Inducted into state track, field hall of fame

 

 

 

 

 

Retired WSU staff member Mike Hinz has been the driving force behind a robust track and field program in Pullman for more than 20 years, serving as head coach at the high school for both the boys’ and girls’ program and as head coach of the Pullman Comets, a community track club that includes all ages.

 

During that time, thousands of young, and not so young, athletes have run faster, jumped higher or thrown farther because of him. In January he was inducted into the Washington State Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame.

“My philosophy is there’s a place for everyone in the sport,” Hinz said recently in an interview from his home. While students at ever younger ages worry that it is “too late” to participate in organized sports, or that they aren’t good enough, Hinz said his focus is on helping every athlete set goals, reach those goals and then aim higher.

Even if athletes don’t become elite competitors, he said, they still can beat their own toughest opponents – themselves.

“We work a lot with the psychology of the sport,” he said. “You have to overcome your own doubt that it can be done.”

Knowledgeable and committed

 

Since 1993, Hinz and his athletes have amassed an impressive record. Major wins at the high school level include six state championships – three for boys and three for girls. Counting up meet wins and personal bests would be more time consuming, but is definitely doable, given Hinz’s commitment to tracking the progress of his young athletes.

“He’s a dedicated keeper of the statistics,” said Kristen Walker, who coaches with Hinz at PHS and is an English teacher at Lincoln Middle School. Keeping detailed records for upwards of 80 athletes every season is incredibly time consuming, Walker said, but it’s part of Hinz’s methodical process.

“He’s deeply knowledgeable and committed to the sport of track and field,” Walker said. “He’s really a student of his craft.”

Focus on individual

 

Mike Davis, athletic director at Pullman High School, said Hinz has been effective at building a winning program that isn’t all about winning. In Hinz’s program, Davis said, “it isn’t about how good you are; it’s about where you start and where you finish. The competition is with yourself.”

And, Davis said, Hinz is careful not to push too hard, too fast. Athletes in his program tend not to have injuries, Davis said, because he brings them along slowly, planning for their peak performances to coincide with their biggest meets.

Paul Wheeler, a WSU research technician in the School of Biological Sciences, is the president of the Comets Track and Field Club. He agrees that Hinz focuses on individual development rather than chalking up team wins.

 

“The number one thing is that he takes a genuine personal interest in the kids,” he said. Because he’s more concerned with kids developing their talents and enjoying the sport, Davis said, he’s been able to build a big program.

“Kids come back from year to year and they tell their friends,” he said. “He’s built up a winning, positive tradition.”

Hard work and awards

 

Prior to his most recent honor, Hinz was named Great Northern League Coach of the Year five times and Washington State Coach of the Year twice.

 

While he’s most visible during practices or meets, Hinz puts in countless hours behind the scenes, from setting up for meets and organizing volunteers to serving on numerous regional or statewide track and field association boards.

In addition to his work on behalf of track and field, Hinz has long been a fixture in local football as well. Fall 2010 will be his 35th season of officiating high school and junior high football games in Whitman, Asotin and Garfield counties; he avoids Pullman schools because of potential conflict of interest. On top of that, he coordinates the sideline crews for all WSU home football games.

Hinz, a former scientific instructional technician supervisor, retired from WSU in 2003. He is also a WSU alum, having earned degrees in agricultural science and business administration. He was a high school runner and, while at WSU in the 1960s, he took a class with legendary coach Jack Mooberry.

 

 

Mooberry tried to recruit him as a walk-on for the two-mile race, but life intervened and Hinz’s WSU career was interrupted by a four-year stint in the Marines. He never competed in college and didn’t become involved in coaching until he began working with his oldest son, John, in throws in 1987.

He continued coaching his younger son, Bill, a couple years later.

 

Along the way, his wife, Sue, a former director of the WSU News Service, also took up the sport and developed into an elite athlete in both the shot put and hammer throw. She is a former national age-group record holder in the hammer throw and was the 2008 National Champion in her age group in the shot put.

“She’s the only athlete I’ve ever coached who has been a national champion,” Hinz said.

John Hinz is an assistant research professor in the WSU School of Molecular Biosciences and his brother, Bill, is a physician in Utah. Sue Hinz retired from the WSU News Service in 2004 and teaches journalism at the University of Idaho. All of them accompanied Mike Hinz to the awards dinner when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Track club open to all ages

 

The Comets Track Club is open to residents of Whitman and Latah counties ages 5 and up. Anyone who is interested can sign up at practice, which begins April 12. Practices are held Monday and Wednesday, 5:30-7 p.m., at the Pullman High School track. For more information go to www.tinyurl.com/comestrackclub