25 still ringing true

Jay Hatleli grew up appreciating what the True Team philosophy meant to his track and field experience.

The True Team section and state meets, sponsored by the Minnesota Track and Field Coaches Association, reward programs for their depth because every athlete competing earns points toward their team's total.

By contrast, one ultra-talented athlete can -- and has -- won a "team" title for their school at the Minnesota State High School League sponsored state meet in June.

Hatleli, coached by his father, Tom, at Lanesboro, helped the program (part of various co-ops) win four consecutive state titles from 1992 to '95 and saw athletes drawn to be part of something bigger.

"That was his focus and it helped us build a program," said Hatleli, now in his ninth year coaching track and field at Rosemount. "We went from taking kids to meets in a station wagon to needing a bus."

The 25th running of the True Team boys' and girls' state meet takes place Friday and Saturday at Stillwater High School. The meet is a two-day event, featuring the large schools in Class 3A competing Friday evening and the smaller Class 2A and 1A programs competing throughout Saturday. A total of 54 teams, eight section champions and one wild card team in each gender will vie for titles.

A group of Minnesota track and field coaches developed the nation's first True Team meet in 1987 in hopes of properly gauging the overall strength of a program, attracting more athletes and crowning a legitimate team champion. Inspired by the track and field model, swimming and diving coaches launched their own True Team meet in 2004.

"I wouldn't diminish the MSHSL meet, but I think it means more to those who don't understand the sport," Hatleli said. "A True Team championship is much more respected among our peers. You can't get lucky with two or three great athletes."

The presence of two state meets in the same sport has been a source of friction. True Team supporters have unsuccessfully lobbied to merge the True Team and MSHSL state meets in the hopes of creating a model similar to wrestling, where teams and individuals can be recognized. But talks broke down for financial or logistical reasons. Until a new, more feasible plan emerges, the two-meet model will exist -- much to the chagrin of some coaches.

"I think the reason it hasn't happened is that is makes too much sense," Mounds View boys' coach Ross Fleming said. "It would be more expensive, but it would also create more revenue."

Fleming's concerns are not sour grapes. His teams have reached the pinnacle of both state meets. The Mustangs won six consecutive True Team championships from 1998 to 2003 and added titles in 2006 and '07. Mounds View left the MSHSL state meet with five team trophies during the same span but Fleming, who called receiving them "anticlimactic," isn't exactly showing them off.

"I don't know where any of those trophies are," Fleming said. "I prefer winning at True Team and having a 40-man victory lap."

Why? As Ron Beachy, another True Team founder and coach at Staples-Motley said, the format "keeps those kids who might not be your best kids from asking, 'Why am I here?'"

Dean Houdek, a True Team founder and former coach at Park of Cottage Grove, recalled seeing "a difference [the week before True Team] in practice because every kid knew we needed them. It was good for morale."

True Team has also been good for numbers. Stillwater's boys' coach Scott Christensen saw his squads more than double from 50 to 135 athletes as his teams won True Team titles in 1994, '95 and '97. Stillwater won three MSHSL titles from 1996 to '98.

"It's more important to the health of your program to win True Team," Christensen said.

While Hatleli's Irish teams have won a True Team and a MSHSL title during his tenure and he values both accomplishments, it's clear the edge in preparation goes to True Team.