PREP NOTEBOOK: Ex-Mariner track coach to be honored
Published 10:54 pm Thursday, January 14, 2010
The magic of Howard Price, one of his former athletes said, was that the coach got his teams to believe in their potential with unwavering faith.
That powerful confidence spread like an infection, said Dave McFadden, who was coached by Price for four years as a member of the Mariner High School track and field team.
Price turned the Mariner squad into one of the area’s best while he guided Mariner from 1971 (its inaugural season) to 1994.
This weekend Price will be recognized for all his success. He will be inducted into the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame at noon on Saturday during a ceremony at the Holiday Inn in Everett.
The event is not open to the public.
In the 1980s, Price’s Mariner boys track teams won seven of a possible 10 league titles, including five straight from 1985-1989. He won his final league team crown in 1992.
At the state championships in 1983, Price guided Mariner to a tie for second place in the team standings and his 1,600-meter relay squad took first. The Marauders won the 1,600 relay state title again in 1984. Those relay triumphs are still the school’s only state track victories.
Price, who is suffering from the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, according to McFadden, will not attend the Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday, but Price’s wife and daughter plan to be there.
Price also coached cross country at Mariner, where he taught physical education and served as head of the department. He was among the school’s original faculty and worked there until he retired in 2001 at age 65.
Raised in Edmonds, Price attended Edmonds High School and later served four years in the Navy.
As a coach, Price always focused on dedication to the team, said McFadden, who is now Mariner’s head track coach.
“He emphasized that in making the commitment to the team, each athlete must consider how their choices, on the track, in the classroom and away from school are going to impact the team,” McFadden said.
In memory of mom
In response to an article about this week’s Wesco North boys basketball Coaches vs. Cancer events that appeared in Wednesday’s Herald, Nalin Sood sent an e-mail to The Herald. The Mountlake Terrace boys basketball coach said his mom, Manu Sood, died of brain cancer on Nov. 12. She was the “#1 Hawks fan” and always attended Mountlake Terrace games, Nalin Sood said. At Terrace’s annual holiday basketball tournament in late December, the Hawks collected nearly $400 in donations to the American Cancer Society, in honor of Manu Sood.
Coach Parker breaks it down
During a team film session on Wednesday in the school weight room, Meadowdale girls basketball coach Troy Parker and his assistant coaches broke down clips of a recent game, reviewing the good and the not-so-good moments with players. At one point, Parker uttered an especially useful, concise basketball tip for attacking a defense: “Basketball’s really simple from an offensive perspective: Go where they’re not,” said Parker.
Clarification to scholarship story
Adrenaline Fund Raising raised money for the 2010 Terry Ennis Scholarship, which will be presented by the Washington Football Coaches Association on Jan. 23 in Bellevue. An article about the Ennis Scholarship that appeared in The Herald on Tuesday omitted Adrenaline’s contribution.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
