:15
who don't understand, I don't really need it.
35:20
I didn't, I don't need the headache. Right, right.
35:23
Well, no one can take the memories, the satisfying
35:26
moments, the championships away. And seeing the
35:28
girls develop and grow, as young persons and
35:31
grow up to find people. And the other thing too,
35:34
I just was reading this somewhere else, I don't
35:37
have the actual percentage, but I'm quite certain
35:39
that the number of coaches who win a state championship,
35:43
any sport, is a relatively small portion of all
35:46
high school coaches. Look at those that probably
35:48
did something for decades and never had a state
35:51
champion. You had three. But you know, many of
35:55
those coaches accomplished more than I ever could
35:59
dream of doing because the state championships
36:02
aren't what are important. The desire for the
36:06
state championship. is. And I think that there
36:09
are many great coaches out there that try to
36:13
instill those values. And some coaches get blind
36:17
lucky. I mean, I had 89 teams over my career.
36:23
Including all sports. All sports and five state
36:25
championships, all right. And that's one out
36:28
of 20, roughly. What were the other two championships?
36:32
Boystuck, 1992. Boys cross country. That's right.
36:36
You became a head coach after Mike Fitzgerald.
36:38
Okay. Okay. Wow. Wow. That's that's impressive.
36:43
You know, Gerald, the nice thing about podcasting,
36:46
unlike newspaper articles, or even broadcast,
36:48
there's no space or time limitations. Back in
36:51
the mid 70s, when I was sports editor of decor
36:53
newspapers, long before newspapers could be read
36:56
online. when it was strictly print media, there
37:00
was only so much space I could have for a story.
37:03
And even with radio or TV broadcasts, there's
37:05
only so much time to tell a story. With this
37:08
podcast, we've been able to take as much time
37:10
as we needed to take or wanted to take. And I
37:13
think there's a part of me that's wanted to do
37:15
this type of full -length interview with you
37:17
since that 1976 season. So I'm glad we've had
37:20
a chance to do this after 50 years. I'm happy
37:22
to make you happy. And there's one more thing
37:25
I wanted to ask you. Shortly after that 76 cross
37:28
-country team had won the state championship,
37:31
there was a publication, a newspaper, that covered
37:34
the Iowa high school sports. And you and your
37:37
championship team were featured in that newspaper.
37:39
And what was the name of that publication? Do
37:41
you remember? Is it somewhere on that page at
37:44
the top? Iowa High School Athletic News. OK,
37:47
OK. And I remember, I think you actually showed
37:50
me this article. And correct me if I'm wrong.
37:54
but it was Rick Fromm who wrote the article.
37:57
Rick I got to know really well because he had
37:59
been at Decor newspapers a couple sports editors
38:01
before I got there but I got to know him because
38:04
when he was down in Ollwine as the sports editor
38:06
that daily down there he called me when I started
38:08
and wished me luck and that stuff and so I got
38:10
to know him really well but I seem to remember
38:12
in that article for some reason your last name
38:16
was wrong it was like was it Larson? Yeah Larson,
38:19
Darrell Larson, yeah no. I remember thinking,
38:26
wait a minute here. And I know it wasn't Rick's.
38:29
Rick wrote a great article. I have a feeling
38:30
somehow it was a copy edited newspaper thought.
38:32
I would guess so. It can't be Landis. So he just,
38:35
he could have called you and said, I want to
38:38
make sure. Whatever. Throughout the article says
38:41
Larson, but we all knew it was Landis. Rick did
38:46
a lot of great writing over a long period of
38:49
time. You may or may not agree with his opinion,
38:54
but he believed in his opinion and defended it
39:00
and didn't back away. I can deal with that. Sure.
39:04
Sure, yeah. I'm glad you kept that article, because
39:08
I was trying to remember what the name of that
39:10
newspaper was, and it's really special that you
39:13
kept it after all those years. I'm going to give
39:17
you the last word, Daryl. Again, it's been almost
39:19
50 years since the Decora girls cross country
39:22
team won that state championship and just the
39:24
second year of girls cross country at Decora.
39:27
And looking back at that achievement, what is
39:29
your biggest takeaway of that year, that season?
39:32
What do you think made it so special for you
39:34
and for the girls on that championship squad?
39:37
Girls can be successful in a stressful sport.
39:41
They treated hard work positively. You look at
39:45
where they have gone. And I'm not looking at
39:48
just the top varsity runners. I'm talking across
39:51
the board. They are winners. They succeed because
39:55
they understand work is needed for success. And
39:59
we is a whole lot more important than me. Well
40:02
said. Well said. Well, this has been a blast,
40:07
Darrell. It was great to come down here to beautiful
40:09
Decora, Iowa, a place that will always hold a
40:12
special place in my heart. To get together with
40:14
you and have you share your memories of that
40:16
special season in 1976, when the Decora Girls
40:19
Cross Country Team won the state championship
40:21
in only their second season. Thanks for nearly
40:24
50 years of friendship and thanks again for making
40:27
time to join me on this podcast, Earl. See you
40:33
later, big guy. And to our listeners, again,
40:37
thanks for hanging out with me, Bob Edholm, and
40:39
my guest, Darrell Landis. Not Larson, Landis.
40:42
L -A -N -D -A -S. We hope you'll join us for
40:47
the next episode of Hanging Out with Bob, wherever
40:49
you listen to your podcasts. And until then,
40:52
bye!