Aspen matches her father's big blue eyes with a set of her own.
It's difficult to become an institution in two to three short years, but Phil Latter has somehow managed to do it. You'd be hard-pressed to find a fan of high school distance running in Colorado who doesn't recognize the name and byline by now. And many of us recognize his face, too.
For most of us, the introduction to Phil Latter came through his The Lambkin Way series on Dyestat in the fall of 2009. I took a particular interest in that series because the initial installment featured my own invitational meet. I was initially a little reluctant to admit that I liked the article as much as I did. Dyestat, after all, is a competitor site. But, the writing was so good, I started passing along suggestions, "Hey, you have to read this piece by a guy who coaches up at Fort Collins..."
For those who'd like to revisit that article or just never saw it in the first place, I've linked it in the Dyestat archives.
But now, some 20 months after that piece appeared on computer screens across the nation, Phil is leaving Colorado. He's leaving for good for a home near Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Trading a transitional life in the shadow of the Rockies for a more permanent residence in the shadow of the Appalachians where his wife will take on the role of a family practice physician.
But he is not leaving without a plan to keep in touch with distance running and writing.
"The town I'm moving to is literally 1/100th as big as Fort Collins and I'm the main stay-at-home parent for my 6-month-old daughter, Aspen. Right now I'm going to be helping out at the local high school and continuing to freelance for various publications, most notably Running Times. That's the best part about freelancing - you can do it from anywhere."
Writing about distance runners, however, may be taking at least a temporary back seat to another genre of writing.
"My number one writing priority when I get out there will be getting my novel off my hard drive and into the hands of an agent. I know the odds aren't exactly stacked in my favor, but then again I never thought a boys team that finished 13th in the state could be fourth in the country a year later. Stranger things have happened, right?"
When they buy the rights, Phil, be sure to book a signing party back here in Colorado!
Writing goals aside, Phil is able to look back on the eve of his departure and see a lot of added value that has come as a result of his sojourn in Colorado.
"Colorado track and field/cross country has been good to me on multiple levels. On the materialistic level, it helped launch my professional writing career and certainly made my resume look a whole lot better. It definitely helped me appreciate just what high school sports mean not just to the kids involved, but to the parents and greater community. Seeing the support the parents give their kids, regardless of a race's outcome, is just amazing to me and inspires me as a new parent.
And, he's not unaware that he gained a lot of worthwhile coaching experience in one of the state's finest distance programs.
"Getting in touch with the Fort Collins was more blessed coincidence than anything. I had coached three years at a Division I college back in Virginia [Radford University] before coming to Colorado, and since CSU already had coaches in place, I figured my coaching days were put on hold. I just happened to be scanning the classified ads on the Poudre School District website one day - more out of boredom than anything - when I stumbled upon an assistant track position at Fort Collins High School. I knew absolutely nothing of their legacy, NXN appearances, state titles, etc. In fact, as I left for my interview, I began driving to the wrong school. But once I got there and learned all about their traditions and philosophies, I knew I'd found the right place... Unlike my college coaching days, this gave me the chance to work in a low pressure, high reward environment, mentored by a great coach like Chris Suppes. It took a bit of time to get accustomed to not being in charge, but that allowed me to be the 'personality guy,' as Suppes puts it.* I got to mentor the boys, chronicle the girls, and before you knew it both teams were at NXN."
"I came to Colorado as a college coach who liked his job, and will end up leaving the state as a high school assistant who loves it. The athletes I've worked with have impressed me every day in a multitude of ways - athletically, socially, intellectually, and comically - and I guess I wouldn't trade these two-and-a-half years of coaching them for anything."
Not bad for a part-time gig taken up more or less on a whim.
Although Phil wrote only briefly for Colorado Track XC, there is no doubt in my mind that I'll miss his take on Colorado high school cross country. His departure blows a gaping hole in the already thin community of those who write about high school distance running.
If you're as sure as I am that his insights and his way of turning a phrase will be missed, please take a moment to tell him so. Way too many great people go through life with only the faintest ideas of how much they've been appreciated.
* - This would be an editorial observation, but there is just a touch of irony in Chris Suppes labeling someone else the "personality guy." As a coaching friend of mine observed recently, there is a lot of high-octane coaching in place at Fort Collins High School.