Teammates and friends
Priest River Lamanna High School has the same sports most schools have. But it has one major difference in its cross country team. Head coach Lance Clark and assistant coach Ivan Benson have worked hard to make their team a family.
They bring the team together throughout the year, even in the offseason, to do activities together as friends. They meet for team dinners at a different person’s house each week where they laugh, play games, eat and get to know each other in a more personal way outside of practice.
“We did this when I was in college,” said Clark. “It wasn’t something the coaches did, but the team got together and did things as a group. I thought it would be neat to have this kind of program in high school. I ended up getting a job working with Dawn Messenger, a great cross country coach from Lake City High School, and she had 75 kids out.”
Clark noticed that it didn’t take long for kids to find out the team didn’t just show up, sweat their guts outs and go home. There were also fun times and social events that came with it that didn’t cost them a cent.
“I learned that you could do fundraising to pay for team activities and you’ll get more kids going out for the sport,” Clark said. “I have fun with it, too. I get to know the kids better. The kids get to know each other better. It’s not all about just the sport; it’s about unity and teamwork. They get more out of it for life and social skills.”
The parents agree. “Johnny (Zieske) has developed some of his best friendships from cross country,” said Crystal Zieske, one team member’s mom. “Even last year as a freshman, all the grades, including the seniors, welcomed him in. They get to know each other through the dinners and campouts, and that makes a difference. It gives the parents a chance to host a dinner if they want to and get to know some of the kids on the team better.”
Sophomore Jake Tisdale says he would rather be on Priest River’s cross country team than any other school’s.
“Those other teams can’t do what we can do in a small town. For a fundraiser we did the Iron Man, and that was sweet. We picked up trash, which doesn’t sound like fun, but it was a blast with all the people there and all the food.
“Last year we went huckleberry picking. … We made them into smoothies and sold them at Huckleberry Days at Priest Lake. That was really fun, and we’re having an overnighter at Clark’s house pretty soon here.”
Senior James Ramsey says the cross country team feels like family to him. “Mr. Clark runs with us and gets us motivated. We do things all year, like in the summer we go to Round Lake on a camping trip. In the mornings we run the trails around the lake, then do whatever during the day. We play games and stuff, then run again in the afternoons. The fundraisers pay for things like Silverwood for the whole team.”
The fundraisers also allow the kids a special awards party that the other sports haven’t tried yet. Instead of meeting at the school to hand out awards, the cross country team meets at the Ranch Club in Priest River, where the team and their families are treated to pizza and all the pop they can drink. They watch a presentation of different meets and activities throughout the year and receive their awards.
Crystal Zieske commends Clark for his dedication to the team.
“The neat thing about Lance is I know he’s a coach who would do it even if he didn’t get paid. He’s done it before. When the district didn’t fund cross country, he coached for free,” she says. “It’s hard to find someone who will devote all their time to a sport for free because he loves it, too. He really wants to bond with that team and does all these extra activities that he doesn’t get paid for, but he just commits himself so much to the sport and the team, and we think that’s just excellent.”
Clark isn’t the only one dedicated to the team. The other three coaches donate all their time as well, including the assistant coach Benson, who coached the team in previous years Kate Wilson and Jeremy Brown.