Runners for two teams overcame tragedy to win CIF championships

Today’s (March 17) track and field meet between Fallbrook High School and Ramona High School brings two non-league opponents together for an early assessment of competitiveness in a dual meet. The meet between the two schools, which will take place this afternoon in Ramona, has become an annual event.

The two running programs have something else in common: in the past four years both teams had runners who overcame a tragedy to win that year’s CIF cross-country championship.

On August 3, 2010, Dylan Blankenbaker and his 12-year-old sister were visiting their grandmother, who lived in the Oklahoma panhandle. After Sharrel Blankenbaker picked up her grandchildren at the Amarillo airport, they stopped at an Amarillo gas station. A man pointed a gun at Cassidy Blankenbaker and told her to get in his car. Sharrel Blankenbaker intervened and was fatally shot in front of her grandchildren, but that intervention allowed Cassidy to flee to safety.

On November 20, Dylan Blankenbaker competed in the CIF San Diego Section cross-country meet and won the Division II boys race. He joined a list of CIF meet winners which included Bret Hasvold, who won the Division I boys race in 2007.

“To finish the season the way he did was pretty incredible,” said Hasvold, who now runs for Long Beach State University.

Marty Hauck started the 2007 season as Fallbrook High School’s boys cross-country coach. On September 19, Hauck sent his athletes for a run while engaging in a shorter run himself. After his return to the school track, Hauck was struck by a fatal heart attack.

“It leaves a mark on you the rest of your life,” Hasvold said of Hauck’s death.

Blankenbaker was in eighth grade at Olive Peirce Middle School when Hauck had his heart attack. “I met Bret a few times,” Blankenbaker said. “I didn’t know about that, though.”

Hasvold was a counselor at a Poway running camp Blankenbaker attended the winter after Hasvold’s cross-country championship and as an incoming ninth-grader the following summer. “I knew he was an awesome runner. I didn’t know about the coach,” Blankenbaker said.

Four boys and two girls were on both Fallbrook’s 2007 cross-country team as freshmen and the Warriors’ 2010 squad as seniors. “They hadn’t known him for very long,” said Fallbrook girls coach Troy Hamlin, who worked jointly with coaches Marco Arias and Rich Parris to guide the boys after Hauck’s death.

Lindsey Spieker was the only Ramona girl competing in both the 2007 and 2010 cross-country programs while three Ramona boys were freshmen when Hauck had his heart attack and seniors when Blankenbaker overcame his tragedy to win the CIF meet. Bob Verhoest, who was Ramona’s cross-country coach in 2007 and who is now the Bulldogs’ track and field assistant coach for pole vaults, notes that Ramona’s runners knew somewhat of Hauck. “A lot of it’s on Saturdays and you see the same coaches year in and year out,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit community, cross-country more than track.”

Hauck’s last meet was the Woodbridge Invitational on September 15, 2007. Hasvold finished third in the sweepstakes race.

Hauck had planned to step down after the 2008 track and field season to spend more time with his family. “That was an important season to begin with,” Hasvold said of the 2007 cross-country season.

“We wanted to make it special for him,” Hasvold said. “After it happened, it was just kind of reinforcing that.”

Hauck’s heart attack occurred at approximately 3:30 p.m. on September 19. Hamlin was on a hill overlooking the track when he saw Hauck go down; Arias was closer to the scene.

“The kids were out on a run at the time,” Hamlin said. “Dylan witnessed the shooting.”

Arias kept people away while a nurse who was nearby performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on Hauck.

“When they came back they knew that somebody was down and being worked on,” Hamlin said.

Hauck’s heart attack occurred near where the runners had left their bags, which were moved to accommodate medical activity. The runners returned to see that their bags had been moved, so they suspected that the situation was not normal.

“I can remember the look of confusion and shock on Bret’s face that afternoon,” Hamlin said.

Paramedics arrived on the scene to work on Hauck. “Most of the kids did not know at the time whether he was going to live or die,” Hamlin said. “Most of us thought he was going to be fine.”

Hauck was taken to the hospital. Hamlin, Arias, and the runners stayed at the school until they heard an update on Hauck or until they obtained a ride home. When no word on Hauck was received by about 5:30 p.m., Hauck told the runners to go home. “We were still just kind of waiting for word that he was okay,” Hamlin said.

The fact that Hauck was unable to be revived during early efforts made Hasvold and others pessimistic.

“Bret was just devastated at that point,” Hamlin said. “We just stood there and tried to comprehend it all.”

Hamlin joined Hauck’s brother, Tim, and assistant track and field coach Tim Oder at the hospital and was present when Hauck was pronounced dead.

“I didn’t say a word for about an hour,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin noted that phases of experiencing a tragedy include disbelief, anger, and shock. “Going through all of those emotions is surreal,” he said.

“Bret was just devastated when Coach Hauck passed away,” Hamlin said. “He was in tears most of the week following the incident.”

Arias took over as the Warriors’ interim boys head coach, although he utilized Hamlin’s experience with the program. “I knew how the program had been run,” Hamlin said. “I just tried to keep things the way they had been that year as much as I possibly could.”

“It’s tough when you lose a head coach,” Verhoest said. “Those kids respected him.”

Hamlin spoke with Tim Hauck at the hospital after Marty Hauck’s death. “I said: ‘Tim, there’s only one thing you can do, and that’s go on’,” Hamlin said. “That was kind of what the cross-country team in a sense did.”

The runners put Hauck’s death behind them but not their memories of the coach. “Some people put it behind and go on. Other people use it as motivation to do the best they can,” Hamlin said.

Hasvold had to make such a decision. “Marty had always been there for him for every race,” Hamlin said. “It was very tough for him.”

There was no formal team practice the day after Hauck’s death, but some of Fallbrook’s seniors made the decision to go on a four-mile Marty Hauck Memorial Run. “Todd (Van Duzer) and Bret were the team leaders who did a lot of the tributes in memory of Marty,” Hamlin said.

On September 22 the Warriors competed in the Dana Hills Invitational. They had the fastest combined team time among the 80 participating schools and also won the senior boys race while Hasvold had the fastest time among all 1,434 runners.

“You could see how shaken he was and then how focused he became at the task at hand,” Hamlin said.

One of the two Fallbrook girls on both the 2007 and 2010 cross-country teams was Amanda Mulkey, whose father’s United States Marine Corps position has involved fallen brethren. The elder Mulkey advised the team members to remember only the good things about Hauck rather than the death itself.

Hasvold also sought advice from Hamlin. “He relied greatly on his family and me,” Hamlin said.

“I can remember his mom and dad setting up many conferences with me just to talk,” Hamlin said. “His parents did a very fine job of helping him through the pain and hard time that it was.”

On November 17 Hasvold won the CIF Division I championship, posting the fastest time of any runner at the section meet.

“Bret really dedicated the rest of his season to Marty, and he would basically say a prayer to him before every race,” Hamlin said. “A lot of what he did that year was for himself, but it was for Marty as well.”

Verhoest noted the need to overcome mental obstacles during the process of continuing after a tragedy.

“It’s hard to block that stuff out of your mind,” he said. “A lot of people can’t do that.”

At the state meet the following week Hasvold placed fourth among Division I runners and eighth among all boys.

“I’ve been using that as a little extra motivation,” Hasvold said of Hauck’s memory.

“They stuck in there that whole year. That was a tough year for them,” Verhoest said.

Hasvold closed out his Fallbrook High School career with the 2008 track and field season. In the section finals he placed second overall and first among Division I runners in the 800-meter race, earning him a berth in the state meet.

“It’s something Bret will never get over,” Hamlin said of Hauck’s death.

“It’s with you. It never completely leaves you,” Hamlin said. “It’s something that you work through, but you never forget it.”

In the 2009 track and field dual meet between Fallbrook and Ramona, Morgan bettered Sumpter in the 400-meter run. During the 2010 dual meet between the two schools, Blankenbaker and Fallbrook’s Justin Jones faced off in the 800-meter race with Jones posting a winning time of 2:04.7 and Blankenbaker finishing second at 2:04.9.

Blankenbaker’s last cross-country race prior to his grandmother’s death was in the 2009 state finals, where he finished 49th among Division II boys. His final track and field race of 2010 was in the May 29 CIF section finals; he placed ninth among Division II runners in the 1,600-meter event.

Steve Albanese was Ramona’s head track and field coach in 2010 before turning over head coaching duties to Allison Stang for this year. The 2010 season was Albanese’s second year as Ramona’s cross-country coach, and he retains that position as well as serving as the track and field assistant coach for distance runners.

“When he first returned to Ramona after it happened he was very emotionally drained and had a hard time even running,” Albanese said of Blankenbaker.

“Marty died of natural causes for all intents and purposes. She was murdered, so there’s a big difference right there,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin also noted Hasvold didn’t lose a family member. “He didn’t have to walk through the house where she once lived,” Hamlin said.

Blankenbaker’s friends helped him return to the rest of his life. They met him at his house after his return and took him out for a run. “I feel like running actually helped him,” Albanese said.

“He dedicated the season to his grandma,” Albanese said. “It all affected his season in one way or another, but he was very resilient.”

“I kind of just used that as my motivation,” Blankenbaker said. “My grandma loved watching me run, and every race was for her.”

Ramona’s first cross-country race of 2010 was the September 4 Vaquero Stampede. Blankenbaker and two teammates ran together before making a mutual decision to let senior Chance Varnado-Richardson be the first finisher. On September 18 Blankenbaker won the junior boys race at the Mount Carmel/Movin’ Shoes Cross-Country Invite. Fallbrook’s fastest junior, Enrique Rivera, placed 35th and finished 38 seconds behind Blankenbaker.

“Steve Albanese has done just an amazing job,” Hamlin said. “He knows how to get the most out of them.”

Blankenbaker also won the Division II boys race October 23 at the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational. In the section meet Blankenbaker, as he had done for much of the season, paced himself with a conservative start before taking the lead late in the race. “Dylan is very similar to Bret in that sense,” Hamlin said.

At the November 27 state meet, Blankenbaker finished eighth in the Division II race and was the first junior across the finish line.

“I give them credit when they can bounce back,” Verhoest said. “If they just focus on having a good year they have a good year.”

Blankenbaker has put aside the tragedy but keeps his grandmother’s life in his memory. “She’s in my heart all the time,” he said.

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