Bluffton Runners Remove Bamboo at Sandhills


Bluffton teammates were found removing bamboo from Sandhills Research Park Saturday in Columbia, site of the Coaches Classic and state meet, at the Coaches Classic meet.

\"I was just informed (about it) and we will certainly get to the bottom of it,\" said Bluffton coach Dana House. \"They\'re good kids....for the most part.\"

On the SCTCCCA Web site under Coaches Classic information, it is requested to, \"Please stay away from all buildings and machinery and stay off all planted areas.\"

\"Definitely, \" said SCTCCCA president Danny Brooks when asked if he was upset about the plant removal. \"It is a facility they are providing for us to use. It is certainly a spectator friendly (course). You do not want to abuse that service.\"

Brooks, Dreher cross country and track and field coach, is in his first year serving as president of the coaches assocation.

Brooks mentioned he is responding to the school (Bluffton) about the incident.

Bluffton senior Marshall Meyer was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct following his race. \"There was some profanity towards some judges that were working the chute,\" said Brooks.

\"I do think in reference to the disqualification. I commend the coach from Blufffton,\" said Brooks. Brooks mentioned how the coaches did not argue the disqualification.

Nic Tones led the way for Bluffton with a second place time of 16:05 in the international race. Bluffton placed 10th in team standings.

Bluffton coach comments on incident
I would like you to mention that we did apologize to John Jones and he did not think it necessary to make a public apology. We did offer. I looked for both you and Ed Boehmke before we left to follow-up but could not find either one of you. I take pride in both my school and runners and will certainly take responsibilty for any behavior that is negative. When I told you I would take care of the situation I meant just that. I did take care of the situation which turned out to not be what was presented to me at first. This clearly was not a case of destruction or vandalism. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper than what the surface looks like to find out what is really going on and what the intentions are. My assistant Coach Boyd and myself walked over to the area of bamboo you pointed out to me and could not see any visual damage.

I then questioned all four boys and they showed me the piece of bamboo they managed to pull up. When looking at your pictures it does appear to be quite a bit more than one piece they were after but in fact they were working on the same pieces in all photos. They did tell me they were unable to pull the other pieces up and one boy wanted the bamboo to fish with. They did not realize this would be considered destruction of property and immediantly agreed to apologize to whomever necessary.

Bluffton athletes respond to incident
  • Nic Tones (junior): I would like to apologize to all the people that we offended by pulling out bamboo; my teammates and myself acted inappropriately by picking the bamboo. Hopefully this situation does not display Bluffton High as a mischievous and unrespectable high school. As a runner of the Varsity team, I would like to sincerely apologize, again, for our actions.

    Thank you,
    Nic Tones

    Staff writer Chuck King contributed to this report.