From one track and field team to another, one generation of elite athletes made small gesture that meant a lot to an up-and-coming batch of runners.
Bruce Heller, a track and field coach at Escalante Middle School, was looking for a little help from his alma mater to assist with his energetic team. So he reached out to his alma mater, Western State Colorado University – a perennial powerhouse in Division II running. After months of communication and figuring out logistics, the Mountaineers came through to help the Escalante Eagles with a donation of 10 pairs of competition shoes as well as shirts and jackets the Escalante athletes can wear at practice and competition.
“A lot of the kids we have are from disadvantaged families, about 40 to 45 percent of them,” Heller said Thursday during the team’s practice before showing off the new gear to members of the team. “For them to get a pair of running spikes is huge. They are $70, and that’s not in the family budget to spend that for a six-week season in middle school. It’s really awesome for these kids to get the opportunity and be recognized.”
Escalante has roughly 70 kids out for the track team, and they will compete in six events this spring.
Heller ran for the Mountaineers in the mid-1970s and stays in touch with the alumni association. When he received an alumni letter in December asking for donations, he sent a letter of his own asking for a donation to the Eagles team.
“Bruce has been a supporter of the program, and he contacted us and said he needed a little help,” Western State head coach Chris Bradford said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Any time we can help somebody get into the sport that I love, that’s always extremely rewarding.”
The donations came from current Western State runners. The shoes were an instant hit with the Escalante team.
“We’re really honored they would thing about us down here,” Heller said. “I was a little nervous being in Fort Lewis’ backyard, but I reached out to them and they were happy to help us out.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
