Haines named Coach of the Year

SEELEY LAKE – In addition to her first state title, Seeley-Swan High School Cross Country coach Zelda Haines was voted the Montana Coaches Association's Coach of the Year for Class C Girls' Cross Country. While Zelda has received assistant coach of the year when she coached junior high track, this is her first Coach of the Year. Zelda said while she appreciates the formal recognition, her goals have always been to see the team take state and for the program to grow.

Zelda grew up on a ranch. After they moved into town, they had to go back out to the ranch every Friday night for chores. Zelda would run the three and a half miles to the ranch house and then run back.

"I would always try to make myself run faster and faster each time," said Zelda smiling at the memory, highlighting her competitive spirit within herself.

Zelda never participated in sports in high school. She said the Cascade County Superintendent believed that if girls participated in sports, they would not be able to have children so it was not an option.

Zelda's husband Kim was a "track guru" in the state working with Junior Olympics, serving as the National chairman and on the Olympic board. Kim was also the principal and coach for basketball and track at Seeley-Swan High School. He saw the need for a track program at Seeley Lake Elementary and talked Zelda into it.

"I had no background in coaching and I was having a good time just teaching first grade," said Zelda. "But he saw a need and he thought, 'I know she's competitive. She'll do a good job.'"

Zelda was the head coach for the SLE track and field program that started in 1976. As a new coach, she attended every Northwest Sports Camp to learn how to coach. Anything she didn't know, she asked Kim since he was a constant wealth of knowledge.

Zelda continued coaching at SLE until she became the distance and hurdles assistant coach for the SSHS track team during the 2011-2012 school year.

Marge Henrekin approached Zelda about coaching the cross country team in the fall of 2013. Kim passed away in the spring of 2013 so she thought it might be a good thing for her since she was retired from teaching and had time.

The SSHS Cross Country's first team had three boys and three girls. Zelda said they had a lot of fun and did great.

"I didn't know how great they were until I had other teams [to compare them to]," said Zelda.

Zelda said her distance coaching in track helped her get started but initially she did not realize how much they needed the team to just run. She attended coaching clinics, looked at what the colleges were doing and watched instructional videos to give her an idea of what to expect from runners with no training. She started to understand what good times were for a team to help her set realistic goals for her runners. While there were some good hill runs around the high school, if they were going to go for a long, flat run, they went up in elevation.

"You have to altitude train because if you're training at higher altitude you can go faster at the lower altitude," said Zelda.

Like her husband, Zelda decided she needed to start a junior high cross country team if she was going to have a successful team at the high school. She started the middle school team in the fall of 2015.

"That is what developed this [year's] Girls Team," said Zelda explaining that Hannah Ayers, Kyla Conley and the Maughan sisters Sariah and Emily were all on the first junior high team.

Over the years, Zelda learned that because the courses are so different, they trained differently depending on the state course. Running hills and learning how to use the downhill was also a learning curve for everyone.

"I didn't realize you have a different kind of run going up the hill then down the hill," said Zelda. "Some of the kids had a hard time with coming down the hill – with that free flowing, almost out of control but still in control of their bodies.

Zelda's favorite thing about coaching is being with the kids and watching them improve.

"I asked for them to improve on what you've done the day before. It can be a little thing, but later on, it'll mount up," said Zelda. "And then forget the bad days and move on from those - give yourself a break."

Zelda has learned that sometimes she can put too much pressure on her runners because she is overly competitive herself.

"I have to let it come from them," said Zelda. "They have to love that euphoria that they feel after they've done a really great run."

Zelda sees running as a way to work on tensions and stress and it makes a personal feel better. It also is a model for how to push through tough situations.

"When they go out and run and develop different priorities about what they're going to do in their run, they figure out things," said Zelda. "I think it translates over to real life."

Zelda said that when the SSHS Girls Team took state this fall, it wasn't about her.

"Those girls competed as a team and won as a team," said Zelda. "That's the best feeling ever. I couldn't have wished for a better ending to our season."

But this year wasn't just about the girls' state title. Zelda said senior Levi Reinitz told her that despite her telling him he could finish a race in 22 minutes, he didn't believe her until he did it.

"I [told him], you did it yourself. You worked hard. You took every moment to get to this point," said Zelda.

At the end of the season, Levi wrote her a letter of thanks that she treasures.

"You don't have to be the best one out there, you just have to give it your best," said Zelda. "[Finishing in 22 minutes] meant so much to him. He's going to use that the rest of his life. Moments like that make me the most proud."