Shadle, Rogers Hire New Wrestling Coaches
New Shadle Park High wrestling coach Mark Miller is following in the family business.
New Rogers High wrestling coach Walt Arnold is following a legend.
Miller, son of longtime Valley coach Chuck Miller, was hired at Shadle last week to replace interim coach Bill Saye who was an out-of-building coach from Jantsch High.
“We recognized our priority was to get someone into the building who has daily contact with kids,” said activities coordinator Randy Ryan.
Arnold, who wrestled for Ken Pelo at Rogers, was named to replace a man who retired after 37 years as the only Pirate coach.
“My wife’s first comment after congratulating me was to say I’d have to get bigger shoes,” said Arnold. “I don’t consider it following a legend but maintaining a standard he set.”
Miller will teach economics and Pacific Northwest history and also coach freshman football at Shadle.
“Being a young coach with a varied background, we think he is someone who is ideal for a program which is going to take nurturing to get back to being competitive,” said Ryan.
Miller, 26, is a 1988 East Valley High and 1993 Washington State University graduate. He helped with wrestling while a student teacher at West Valley and assisted at EV where he was hired to teach last year.
His father Chuck was a successful head coach at both West Valley and East Valley schools for more than 30 years before retiring in 1994.
“I’ve developed a style from four different head coaches, if you include my dad,” said Shadle’s new coach.
After witnessing Olympians and Olympic-hopeful wrestlers prepare for last weekend’s trials in Spokane, Miller said he was further convinced about the importance of basics.
“We will have a good foundation to work from first,” he said. “We will wrestle on our feet and work on basics a lot.”
He’s already met with 14 returning wrestlers and said he’s found team leaders for next year. He has contacts at the middle schools.
In conjunction with three other high schools, Miller will enter some Shadle returnees into a team camp at the University of Montana.
“I think Shadle is a good opportunity,” he said. “I’m not stepping into a legacy and the program has room to improve. It is definitely going to improve.”
Arnold graduated from Rogers in 1972 and Eastern Washington University in 1982.
“I went out in the world and did some fortune seeking and don’t know if it worked,” he said.
After a stint in the Navy and taking a mechanics course at Spokane Community College, Arnold changed course and entered teaching.
He teaches horticulture and natural resources at Rogers.
He was an assistant coach for a number of years at Lake Stevens High, coached a year at Grant Union in Oregon and was head coach five years at Lakewood High.
“At my last job I told my boss there is only one or two others I wanted,” said Arnold, “This (Rogers) is one.”
He actually coached the Pirates much of last winter when Pelo was hospitalized with a leg infection. The only change he foresees is updating technique.
“Ken is a dear man to me who helped me throughout life by instilling the values of hard work, attitude and doing your best,” he said. “When we were in the old wrestling room, Ken was tough. I felt if I could cut that for three years I could do anything.”
It sounds like preparation for following a legend.
Rogers also hired volleyball coach Anna Vanderpool, wife of Pirate basketball coach Drew Vanderpool.
She coached in California where her last three teams were 28-0. She played collegiately on three NCAA placers at the University of Pacific.
, DataTimes