Story from before the 2000 Comets season
Since 1977, the Comets Track Club has provided people of all ages on the Palouse in Washington and Idaho the opportunity to practice and compete during the summer in track and field events. A member of USA Track & Field, the club includes toddlers to senior citizens, but is dominated by girls and boys ages 4-18 and their families, says Mike Hinz, Comets head coach.
For the 2000 season, practice begins April 17 on the Pullman High School track. Practices are at PHS Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m. until May 15, then Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 5:30-7 p.m. through July.
There are two home meets this season, the Inland Northwest Age Group Championships (all ages, youth and adults), June 17, and the Inland Northwest Masters Classic meet (ages 30 and up), July 22, both at WSU's Mooberry Track. Also, on other Saturdays, club members may travel to Cheney, Spokane and Connell for competition.
Running events include the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 3000 and 5000 meter races, the 80/100/110 meter and 200/300/400 meter hurdles and the 2000/3000 meter steeplechase events, depending on age group and 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 meter relays.
Dave and Bessie Kolva of Pullman are stalwart master athletes for the Comets. They coordinate and help coach the club's race-walkers. "Dave is a great example of desire, determination and dedication," Hinz says. "He started race-walking several years ago with no experience. “Now he is one of the best master athlete men race-walkers in eastern Washington. Bessie has been equally as dedicated. In addition, they have coordinated the Comets scrapbooks the past few years and Dave is a member of the Inland Northwest Track & Field Board of Directors." Oh, and both their children are Comets "alumni."
The Huylers of Colfax are active in the club. Joanne and Mark Huylers' children, Chris and Annie, compete for the Comets and Joanne competes for it during age group championships. "They have fun and do very well in a variety of events. They are good role models for others," Hinz says.
Ben Crossett of Oakesdale has competed for the Comets the past three years in the triple jump, long jump, high jump and 100 meter dash. His best of 39 feet in the triple jump earned him second at the 1998 Nationals in Spokane. "Practices are fun because you have the high school and WSU track (athletes to help) and they've had a lot of experience," says the OHS freshman son of Mike and Debbie Crossett.
Ben's mother says, "I think it really helped him in junior high (track)." As a Tekoa-Oakesdale Junior High Nighthawk, Ben set overall Whitman County records in the triple jump (41 feet 11 inches), long jump (19 feet 9 inches) and 100 meter dash (11.6 seconds). "Ben is an easy to work with kid," says Hinz. "He's obviously a very talented athlete. He's always eager to learn." Coming to the Comets at a young age, "Ben has refined his skills, particularly in his jumps."
Also, Hinz says, "There's been a connection for a number of years" with families from Oakesdale involved in the Comets carpooling into Pullman. Hinz says adults interested in taking part in Comets do not need to have competed in track and field in their youth. "If there is an interest and desire, we can take it from there," he says.
Membership fees of $30 for the first family member and $25 for subsequent family members help pay club expenses, including supplies and salaries for assistant coaches. Comets assistant coaches include track athletes. "We have excellent coaching and more coaches than any other clubs in our area. Many of the WSU and high school athletes who coach for us do so as a way to give back to the sport. They had a good experience and learned good fundamentals as youngsters and want to provide the same to others," says Hinz.
Registration for the 2000 season takes place at PHS track during practices. Field events include high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, baseball throw (for youngest athletes), shot put, javelin, discus, hammer and weight throws. Also, race-walking competition is offered by the club every other Wednesday on the PHS track and at most weekend meets.
Competition is by age groups. There is a development age group, 6 and under, two year age groups from 7to 18, an open age group, and then 5 year masters age groups starting at 30.
Hinz says this will be an especially good year for masters athletes from the northwest interested in national and international competition. The National Masters Championships will be in Eugene, Ore., Aug. 10-13, and the North American/Central American/Caribbean Championships are at Kamloops, British Columbia, Aug. 17-20.
The Comets are family focused. "One of our club members said joining the Comets was one of the best parenting decisions they ever made," says Hinz, who is also Pullman High's head girls' and boys' track coach. "We truly have a family club. Often we have mom, dad and kids out for practice and meets. This is not a sport where parents sit in the stands and watch their daughters and sons compete. Parents compete and they also help officiate at home and away meets, doing everything from running stopwatches to raking sand in long and triple jump pits."
The largest USA Track and Field club in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, the Comets has or has had athletes from all around the Palouse including Pullman, Albion, Colfax, Garfield, Palouse, Oakesdale, Farmington, LaCrosse, Moscow, Deary and Harvard. In the past, there have even been Comets from Lewiston and Clarkston.
