Team Manager 2: SPRINT!
Chapter 20
“HOW ARE WE supposed to decide this?” Ardith moaned. The coaches were meeting after practice and Dennis had been invited to attend. “No more than two people per event. No person can participate in more than four events. Preliminaries count as events. This is insane.”
“Ah, the preliminaries rule doesn’t work the way you think it does,” Coach Andy said. “The preliminary and the final count as a single event. But if your runner is eliminated in the preliminary, it still counts as an event. We don’t need to worry about that at the State Qualifier meet. This year, all races are finals. So, with twelve schools in our qualifying meet, we can assume there will be three heats and places are by time. They should run just two heats for relays, except the shuttle hurdle relay, which will have six heats because the track only fits four teams for shuttle hurdles.”
“I suppose I should fill our individual races first and then figure out who should run in the relays,” Ardith said. “Dennis, fill in these positions with our number one runner in each event.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Dennis had the blank form set up on his laptop and began typing in the names at once.
“100-meter dash, Brenda Grant and Amy Unger. 200-meter dash, Judith Long and Becky Davis. 400-meter dash, Tori McDonald and Debbie Stackhouse. 800-meter run, Diane Long and Leah Davis. 1500-meter run, Leah Davis and Emily Wilson. 3000-meter run, Laura Percy and Janice Goodman. That fills the individual running events.”
“You’re getting a lot of girls playing. That’s great,” Coach Andy said. “Is your team really that well balanced?”
“We have a couple that could be contenders in more than one race, but I don’t see it being more than a toss-up for who’s fastest. For example, Judith has a personal best time in the 100-meter dash better than Amy has. But Amy has been consistent with her time and Judith seems to bounce around a lot—fast and slow.”
“Well, here are the hurdle girls,” Andy said. “100-meter hurdles, Natalie Armor and Roberta Armor. 400-meter hurdles, Daniella Armor and Roberta Armor. Then we have the shuttle hurdle relay. Obviously, Natalie, Roberta, and Daniella. I’d like to use Leanne Vining as my third. She’s been steadily improving all season.”
“That looks like it will leave good runners for the relays,” Ardith said. “I think we’re obvious for the sprint medley. That would be 100-meter Brenda, 100-meter Amy, 200-meter Judith, and 400-meter Tori.”
“Are we still good for having Brenda, Amy, Judith, and Becky for the 4x100 relay? Are we over-booking any of them, Dennis?” Andy asked.
“No, sir. That makes three events each for Brenda, Amy, and Judith, and two for Becky.”
“Here’s where we get into a problem. Judith is in the sprint medley, the 200-meter dash, and the 4x100 relay. I have to choose whether to use her in the 4x200-meter relay or in the distance medley. Do we have anyone we can switch to take her place in the 4x100? I think you’ll agree the 200 is her strong event and we could use her in both medleys,” Andy said.
“I can work with that. We can add the 4x100 to Debbie. I think that will give her four events with the 4x200, the 200-meter dash, and the distance medley,” Ardith said.
“Okay, that would mean the distance medley would be 200-meter lead, Judith. 200-meter second leg, Debbie. 400-meter leg, Tori. 800-meter leg, Diane. How are we on using Tori?” Andy asked. Dennis looked through his chart.
“We’ve got her in the 400-meter dash, the sprint medley, and the distance medley,” Dennis said.
“So, putting her in the 4x400-meter relay will max her out. She’s really made an art of the 400, so I think that’s where her focus needs to be,” Andy said. “But that means our 4x200 relay is going to need Leanne to round out the four instead of Tori.”
The horse-trading, as they put it, went on through the rest of the team and then they started working on the boys. It was dinner time when Ardith offered to give Dennis a ride home.
“You look very happy, Dennis. What’s up?” Ardith asked as they drove to his house.
“The world just looks good at the moment.”
“Your eyes?”
“Yeah, that. But I also like that we have twenty-four girls on our track team and all of them will have an opportunity to compete at the State Qualifying Meet. I wish we didn’t need to travel all the way to Traynor for it, but it could be worse, I suppose.”
“That is a good thing. Going from nine to twenty-four is quite a change for you, isn’t it?”
“Things have calmed down with the bigger group,” Dennis said. “They’re great.”
“A good many of them will be back next year. Will you?”
“If you’ll have me, I’m here for my entire high school career.”
“I anticipate that there will be more girls who try out for basketball next year. It will change the dynamic of the locker room,” Ardith said as she pulled up in front of his house.
“I don’t think that’s entirely a bad thing. We were pretty rowdy this year,” Dennis said.
“Yes. I’m just wondering if you’ll go from nine girlfriends to fifteen,” Ardith laughed.
“No,” Dennis whispered. “No, no, no.” He opened the door. “Thanks for the ride, Coach. See you tomorrow.”
She grinned after him as he bounded up the steps to his door. ‘We’ll see,’ she thought. ‘It’s already shaping up.’
Part of what was shaping up was on the school board. Spring elections had replaced two members of the board. The new members were Lily Armor and Renda Long. Both women were avid supporters of the athletic department and now, especially the women’s sports. They came to the first school board meeting with an agenda.
“We were elected on the platform of expanding the girls’ athletic program,” Lily said. “We made huge strides in the program this year by starting the girls’ basketball team and now the track team. We believe the program should be expanded and that additional coaches be hired.”
“I appreciate the sentiments and certainly think we made a huge advance this year, but there are really only a few girls affected by this,” Superintendent Jones said.
“Nathan, we’re not going to let that slide,” Renda said. “There are twenty-four girls on the track team. That’s twelve percent of our student body—nearly a quarter of the girls in the school. And the district has been skating on its Title IX obligations for too many years. We are dangerously near the edge of losing that funding because we have not lived up to the criteria that were set.”
“We have never had much of an athletic program here. The basketball boys haven’t had a winning season in twenty years. The only other sports the boys have are track and baseball and the girls are participating fully in track now,” Jones replied. He knew he was going to be on the losing end of this battle, but felt compelled to guard the budget.
“That tells us we should expand the boys’ program as well,” Neil Levinson said. “Even the smallest schools around are fielding football teams. We have a couple of boys just primed for wrestling and there is no reason we shouldn’t have cross country here.” Neil’s statement made it even harder for Jones. That meant he had three of the four board members pushing for the expansion.
“Our coaches are already overburdened.” Jones said. “We can’t just toss more sports at them.”
“We have five open positions on the teaching staff for the fall,” Lily said. “We propose that two of those positions be filled by women who will also coach an expanded women’s program to include volleyball, softball, and cross country. Two of the positions should be filled by men who can coach football, wrestling, and cross country. That still leaves us a position that can be filled as needed, but it wouldn’t hurt to have another PE/coach on the staff.”
“There’s just one point I’d disagree with,” Garth Adams said. That made it four of four speaking in favor of the expansion. “I don’t believe we should define the coaches as male and female. They need to be able to coach men’s teams and women’s teams, but if you look around at the schools, several have men coaching women’s teams. And there’s even that school in Cedar Falls that has a woman coaching the boys’ football team.” There were nods around the table.
“We’ll need to work out the job descriptions and salaries,” Jones sighed. “I knew we were headed this way after the board elections in March. Welcome to the burden of paying for the programs we want. We need to address next year’s budget now.”
Oddly enough, the school district was cash-rich and had not taken full advantage of available education grants in order to fly beneath the radar of Title IX watchdogs. As soon as Wilmer Dietz got word of the move to enhance the sports program at Bartley High School, he organized a broader booster club and began fund-raising for a massive equipment purchase. Unlike basketball and track, football was a costly sport when it came to uniforms and equipment. And people leapt to get behind the movement, still riding high on the success the girls’ basketball team had brought to Bartley, Iowa.
“Did you hear?” Natalie asked Dennis as they headed to his house after their Saturday meet. The girls had come in second in an eight-way meet intended to imitate the State Qualifiers that were coming up in just three weeks. They would have two more eight-way meets in the next two weeks before traveling to Traynor for the Qualifiers. “We’re getting more coaches and more sports next year! We’ll have a volleyball team in the fall! Isn’t it great?”
“It sounds exciting. I wonder if there will be a place for a geeky boy as team manager,” he laughed. They ran into the house, announcing their presence to Ms. Dottie and Peg. Dennis’s sister came pelting down the hallway to hug her brother and gave Natalie just as emphatic an embrace.
“It’s warm out. Let’s play basketball!” Peg exclaimed. Natalie and Dennis both laughed and went out to join Peg. His sister was getting progressively better, though the progress over the past eight or nine years had been slow. She loved to dribble and shoot as long as no one was hovering over her. She got flustered if she was pressed, so the game was more like taking turns shooting than scrimmage.
“I don’t think you’re going to be a geeky boy when the volleyball season starts,” Nat said.
“What? You think I’ll really be one of the girls by then?” he laughed.
“Dennis, you have to understand just how good you are going to look when your eyes are fixed. To me, that’s nothing because I think you are incredibly handsome now. But to other girls who haven’t quite noticed you, there will be a sudden dawning that the nice quiet kid in class could be a real catch. I think the twelve of us girls will have a lot on our hands.”
“Twelve?” Dennis asked in shock.
“Well, there’s the original nine of us, plus Tori, Debbie, and Lana. And I’ve seen the way Laura looks at you while you’re taping her ankles. She wants your hands to go all the way up,” Natalie said.
“I suppose,” Dennis admitted. He wasn’t that enthused about adding more girls to his harem. That’s what it had become. Of the nine original girls, he was regularly having sex with four of them and two had let him know that they were ready and waiting. “I’m going to miss Brenda, though,” he said. “She’ll go to college and I’ll never get to see her again.”
“Oh, honey, I think you should talk to her when we go to bed tonight.”
“When we go to bed?”
“Yeah. She said I could have family time with you, but she’s going to join us about the time Peg goes to bed,” Natalie said, launching a long shot from the edge of the concrete pad.
“Swish!” Peg called. She grabbed the ball and dribbled to one side before launching it at the rim. It hit the far edge and bounced up, then through the basket. Dennis’s turn was next.
“Sure enough, when the next spring came, Mr. Toad was filled with a great longing to go home. When he got there, he found that in his throat was a little music bag; and when he swelled it out, he had one of the sweetest voices in the world. And so it has been ever since with the Toad family. Old Mr. Toad is one of the sweetest singers in the Smiling Pool, but when it is time to go back to work he never grumbles, but is one of the most faithful workers in Mother Nature's garden,” concluded Jerry Muskrat.
Peter sighed. “I never could work,” said he. “Perhaps that is why I cannot sing.”
“Very likely,” replied Jerry Muskrat, quite forgetting that he cannot sing himself although he is a great worker.
Peg put the second volume of Mother West Wind, the Mother West Wind “How” Stories, on the shelf with the rest of the set. There was actually no particular order to the “How,” “When,” “Why,” and “Where” stories. She just seemed to pick that volume second each time they read through the series. She headed off to get ready for bed just as a knock at the door announced Brenda’s arrival.
“There she is! Another 100-meter sprint winner!” Dennis said, opening his arms to embrace his girlfriend. Brenda gave him a deep kiss and then turned to do the same to Natalie.
“Girlfriend, you are so yummy,” Brenda said. “And I don’t mean you aren’t, boyfriend.”
“Love you, Babe. Want a drink? We’re going to watch a movie with Ms. Dottie,” Nat said.
“Yeah. Did we get some Diet Dr Pepper?” Brenda asked.
“I’m sure.” Natalie left to get Brenda a can of pop while Brenda turned to Ms. Dottie.
“How are you tonight, Ms. Dottie?” she asked sweetly.
“I am tired, but amazingly, feeling stronger each day. Having Peg in the Occupational Center for the full day has given me the opportunity to put in more hours at the dentist office. And having you girls cook things up on Sundays so there are meals for the week is a godsend. I love you all so much!” Dot said.
“I’m just glad we can be helpful. I hope you aren’t getting tired of our casseroles.”
“There is far more variety than I ever came up with when I was doing all my own cooking for the family. Sit with Dennis and Number One. We’re going to watch an old classic. Have you ever seen The Thin Man?”
“No. Sounds like fun.” She settled in beside Dennis and handed the can of pop to Brenda.
“Brenda, Dennis is sad,” Natalie said.
“Why, lover?”
“He’s sad that you’ll be graduating in three weeks and then leaving town and he’ll never see you again.”
“But I’m… Oh!” Brenda said. The three had retired to Dennis’s room after the movie. Over the past few weeks, the pile of pillows at the head of his bed had grown, as had the number of girls’ clothes that were tucked in various places around his room. The only thing there was less of was boxes of condoms.
“I’m not, like, morose or anything,” Dennis said. “It was just when we were talking about next season that I got to thinking that you wouldn’t be there and I’d really miss you.”
“That’s sweet, but you won’t be missing me.”
“Sure I will.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Brenda said firmly.
“What? But college!”
“I don’t have a lot of pressure on me to go to a big school,” Brenda said. “Unlike Natalie, Roberta, and Daniella, there’s no way this five-foot nothing blonde will walk on and get a spot on their basketball team. But there is a great Exercise Science and Kinesiology program at the Boone campus of DMACC. I can commute from here, and the coach has invited me to try out for the Bears basketball team. And when you decide where you are going to attend, I might be able to transfer there.”
“Wow! That’s wonderful! I had no idea you even had an interest in exercise science,” Dennis said.
“You kind of inspired me,” she admitted.
“I know we won’t be able to keep everyone together,” Natalie sighed. “But just knowing that we don’t have to start losing people right away is a big relief. I just want to make love to you, Brenda.”
“I’m okay with that, Bae. Maybe we can even squeeze Dennis in somewhere.”
“Let’s get him undressed and see where he fits,” Natalie giggled.
The night of loving left Dennis breathless and he wondered for the millionth time how he got so lucky. Any one of his nine girlfriends was more than any man deserved. To have Natalie and Brenda in his bed at the same time was almost more than his heart could bear. And they were as much into each other as they were into him. Both had given him pussy flavored kisses before they finally settled down to sleep.
He’d begun to take a more active role in fixing Sunday morning breakfast. The girls had all taught him a bit about cooking and he’d gone to his trusty computer to look up recipes to wow them. One thing he’d learned was how to make scones. Everyone seemed to love the flaky semi-sweet biscuits—especially with marmalade or honey on them. Natalie nudged him over a bit and began frying sausages and potatoes to go with the scones, while Brenda got eggs going.
Then it was a trip to the grocery store. Dot gave the trio a hundred dollars as she did to the shoppers each weekend. She had a list of some things they’d run low on, and if there seemed to be too many things, she’d add a little money from the stash that she still kept under her bed. The girls planned the menu for the week and shopped. Dennis helped when he could edge his way into the shopping spree. The girls had convinced themselves that buying groceries was just like any other shopping trip and they loved looking for bargains. If one could try on food, they would never have finished shopping.
Back home, they shooed Dennis away from the prep area so they could go to work. They would package up five dinners, label them according to what night they would be served, and stick them in the freezer.
While they cooked, Dennis opened his laptop and began scanning the DMACC website. What he found got him enthused. He was glad Brenda was planning to attend such a short distance away. But what was just as exciting was the Career Advantage Program. High school students could enroll in certain college classes and accumulate credits before they ever graduated! Dennis was excited.
“What’s got you bouncing in your seat, lover?” Natalie asked as she kissed his ear. She’d just started assembling a pasta casserole.
“Um… Brenda, what are you planning to do this summer?” he asked.
“Oh, I’ve got a lead on a job at Wilson’s Variety Store in the County Seat. It should give me plenty of time to lie out in your back yard in a tiny bikini and see if I can entice my boyfriend to ravish my body.”
“I’m pretty sure that won’t be difficult,” Dennis laughed. “Assuming I can see. And that I’m not at work at my job on Mr. Brown’s farm.”
“What made you ask?”
“We could take a class together this summer,” he said.
“A class?”
“There’s a program that lets high school kids take classes at the community college. There’s an intro to athletic training class being offered online this summer. You could get a head start on your program and I could get a helpful class under my belt, too!” Dennis said.
“That is so cool! Brenda, you should totally do it,” Natalie said.
“That does look interesting. And it’s all online. We could practice on each other.”
“It would be fun to get together to do the online sessions at the same time,” Dennis said. “I want to try to do this if I can.”
“How do you get into the program?”
“According to this, there’s a counselor at school who will help. I’ll check it out tomorrow.”
“I think it’s great, Dennis. I never thought I’d ever be able to take a class with you. Let’s do it!”
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
