40 years and counting…
A commentary by Jeff Holmes
One of the great things about high school and college sports are the traditions that different schools have, and how long they’ve had them. I’m not sure there is a record book for something like that, but in the event there is, I have a nominee.
This past weekend, as part of the school’s Homecoming celebration, the Vinton-Shellsburg cross-country teams completed their 40th Ball Run, bringing the game ball from their Homecoming opponent’s campus back to the Karr Athletic Complex to deliver just prior to kickoff.
Began by longtime former V-S cross-country coach John Frazier, the run was based on the longtime Cy-Hawk tradition of ROTC cadets from both Iowa and Iowa State meeting at in Tama at a South Tama home football game each year to exchange the game ball for the annual intrastate battle.
Over the last four decades, the teams have run in weather ranging from stifling heat to bitter cold, from bright sunshine, to pouring rain, to even snow more than a couple of times. I covered the run for many years, and my son, Sage, ran it four times. I’ve more covered second-generation runners than I care to count, and since Frazier’s retirement a few years ago, the two guys following him, Jeff Mangold and currently head coach Patrick Horst were four-year veterans of the run.
They’ve gone as far as Charles City, Nevada, Pella and Oskaloosa over the years, and as nearby as Van Horne, Center Point or La Porte City.
The teams’ day begins with a send-off by the student body, then a team run through town before jumping on a bus and heading off to their destination. They arrive at the football field there, usually to a very nice reception, then start on the road home.
Before you ask, no, the team didn’t actually run from those distant communities; for the long trips they drive to a location along the route that’s 40 or 50 miles from home. From there, groups of five or six runners carry the ball two or three miles at at time. That group gets back on the bus; another jumps off, and the relay continues.
Every year, both the Vinton Police Department and the Benton County Sheriff’s Department have always provided an escort for the team, along with help from other departments along the routes.
At the end, they come back to the Karr Complex, through the main gate onto the track, take a victory lap, then present the ball to the football captains.
This year it was a 50-mile run from Dike that finished up with Homecoming Queen Payton LeFevere carrying the ball.
And that’s not the first time that’s happened, either.
Traditions are something worth holding on to. The Run is one of those.
That’s 30 for me.
