Becker boys track and field head coach Paul Schmidt celebrated his 20th season in charge of the program by leading the team to a state title.  But the story of capturing the hardware began years earlier, when current stars Owen Angell and Carter Reckelberg were students in Schmidt’s fourth grade classroom.

“I knew back then that they were going to be something special,” Schmidt said of the two current seniors.  “They will both go on to star at NDSU and it’s really cool to think about how far they’ve come since fourth grade.”

Schmidt recalls Reckelberg talking about his own track meets back in fourth grade and even has a copy of a video from when Carter was just eight years old.

“It shows him long jumping at a competition in Iowa, where he cleared 12 feet,” Schmidt said.  “Then, here he is as a senior and he cleared twice that length.”

Schmidt’s storied career is a story in and of itself, as he had turned down the top job several times, as he was also coaching football and basketball.  He stayed on as Assistant Coach for three seasons while other head coaches came and went, finally accepting the top position 20 years ago when the program wasn’t in good shape.

“My first year, we had 11 guys on the team,” recalls Schmidt. “But now, both our boys and girls programs are doing really well.”

Schmidt credits his fellow coaches for helping to build a program that consistently sends numerous athletes to the state track meet.

“Trish and I have been together for all 20 years and she is a big part of this,” Schmidt says, referring to girls head coach Trish Reimer-Kealy.  “And the rest of our coaches that are on staff and volunteers, we really work well together and find a way to challenge our athletes.  Coaching consistency in programs is huge, and here we are now and it’s paying dividends.”