By Bill Drake, Edited by Andrew Rickert, '97
The Long Red Line: 1954-1967
March 2007
 
  The sport of Cross Country at Guilderland High School was born in 1954.  As best we can tell, Charles Murray was the first coach, and he nurtured the team for three or four years.  It is safe to assume that the sport of Cross Country was a hard sell for the students of GHS.  This was long before Frank Shorter won Olympic Gold in the marathon and simultaneously set off a "running boom" in America.  Besides his name, nothing more is known about Coach Murray's teams, although one can bet they were small in roster size.  Football and soccer traditionally were the biggest draw during the fall season, as they traditionally are at many schools even today.  Mr. Clyde Eastman took over the team of five-to-seven boys in 1958 (the girls would not come on the scene until 1976) and coached for one year. 
The start of a race circa 1968.  Some believe it is the GHS smokestack and Helderberg mountains in the background, making this a home meet.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
   I was a member of the Cross Country team between 1994-1997, a period of time that represented a transition in leadership.  My intent in this series of articles is not to draw attention to any of the coaches I had during my four years. However, we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge them along the way for their role in the program's proud history.  Although the faces of the athletes may change over time, our coaches are the constant that help preserve the past and guide the future.  Without any further rambling on my part, here is Part One of the series, LONG RED LINE, covering the years 1954 to 1967.   
 
Guilderland Boys Cross Country
Coaching History
YEAR                   NAME                 
1955-1957           Charles Murray          
1958                    Clyde Eastman            
1959-1963           Fred Kamfor                 
1964-1965           Bob Scrafford               
1966-1994           Bill Drake                       
1995                    Dieter Drake                 
1996-Present       Bob Oates                   
  In 1959 Mr. Fred Kamfor took over the fledgling program.  Unfortunately, little is known about these early teams. 
  An interview with Bill Drake, however, reveals more about Coach Kamfor's team.
  "Before I became coach of the team I do know that the runners used to train at Babcock's farm, which was located on Altamont-Voorheesville Road (Rte. 156). One time, in 1969, I had the pleasure to meet Mr. Fred Kamfor when he was visiting the high school. Mr. Kamfor, at that time, was working for the F.B.I. in Alaska."
  I asked Bill what Kamfor was like or what he was doing for the F.B.I. in the great Northwest.  While he could not recall, I have to imagine he was quite a unique character-who else leaves Albany for Alaska?  Kamfor coached the team from 1959 to 1963.  Mr. Robert Scrafford would then take over the team through the 1965 season.  Scrafford was a high school English teacher at that time.  The early Cross Country teams did not have a strong reputation.
  "The best these early teams could do was simply field a team." Bill laments, "they were not too good."
  Meanwhile, a spunky 24-year-old Spanish teacher was enjoying some success as a Track & Field coach at Ilion High School outside of Utica, NY.  The coach was Bill Drake, who graduated from nearby Johnstown High School as a distance runner and pole-vaulter.
  "I wasn't a particularly good runner or pole-vaulter, but whatever I was missing in talent, I made up in enthusiasm," says Bill.
  His Pole-Vaulting exploits took him to Hope College, a four-year school in Holland, Michigan.  Ironically, Hope College's athletic teams are the "Flying Dutchmen."  Upon graduation, at the ripe old age of 21, Drake jumped at the opportunity to coach at Ilion, and had some help in his early career.
 
Some may only recognize his likeness to the last several invy t-shirts. Bill Drake, Circa 1968.  Full photo to appear in next issue.
  "Joe Sorge was my mentor at Ilion.  He has since passed away, but he was the Athletic Director at the time as well as a successful basketball coach.  The Ilion Boys won the 1964 Section 3, Class B championship.  They probably would have won a State title had there been a State-wide organization.  My Cross Country teams were Runners-Up to Ossining HS in 1962 and 1963 and we had these two brother who finished 2nd and 3rd at the Section 3 meet in 1963," recalls Drake.  
  "When I came to Guilderland in the Fall of 1965, I was hired as a Spanish teacher. I went to Mr. Fred Field, the Athletic Director at the time, and asked if there were any coaching positions available for Cross Country or Track & Field.  Mr. Scrafford was still Cross Country coach at the time so that was out of the question.  I was, however, given an opportunity in the Spring of 1966 to coach Jr. High School Track & Field, which I did.  Mr. Harold "Bud" Kenyon, the football coach, was my assistant." 
  While Drake likely relished in the opportunity to coach at his new school, his heart was in Cross Country and he waited patiently for the chance.  It would come the very next year.
"My second year at the school, 1966-67, Mr. Field asked if I would be interested in coaching Indoor Track for the High School.  I told him that if given the opportunity, that I would prefer to coach Cross Country.  I got the job. I think that I was paid $325--money never was an important factor.  I just loved doing what I did.  Heck, I still teach Spanish and coach at the Cannon School, (a small private school in Concord, North Carolina) and I'm supposed to be retired!"
 
The 1966 GHS Cross Country Team:
Standing (L to R): Coach Drake, Tom Hornbach, Tom McGlynn, Mike Rogan, Chris Rasmussen, and Ken Gralow
Kneeling (L to R): Pete Chakmakas, Bill Smith, and Wayne Shealey.                          Missing: Harry Shearer
  Drake's first Guilderland Cross Country team in 1966 was comprised of seven runners, five of whom were wrestlers for GHS. Thanks to Mr. Herman Wyld, the wildly successful wrestling coach, the team was able to score a complete team.  An early photo of the team provides evidence of this.  Several of the boys are wearing towels under their sweatshirts, presumably to get into a lower weight class for the winter wrestling season. 
  "Our practices around the school were good ones but I knew that we needed some hill-work. In those days, there was no bus to get us any place. I endeared myself to the maintenance staff of the high school and they let me borrow a dump truck that belonged to the school. I transported the runners twice a week to the Dave Cowan farm, which was located near the LaSalle Seminary in Altamont. We ran some good workouts there. Below the farm on Route #146 there is still a street that is one of the steepest there is around: Helderberg Avenue. Run it a few times and you'll know what I mean. At the bottom, it starts where Stewart's Ice Cream is or was located and it goes up for 300 meters or so at a good grade. Our guys were really jolted to reality in those hill climbs in the years 1966-1970."
  The 1966 team was small but their hard work began to pay off.
  "Mike Rogan, Ken Gralow (who still lives in Guilderland), Rick Leach, Pete Chakmakas, Carl Hornbach, Chris Rassmusen and Harry Shearer comprised the heart of the team. I think that we went 5-2 that very first year with two wins against Voorheesville. It was a home and home series those first 3-4 years, meaning every two weeks we'd run against the same team, just alternate sites.  Our home course was run on the high school grounds, and 2.5 miles was the standard varsity distance (five kilometer courses wouldn't come out until the mid-70's).  I think that we also beat Mohonasen and Schalmont that year."
  Drake cannot recall whether or not his teams' early success would be the equivalent of a Cinderella story, because, as a new coach, he had no knowledge of how good the other teams were prior to his arrival.  All he knows is that even the smallest achievements made him proud.
  "The Suburban Council meet was held at Shaker High School and I was thrilled beyond my dreams when Harry Shearer took 13th in the field of some 40+ runners."  Little would he know the heights his teams would reach over the next three decades.
  Whether a brilliant act of publicity or by sheer accident, Drake found ways to bring Cross Country to the masses.
  "One interesting meet was one that finished during half-time of a home football game. I really had to gauge that one as to not be a problem to the game. We had some luck on our side as there were approximately 10 minutes left in the half when we started and the meet finished in front of the home field stands. For me it was a great day as Guilderland also beat Ilion High School, the first school where I started coaching!"
  The positive results continued into the post-season. 
  "The Section 2 meet was held at Central Park in Schenectady. Our goal was to try to beat Mont Pleasant (now Schenectady High School). Their times and our times were very similar and they had beaten us by 35 points or so earlier that season at the Grout Run. As was and still is my nature, I hung around to get all of the scores. There were 13 or 14 teams in the race.  Not many coaches stuck around-they all knew who won.  Colonie was the perennial powerhouse for Cross Country then and of course they won again in 1966.  Results were done completely by hand (using "ditto sheets" not Xerox) and then sent out in the mail. Most schools like Guilderland would read the results in the Schenectady Gazette. Well, what a great day. I figured that we would be 11th or worse. We finished in 9th and beat Mont Pleasant! Talk about exhilaration. I walked back to the bus.  Our guys were waiting for the results. You could hear a pin drop as they were so excited but fearful of the results. I started counting down from the top of the list 14th LaSalle; 13th Catholic Central (I am guessing the places but I could be close); 12th Albany Academy; 11th Troy; 10th Mont Pleasant; 9th GUILDERLAND!!!  The bus of seven uglies went completely NUTS!  What a seasonal finish! You would have thought that we won the New York State meet."
  The finish was just a glimpse of things to come.  Over the next four years Drake would work to extend the size of his roster and find his team competing for one of the top three spots in the Section.
  The 1966 season finished in fine style. The team adjourned to Ken Gralow's house, played pool and ate pizza in the basement. It was the first year of the "booklet" in Guilderland. We will cover the birth of the booklet in a later article. 
  Guilderland Cross Country was just a child and already it was showing promise.  Thanks to some consistent leadership at the helm, the team would grow stronger and plunge its roots deep into the soil of Section 2 history.

Feel free to contact Coach Drake with any questions/comments/corrections you might have:
email: bdrake2088@bellsouth.net
phone: 704-948-7381

NOTE: Ken Gralow has been contacted for consultation with this story and we will bring you any updates when they follow.