C/C keys up for new season, new coach
The 2003 cross country season is about to get under way and for the first time in many years the program will be doing it without retired coach Charlie Fairbanks. A new season has brought with it a new coach with Rogers City High Schools athletic director Pat Lamb at the helm. Cross country is not a new sport to Lamb. In 1976 he became acquainted with the sport, when as he says, ?I ran cross country in high school ? I was one of those kids that took up cross country strictly to get in shape for wrestling.
?But after the first couple of races I figured there was no reason I shouldn?t be right up front…I was very competitive.? Lamb said he wasn?t the best runner but he definitely helped the team.
?Charlie (Fairbanks) did a great service to the community for many years, running the cross country and softball programs. After a while, you deserve a break,? Lamb said. There was another coach hired after Fairbanks retired but because of work commitments, became unavailable, so Lamb stepped up to the plate.
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LAMB WILL have help from assistant coach Rob Kortman and as Lamb says, ?Charlie is ready and available for input if I need it, and of course Rob works with Charlie so the connection is there.? Lamb has inherited a young team with only two returning lettermen, Aaron Smuda, now a senior, and Lacey Kreft, a sophomore this year. Others on the teams have running experience, but basically it?s a young team for both the boys and girls, and could use a few more runners.
Any interested students considering cross country for their sport are encouraged to call Pat Lamb between 8 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. at RCHS 734-2143. The teams are practicing for the season opener next Thursday, August 28 at the Ogemaw Heights Invitational followed by the down and dirty Charlevoix Classic ?mud run,? the following Saturday, September 6.