Runners Lead The Way In Wellpinit Popular Track Teams Crowd Other Sports Into Extinction

Sometimes, on the 8-mile route to or from Little Falls Dam, Wellpinit’s runners wonder if the pain’s worth it.

It’s often hot and dusty on the road, which climbs and winds through the Spokane Indian Reservation. Nobody appears to notice the effort, although townsfolk seem politely proud.

Yet, on they run, many barely in their teen years.

Wellpinit’s cross country program is unique for a variety of reasons:

The popularity of it and track and field - which never existed on a team level at Wellpinit until 1994 - caused volleyball and softball to dry up. What are considered the glory girls sports at other school don’t exist at Wellpinit.

Because of its size - small even by Class B standards - Wellpinit is allowed to use eighth-graders on its varsity. Most of its top runners commit to five years of varsity racing.

Juniors Celeste Allen and Mandy Stearns are in their fourth seasons. Freshmen Ashley Ramos and Leelah Andrew also started as eighth-graders.

There was never a baptism-by-fire period. Wellpinit’s first team (‘93) qualified for state.

“We didn’t know what to think when we made it,” said Stearns, who also qualified for state as an individual in 1994.

The girls’ success helped build the boys program. Now, sophomore Donnie Carter is among a handful of the league’s best boys.

Coach Dennis Dennigan’s recruiting method can diplomatically be described as “persistent.”

“Mr. Dennigan, he was bugging me all day about running,” Ramos said. “I said, ‘No way, I don’t want to run.’ He kept asking so I finally said, ‘All right, if you leave me alone.”’

“For most of these girls, if I had just put up a sign they wouldn’t have turned out,” Dennigan said.

Dennigan, a native of Rhode Island, came to Wellpinit right after leading Billings (Mont.) Central High to the state track and field title.

Dennigan said he wanted a unique challenge because the Billings private school had an inexhaustible supply of athletes.

“It’s starting something from scratch, and seeing how far I can take it. … This is the one place I could do that,” Dennigan said.

Another alluring factor was the opportunity to make a difference in kids’ lives. The Dennigans even invite runners for dinner the day before meets.

A group organized by Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, passed through Wellpinit Oct. 6 for a stage of their Freedom Run, which began in Seattle.

Wellpinit’s runners tagged along for 5 miles or so, which may have worn them out for their home Panorama League meet three days later.

At that league meet, Wellpinit inaugurated a trick it learned from the Freedom Runners: burning sage for good fortune. Wellpinit enjoyed the ceremony, but the aroma baffled some spectators who thought it was marijuana.

Wellpinit will host Wednesday’s Panorama championships, although most of the course is invisible to spectators. Dennigan allowed the runners to lay out the course, and they chose a route that would hide any flaws from fans.

The girls have forged an unlikely bond with neighbor St. George’s, the Spokane private school that is the antithesis of Wellpinit in many ways: urban, moneyed and mostly white.

In 1993, when St. George’s won the State B title, Wellpinit placed second at district and qualified for state at Pasco. Wide-eyed Wellpinit, attempting to share its enthusiasm with others in the state field, encountered some not-so-subtle racism, in the form of snubs.

St. George’s noticed the slights and went out of its way to combat cruelty with kindness. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ‘STATE’ B MEET AT WILBUR Wellpinit and more than 20 other Class B schools have registered for Saturday’s unofficial state cross country meet at Wilbur. Wilbur-Creston coach Jim Cox organized the meet last year when Class B schools lost their state meet and had to compete against A teams. Pomeroy’s girls and the St. George’s boys won last year’s team titles at Wilbur. Varsity girls race at 3 p.m., an hour after the meet begins. Varsity boys start after the girls. The venue is the Big Bend Country Club.