GOING THE DISTANCE: E.D. White runners have come long way under Cole

Eddie Cole laughs when reminiscing about his first coaching experience with the E.D. White cross country team.

&#8220I took a rag-tag group of kids who didn’t really know what cross country was to a meet and we finished 22 out of 24 teams,” he quipped. &#8220It was a shock for me. The kids found me after the race wondering the course in a daze.”

Since then, Cole hasn’t lost his sense of direction.

Nor have his runners.

Cole enters his 32nd season at the helm of an E.D. White boys’ team that has won 25 of 31 district titles (eight straight) and 10 state championships (five straight).

The Lady Cardinals, meanwhile, have captured 29 of 31 district titles (23 straight) and two state championships, respectively.

&#8220We have two goals every year: win district and win state,” Cole said. &#8220Sometimes we fall short, but that has always been our litmus test.”

The boys’ team will attempt to overcome the graduation loss of 2006 Class AAA state runner-up Steven Cortez, who is running at Louisiana Tech on a cross country scholarship this fall.

Nonetheless, the Cardinals pack a powerful one-two punch in juniors Jordan Reed and Paul Whitman.

Reed finished fifth in the state last year and owns a 5K personal best time of 17:18. Whitman placed seventh in the state last year. Both earned all-state accolades.

Joining them will be senior incumbent Philip Grabert (14th in state) and Ethan Miller, who also finished in the top 20 in 2006.

Evan Thibodeaux will also move into the starting lineup.

&#8220A lot of our success has to do with coach Cole,” Reed admitted. &#8220He doesn’t make you do too much and lets you do what you want to do. So it all comes down to how good you want to be and how much you want to put into the team.”

The girls’ squad will be led by senior Kelsie Coates. Last season, Coates muscled out a seventh-place performance at the state meet and finished with a 19:59 personal record.

&#8220She (Coates) is our bulldog,” Cole said. &#8220She’s short, but she two-thirds heart. She has a lot of guts.”

The starting lineup will be strengthened by sophomores Lindsay Constance (17th at state) and Spencer Ford (state participant). Senior Genevieve Leslie and freshman Laura Monier complete the varsity roster.

Coates, like Reed, attributed much of her team’s dominance to Cole.

&#8220He (Cole) instills a sense of meaning for running,” she said. &#8220He’s the one who got me started in the seventh grade when I went to St. Joseph’s (Middle School). He makes you believe that you can accomplish things you never thought you could.”

Cole deflects the praise back to his runners.

&#8220I’ve coached kids who have gone to Stanford, Princeton and all of the service academies,” he explained. &#8220I’d say probably two-thirds of all of our valedictorians have been cross country runners. It’s a combination of the discipline they have and their self-motivation. I always tell my kids that I can’t put 3,000 people in the stands to cheer on your every step, but the reality is when you get to college, there isn’t going to be 3,000 people in your dorm room cheering you on to wake up and get to class, and there won’t be 3,000 people waiting to cheer you on to wake up and go to work. Cross country is sort of a mirror of life.”

When Cole thinks about the evolution of the program, he also thinks about the evolution of his coaching style.

&#8220Over the years, I have stopped being a yeller-screamer,” he said. &#8220I’ve discovered that internal motivation is a lot more valuable than external motivation. I tell the kids that this is their team, and any success we have will be the result of their efforts instead of my efforts. I don’t know if it’s the best, but it seems to match my temperament.”

E.D. White takes on H.L. Bourgeois today (Wednesday) in Gray at 3:50 p.m.

Evan Thibodeaux (right) and Nick Duet push the pace for the Cardinals. (Photo coutesy of E.D. White)