The 29/1
Official Podcast of the West Ottawa High School Athletic Program. 29 Sports, One Team. The show that brings you into the lives of student athletes, coaches and other faces in the Panther Sports Community. Bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join Rodney Vellinga and Athletic Director Bill Kennedy as they dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better.
The 29/1
Shared Success in Girls Cross Country, with Helen Sachs & Kyle Barnes
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Put on the headphones and jump into the world of Girls Varsity Cross Country, as we sit down with Coach Kyle Barnes and 2022 State Champion and Notre Dame bound athlete/runner, Helen Sachs.
Team togetherness is crucial in athletics, and this episode unravels how shared goals and mutual respect can fuel great accomplishment.
Rigorous training, recovery and strength training are essential components of the program. Kyle highlights how prioritizing recovery techniques like foam rolling, ice baths, and proper nutrition are integral to the team's success. These practices not only aid in physical adaptation but also enhance team cohesion and spirit.
The episode also touches on preparing athletes for real-world challenges beyond high school. The discussion explores how the skills and discipline acquired through cross country can have a positive impact on mental health and prepare athletes for life's challenges. Coach Barnes shares his experiences and personal growth, reflecting on the lessons learned from his time at Grand Valley and the evolution of his coaching approach.
Helen reflects on past adversities, the joy of returning to competition with a fresh perspective, and the relentless pursuit of goals exemplified by the team’s unwavering commitment to training.
Finally, the episode brings listeners into the thrilling final stretch of the cross-country season, highlighting the team's objectives of winning Conference, Regional, and State Championships.
And hey. You gotta get on that bus.
This episode was recorded on October 8, 2024.
you can't have a successful team without kind of the chemistry and the good relationships between everyone because you want to be able to do the hard work for people around you, because running, like is an individual sport but it's not like you're doing it as a team and like you need to respect the others around you and like want to do it for them, like the shared suffering.
Speaker 2Hey everybody, this is rodney valingaa with the West Ottawa High School Athletic Program, and you're listening to the 29.1 Podcast 29 sports, one team, the show that brings you into the lives of student-athletes, coaches and other faces in the Panther sports community, bringing you the stories you might otherwise never hear. Join myself and Athletic Director Bill Kennedy as we dive in with you to get to know each other a little bit better.
Speaker 3Every once in a while, you get the perfect storm. Generational talent and exceptional coaching come together to reach maximum potential.
Speaker 4Today we sit down with Coach Kyle Barnes and one of the most decorated athletes to ever walk the halls at West Ottawa Senior Helen Sachs to talk about Panther cross country, the season so far and what lies ahead.
Speaker 3This is a great listen to one of the most admired athletes in West Ottawa history.
Speaker 4Coach Kyle Barnes, senior Helen Sachs coming up next on the 29-1 podcast. Let's get it well, hey everybody.
Speaker 3Welcome back to the 29-1 podcast. It is a really crisp fall day on the lake shore today. It's's really really nice. I have about 65. Great for that fall jacket I see our guests both have on their hoodies and this weather is really nice for the back end of fall cross-country season. Today we sit down with two of the most successful people in West Ottawa cross-country history and their respective roles as coach and runner. Who is it Coach? Kyle Barnes.
Who is it? Some Long Resumes
Speaker 1And athlete runner Helen Sachs.
Speaker 4Awesome. So, helen, real quick, kind of go back through your resume, which is starting to get pretty lengthy at this point. 2022 state champ Gatorade, runner of the year in 22,. Three-time All-State Am I correct there?
Speaker 1It's more than that with track but three all state and cross country um, and then 2024 state champion, the four by eight.
Speaker 4Uh, last spring, kyle, you and I go all the way back to the very beginning of your time here at west ottawa, because I was the ad that was lucky enough to to find a guy that wanted to coach and whose doctoral thesis was labeled the cardiovascular load of the cross-country runner, something along that.
Speaker 3Not a bad start. Oh, you might just want to look at this, yeah Right.
Speaker 4That's pretty good. Yeah, that was one of the more impressive resumes. Rodney and I were kind of talking earlier about how that connection was even made really through. Rayann Hart, who was our previous cross country coach, and she competed with Danielle back in the day and that was really kind of the connection, so pretty cool.
Speaker 3It's a really cool story in the background and just from a personal point of view, it's a real like honor to sit down with you guys, like I really appreciate it. You're both are very accomplished here, but with all people that are driven, you still have a lot to do, right? We don't ever rest on laurels, but does that crisp fall weather kind of let you know what time of year it is? Helen?
Speaker 1Oh yeah, it's really fun, it's really exciting. We had a run yesterday and we all kind of felt it. We were like this is the time Because we've been used to training in the heat and really really hot. This is the time because, like, we've been just used used to training, like in the heat and really really hot, and you can, like you can tell when the times change and the fall and the air gets colder and you can just tell yeah, and it's been a very warm september.
Speaker 1Yeah yeah, it's been hot. I think we had a hotter workout last week, two weeks ago, than we did the whole summer yeah, kind of yeah at the.
Speaker 5It was hot once that temperature drops drops, we start running fast Right.
Getting to Know Kyle Barnes, Professor, Coach, Husband, Father
Speaker 3It's a mindset change when that temperature hits. Let's get to know you guys a little bit. Kyle, I've known you, of course, because my daughter, claire, ran for you for four years, so I got to know you. I learned about your hanglans deformity and you know we get to trade scar stories, so we just did it out in the hallway before we got started. You're also at GVSU. You're a professor there of your PhD in exercise science, exercise physiology. I was able to say both of those without a hitch, so I'm happy about that. How long have you been at Grand Valley?
Speaker 5This is year 12 for me.
Speaker 3This is year 12.
Speaker 5How old are you? 40. Yep, so right. Out of my PhD. 40. Yep, so right on my PhD. I was looking for jobs and Grand Valley was the best opportunity at the time and so started working there and you know, in that time like I've been coaching, you know various spots since college and my first, my first coaching job was here at West Ottawa.
Speaker 5I volunteered with Craig Kingma for for a year before I went on to graduate school, and so then I was at Colorado State volunteer coach there. When I could, through my master's degree, went to New Zealand to do my PhD. That's long story short. I worked with like their high performance program in New Zealand and worked with their Olympic track and triathlon programs leading up to the London Olympics, and then landed at Grand Valley and coached there for six years while I was teaching, and then here at West Ottawa for the last five, now six years.
Speaker 3Yeah, that's really, what a resume. That's really great. I was thinking earlier and we talked about this in the hall just for a minute what does a typical day look like for you during cross season, with being at Grand Valley and doing here? Give me like I'm gonna give you 30 seconds to take me through a day.
Speaker 5just go, gotta go quick get my kids ready for school, drop them off, get to grand valley, teach for basically the whole morning, come home, try to get a workout in if I have time and then, uh, practice for three, three and a half hours and then whatever my kids have going on after practice. That's super fast, yeah and that that's a.
Speaker 3we were talking about that earlier, though, but when you have a life where you're trying to accomplish things, it's always busy, right, like it doesn't stop, so kudos to you for that. And you're, of course, married to Danielle, who's a counselor here, and she used to be your assistant coach, but she's a very accomplished runner too, helen.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, yeah. She's a great role model to kind of look after and have someone in the back corner that we can always reach out to and communicate with.
Speaker 3Yeah, and it's nice to have somebody that was up there too, right, yeah, because yeah Most people don't in this building, don't realize how accomplished she's getting.
Speaker 5She finished 13th in the world, and that's pretty good, I mean, and that's pretty good.
Speaker 5I mean she's insane, that's insane. Yeah, well, like I don't know how many time, multiple time national champion in high school and so like, for you know we've been like helen or before, arianne. Like usually you don't always have athletes quite at their caliber, correct, but you know, for to have danielle around to like have that experience and been through it is really valuable and like it's nothing that like I'm not, I'm nowhere near the talent or experience, those things. On a coaching side I've had different experiences, but not as an athlete and it's just a different experience. And so danielle can like directly relate and that's rare to have have an athlete, to have somebody so close to be able to like bounce ideas off or to prepare them mentally for what to expect.
Speaker 3Yeah, it's almost like a perfect storm of good. Yeah, really as a as an athlete, with these coaches and you have, you have two young girls right.
Speaker 5What are their names? Karen Quinn, five and a half and coming up on eight and two weeks.
Speaker 3And they're always around the meets and stuff, right?
Speaker 5Yeah, they have been. I mean, they just traveled the portage with us this past weekend, rode the bus, and so they're getting old enough where they ride the bus a little bit here and there, and I mean that's what they want. They just want to ride the bus, that's all they really want.
Speaker 3Well, I saw them on a golf cart too, because when we had the right away here.
Speaker 5They love the golf cart.
Getting to know Helen Sachs, Writer, Daughter, Sister, Dancer (Only for a Hot Second)
Speaker 3When we were here at the right away, I tried I golf cart. It was really funny. Helen, you're a senior here at West Ottawa. Yeah, and to my delight, yes, to my delight, you are a very good writer. You wrote for the West Ottawa in this past spring. You wrote like five articles.
Speaker 1I did, I did. Yeah, it was. That was a really fun experience. I'm doing that again this semester or next semester, so watch out.
Speaker 3You're a very good writer.
Speaker 1Thank you.
Speaker 3What was one of your favorite stories that you did?
Speaker 1My favorite one is probably Fed Up that I wrote kind of about my struggles with nutrition and eating and the sport.
Speaker 3Was that with Ed?
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah, yes, ed is the name I have given my eating disorder.
Speaker 3Yeah, Well, it's a very well done article. Yeah, yeah. And you wrote some other ones too. I think one was on Unified.
Speaker 1The Unified Sports. I love that program. Right, that was a good one.
Speaker 4Amazing program. That's one of my favorite days of the year is when I get to sit behind the mic for Unified Basketball in the gym and give them the full Bill. Kennedy raspy voice announcer experience.
Speaker 1Get that old Chicago Bulls intro going For sure.
Speaker 3That's really, really fun. You have a family of four parents for Paul and Lisa, who don't run.
Speaker 1No, I don't know where I came from. I think they're my parents.
Speaker 3You think you're their parents and you have a little sister, Ruby. What grade is she in? She's in seventh.
Speaker 1She's testing out all the sports. She's actually in cross country right now and she's really enjoying it.
Speaker 3So what is it like for you to go to some of her races and really experience things from kind of the beginning? It must be like a little innocent type of place to go to. What's that like?
Speaker 1It's really nostalgic. It's kind of fun to go back to those races and like they're all just doing it for fun. Like Ruby's kind of said before, she's like I'm like I want to talk with my friends and it's like it's kind of this social sport and like in sixth grade that's how I joined it. I joined it as a fun sport to be with my friends and kind of just test out sports and like see where I liked to be when like the sports dimension and like it ended up I ended up loving cross and so I stayed. But like Ruby is still kind of testing everything out. So right now she's kind of just having fun and she's liking it.
Speaker 4So Cause she's played some tennis too.
Speaker 1Yeah, she's probably done every sport under the sun, Like I don't know. She's done softball, tennis, soccer, like karate. She did volleyball for a little bit.
Speaker 1I think she, like, was really committed to tennis and thought she was going to be a tennis player. But then I think I think it was like the other week or last night or a few nights ago she was like, yeah, no, I'm doing soccer now, like I don't care about tennis. I'm like, okay, so now soccer. And then I'm like, well, you're doing soccer track in the spring, because that's the same time for middle school, and she goes, well, I don't know.
Speaker 3So I really don't know with her anymore.
Speaker 1So she's enjoying cross right now.
Speaker 3Yeah, jumping from sports to sports is something. Did you do that at all when you were a little? No, I said smaller. When I was small, when you were younger.
Speaker 1I mean a little bit Like obviously I did like little like testing out of what I kind of liked. Like kindergarten I did soccer and like the kind of the only like other major sport I did was dance, which my mom was very happy about because she majored in dance or minored in dance in college. So she always thought she'd have dancers. So I tried that out for a hot second and that was not my thing. I'm not very coordinated, so it was dancer running and so running kind of running top of that.
Speaker 4So that's awesome. I love that at the middle school level we still have students who are trying to figure out what their path is going to be and we're able to offer so many different things to them to kind of try things out.
Speaker 1Yeah, the opportunities are endless, for sure, yeah.
Shared Suffering Instagram
Speaker 3You say you're not coordinated, but on your shared suffering Instagram page you guys always have those fun pictures from your photo shoot. So if somebody sets like a record time, it's like this or somebody's got sunglasses on Helen, what was it like to do that photo shoot? Tell us about that day.
Speaker 1It was fun. It was really fun. Media day every year is like super fun, especially like going more on these like official visits and getting kind of the more formalized media. It's kind of similar things. But the vibe with the team, like doing it by yourself at an official, is very different than doing it with the team here.
Speaker 1So it was really. It's really fun doing it with the team and like all the props and I know last year there was a lot of glitter that we had all over um everywhere, so that was fun. But yeah, it's always a really really fun experience just doing the media day with everyone and finding fun poses.
Speaker 4And Kyle, that's something that you've kind of done since you've been coaching here is really to, I guess, add a layer to your program and really promote your program through social media. Who's doing all of that for you?
Speaker 5I know the answer, but I want people to understand you know, yeah, I mean I'm kind of a one-man show right now with everything.
Speaker 5It's just it. Like cross-country running's not easy, distance running's not easy, and so, like I've learned in my cross-country journey, especially like I've only coached girls and which is like I don't know, I just kind of found my niche. I enjoy coaching women, that, like it. It just balances things out, like the athletes and I'm maybe guys do too, but like I'm focused on the women's team, like they enjoy those types of things that you know, like it helps promote our program and our sport. Promotes the individuals too, cause, like all of them from Helen, who's one of the best in America, to people that are just there for participation, just want to have fun with it, but they try hard, like they're part of our, our program, our culture, and like they continue to improve, like they deserve shout outs too. Um, you know, and now social media is the way that we, we, we do that and you do a great job on it.
Speaker 3I always look forward to when I pull up my phone I see that shared suffering circle at the top. I'm like oh.
Speaker 1I'm on that right away. Graphics and edits are crazy.
This Year's Team
Speaker 3Yeah, no doubt about it. Let's get into the team a little bit. Every year brings in new runners, new challenges. You've had a really great year so far, winning most of your meets. You've been ranked as high as number two in the state and then, I believe, even 11th nationally right that was last week. Helen, can you talk about some of the top girls on your team right now that are making this year something special? Who are some?
Speaker 1To name off probably be Ava Porras, emma Gunnett, colette Weirks, jane Alney, julia Frampton, ella Weirks.
Speaker 4There's so much depth on this. Tell me about those girls.
Speaker 3What's it like being around them, having them being on your team.
Speaker 1It's amazing. The atmosphere is really really, really great, like especially coming in with Claire's class, your oldest daughter, my freshman year, their senior class was very focused and I always like they were more of kind of work, work, work and we got the job done every day and just wasn't as much kind of like laughter and joking around and right now, and the team we're at now, it's it's really really different, but we always, we always get the work done, but we're definitely more of a playful team, which I think is really, really fun that's healthy.
Speaker 3It's not unhealthy.
Speaker 1No, exactly so, like doing like obviously we do really hard things and like doing all of that this year and like all of the meets we've competed at, and like workouts we're doing like they're all hard but just kind of that playful, kind of fun aspect that we've kind of cultured right now is really, really beneficial, I think, for everyone a lot of you girls have been together in the program now for a long period of time right Like.
Speaker 4I mean, the senior class isn't massive, but there are some big pieces of it. And then kind of new people add in, but you get the work sisters who are coming in from a track perspective and um, what's that like kind of as the new people kind of inject themselves into the program? What's that like from a student athlete perspective, from a coach's perspective?
Speaker 5I the the hardest thing is like like again, everything we do is is hard, like it's not easy and like, quite honestly, a lot of new people that start out don't make it very long. It's just like, if it's too hard or a lot of, I think a lot of kids just don't give it enough time. Like it like with anything, especially like endurance type of sports, like it takes two, three, four weeks just for your body to adapt to like being able to do easy runs on a regular and it not being just hard every day for you. That's on top of all the ancillary stuff that we do, and so I think the vibe of the, the team, has helped that everybody's accepting of each other on the, on the team and like the people that are there work hard and it's been, it's been great to to have like certainly everybody has, like their people and whatnot, but like everybody I think, recognizes like everybody's working hard.
Speaker 3You've had a lot of runners this year hit that sub 20 all time list. What's that been like, helen, to see your teammates being able to pull some of this stuff off.
Speaker 1It's been super fun and like kind of exciting for what our potential is and we have some big goals, and kind of seeing everyone else kind of prosper and achieve those goals has been really really encouraging throughout the time.
Speaker 3Yeah, I was going through the Instagram I think it was this morning. I was looking at that top 20. It's like red name, red name, red name, 2024. It was pretty impressive. It's a lot, and that's a lot of top 20 all times for one year. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 5Yeah, I'm trying to think how many do we have? Seven, eight or nine?
Speaker 3It's a lot Nine girls yeah.
Speaker 5We had seven girls break, 18 minutes at or 19 minutes, excuse me, at otsego, which I don't think we've ever had five girls break 19 in the same race. Here we have 10 or 11 girls that have broke 20 minutes right this year and I think there's a couple more that could do it.
Speaker 3Yeah, it's really deep. It's deep part of the part of that news kind of spoke. That is a great team chemistry. You guys did four days up at shanty creek, uh pre-season yes what does that do for the team number one? But then, secondly, what kind of payoff is that providing?
Speaker 1now, maybe, helen, you want to speak to that yeah, it kind of just solidifies our relationship that we've kind of built throughout the summer and kind of just and like a rule with team camp is like you can come if you've been training all summer and so people that are there have a mutual respect for all the hard work we've put in and like the hours we've kind of dedicated throughout the summer and so kind of going to that camp just kind of solidifies the relationships that we've built and kind of gets us excited for what's to come and builds those really strong connections that we need to have a high performing team. Like you can't have a successful team without kind of the chemistry and the good relationships between everyone because you want to be able to do the hard work for people around you, because running like is an individual sport but it's not like you're doing it as a team and like you need to respect the others around you and like want to do it for them, like the shared suffering, kind of essentially.
Speaker 3Oh yeah, for sure you. You had mentioned kind of when you came in, that senior class had an effect on you. That is been part of your behavior, though, as you've done this, you do some runs out at Pigeon Creek, which is a great place to run by the way. Yes, love it, but you drive the freshmen back and forth a little bit. You don't have to do that. Why do you do that?
Mom Vans and Throwing the Rope over the Fence
Speaker 1I received a lot of help from the senior class my freshman year and even the senior class my sophomore year, and so I was always really grateful for like all of the rides. And I know like the time that we spend at practice is a long time and like parents have jobs and obligations and like I'm asking to be picked up at this time each day and dropped off at this time and like especially during the summer it gets busy, and so I kind of relied on those upperclassmen my first few years to drive, like drive me when I didn't have rides. And so I always kind of had this like unsaid thing in the back of my head. I was like when I can drive, I will be driving anyone that needs a ride, um, and so I've kind of continued to pursue that and like I just want to make sure everyone's getting where they need to be and like are you momming them?
Speaker 1I, I am, I'm actually, I'm the mom I call, I'm called like there's a few mom bands on the team, um, but I acquired the first mom van, so I have the same car. That claire that your daughter oh, you did I have. I have a white um chrysler minivan oh, let's go.
Speaker 3Yeah, is it rusty on the sides? Yeah, oh, yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, she's cute. So that's my mom van that I bus everyone around in. And then Emma Gunnett has another, she has a nicer, she has a more bougie minivan. But that's okay, no competition here.
Speaker 3Kyle, what does that do for your team when your top runner is doing things like that?
Speaker 5I think it's just, like Danielle calls it, just throwing the rope over the fence to to, like, the next group, you know, trying to bring them along and like a lot of this stuff has kind of happened, I guess, kind of by accident, just kind of organically as a program, which has been great in the sense of like, like families, athletes.
Speaker 5There's a lot of people behind the scenes of this program that make a lot of sacrifices for us to be successful and, um, you know, and some of that is the upperclassmen that have driver's license to, you know, get other athletes to practice home from practice. So because we do practice for so long, or like we drive out of town to to get on hills or in trails and stuff like that, that and to keep our athletes healthy, like that's like just little things that we, that we think about and like it's just kind of giving back to the next generation and giving back to the, you know, the next, you know the future of the program, which is the freshmen and the sophomores or eventually, you know, the middle schoolers, and that's what we're kind of do. It's kind of re reload, yeah, tradition doesn't graduate Right Right.
Recovery, Ice Baths and Post Practice Work
Speaker 4One of the things that, as I, if I start to think back to, like your earliest days here at West Ottawa, one of the things that we started to notice right away is the amount of time that you spend in your program spends on recovery and post-practice work. I remember the first day walking in and at this point you guys were using the area right in front of the athletic office a lot of times for foam rolling and Theraguns. I remember Karen saying to me I don't know what they're doing, but it looks awesome. Talk to us a little bit about that emphasis that is placed on the recovery. I mean, of all the teams, there's one team that ice baths more than anyone else Foam rolling. Your post-practice, your post-race regimen is super important to the success that we're having.
Speaker 5Yeah, I mean we spend more time with posts, run posts, workout, whatever stuff that we do actually running, you know, and I mean that's just. I think that's important in terms of building a strong body. But you know, I just like I talked to the girls last week like we had an amazing week of training last week and that's great, but it doesn't mean anything if we can't recover from it and so you're not going to get the physiological adaptation that we want if you don't recover from it. So, like the stuff that we do at practice, if it's mobility and stretching and but also the nutrition, ice bathing, I mean we, we spend as a program, probably thousands of dollars a year on recovery, like not an exaggeration.
Speaker 3Do you have the ice bath right out the back there?
Speaker 5Outside the training room. Outside the training room. Right, yeah, yeah. But it's also like the girls. I think they do a lot of bonding.
Speaker 3You talk about shared suffering. At least for what? Two minutes, and then you don't feel it anymore. Or is it longer than that?
Speaker 1They complain a lot longer than that. Yeah, and we're pretty loud.
Speaker 5But it's doing things the right way too. I mean, I think recovery is super important. I think that's part of the reason why we're as good as we are is because lots of teams train hard too, but they don't recover, so they cannot get in.
Speaker 5If you're only getting 50% of the benefit from the, all the work you just put in like it's kind of a waste might as well just do 50% less work and a hundred percent more recovery. And so we're doing a lot of work and a lot of recovery and hopefully we're getting big benefits from it too.
Speaker 4Another thing that you're getting big benefits from and we recently talked with Frank Lurchin and Kyle McKenzie from the Panther Strength Group You're not afraid to get in the weight room. Helen, what's your reaction when coach says we're going to get up early in the morning and we're going to go down to Otsego and we're going to run this race and then we're going to come back and we're going to get a lift in?
Speaker 1You just described the perfect day, perfect fall day. Right there, whenever he was like, when he kind of gave us the option he's like, well, we could lift after I take off, I was like sold, like I love getting in the weight room. It's kind of I think we all kind of do enjoy it, like yes, it's hard, but it's a really. It's also a good bonding experience and we're getting that strength in and kind of those vital key components to running mechanics and just strengthening all the little muscles that you wouldn't think about and you can't kind of target without weights and kind of the specific tools that the weight room provides.
Speaker 3I loved when we had Frank and Kyle on. They talked about the muscles. You don't see, yeah, it's like yeah when you start thinking about that, when you can take care of that in the weight room that's awesome, really awesome too yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5Everything with running is like has nothing to do with, like, the outer appearance. You know, there's a lot of a lot of successful runners that have very different body types sure and it's all about 90 percent like the physiological adaptations inside the body.
Speaker 5Everything you can't see and that's the hard thing for a lot of athletes to understand is you can't actually see the changes. Usually you do see body adaptations from all the athletes. They look stronger and fitter and all these things, but it's really what's happening on the inside of the body that matters, not getting bigger muscles or anything like that I want to circle back to something we touched on just briefly earlier.
Speaker 3On the inside of the body that matters, not getting bigger muscles or anything like that. I want to circle back to something we touched on just briefly earlier. With all the success that you've had, only five of seven runners count in varsity races With a team of 24, that means majority of the people going in aren't going to count for this race. Bill and I have really been encouraged that you celebrate runners at all levels and value their contribution. I guess one why is this important in educational athletics? Number one we'll do that and then maybe you can both speak kind of a little bit about the shining star of that was our recent graduate, chloe Rooks. Can you guys maybe just speak to that as part of the team and what that means to you?
Everyone Matters, Everyone is Valued, & Shining Star Chloe Rooks
Speaker 1yeah, I think it's been really nice just to kind of have that whole group of people, ranging from all from, like, the fastest and then to one of some of the slower people, and like we all have that mutual respect. But I feel like having all those people on the team is just really valuable. And yeah, in the end only five kind of, and like at state we'll run seven and five will score, but like at state, when we go on the podium or anytime we've gone on the podium, like everyone comes up there with us, like it wasn't just the five that like the five scored the points or scored the least amount of points, um, but we were all. We've all been doing the work and so there's kind of always a shared experience that we've all these kind of prioritized in the program.
Speaker 1Like when we win a conference title, when we win a regional title, state title, like everyone will be on the podium with us because they've all kind of worked to get there and like Chloe was a great representation of that and kind of showing that you can still run at the next level, even you don't have to, there's no limitations, and one of the popular kind of guys who follows uh, cross country in michigan kind of um highlighted that, highlighted her on her on his story, just with her committing to grcc as the runner that she was in high school and just kind of showing that like nothing is impossible and like that gave a lot of athletes some courage and encouragement for like going forward, which I thought was helpful yeah, I mean like the reality is, like not everybody can go run at at Notre Dame, like like Helen's going to do, but like there, like there can be a place for just about anybody that wants to run at the next level it may be.
Speaker 3And life too, right, I mean running when we're older. She's going to be doing this rest of her life. Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 5But I think, for from a coaching standpoint, from a high school athletics standpoint, like these are life changing moments.
Speaker 5You know, and I'm I mean I hope a lot of athletes walk away from the program with a having a had a positive experience with it.
Speaker 5You know, and like running is something you can do the rest of your life. You know, like, with the mental health struggles that we have right now, I'm hoping, like, like what we're doing is more positive than the negative, even though, like it is high pressure, and like we work hard. But you know the West house, we want to be college, career and life ready and like I feel like that's part of our program as well as like preparing them for the real world and like like I don't hold back on them in terms of, like you know, if their performance or more of the effort isn't there, you know, if you're not showing up to to practice, I mean, you're not showing up to work, you're gonna get fired Right, and so it's just things like that, like trying to prepare them for the real world and I feel like, if they can handle or get through our program, like they're going to learn a lot and be prepared for the real world, whether you know that's military secondary education work, whatever it might be.
Speaker 3And on this, on the same side of that we talked the other day, and you're trying to uh, uh, develop that empathetic side, the Kyle Barnes side side. Huh yeah, I work at that one. Huh yeah, I mean, I just, I was just doing a lot better the.
Maturing as a Coach, Is That Some Empathy? Yes, but keep working hard. :)
Speaker 5I mean I just told the girls the other day, like you know, like coach kyle four or five years ago would have responded to how we do, ran some of our races differently than than I did this weekend. I really didn't have a great performance this this weekend, but you know there's a number of factors that go into it and I, like some, I can watch a race and I know my athletes well enough to know when there's a lack of effort versus just not having a good day yeah, well, you're a maturing coach right now.
Speaker 3Yeah, I mean from, you know, looking in from the outside. You know. I asked you earlier how old are you? Well, you're 40 now.
Speaker 5Yep, this isn't 28 year old kyle barnes sitting in here now, you know and mean and I learned a lot from like being at Grand Valley watching Jerry coach and I mean I was there for six years and I was there most days and he let me travel with the team and like I got you know behind the scenes, in the scene, like fully immersed experience and I like I mean I think Jerry's the arguably I mean certainly one of the best, if not the best coaches in the country for distance running, I mean in the program, despite it being D2, like I don't think there's anybody better in Michigan than he is at any level at any university anywhere.
Speaker 5You know, and I see how he responds to things and we're pretty similar in terms of our personalities and stuff like that. And like then, when you take the reins over as a head coach, it's different. You're the one that has to have the hard talks with the athletes if there's a lack of effort and like I've I've seen him lay into athletes when they when they need it and be empathetic when they need it and give them a hug when they they need it.
Speaker 5Listen to this guy, listen to kyle barnes oh yeah, certainly trying to, to learn that and like also, like working with girls, compared to boys could be, can be different and what they need, uh as well. Well, well spoken well spoken. I really enjoyed that figuring this coaching thing out. I guess I don't see gender when it comes to that you see athlete. Yeah, and maybe how you have to treat the individual.
Speaker 3That's like even human beings, though right. Right. Human beings need to be treated differently based on their makeup and who they are and how they handle things.
Speaker 5Don't care skin color, don't care gender, just show up and work hard. And that's how I've approached coaching these girls for the last five years, six years now. Work hard, yeah, and and that's how I've approached coaching you know these, these girls, for the last five years, six years now, I guess yeah.
Speaker 3Well, after this fourth year this is your fourth year, but this fourth year will come to an end. We're not going to get into the reflection part because you're still here. We're not doing that, but next year congratulations, congratulations.
Speaker 1This is the celebratory part of this podcast.
On Her Way to Notre Dame
Speaker 3You are going to Notre Dame. Yeah, super, super, super excited for that. Really, really excited, like so cool it's Notre Dame, yeah, yeah, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, um, they're a number one ranked team in the Great Lakes region. Fourth place finish at nationals. Last year, um, and under coach Matt uh Mattarks, they have been a consistent top 10 or near top 10 at nationals during his tenure. How are you feeling about that opportunity that sits in front of you next fall?
Speaker 1I'm going to say excited again. I'm just really, really just excited to see what I can do at Notre Dame and obviously he's had a lot of success and which is really encouraging and.
Speaker 1I really like his training style and I know that it's I wanted to go to a university that would push me in both academics and athletics and like I don't, I'm not going to go to Notre Dame and be the best on the team and I'm probably going to be pretty low, which I'm excited for, which I'm looking forward to and pretty low, which I'm excited for, which I'm looking forward to, and like kind of having that not competition, but that people pushing me around me at Notre Dame, which I'm really yeah, really looking forward to.
Speaker 3Yeah, and what are you going to pursue academically? I'm going to go pre-med, I don't know what I'm majoring in.
Speaker 1Yet I'm going to talk to some of my dad's friends who are doctors. But yeah, don't know what I'm majoring, but pre-med.
Speaker 3There was a lot of schools in the mix for you. Yeah, colorado MSU, georgetown schools in North Carolina, florida.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3What were maybe two or three of the factors that really kind of put Notre Dame, you know, the one that you're going to go to?
Speaker 1Yeah, definitely the team culture and kind of just their work ethic and just how they kind of interacted with each other. At Notre Dame I took an official there pretty last minute. I think it was. Sparks said it was the quickest official they've ever done, before ever I think I called.
Speaker 3Sometimes the last visit is the best visit.
Speaker 1Yeah, he called me, I think it was a Thursday at like two and he's like do you want to come?
Speaker 3down tonight.
Speaker 1No way and I was like sure and so, and so, yeah, we did an official bat day um for that weekend. But yeah, just meeting the team and just kind of this super last minute thing, they were all super, super welcoming and like their whole work ethic was just super like really hard working and kind of their training training style was amazing and kind of fit with what my kind of um ideal training is and just incorporating the cross training and like individualized training and yeah, the whole team culture is just amazing. And coach sparks and hosker were super understanding and patient with the whole crazy process that is the recruiting process, especially for someone who's obviously going through it the first time but also doesn't have like an older sibling or something sure and then obviously the academics of Notre Dame which kind of sealed that Cause I obviously wanted to go for to improve my athletics and my education as well.
Speaker 4So yeah, you join a as I was walking down to the studio, here you walk down.
Speaker 3Is that what we're calling it?
Speaker 4Yeah, this is the studio.
Speaker 3We've recorded every episode in this room.
Speaker 4As you walk down the hallway you see Debon Afrik, who is a multi-time state champ here at West Ottawa, swam at Notre Dame. You see Arianne Olsen up on the wall and now you join kind of the trilogy triumvirate.
Speaker 1What do we call that?
Speaker 4The trio. We'll call that the state champ trio that's off to Notre Dame md state champ trio let's go pretty t-shirts yeah, let's go get cracking t-shirts.
Speaker 3Um hey, one thing I want to talk about too and your mom told me about this and I'm totally on board with this we need to get people cheering for notre dame across country oh yeah right. So you had this thing. Your mom told me it's like oh yeah, people heard I'm going to notre dame and now no one is like oh, I'm sorry, I'm a Michigan fan, I can't cheer for you at Notre Dame.
Speaker 1No, I've had multiple people come up. They're like I will. Usually I don't cheer for Irish, but now I will cheer for Irish, like they'll be. Like this is the only time I'm going to say go Irish. So I'm like no, we need to know?
Speaker 3Yeah, we do, because you know our athletes graduate, they go to these places and you're not forgotten, but you're remembered by a small number of people who stay in touch with you and keep up. We can cheer for Michigan State cross country because the Bonamas are there, yeah, but I'm totally into that. So for all the Michigan fans and all these people who say to you I'm not going to cheer for you, we're not putting up with that, it's over, no, no.
Speaker 1I cheer for Notre Dame cross country.
Speaker 3I've always personally have been a fan of the athlete. I'm notoriously known for bailing on teams when my favorite athlete leaves, so it's not hard for me.
Speaker 5It's valid.
Speaker 3Yeah, it's not hard for me to do. It's great that you're going to Notre Dame next year, but it was never guaranteed. Yeah Right, you faced adversity during your sophomore season. You had to go through that and you've been very, very open about it. Talk to us a little bit about last fall when you ran, when you weren't like the fastest runner you've ever been, but you got to run on this other spot and see it maybe from a different perspective.
Last Years Return and Maintaining Health
Speaker 1Yeah, it was definitely fun to kind of be at like at a different angle in all the races and kind of experience something that I had never experienced before and like at that point, like last year, I was just over the moon excited to be running. Like that was kind of the only the only thing I really worried about. I wasn't really caring about time, I wasn't caring about place, Like in the end it just came down to running the races and I was just super, super grateful to be healthy and approved by all the doctors and dieticians and therapists and everyone to be able to run, and so that was kind of yeah.
Speaker 3Yeah, and your teammates kind of really enjoyed that part of you last year, right, just having you back on the team and doing that. A lot of big smiles about that for sure that was super fun.
Speaker 3In the present day, right now, part of moving forward as an athlete is you're able to manage that. Now, right, you meet with a therapist regularly, you have a dietician. Can you like just share with people how important it is to kind of be aware and keep doing that, and how that's an important part of maintaining a healthy mind, a healthy body, as you continue your career?
Speaker 1Yeah, like throughout my whole career, everything's always going to be kind of a challenge just balancing the nutrition and the training, and what Kyle was kind of saying previously was the training is the hard. Honestly, for me it's probably the easiest part.
Speaker 1It's hard, but it's probably the easiest part to do, but the most benefit that you get out of is probably in the recovery side of things, and that's kind of one thing that I continue to work on with everyone around me and I see value in continuing to find all of the benefits of the recovery side of things and so, like, yeah, moving forward in my life, like I'm always going to be leaning on the professionals around me that do have the like, the information and all of the degrees behind them that can help guide me in the right way.
Speaker 3To like and how good is it Right? I mean, how good is that?
Speaker 1It's very, I'm very, it's so good, right yeah.
Speaker 3Yeah, got people lean on, talk about things, get something out of your system. Yeah, really positive, really really nice. Well, we're getting to the stretch run, kids, we are getting to the stretch run of the season. It's all coming up. You told me on the phone there's five meets that are important to you. Can you walk us through it there?
The Stretch Run, Conference, Regional & State Meets
Speaker 5Yeah, now that we move into championship season, but for us as a cross-country program, the For us as a cross-country program, the main goals win conference, win, regionals, win a state championship. Those are always the goals that we have. And so, on the way to win a conference championship, we have two jamborees which are worth 25% of the championship and then a conference championship worth the last 50%. So those two jamborees and the conference championship are three of the meets our regional championship and our state championship. I mean that and the reality, like those are the only meets that actually matter towards our team goals, Like all the other ones we do, like they're fun and, honestly, some of the other meets are probably more fun Like there's a better atmosphere, we have music and there's thousands of runners Under the lights and fireworks yeah.
Speaker 5And we travel to Indianapolis or go to the Port of Genvi, which is one of the biggest meets in the Midwest, Right away coming across Kennedy Crossing and hear me yelling at people.
Speaker 3Is it actually named Kennedy Crossing?
Speaker 4Because I love that that's what the coaches have started to call it. Yeah, we'll have a sign.
Speaker 3Don't worry, we'll have t-shirts. He has one T-shirts. Kennedy Crossing T-shirts. He has one T-shirts Okay, good, kennedy Crossing. Oh, that's killing.
Speaker 5That's it. Those are the five that matter. And so what happened? On Saturday, I told the team all of our goals are still in front of us.
Speaker 3Yeah, this is the Portage Invitational, which didn't go as planned. We were talking about this earlier and, helen, maybe you can speak about this too. Sometimes, when something doesn't go your way, it's actually a blessing in disguise. Yeah, what's the mindset of your teammates after Portage? You won Portage, but the next four was a bit rough right that particular day. Can you speak to that? Like? What's your mindset now, having that as a we'll call it a mini disappointment? But now you're moving to this part of the season.
Speaker 1It just kind of gives us, continues to kind of light, that fire underneath us.
Speaker 3no-transcript riverside park oh yeah, that's a nice course, you guys like running that one it's pretty flat right, yeah yeah, I love that venue, yeah pancake flat.
Speaker 5Pancake flats usually fast.
Speaker 1Pretty. The girls like yeah, beautiful along the river. Yeah, it's yeah.
Speaker 3So that's coming up. Regionals 1026 Allendale State is in November.
Speaker 4First weekend in November, mis. I circle it on my calendar every year. Been very fortunate in my time at West Ottawa, I get to MIS every year. It's always odd from a AD's perspective. You know, I'm sorry, helen, I'm not going to be able to chase you all over the course. I'm not built for that. So I see you typically at the start and you run by and you exit the track and then I beeline it over to the finish line.
Speaker 3See my buddies who gets there first?
Speaker 4I get there first because I do have a little bit of time to interact with my buddies at the MHSAA that are there. But then I'm trying to get as close to pit row there as I can to see our girls as they're coming across. I yell like crazy. I have no voice at the end of the day. I'm not sure that you hear me, but I am there.
Speaker 5It's a mad dash for sure. Yeah, MIS is a next level. Yeah, it's not spectator friendly, but it's a next level experience still like. I mean, there's tens of thousands of people, they're all the best teams for michigan and michigan, notoriously, is one of the best states in america for cross-country as well.
Speaker 3I think last year there's a statistic or whatever we were in seventh, seventh, best state in america for cross-country when you go into this final stretch, who are the teams that are going to present a challenge for you as you try and do everything that you can do to win conference, regional, maybe state even in the conference.
Speaker 5I mean like we're certainly the favorite for our conference and region to to win, but like again nothing's handed to you, like we got to show up and do our job and and then hopefully we bring those titles home. But at the state level, romeo is by far the I mean I think they're a top 10 team in America.
Speaker 3They had. I was looking at their finishes at Portage they had. I think everyone was under the top four or at least under 20 or less, I believe.
Speaker 5Oh yeah, their top six were like 18, 30.
Speaker 3Okay.
Speaker 5They're loaded, okay, so they have an amazing group of girls, yeah, and so they're the main one. But I mean, celine and Ann Arbor Pioneer beat us this past Saturday. Now that was without Ava finishing. If she had finished, we would have gotten.
Speaker 3Second you told me about this. Can you just tell the?
Speaker 5I like this because she, like, went to the. Well, right, I mean she went, yeah, I mean I didn't see it happen, but about 400 meters to go, like she just, I think, just black blacked out, just collapsed and so yeah, she's tell you what, I tell you what I got a lot of respect for that man, yeah she's I mean ton of respect, it's not a lot of people can push them to to that, whether it's effort or heat or a combination of the two. But yeah, my girls give me everything that they have.
Speaker 4I remember being at the pit wall last year as Helen crossed the finish line at the state meet. And I was like she emptied the bucket man.
Speaker 1I'd only run over ground what six times before that, so that was a little bit of a shock to the system for sure so we'll have our hands full but we'll give it a go.
Speaker 3You guys have been really wonderful to sit down with. Thanks for taking the time. I know it's the middle of the school day and we're doing this podcast, but you guys are great she's not missing class there was no special thing that Bill Kennedy wrote.
Speaker 4I did want to let you both know that while you're here, because it just came across my desk earlier we have been approved for a bus for the state meet for spectators, so start spreading the word, we're going to try to fill a spirit bus and get some fans to MIS on the 2nd of November.
Speaker 5That's never happened before. No, it's never happened.
Speaker 4We got it, it's approved, it's ready to go, so spread the word folks, Teachers, friends, community. Get on the bus.
Speaker 5Let's be there. Maybe we'll do t-shirts.
Speaker 3What's your idea?
Speaker 1I don't know Spirit fan t-shirt thing, I don't know, but there's something there that would be fun. I really like that. But there's something there that would be fun. I really like that, there's something there.
Spirit Bus to Michigan International Speedway! GET ON THAT BUS :)
Speaker 5It's an experience, though I mean if you've never been to a cross-country meet.
Speaker 1MIS is the one Well, spectator-wise, it is really fun. It's really fun.
Speaker 5Pre-race, post-race Hopefully we're on the podium, hopefully raising a state championship, ideally, but hopefully on the podium either way.
Speaker 3It's a good time. We're all going out, we're heading out there. It's going to be fun. Let's get as many people as we can.
Speaker 1Yes.
Speaker 3What's your normal like? How many people usually come? Is it just like family and friends most of the time?
Speaker 5Yeah, for the most part, I mean it's a little bit better yeah occasionally we get a few middle schoolers that want to come from the cross country program that want to come watch.
Speaker 3Maybe we can get the cross country programs to come out.
Speaker 5Yeah, but we'd love to have teachers and stuff like that. Like they know. I think they know that we're we're running an out there and we're successful but, I've never been to a meet, and this is if it's not braid away, get home. Then, like this, is the the one, make a day of it yeah, and let's have a party.
Speaker 3Let's do it. I always want to thank all the the support staff for cross-country right, all the parents that do all of their things on. There's lots of things going on in the background with emails and food and all that stuff. So just a big shout out if you support, uh, cross-country here at west ottawa, we want to thank you for doing that. Thank you for coming in, really appreciate it. Big fans, uh, like we say here, we don't know everybody at West Ottawa, but we always recognize the face. Your faces are very familiar and big fans from afar. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Speaker 1So all the best to you guys. Yeah, thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 3Yeah, thanks a lot, it's been great. All right, we'll see you later.
Speaker 1Thank you.
