Top coaching

ELLENSBURG – Braving the very cold day, nearly 200 youth gathered at Central Washington University Saturday to learn from some of the best track and field athletes and coaches in the world.

For the fifth year, Wahluke High School hosted a track and field clinic featuring World Record holders, Olympians and elite coaches through an organization called World Records Camps.

Previously, Wahluke hosted the one-day event at their home campus in Mattawa, but this year they teamed up with Central Washington University to host the event at the college’s new track and field facility.

The event saw 174 student athletes from across the state come to the event to learn how to excel in their individual events as well as advice on how to get where they want to be.

The organization hosts camps all over the United States with the goal to unlock each person’s full potential and improve their performance so they can compete at the highest level and have fun doing it, the World Record Camps website states. It also states the camp is a great opportunity to learn new skills and get inspiration from renowned coaches. The organization is run by Gold Medalist and former world record holder in the triple jump Willie Banks.

Clinicians at the event Saturday were Banks, Jeré Summers-Hall, Gregg Simmons, Chris Nilsen, Martha Mendenhall, Duncan Atwood and Tia Jones.

Each clinician also had the opportunity to speak to the athletes as a group where they told their personal experiences and how they got to where they are today. They also gave messages of the importance of school, hard work and overcoming challenges.

Summers-Hall, who worked with athletes on shot put and discus, said she hopes that participants walked away with the understanding they need to run their own race.

“You have to compete against yourself and push yourself internally and have internal goals before you can start to compete with others,” said Summers-Hall. “Continue to build step by step, and not focus so much on the finish, but the process.”

She also said she enjoys working with others because it not only makes her a better athlete by going back to the basics but allows her to see others making the connection on how to do the event and overcome challenges.

“It is interesting working with different groups because I get to see what parts of the throw are ah-ha moments,” said Summers-Hall.

Joel Dugan, Head Track and Field coach at Wahluke, said in an email that hosting this camp has not only elevated his athletes but has elevated his coaching staff to new heights. He also said that since hosting the camp five years ago, the WHS team has grown from 18 athletes to over 100, has gone from perennial last place to Girls League Champions in 2022 and the amount of athletes qualifying for state from WHS is at an all-time high.

Wahluke High School junior Victor Perez, who does the shot put and discus events, said he had a lot of fun learning from Summers-Hall and hopes the skills he learned at the camp help him to beat his personal record.

“Discus, my P.R. is currently 95 (feet) and one of my goals is to go over 100,” said Perez. “I’m getting kind of close but it’s a work in progress.”

Athletic.net reports that Perez took fifth place in the discus event at the team’s most recent meet, Best in the Basin, with a distance of 92’ 04”.

“I learned that I was having trouble with my release on my shot put so I learned how to release,” said Perez. “I’m going to practice that during practice and try to get better on my release.”

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.

Clinicians:

Willie Banks – Banks held the World Record in the triple jump for over 10 years, and was inducted into the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1999.

Personal Record:

17.97m (58 feet 11.5 inches)

Achievements:

World Record Holder (1985-1995)

Olympic Athlete (1980, 1984, 1988)

1985 World Cup Champion

1x Silver Medalist (1983 World Championships)

Gregg Simmons – Simmons is a noted coach in track and field. Over the past 25 years he has produced champions at the high school, collegiate, and elite levels. He has also trained elite sprinters who have participated in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Chris Nilsen –

Personal Record:

19’ 10”

Achievements:

Olympic Silver Medal, Tokyo 2020

World Championship, Silver Medalist

World Indoor Championship, Bronze Medalist

Pan American Games Champion

5x National Champion, 3x Indoor and 2x Outdoor

5x NCAA Champion

Martha Mendenhall –

USATF Level 3 Coach (Jumps)

World Athletics Level 5 Coach (Jumps)

Achievements:

3x World Masters Champion (HJ)

12x National Masters Champion (HJ)

Jeré Summers-Hall –

Personal Best:

Hammer 207’ 4-1/4” (63.20m)

Discus 195’ 8-3/4” (59.66m)

Shot Put 55’5-1/2” (16.90m)

Achievements:

NCAA Division 1 Champion, Hammer

Ranked in the top 50 in the world

World Junior Championship Competitor

USATF Finalist, Discus

USATF Athletes Advisory Executive

Twitter, Sr. Prod Ops Manager

Duncan Atwood –

Personal Record:

94.05 (308-7)

Achievements:

1984 Olympian

1979 & 89 Pan American Champion

1x World Cup Finalist

1x World Championship Finalist

Former USATF Throws Coach

Ironwood Throws Camp

Tia Jones – She performed exceptionally in the Youth and Junior Olympics and is currently ranked No. 4 in the world. She is training for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and the Paris Olympic Games.

Personal Record:

12.38 seconds 100m Hurdles

12.11 seconds 100m Dash

23.81 seconds 200m Dash

Achievements:

2x U20 World Champion: 100m Hurdles

Pan American Champion: 100m Hurdles