Not quite as long a wait as the Cubs, but still neat

Long-time coaches often refer to their "coaching tree" -- former athletes of theirs who become coaches themselves. I've never quite gotten around to putting together a "coaching tree" but I'm certainly proud of the many "branches" on it, a tree that continues to grow after 26 years of sending graduates into the real world. It's safe to say that the first "branch" of that coaching tree was our good friend Mr. Bucket (some folks in the community know him as "David Swift"), who is in his 20th year as XC/track coach at Spackenkill High School in Poughkeepsie. It was a long time ago, but I seem to remember him asking to borrow a tie for his interview there, and I'm not sure he even needed it to get the job -- a job he's done quite well, actually. He has spawned generations of excellent runners. On Friday at the Section 9, Class C Championship race at Bear Mountain, Bucket's Spackenkill girls team won the title -- the first sectional title for them in 16 years. The photo to the left is of the 2000 championship team. Bucket's Facebook post had a "then and now" with the 2016 team; this year's team is not included in this post as it might be construed as some sort of "recruiting violation" by central scrutinizers who might check such things. Anyway! Congrats to the team, and to an old coach whose new tricks still seem to be working. And hey: He got that repeat title in far less time than the Chicago Cubs, right? Nicely done!