Greentown —
It had the potential to be one of the worst weeks of Eastern cross country coach Brandon Mink’s life, but a special group of young adults made sure it wasn’t.
On the eve of what would prove to be the single-most successful cross country season in school history, Mink’s father, Vern, passed away 300 miles away in Davenport, Iowa, just shy of his 83rd birthday.
He headed to Iowa to be with his family and pay his final respects to his father, and wasn’t expected to return in time for Eastern’s first team event of the season, the Northwestern Combo.
What happened on race day was something members of the team will never forget.
“It was definitely something he didn’t have to be back for,” senior Brittany Neeley said. “But I remember [sister] Bethany and I were up to the line [ready to start the race]. We’d already said our prayer and everything, and Kristi, our assistant coach, said ‘Guys, turn around.’ [Mink] was there and it was one of the only times I’ve hugged him in four years. That was when I began to recognize that we had one of the best coaches in the state, not even just coaching-wise, but character-wise.”
In a show of respect, the Comets all signed a card for the Mink family. It seemed like a small gesture at the time. Turns out it was much more.
“We take a lot of pride in our relationships with each other and our coach,” senior Sarah Wagner said. “It effects our performances in our practices every day and our meets. It’s a good feeling to know we helped. He’s my favorite coach. He works so hard for us. He’s always working to get us in [the right direction] in our workouts and practices. To be able to give something back to him means a lot.”
While still in the initial stages of the grieving process, Mink felt compelled to return to Indiana to join his team, a group of young adults that leave him feeling uplifted by the way they treat each other and their training regiments.
“I can’t tell you how much it means to have them,” he said. “They really are like family. Just coming to practice every day and seeing their positive attitudes, you really rally around each other. Coming to practice every day with that surrounding me, I couldn’t help but have my spirits be lifted right away. As soon as I was done having been at the memorial service for my father, I wanted to get back as soon as I could to just be with them. You take time to grieve, but at the same time, I’m excited for [the team]. Seeing what they’re capable of gives me joy.”
Eastern is enjoying an outstanding season. The Comets posted perfect scores of 15 in winning the Mid-Indiana Conference and Logansport Sectional meets and they won the Culver Academies Regional last week.
The vast majority of press received by the team in recent years has been on the runners who take the course. In the minds of the athletes, the achievements, which include four MIC, four sectional and two regional championships, the man who leads the program deserves much more credit than he’s received.
“I think he is one of the most underrated coaches in the state,” Bethany Neeley said. “People don’t know who coaches Eastern except for the locals. He’s definitely one of the most humble people I know. He doesn’t care if we swept the meet last week, we still have to come out here and perform. Like [Saturday’s regional] for example, we won the meet but he told us there are still a lot of things we need to work on for [the semistate].”
The No. 6-ranked Comets enter Saturday’s New Prairie Semistate seeking their second straight appearance in the state finals. The current athletes admire the way Mink is able to help them balance the sense of achievement they feel with the understanding that no matter how impressive the most recent performance was, room for improvement is always present.
“He really emphasizes the little things,” Bethany Neeley said. “[The conference and sectional meets] might never be swept again, but he helps us look forward and realize that although we didn’t run well as individuals, we need to take time to enjoy these little things because they may never happen again in Eastern cross country history.”
To Mink, having a team that consists of humble and coachable runners makes his job much easier. While blessed with great natural ability and a trophy case to display the impressive achievements, his Comets are able to continuously strive to reach new heights, a testament to the type of young people they are.
“They really are just a great group of kids with great character,” Mink said. “They are the kind of kids that look out for each other, and that’s really what makes our team special. A lot of the success we’ve had in recent years has come from that nurturing care for one another. That unshakable bond is really what makes the difference.”
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Related Photos
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WARMING UP: Eastern’s girls cross country team warms up before practice Wednesday. The Comets, who are coming off of sectional and regional titles, will run in the New Prairie Semistate on Saturday.
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COMETS: Eastern’s girls cross country team members are: front row, left to right — Brittany Neeley, Sarah Wagner, Breann Donson and Bethany Neeley; and back row — coach Brandon Mink, Avery Ewing, Jessie Sprinkles, Carly Jones, Elyssa DeAngulo and assistant coach Kristi Reprogle.
Discussion
Eastern XC rallies around coach in time of need
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Northwestern takes down West Lafayette
Northwestern played a very solid game on both offense and defense in defeating West Lafayette 8-5 in the opening round of the IHSAA Class 3A Peru Baseball Sectional Thursday night.
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10 area athletes advance to boys track state finals
Austin Roark’s first season as the head boys track and field coach at Eastern High School just keeps getting better and better.
A week after guiding the Comets to their first sectional title since 1998, Roark will join six of his athletes at next weekend’s IHSAA state finals after advancing out of Thursday’s Kokomo Regional at Walter Cross Field. -
Eastern dominates Taylor in softball
GREENTOWN — The third time turned out not to be the charm for the Taylor softball squad as Eastern improved to 3-0 on the season over its backyard rival Wednesday night, ousting the Titans from the Class 2A Eastern Sectional 15-0 in five innings.
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Barnes sets Taylor's career hits record
Taylor baseball standout Logan Barnes made his final game at George Phares Field one to remember.
Barnes pitched four solid innings to lead Taylor past Monroe Central 9-3 Tuesday. In addition, he went 2 for 3 at the plate, pushing his career hits total to a school-record 142. -
Kats drop heartbreaker
When the postseason arrives, emotions surge like a roller-coaster. One minute, it’s a long uphill, then a wild series of events offer a barrage of frights and thrills. And then, for one team, the ride ends and there aren’t any more tickets for another go around.
After two days of chills and thrills, Kokomo’s softball team ran out of tickets Tuesday night in the Class 4A Harrison Sectional. The Kats dropped a 4-3 decision to Harrison in eight innings, giving up a run in the top of the extra frame, and having a runner tagged out at home in the bottom of the frame.
“It was a great game,” Harrison coach Dick Mitchell said. “It’s always nerve-wracking to coach in one of them, but both teams played their hearts out. Nobody deserved to lose that game, but unfortunately somebody does.” -
Comets turn heads at track regional
Heading into Tuesday’s IHSAA girls track and field regional at Fort Wayne Northrop High School’s Spuller Stadium, event workers alike weren’t sure of Eastern High School’s location.
After the dust settled, they may feel compelled to get a map out and find out where Greentown is located.
Led by seniors Sarah Wagner, Brittany Neeley and Bethany Neeley, the Comets qualified for the state finals in six separate events to finish fourth as a team with 55.5 points, behind host and champion Northrop (78), Bellmont (68) and Carroll (Allen) 66. -
GASKINS: Hibbert’s block was thing of beauty
For the better part of the NBA season, ESPN devoted all kinds of time on SportsCenter episodes to replays of two dunks. Anyone who watches any ESPN at all surely knows the two to which I’m referring: 6-foot-11 DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers posterizing 6-3 Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons, and 6-8 LeBron James of the Miami Heat hammering home a dunk over 6-2 Jason Terry of the Boston Celtics.
Day after day, ESPN commentators lavished endless praise, which quickly grew tiresome. The dunks were strong, but Jordan and James were much taller and heavier than Knight and Terry and the dunkers also caught perfect alley-oop passes with the defenders in poor positions to defend. Still, ESPN commentators loved these plays.
I kept wondering if a great defensive play would receive the same kind of love. -
Coons, Walker, Glassburn reach Victory Lane
When the dust settled Sunday evening at the Kokomo Speedway, a pair of drivers who have visited Victory Lane in the past at the local oval found themselves there once again while a talented up-and-comer hit the hallowed ground for the first time.
Jerry Coons Jr. had his way in the sprint car feature and Craig Walker seemed to get faster as the laps wound down to win the Street Stock main event, however Kokomo High School sophomore Kory Glassburn had to scratch and fight before scoring the first feature win of his career in the Thunder Car A-main. -
Field is set for Indianapolis 500
After being bumped from the starting field while sitting on the qualifying line on pole day, Josef Newgarden turned the fastest time on bump day, assuring himself a spot in the Indianapolis 500.
The field of 33 cars will have one final opportunity to practice on Friday before next Sunday’s 97th running of the 500.
One year ago the Sarah Fisher Racing Team withdrew Newgarden’s entry on the first day of qualifying and had to qualify on bump day. This year the team decided not to make another qualifying run and got bumped. -
Athlete of the week
Cole led the small-school Comets to the Kokomo Sectional title, their first title since 1998.
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