Things started to get really heated with the arrival of Pat Tyson as Mead’s long-distance running coach. He provided the leadership that led to Mead’s first of 9 consecutive titles in 1988.

Tyson’s Shorecrest High School team had won back-to-back 3-A cross country titles in 1984 and 1985 before moving to Mead.

Tyson may be best known nationally as a running back for the University of Oregon under coach Bill Bowerman and a former roommate of Steve “Pre” Prefontaine.

Pre was not only the superstar champion of Oregon, but also the greatest middle-distance runner in American history and America’s greatest racing legend.

At the time of his tragic death in a car accident at the young age of 24, Pre held 14 American track and field records from 2,000 meters to 10,000 meters. For 5 years, no American runner could beat Pre over any distance over a mile.

Bowerman, one of the best middle distance coaches, had phenomenal success and Oregon became a national powerhouse.

What Tyson learned from living and racing with Steve Prefontaine and from Coach Bowerman was brought to Mead and beautifully implemented.

Mead brokers were asked to do nothing more and nothing less than agree to be part of Tyson’s “extended family” system. He wanted a group of guys who loved to run, who were willing to train constantly (all year long), and who liked to hang out together.

The Mead Panthers became a team of young inseparable and almost unbeatable year after year. Rival coaches from other leagues and smaller schools were envious of Mead’s 80-plus-member cross-country and middle-distance track teams.

While most schools were lucky enough to have half a dozen runners who could break 5 minutes in the mile, apparently Mead had over 30 kids who could do it in each training session. Being a starting running back for Mead was a big deal, and an even bigger deal in a major competition.

In cross country, only 7 runners represent the team in a meet and only their top 5 runners figure in the scoring, but all team members over 80 can run in the meet.

One great thing about cross country is that it is a sport of inclusion, no one needs to sit on the sidelines while a team’s starters play.

Cross country, like track, swimming, and wrestling, are also individual and team sports. Your team may not qualify for state competition, but you may qualify as an individual based on your completion of district or regional competition.

Unlike most sports competitions, in cross country the low score wins. A team whose running backs go 1-2-3-4-5 would score a perfect 15 points. His opponent could, at best, finish 6-7-8-9-10 with 40 points.

If a team finishes 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, the winning score would still be 15, but their opponent couldn’t do better than an 8-9-10-11-12 finish with 50 points. While the 6th and 7th place runners are not listed in their team’s score, they can determine which team wins by finishing ahead of the other team’s top 5 runners.

Mead runners became champions because when the stakes were higher, they gave their best. The non-GSL riders who lined up against Mead had to feel like they were in for an excruciating test.

(Editor’s note: This is part 2 of a 4-part series on the success of Mead High School.)

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley