BHS Tracksters Gear Up for Indoor Season

Call them what you'd like. Crazy? Obsessed? Who runs track in the winter anyway? But for Coach Ed Helbig and his Highlanders, it's been that way for his past 19 years.

Helbig, 59, also 's outdoor track & field coach for the past 37 years and a ninth- and 10th-grade civics and world-cultures teacher, is proud of his indoor program, which gives student-athletes more opportunities to compete in the coldest months, not to mention a better shot at year-round fitness.

He's especially proud of his work with the Tri-State Track & Field Coaches Association, or TSTCA, which he has helped run for the past 19 years. The TSTCA currently includes 65 schools, most hailing from Pennsylvania but also a few from Ohio and West Virginia. TSTCA meets make up the majority of Baldwin's indoor schedule.

TSTCA schools pay $250 per boys and girls team, or $500 total – considered very cheap – for the entire season, which typically runs from early January to early March.

Baldwin High is no different than the 64 other TSTCA schools, except maybe in how its indoor teams are funded. The Baldwin indoor track & field programs receive no funding from the Baldwin-Whitehall school district, but Helbig and his teams' supporters seem to find a way to make it work every year.

This coming season will not be an exception, as the Highlanders will compete in every TSTCA meet. Should the Highlanders have athletes qualify based on their performances, Baldwin will be represented at the TSTCA championships at Edinboro University on Feb. 19.

The next steps (if qualified) would be the Pennsylvania Track & Field Coaches Association (PTFCA) championships at Penn State University on Feb. 26 and the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at The Armory Track & Field Center in New York City sometime in March.

Baldwin has had All-America finishers at the Armory meet before – and would love to again – but Helbig stresses that the indoor season is more about preparing for the spring.

"We'd like to win some things, but we go into indoors with the idea of trying to put in place some things for the outdoor season. We try to get some team leaders established. We're trying to learn who some of our best individuals are. We would still like to qualify some kids for [indoor] states and nationals [though]."

Helbig highlights four individuals that should make noise this winter and possibly qualify for the state championships – all juniors, which is very encouraging.

Three girls, according to Helbig – Krista Kuss (sprints and middle-distance), Madalina James (middle-distance and hurdles) and Sarah Espy (pole vault) – should each have a great shot at TSTCA and PTFCA medals, as should Bobby Bishop, a Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) boys cross-country medalist this past fall and a WPIAL 1,600-meter-run medalist last spring. Krista was a WPIAL medalist last spring in the 100, 200 and 400 dashes.

Baldwin's indoor track & field teams are off for the holiday break, but practice is typically held everyday after school. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays keep the teams at Baldwin High School, usually in the weight room until 4:30 p.m. If weather allows, some running then takes place on the high school's outdoor track. The teams practice at the on Macek Drive on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Baldwin's first meet of the season will be the Montgomery Invitational in Landover, Md., on Jan. 8. Full Baldwin squads will not attend, as Helbig plans on bringing about 16 select athletes to the event, including Krista, Madalina, Sarah and Bobby.

Helbig seems especially excited about Krista. "[She] has been working real hard in the off-season," he says. "I'll be real interested to see how she does down in Maryland. She's been doing very well."

The first TSTCA meet of the 2011 season will be held at the University of Pittsburgh on Jan. 13. Baldwin's full schedule is available here, but interested goers should contact the Baldwin-Whitehall Athletics office at 412-885-7500, option 4, before planning a trip. The schedule is subject to change.