How St. Charles has turned into a state track and field power
May 24—Eric Klein is the 11th-year head coach of the St. Charles boys track-and-field team. He has taken a program that had been a cooperative of St. Charles and Dover-Eyota the year before he arrived, to one that has been St. Charles only ever since. The DESC cooperative had 21 boys competing the season before he arrived while Klein's St. Charles' boys program boasts 70 boys athletes this season and is coming off its second Class 1A True Team state championship in the last five seasons.
Klein, a St. Charles English teacher, is a Wells, Minn., native and a graduate of United South Central and St. Olaf College, competing for both of their cross country programs, experiences he called life changing.
How much do you find yourself and the rest of your coaches anticipating a meet like the state True Team? Do you map things out and get scouting reports on the teams involved?
Yeah, we put a ton of time into it, getting ready for what the other teams bring to the table. Section 1, Class 1A always sends a number of teams up there, so it was not the first time we'd seen what Lanesboro/Fillmore Central/Mabel-Canton and (Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland/Southland) had to offer. We spend a lot of time preparing the kids for what to expect and we arrange them in such a way that we try to maximize what they do best.
What did you believe would be the key if you were guys were to win the True Team meet?
We just needed to do our job. It was not like one particular event or event grouping was where we had to make our money. We knew that top to bottom we were a really talented and deep team. If each of the kids just did their job — we didn't have to break any records — we could take care of business and be just fine. We had confidence in that we knew what the other teams were bringing.
Lots of teams have a leader. Do you guys have one and how does he do it?
Honestly, I can't pick one. Our program (boys and girls combined) is 142. So it is big. I think 30 percent of our school is out for track and field. Something that I realized a couple of year ago is that when you are that big, that I can't only do it myself. Our girls coach, Russ Barclay, and I are not the sole arbitrators of our culture. We need the (athletes) to do it, too, and it can't be just one or two kids. On the boys side we have a lot of young men who want to be the right sort of leader for the team and are willing to do whatever is necessary to be that leader. We have kids who each bring something particular to the team. I am proud of our culture and it's not just put together be me or our coaching staff. It is also the kids who are on our team now and had been on it the last couple of years.
You've been coaching track and field at St. Charles since spring of 2014. What did the program look like then and how has it been upgraded?
Our team is three times the size it was when I first got here. It was not that DESC track and field was not good. There were some excellent and passionate track and field people during that (cooperative) time. But it was (a program) that was very small, with an average of just 17.8 girls out and 20.8 boys during that span. It is a very different deal now. When track and field is done right, it doesn't matter who you are, you want to belong, feel safe and find success. We have tried to build on the good things that happened in that (DESC) era. When you look at things now, I feel like the kids feels feel that this is their team. I give a lot of credit to Russ (Barclay). He has stepped in (as head coach in 2022) and so quickly made the girls culture a great one. He's made this a very supportive place and one that girls want to be a part of. I am so happy about what I've seen from the girls program in the last few years (including advancing to state True Team this season). Russ makes sure that these girls are loved for what they are, not what they do.
What is the key to getting kids out for track and field and really investing in it?
I think the key is that any kid wants to be a part of something where they feel they belong and feel safe. By safe, I mean safe to take risks and feel safe to fail. We talk about feeling safe to fail. Track is a sport of failure. Nobody's progress is linear. You are going to have meets where you bomb or drop the baton. We want kids to take risks and to be bold in their performances. I am also going to fail sometimes as their coach. There are times when I have to apologize to them for my mistakes and I want them to see that. I want to model that for them. My goal is to be on the same page with my athletes, not be right, but to be together on things.
