November 6, 2004, Larry Burgess Day
Larry Burgess
On Saturday November 6, 2004, Basic High School's legendary track and cross country coach Larry Burgess, was inducted into the Southern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association's Hall of Fame. Larry's boys cross country teams qualified for the Nevada State Meet a record 21 straight years. Larry's teams won 5 Boys State Championships,10 Boys Zone/Regional Championships and 4 Girls Zone Championships. Larry's list of Zone Champions include Pat Hubbard (1986-1987-1988), Jaime Mc Geahy (1991), Oliver Redig (1997-1998) and Colby Campbell (2000). His girls Zone Champions include Cindy Craig (1998) and Amy Blackwell (1999). Larry's State Champions include Pat Hubbard and Cindy Craig in 1988. Larry's dedication to track and cross country is second to none. He was the founding father of the Southern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association and led the push for many positive changes in our sports. Larry retired as a history teacher in the Clark County School District last year. Larry will be missed on the sidelines. Larry was not only a great coach but also a molder of men and an inspiration to his fellow coaches. Thank you Larry for your years of service to our sports.
Here's what was written proclaiming November 6, 2004, Larry Burgess Day:
The City of Henderson proclaims November 6, 2004 "Larry Burgess Day" as today marks the end of an era. Legendary high school coach Larry Burgess is retiring after 27 years of coaching track and cross country in Nevada. Coach Burgess has been the head coach at Basic H. S. since 1978 and in those years he has been the standard of excellence against which all others compare. He has won five state team championships, five state runner-up trophies, 16 region/zone titles and coached numerous individual state champions. But perhaps his most impressive achievement is one of consistency. For the past 21 years, Basic boys have qualified for state and the girls' teams have qualified 16 times in those same years.
Larry has been THE leader among his peers in Southern Nevada for over two decades. He has been the race director of the prestigious Las Vegas Invitational Cross Country Meet for 25 years and hosted the Divisional Championship meet numerous times. He helped found the Southern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association in 1985 and has served 4 terms as president of the group. His love of the sport and the passion he has for both track and cross country is almost without equal. Larry never misses taking in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships as a fan of the sport. He attends coaching clinics all over the country and has probably read every book ever written on the subject of running. As a result, Coach Burgess has been coaching circles around his peers for many years. Every year he seems to peak his teams at the right time. Year after year, he teases those of us who coach against him by bringing his teams along slowly throughout the season, often not winning preliminary meets leading up to the state qualifying meet. But come that qualifying meet, watch out! 2004 was no exception. Basic finished third in the Divisional Championships behind Silverado and Green Valley. Was this the year that the feisty "Silver Fox" would fail to qualify his boys for state? Fat chance of that happening! Basic boys made it 21 years in a row last Saturday. It was hardly an upset. It was all part of the plan and not unusual for the the man who has dedicated his life to the sport of coaching cross country and track. He has inspired us all: athletes, parents and fellow coaches.
Upon your retirement, the Southern Nevada Track & Cross Country Coaches Association unanimously inducts you into its Hall of Fame. We honor you for your commitment to the student athletes at Basic High School and the youth of Nevada. We wish you much happiness and hope that you will stick around for many years to come. Your fellow Sunrise Region coaches, especially, wish you well in retirement, because their chances of qualifying a team for state next year just increased dramatically. Congratulations for a most distinguished career.
Building a successful team in any sport is challenging, the team’s success can be attributed to the star power it may posses. However, the true foundation to any team’s success can be traced back to its coach. Basic High School has endured one of the longest and most unprecedented streaks in Southern Nevada High School athletics, earning a trip to the state championships, 21 years and running. The man behind the success is Larry Burgess.
Burgess’ career began in a small southern town in Illinois where he drew inspiration from local coaches.
"The local high school and its athletic teams were the very center of the town existence, on a Friday night most of the town was at the local high school football game or basketball game. If you were an athlete or a coach, you were always in the mix and were special," said Burgess.
Following in their steps, Burgess took over the coaching position at Basic High School where he quickly learned coaching was not as glamorous as it seemed to be. Burgess undertook many challenges with the most daunting of all learning to yield and mold a star runner into the rest of the team’s philosophy.
"Having to discipline the best runner was my biggest challenge that first year because he was breaking the team rules was difficult. I realized that the athlete felt because he was the best he didn’t need to partake in the rules, I suspended him from two meets." A Burgess decision would earn the team’s respect, as they realized that all were equal.
"It taught me a lesson as a young coach, to do what you feel is right, do what is best for the team and let the chips fall where they may," said Burgess.
The road to success was not easy for Burgess, despite earning his athletes respect as he now faced the daunting task of leading 40 individuals to victory.
"Every team that I have ever coached in nearly 40 years is different in one way or another, I try and implant my ideas and beliefs on each team but I also allow each team to develop its own personality," added Burgess. He constantly battled with team members trying to get all on the same page, to become one and think alike, preaching about the rewards that would come if the lessons were followed correctly.
"Coach Burgess was always an easy going guy. He also had faith in his runners. He wasn't afraid to laugh either. He would always tell us long stories about some great runner after our track or x-c practices, said" Troy Steadman.
The lessons sunk in as Basic would win five state titles and 10 Region/Zone titles. Burgess would coach five zone champions, including the great Amy Blackwell, who aided and trained with Nikki Peterson and the Red Rock Racers in the coming years. Blackwell was one of the most driven and competitive runners ever to be under Burgess wings. Her success has carried her to qualify for the last two U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
Pat Hubbard would also enjoy the knowledge of Burgess’s system, flourishing with three Region titles, two state titles and a National Footlocker Kinney finalist.
"Coaching Pat was holding him back so he didn’t over-work or race himself out! He was a natural"
Burgess would face the challenge of being competitive against northern powerhouse Reno. Basic would place first in 1987-1988, 1992, 1996 and 1998, and took second 1997 and 1999.
"I think as far as his teams go, they were always solid. They didn't always necessarily have a ‘striker’ but they were always packed together well," said ten time 2A Champion Nikki Peterson.
"He believes in the team part of the sport and also thinks it’s a hard sports (pointing out the football players who were just standing there). While sometimes we would think it was a little weird in the workouts he gave us, because they were so hard, but we all had faith in him and it always paid off," said Steadman.
Aside from his coaching success, Burgess would be the founder of the Southern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association, whose main goal was to provide positive goals in the sport of Cross Country.
"I think the coaches association will be hit hard since Coach Burgess really was the mover and shaker of the association," said Durango Coach Jim Holben, "I do feel though that there are some good coaches who will rise up to fill the big gap that Coach Burgess once filled."
His dedication was seen in his passion for track and cross-country helping kids to accomplish things they thought impossible. Furthermore, Burgess would host a sport clinic every year with the help of the Basic team, which would draw many fans. Burgess would also host the Las Vegas Invitational over the past twenty-five years and the Division meets several times throughout his career.
"He's been an outstanding coach, not just to his teams, but to the coaching fraternity since he's always willing to help other coaches with problems in his ranks. He's one of a few coaches that just is so willing to give back to the sport to make it better," said Holben.
Such dedication earned Burgess an induction into the Southern Nevada Track and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame. For 39 years Burgess would be a coach and a history teacher, who has been lucky to influence many young people in a positive way.
"One of my first instances dealing with coach was freshmen year. My teammate and I went into his classroom and he showed us a cool way to lace our shoes, said Steadman. An individual who would not look too much ahead or too much into the past and keep things in retrospect by taking things a day at a time.
"Distance running is a lot like life…you get out of it pretty much what you put into it," says Burgess, on a career that has winded down but touched the hearts of many.
Alex Belmares
