CROSS COUNTRY: A RUNNING OASIS IN THE DESERT : DESERT CHRISTIAN'S SPOELSTRA HAS DEVELOPED SPORTS POWERHOUSE.Byline: Kirby Kirby is a common place name, surname, and given name. Other common uses include:
Lee Special to the Daily News Dean Spoelstra has transformed the Desert Christian Christian flees the City of Destruction. [Br. Lit.: Pilgrim’s Progress] See : Escape Christian travels to Celestial City with cumbrous burden on back. [Br. Lit. High girls' cross country program into one of the state's small school powers over the last two seasons. Spoelstra's role as cross country coach, however, has been only a small part of his contributions at Desert Christian. Spoelstra also serves as vice principal, athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic , baseball coach and theology teacher. In addition to coaching cross country and baseball, Spoelstra also drives the school bus for the basketball, soccer and softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' teams to athletic events. His wife Donna is a substitute teacher at Desert Christian. ``It is usually quite a busy day,'' Spoelstra said. ``It is never boring and keeps you sharp. I enjoy interacting with people.'' Spoelstra, 39, has watched Desert Christian expand from a school of 39 students when he was hired as vice principal at the year-old school in 1989 to more than 350. That first year, Spoelstra also started the athletic program beginning with cross country. With the inclusion of basketball last year, Desert Christian now fields teams in eight sports. For his first two years, Spoelstra also coached the boys' cross country team, winner of seven consecutive league titles, before relinquishing re·lin·quish tr.v. re·lin·quished, re·lin·quish·ing, re·lin·quish·es 1. To retire from; give up or abandon. 2. To put aside or desist from (something practiced, professed, or intended). 3. his duties to Will Laird laird n. Scots The owner of a landed estate. [Scots, from Middle English lard, variant of lord, owner, master; see lord. . ``It has been fun to build a school from 10 years ago to today,'' Spoelstra said. ``I didn't know what we would have when we started.'' Spoelstra's teams have had success on and off the field. In 1995, Desert Christian won the Southern Section Division IV-A girls' cross country title for the school's first section title in any sport and finished sixth in their first-ever appearance in the state meet last year. On Saturday, the Desert Christian girls' were third in the 1998 State Division V final in Fresno. Boosted by freshman Jynnifer Wright, who was eighth in 19 minutes, 31 seconds over the 5,000-meter course, Desert Christian totaled 99 points to finish behind three-time defending State champion San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden University and Chadwick. The Knights figure to be a force for several more years. Amberley Horning horn·ing n. Upstate New York, Northern Pennsylvania, & Western New England See shivaree. See Regional Note at shivaree. [Probably because horns are blown at the shivaree.] , the lone remaining member from the 1995 Southern Section championship team, is the only senior. Wright, Jessica Lembo, Melissa Bonds and Joselyn Wall are freshmen. Bethany Spoelstra, the niece NIECE, domestic relations: The daughter of a person's brother or sister. Amb. 514; 1 Jacob's Ch. R. 207. of Dean Spoelstra, Deann Matteson and Stephanie Armitage are sophomores. ``We started off slowly but we knew what we wanted to accomplish and have been faithful to put in the work and effort,'' Spoelstra said. ``Our goal all season has to been to win the league title, compete at the section level and to medal at state. We feel pleased to be right there in the hunt.'' The Desert Christian girls also figure to be in contention for a Southern Section academic cross country title. Last fall, the team won the Southern Section academic title with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.82. The team is maintaining a 3.9 average this fall. Spoelstra's baseball teams have qualified for the playoffs for the last six years. ``In cross country, the biggest aspect is recruiting and getting the girls to enjoy the experience of doing something that is rather difficult,'' Spoelstra said. ``In baseball, you have 30 guys knocking on the door. Baseball is a game of skills. Cross country is a lot of endurance Endurance See also Longevity. Atalanta feminine name denotes power of endurance. [Gk. Myth.: Jobes, 148] Boston marathon famous 26-mile race held annually for long-distance runners. [Am. Pop. Culture: Misc. and getting in shape. By the end of cross country, I am looking forward to baseball. During baseball, I am ready to start cross country.'' Keeping the two sports apart has been a challenge for Spoelstra, who at times drifts to baseball to explain concepts to the cross country team and vice versa VICE VERSA. On the contrary; on opposite sides. . That hasn't happened lately after the cross country team laid down the ground rules for Spoelstra. ``During cross country, we don't allow him to talk about baseball,'' junior Pam McClaren said. ``It is a little competition between us and the guys on the baseball team.'' In cross country and baseball, Spoelstra strengthens his teams' bond with weekly testimonial meetings where athletes express ways in which to apply their lessons learned from cross country to life. ``What makes him so special is he loves to have input to change young people's lives and to help them grow and mature,'' Horning said. ``He has such a dedication to the students. He sacrifices his family life to the spend the majority of his time with us. His wife and family have been extremely generous.'' Spoelstra, who played baseball at Biola University History Originally located in downtown Los Angeles at the corner of Sixth St. and Hope St., the university moved south to its present location in suburban La Mirada, California, in 1959. , has also put in his dues to improve his knowledge of cross country. His younger brother Wiki is aware of the following uses of "'Younger Brother":
``I never wanted to do anything like that. I thought my kid brother was out of this world,'' Spoelstra said. ``I have learned to appreciate the sport. It is a lot more than running.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO The Desert Christian girls' cross country program has led the way in the small school's huge sports achievements. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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