Brooks Sports Inc., is known for its running shoes and apparel. But once a year, the Seattle-based company gives people a chance to choose among 25 high school coaches across the nation they feel is the most inspiring.
One of the coaches making the cut is none other than Land O’ Lakes High School cross-country coach Kris Keppel. And now his team — and the school — is depending on everyone to get to Facebook and vote for him in the 2014 Brooks Inspiring Coaches Award before the end of July.
(Michael Hinman/Staff Photo)
“I opened up my email on the first day of my treatment this cycle, and I was just kind of blown away,” Keppel said. “I didn’t think this was real.”
The treatment Keppel is talking about is chemotherapy, which he’s undergoing to battle pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed late last year, but still made it out to as many practices and meets as he could muster.
Enduring a new round of chemo hasn’t stopped Keppel from moving forward with summer practices, waking up as the sun rises to get that little bit of cool air typically found only in the mornings during Florida summers.
That’s the kind of effort that really motivates his runners, like incoming senior Noah Thomas.
“He’s just one of the strongest men I’ve ever met,” the 17-year-old said. “All throughout this, he’s still been there for us, and he’s still pushing us hard, and we push back for him.”
It’s the runners, his fellow coaches like Karen DeHaas, and the parents that motivate him to get up and tackle each day with fresh energy, Keppel’s wife Dar said.
“I think cross-country has been a godsend,” she said. “It has monopolized our life, and I was jealous of it at times. But I think if he didn’t have cross-country, he wouldn’t be in the mindset that he’s in. And that is something that is a great outlet.”
For just being named a finalist, the Land O’ Lakes team has won $5,000 in running shoes, apparel and accessories from Brooks, as well as $500 in cash for team expenses.
The coach chosen as the most inspiring on Facebook will win an additional $5,000 in Brooks apparel, plus $2,000 more in cash to the school’s athletic department.
DeHaas, who Keppel recruited some years back to coach the girls cross-country team, did the initial work to get her colleague nominated. But it was a nomination that almost didn’t happen.
“I spent a couple hours writing up everything online, and then when I went to go get a picture, I came back, and what I wrote wasn’t there anymore,” said DeHaas, who runners affectionately refer to as “Mima.”
“I had some good ideas there, too, and so I had to think of it all again so that I could write it a second time,” she said.
Keppel spent years as a media specialist at Land O’ Lakes High, but moved into the American history department after those positions were cut last year. Yet, he still finds a way to connect with students, even off the track.
“He’s a model for so many kids,” DeHaas said. “He has helped so many kids get into colleges, and wrote letters — you wouldn’t believe how many. Anyone who came to him for help, he would help them, whether it was something to do with sports, or something to do with academics. He is just a wealth of information.”
Keppel and his wife are heading to Seattle to learn who will win among the 25 coaches in August. For someone as well-traveled as Keppel is, this is the first time he’s ever been to Washington, and he’s looking forward to it.
However, he’s also looking to not have too many distractions as he prepares his runners for what Keppel hopes will be another successful season, both as a team, and as individual athletes.
“The true gratification of a coach is to see the transformation of a kid who just ran a couple miles to a kid who can run a half-marathon by the end of summer,” Keppel said.
To vote, visit tinyurl.com/KeppelInspire.
Published June 25, 2014
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