Buff
10-24-2004, 06:15 AM
http://www.news-record.com/news/local/rock...rank_102304.htm (http://www.news-record.com/news/local/rock/rockprank_102304.htm)
Prank turns bad at running meet
10-23-04
By Carla Bagley Staff Writer
News & Record
Just take the tape down dividing two trails at the girls championship cross country high school meet and see what happens.
Imagine girls lost in the woods, aggravated parents wondering where their daughters are, a race that has to be rerun and the prankster's high school -- Morehead in Eden -- facing embarrassment. You get the picture.
Five years from now, it might be funny. Right now, to a lot of people, it's not.
Morehead officials won't identify the prankster, a student who was a member of the boys cross country team. He might have gotten away with it had it not been for another runner at the Piedmont Triad 3-A conference meet Wednesday at Hagan-Stone Park in Greensboro. Both boy and girl runners were on hand for the eight-school meet.
"One of my runners saw one of the Morehead runners take the tape down that was dividing the two trails," said Ryan Harden, Rockingham County High School's cross country coach.
"And then the runners that came after him saw it taped up in a different place,'' he said.
Mick Gallant, the cross country coach at Southeast Guilford, said the fastest girl runners can usually complete the course in under 20 minutes.
"It got to be 20 minutes, 25 minutes, close to 30 minutes, and nobody was coming" out of the woods, said Gallant, who attended the meet, though his team was not competing.
Scorer Charlie Brown of Southwest Guilford hopped in a golf cart and drove the course in reverse, only to find a number of girls lost in the woods.
Gallant said the action was particularly aggravating to some parents, who had driven 35 or 40 miles to see the meet, which was supposed to determine the conference champion and all-conference runners.
"I didn't see anybody who thought it was funny, not at all," Harden said.
Greg Frey, Morehead's popular, award-winning wrestling coach, who does double duty as the boys cross country coach, resigned his cross country duties after the incident.
"We did not ask him to resign," Morehead High athletics director John Harder said Friday. "I wish he would continue to coach cross country, but it's something he thought he needed to do."
Efforts to reach Frey on Friday were unsuccessful. His resignation won't affect his duties as wrestling coach.
Donna Turner, coach of the girls team at Morehead, had no comment Friday.
Asked if the student was kicked off the team, Harder said: "I'd hate to comment on the status. I think it would be somewhat obvious considering the circumstance."
Carolyn Shannonhouse, assistant director of the N.C. High School Athletic Association in Chapel Hill, said no actions are planned against the student, since the action did not happen at a regional or state meet.
"It's strictly a conference matter as far as the penalty for the young man," she said.
Harder has offered to reimburse schools for the cost of attending the makeup meet, scheduled for Monday. He said he did not know how much that might be or whether the student, rather than the school, would pay for it.
"I've already had several schools tell me that they don't feel it is necessary, not to worry about the cost," he said.
"It just caused a lot of people a lot of difficulty and hardship, and we apologize for it," Harder said. "The kid is a nice kid. He just made a mistake. Sometimes kids disappoint you."
"This was not Coach Frey's fault," Harder said. "Coach Frey is one of the finest men I've been associated with. He's an icon in wrestling, one of the most respected coaches in North Carolina, the type of person you'd want your child to play for."
Prank turns bad at running meet
10-23-04
By Carla Bagley Staff Writer
News & Record
Just take the tape down dividing two trails at the girls championship cross country high school meet and see what happens.
Imagine girls lost in the woods, aggravated parents wondering where their daughters are, a race that has to be rerun and the prankster's high school -- Morehead in Eden -- facing embarrassment. You get the picture.
Five years from now, it might be funny. Right now, to a lot of people, it's not.
Morehead officials won't identify the prankster, a student who was a member of the boys cross country team. He might have gotten away with it had it not been for another runner at the Piedmont Triad 3-A conference meet Wednesday at Hagan-Stone Park in Greensboro. Both boy and girl runners were on hand for the eight-school meet.
"One of my runners saw one of the Morehead runners take the tape down that was dividing the two trails," said Ryan Harden, Rockingham County High School's cross country coach.
"And then the runners that came after him saw it taped up in a different place,'' he said.
Mick Gallant, the cross country coach at Southeast Guilford, said the fastest girl runners can usually complete the course in under 20 minutes.
"It got to be 20 minutes, 25 minutes, close to 30 minutes, and nobody was coming" out of the woods, said Gallant, who attended the meet, though his team was not competing.
Scorer Charlie Brown of Southwest Guilford hopped in a golf cart and drove the course in reverse, only to find a number of girls lost in the woods.
Gallant said the action was particularly aggravating to some parents, who had driven 35 or 40 miles to see the meet, which was supposed to determine the conference champion and all-conference runners.
"I didn't see anybody who thought it was funny, not at all," Harden said.
Greg Frey, Morehead's popular, award-winning wrestling coach, who does double duty as the boys cross country coach, resigned his cross country duties after the incident.
"We did not ask him to resign," Morehead High athletics director John Harder said Friday. "I wish he would continue to coach cross country, but it's something he thought he needed to do."
Efforts to reach Frey on Friday were unsuccessful. His resignation won't affect his duties as wrestling coach.
Donna Turner, coach of the girls team at Morehead, had no comment Friday.
Asked if the student was kicked off the team, Harder said: "I'd hate to comment on the status. I think it would be somewhat obvious considering the circumstance."
Carolyn Shannonhouse, assistant director of the N.C. High School Athletic Association in Chapel Hill, said no actions are planned against the student, since the action did not happen at a regional or state meet.
"It's strictly a conference matter as far as the penalty for the young man," she said.
Harder has offered to reimburse schools for the cost of attending the makeup meet, scheduled for Monday. He said he did not know how much that might be or whether the student, rather than the school, would pay for it.
"I've already had several schools tell me that they don't feel it is necessary, not to worry about the cost," he said.
"It just caused a lot of people a lot of difficulty and hardship, and we apologize for it," Harder said. "The kid is a nice kid. He just made a mistake. Sometimes kids disappoint you."
"This was not Coach Frey's fault," Harder said. "Coach Frey is one of the finest men I've been associated with. He's an icon in wrestling, one of the most respected coaches in North Carolina, the type of person you'd want your child to play for."