By Jake Dowling, Icon intern
The Bluffton High School girls' track team finished fourth at the Division III state track meet held last weekend. To some, the results may be looked as a surprise, but to others, it was more of an expectation that the squad can do great things.

"There was no surprise that we made it to state," said Denny Phillips, track coach for Bluffton High School. "Hannah and Lydia are no secret to people around the state. We expected to be in the hunt and we were."
Phillips says the work ethic and passion to succeed have always been in Bluffton's DNA.

"This is a town that embraces track and it's been going on for decades, so the support is there and the talent level is there too," Phillips said. "I think the coach before me left a pretty solid staff behind, so I think when you put all those things together, it's not unusual that kids have an expectation to be successful."

The BHS girls' 400 by 800-meter relay record was broken this season by Julie Althaus, Lydia Guagenti, Jill Steinmetz and Hannah Chappell-Dick. They also broke the 4 by 4 record.

As individual records go, Chappell-Dick broke the 800-meter record and Guagenti tied her own existing record in the high jump competition, according to Phillips.

"I think it is the luck of a draw," said Phillips. "Because last season we had we had a very good boys' team and this season the girls have stepped up."

For Phillips, it all comes down to working with the athletes' talents and skills set, from an individualistic standpoint.

"In terms of coaching them, we try to work in terms of engaging the individual personalities," Phillips said. "I think it is best to find out how to engage and address the individual personalities as oppose to a gender."

Nevertheless, the Bluffton way is also a major factor when it comes to coaching the athletes.

"I think part of it is that over the years, it is understood that, that's how we do things at Bluffton," Phillips said. "Part of it is level of aspiration and part of it is just the tradition of the program."

Phillips says it is hard to predict how next years' team will do, but he is optimistic for the boys.

"It's always hard to say how next year next year will turn out," Phillips said. "But I think the boys have a chance to take the next step because there is more of that talent coming back."

As from a personal view, separating from being a coach and a husband is not always easy, but it does get easier as time moves on.

"It's a little bit easier to remove yourself from being a coach when you're in track compared to coaching football," Phillips said. "As time has gone on, the transition from coach to everyday life has come a lot quicker and a lot smoother."