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Photo by Eric Engman

Milo Griffin is suddenly wearing West Valley red instead of Lathrop purple.

“I have to always make sure when I look at my shirt that I don’t have purple on when I leave (Lathrop’s) school,” Griffin said Wednesday before leading practice for 100 kids at West Valley. “I make sure that I have red on when I come over here.”

Griffin coached track and field at Lathrop for about 25 years, but his “retirement” from track didn’t last long after announcing it at the end of the 2007 season. In a move that turned heads, he replaced Greg Owens at West Valley this spring.

“I quit for a little while and the withdrawal from not coaching ... I just felt that I was missing something,” said Griffin, who remains a physical education teacher at Lathrop and still coaches its basketball and tennis teams. “I had no intention of coaching (track) again. And then the position (at West Valley) came open and the itch got to me and I decided I didn’t want to get out of the game.”

Complicating matters, however, is that now he’s leading Lathrop’s biggest rival and coaching against athletes he’s been mentoring for years.

“I explained to them my situation about wanting to coach, and wanting to be a part of helping kids no matter where they are,” said Griffin, pointing out that he’s hardly the first to teach at one school while coaching another (for example, Lathrop teacher Greg Gibson coaches soccer at West Valley).

Griffin said he’ll coach track at West Valley “as long as they’ll have me.”

He is taking some heat, though, from Lathrop’s sprinters and jumpers.

Photo by Eric Engman

“They still give me a hard time about it every day, but now we can at least laugh about it,” Griffin said. “Before, it wasn’t a laughing matter.”

Lathrop seniors Ajuah Scott and Catherine Burch are among those now being coached by Jeff Hebard, who stepped up from his position as an assistant coach for the Malemutes.

“I would have liked (Griffin) to stay,” Scott, who is aiming for a state title in the high jump, said after practice Wednesday. “Why (go to) West Valley? I mean, that’s kind of been our rival this whole time, so that was a little bit surprising. I didn’t believe it until he actually went.”

Burch said she was disappointed upon finding out that Griffin had taken the West Valley job.

“I go to his office every day. I give him a hard time about it. I made him a sign that says ‘Traitor,’” Burch said with a laugh. “It was a joke. I know everything happens for a reason and you have to do what you have to do.”

Burch anticipates the cross-town rivalry will be ramped up a notch.

“We have Mr. Hebard and he’s going to work us hard and West Valley is still our rival so hopefully we’ll beat them,” Burch said. “I think it’s going to be even more intense because now we kind of like want to throw it in Milo’s face, basically.”

West Valley and Lathrop will square off for the first of seven times this season in a Region VI “mini-meet” April 12 at North Pole High School.

Owens reflects

Greg Owens coached track and field at West Valley for 13 seasons, the last four as head coach. But he said the “fire in the belly” for coaching had finally left him.

“I resigned in December after thinking about it long and hard,” Owens said by phone Wednesday. “I think it’s time to get out because I don’t think I could give the full energy that it needs.”

Owens said becoming competitive against the Anchorage powerhouses was one of his great coaching thrills.

“That’s pretty rare for Fairbanks (in track and field),” he said.

Owens’ reign included a pair of girls state championships in 2005 and 2006, as well as 20 of a possible 26 Region VI titles.

“It was fun. It was a good run,” Owens said.

Owens’ interest in local track and field hasn’t left him, and he may still show up this season as a spectator.

“I drive by the track and see if they’ve got (the snow) cleared off,” Owens said.