My View/Your View: Koeppen leaves big shoes to fill at Carmel

Legendary coach Chuck Koeppen left the high school coaching ranks at the age of 62 last season, but the Carmel High School boys track and field team has not missed a beat. Koeppen's last two official acts were to lead the girls and boys cross country teams to state championships last fall. He retired after 37 seasons and 23 state championships, the most state titles among any coach in any sport in Indiana high school history. His Greyhounds won the state track championship in 2000. He's a tough act to follow, indeed. But first-year head track coach Will Ellery is already off to a good start in taking the baton and making his presence felt, though he won't be involved in coaching cross country. Koeppen's shoes in that sport should be filled sometime in May, according to Carmel athletic director Jim Inskeep. Ellery isn't exactly a stranger to being around success. Prior to coaching at Carmel, he was an assistant coach at Lawrence North High School, which gives him experience coaching under two Hall of Famers in Bob Potter and Koeppen. And Ellery's Greyhounds are currently ranked second in the state behind Ben Davis. Ellery is quick to credit Carmel's cross country success. "We recognize that our greatest strength is our distance crew,'' said Ellery, praising his assistant coach Dr. Erhard Bell his assistant coach, who has well prepared the runners. Carmel's 3,200-meter relay team of Dan Kinn (senior), Dan Porter (junior), Chris Walden (sophomore) and Logan Rosenberg (senior) won the North Central Invitational last Saturday. "They have been among the state's best all year. Pretty much the same teams won the MIC Indoor distance medley relay, and the DMR at the Hoosier State Relays in March,'' said Ellery. Ellery, who has a relatively young squad, said his focus since the start of practice has been on the state meet, and "what our lineup will look like in June.'' "With regard to the state meet, we are especially excited about the chances of our 3,200-meter team and a mixture of guys in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200,'' Ellery said. "We currently have three runners who've made the state standard in the 3,200, and we have a couple of more runners who are within sight of it. That gives us options in entering athletes, and flexibility gives us the best chance to try to accumulate points against strong competition.'' The Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference meet Friday night at Ben Davis should provide Carmel and the host Giants, along with some other perennial powers, a golden opportunity in which to gauge their progress. If you enjoy big meets and great competition, then circle the MIC encounter on your calendar. The meet, which gets under way at 6 p.m., should provide a state championship-type atmosphere. Six MIC teams, led by defending state champion Ben Davis, Carmel and No. 3 Warren Central, were ranked among the top 20 in last week's Indiana Coaches Association state poll. The others are seventh-ranked Center Grove, No. 11 North Central and No. 20 Lawrence North. Folks, if you like high drama, well, it just doesn't get much better than this.