Upon Further Review

Ask Dave Stewart about it and it’s almost like he blushes. He tilts his ahead away for a second and lets out a hearty laugh before throwing his head back up and patting you on the shoulder.

“Oh,“ he says with an embarrassed smile. “I don’t know . . .“

Then he trails off and quickly wants to talk about something else.

Sorry Dave, this blog’s for you. (Or at least the first part anyway.) Because like it or not, take credit for it or not (and, really, he should be taking some credit for it but, for some reason, won’t take a lick), whatever Fort Defiance’s girls cross country coach touches the past two years has turned to gold in the Southern Valley District.

When Whitney Fulk crossed into the chute 36 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Meredith Figgatt of Waynesboro (oh, don’t worry, much more on Figgatt later in your daily non-regurgitated-quote blog), and Stewart saw a pair of Indian runners turning up the straightaway toward the finish line, he had to know that it was a four score.

Dating back to last season’s inaugural Southern Valley cross country meet, Stewart now has four straight first-place finishes in three different events. After his 18-point win over the Little Giants in the fall, a Stewart-led girls indoor track team beat R.E. Lee by, “like three points,“ he says. In the spring, his girls outdoor track team edged the Lee Ladies again, this time by a mere two points at Waynesboro’s still brand, spanking new track and field facility.

So, yeah, go ahead and be embarrassed when you’re asked about it, Dave. But, come on man, admit how good of a coach you are will ya’.

“That was, what’s the word?“ he says when he finally decides to talk a little bit (and we stress “a little bit”) about himself. “That was so unusual. [The two track titles] could have gone either way. I’m not even going to think about it.“

Then he laughs it off again, pats your shoulder and shakes your hand.

Seriously, man. Do you think any of those four titles would have happened without you? Geez, some coaches.

And another thing: Seriously, didn’t any other coach at Fort Defiance notice that Stewart decided to shave his cranium down to the skin and tell him, “Hey, you’re supposed to do that in the summer, not when the temperature starts to drop.“ Really, guys. You couldn’t have said this to him?

So Fulk puts off Figgatt’s (see, told you more on her later and, I guess, now it’s later) coming-out party off for another year. But nobody seemed to mind.

Not Fulk. (Of course, but more on that, once again, later.)

Not first-year Waynesboro coach Julie Stevens (yes, more on her later as well).

Not even Figgatt, who was finishing ahead of varsity runners and getting interviewed by this paper last year when she was setting the pace as an eighth-grader.

As. An. Eighth-grader. Fercripesake.

Figgatt said Fulk pulled away from her on the outer loop of Fort’s palatial new course out at the Weyers Cave Community Center. It was an about-face from the Fort Defiance Invitational where Fulk jetted out from the start and Figgatt caught her around the second mile. 

So, less than a month removed from owning Fulk on her own course, don’t think for a second Figgatt was disappointed with herself. Nope. She was happy for the No. 2 slot and happy that Fulk defended her crown.

“You know, she deserved it,“ Figgatt said. “She was really good. She’s nice.“

Stewart, you know, the guy that’s won four straight district team titles in three different sports, said nobody should be worrying about Figgatt because, in the next few years, she won’t be worrying about anybody else.

“The sky is the limit,“ he said. “She’s learning to run with some of the best we have in the Valley and she will continue to learn.“

You know, like she did the previous year as an eighth-grader.

“She’s got so much ahead of her,“ Stewart said. “She’s going to learn to lock on and to learn that there’s a move happening now.“

You know, like she continued to do in her first year on varsity.

“She’s going to exciting to watch,“ Stewart said.

You know, like she’s been all season long and, let’s be honest here, like she was last year.

Stevens took it a step further.

“She’s going to be awesome,“ the first-year coach said. “She’s great now, [but] she’s going to be No. 1 in the next three years. I know that for a fact.“

Heck, looks like it’s time to lock this thread.

Lock. It. Tight.

Even Fulk got into the mix when she heard of Figgatt’s kind words. (You know, saying Fulk “deserved it,“ then giggling and saying she was “very nice.“)

“Aww,“ Fulk said. “That’s awesome. Same to her. She’s a great runner and she’s got a great future ahead of her if she works at it and it looks like she will.“

Hey! Didn’t we lock this thread already?

So what’s it going to take for Fulk to end her season all Mariah-Hagadone-like, you know, finally get that state title in her senior year? Well, just like any championship in any sport, some luck will be involved because Region III is stacked to the gills with great runners. But make no doubt about, Fulk is one of those great ones. But a state title is a tall order and Fulk and Stewart know it.

“I think she’d be happy just with a top 15,“ Stewart managed to say over those four straight district titles of his in three different sports. (Did you know that?) “She can’t be patient like she’s been, she’s going to have to go out hard and hang on.“

Fulk agreed, There’s not much more she can do training-wise to prepare herself for her final run toward glory.

“It’s the little things at this point,“ she said as her 6-year-old cousin and biggest fan, Mariah Justice, (uh, oh. Her first name’s Mariah. Hmm, can we call that good karma?) hugged her leg. “It’s pressure on myself because I should do better than last year [60th place at the Group AA meet] if I keep running the way I’ve been running. It’s good pressure.“

Yeah, we hear ya’ Fulk.  We hear ya’ loud and clear.

And don’t think Figgatt won’t be there watching Fulk at Great Meadows. Even if the freshman doesn’t qualify herself.

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