COLUMBIA – The 2014 high school cross country season hits its’ stride this weekend with the first big meet of the year, the annual Bob Jenkins SCTCCCA Coaches Classic at the Sandhills Research Center, and the association’s new president is anxious to get it rolling.
David Lee, cross country and track coach at James Island Charter High, was named president of the SCTCCCA this past summer, replacing Riverside’s Eric Cummings.
“Eric did a phenomenal job during his years as our president,” Lee recently told scrunners.com. “My goal has been to continue the direction that Eric has been leading us. His organization is top-notch, and I can only hope to keep things running as smoothly as he has.”
Lee said Cummings has remained with the association as an at-large officer, which has helped the new president as he’s settled into the position.
“Many folks don’t realize the amount of time that we put into the sports that we love,” Lee said. In addition to their normal teaching (Lee teaches algebra), and coaching duties, the association members sacrifice family time, personal time, and time with their own teams to attend to state cross country and track functions like the Coaches Classic, the state championship, as well as administrative duties, he said.
As an example, this Saturday, during Coaches Classic, I will spend the majority of my time at the meet starting all races, checking uniforms, managing the finish line, handing out awards, and dealing with other issues that may arise,” Lee said. “I will only get to see my athletes race briefly, at the start and finish and I won’t be able to really analyze their times until I’m on the bus back to James Island.”
Lee said he is leaning on others at James Island this season to keep the school’s cross country program on course.
“Our program at James Island is very blessed with a great coaching staff that picks up the slack when my SCTCCCA duties pull me away from our team. Joe Eshelman, Lisa Enfinger, Rick Kimball, and Leavell Wall are a top-of-the-line XC coaching staff.”
Lee, who grew up in Columbia and attended Dreher High, where he was an all-state runner for Danny Brooks, said he, along with other Association members – current and former – have a lot to do this week and on Saturday:
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Spring Valley’s John Jones secures the Sandhills location, orders awards, organizes the set-up and break-down of the course, and takes care of sanctioning the meet with the SC High School League.
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Cummings, along with Eastside’s Ed Boehmke, purchase Assistant Coach of the Year awards and Hall-of-Fame awards, in addition to organizing over 3,000 names in a database for the timing coordinator.
The Association also works with a T-shirt company that sells shirts and returns a percentage of the sales to the Association, Lee said. In addition, there are the athletic trainers, EMS and police that to coordinate and pay, along with payments for the awards and plaques.
The Association also contracts with Event Timing Solutions, which organizes all packets and timing systems for the event.
Jones has organized a new event for this year’s Coaches Classic. Billed as “the world’s largest ice-bucket challenge,” runners from all schools participating in the Coaches Classic are being asked to pair off following the awards presentation Saturday. Each pair will gather on the field with their 9-quart bucket, filled with water and ice, and await the signal from Lee.
The Association is donating $500 to ALS, and hopes to raise $1,500 to $2,000 during the challenge. Lee also is expected to challenge cross country and track associations in other states to match South Carolina’s efforts.
“I’m hoping it will be a huge success,” Lee said.
The College of Charleston graduate won’t have much time to relax heading deeper into September. His cross country team hosts the annual Low Country Invitational on the 27th, an event Lee is especially pumped about this year.
“We are improving our finish area to accommodate more runners and we are excited about another great course, through the flat, fast horse trails that Mullet Hall has to offer,” he said.
Then, there’s a significant side of his life that’s about to change heading into 2015. Lee said he is getting married in January.
He said his fiancé (Emily Conheady) has grown to accept his commitment to cross country and track.
She understands that, after 10 years of coaching in South Carolina, I feel that I need to step up and become a leader in our state,” he said. “This is my opportunity to pay back some of the other coaches that have served as leaders during my early coaching years.”
Lee said his fiancé “is excited about becoming ‘The First Lady’ of the SCTCCCA.”
COLUMBIA – The 2014 high school cross country season hits its’ stride this weekend with the first big meet of the year, the annual Bob Jenkins SCTCCCA Coaches Classic at the Sandhills Research Center, and the association’s new president is anxious to get it rolling.
David Lee, cross country and track coach at James Island Charter High, was named president of the SCTCCCA this past summer, replacing Riverside’s Eric Cummings.
“Eric did a phenomenal job during his years as our president,” Lee recently told scrunners.com. “My goal has been to continue the direction that Eric has been leading us. His organization is top-notch, and I can only hope to keep things running as smoothly as he has.”
Lee said Cummings has remained with the association as an at-large officer, which has helped the new president as he’s settled into the position.
“Many folks don’t realize the amount of time that we put into the sports that we love,” Lee said. In addition to their normal teaching (Lee teaches algebra), and coaching duties, the association members sacrifice family time, personal time, and time with their own teams to attend to state cross country and track functions like the Coaches Classic, the state championship, as well as administrative duties, he said.
As an example, this Saturday, during Coaches Classic, I will spend the majority of my time at the meet starting all races, checking uniforms, managing the finish line, handing out awards, and dealing with other issues that may arise,” Lee said. “I will only get to see my athletes race briefly, at the start and finish and I won’t be able to really analyze their times until I’m on the bus back to James Island.”
Lee said he is leaning on others at James Island this season to keep the school’s cross country program on course.
“Our program at James Island is very blessed with a great coaching staff that picks up the slack when my SCTCCCA duties pull me away from our team. Joe Eshelman, Lisa Enfinger, Rick Kimball, and Leavell Wall are a top-of-the-line XC coaching staff.”
Lee, who grew up in Columbia and attended Dreher High, where he was an all-state runner for Danny Brooks, said he, along with other Association members – current and former – have a lot to do this week and on Saturday: