wow, i cannot believe that our coaches association fees are paying a convicted doper, dennis mitchell, to speak at the clinic. does anyone else see the problem here? i am assuming kyle boydstun recruits the speakers?

You would be assuming incorrectly Kevin. I am the current CHSCA T&F/XC president. However, I am responsible only for arranging presenters for the XC portion of the multi-sport clinic at the end of July. My email address is on the CHSCA website--if you have any other concerns, please feel free to contact me. Kyle Boydstun Pritchett High School

I suppose a lot of other people besides me have been holding their breath with respect to this particular conversation. I think the original question is a fair question, and I believe Kyle has taken the high road in his response. So, as long as the discussion remains civilized (and I have a lot of confidence in you all), this thread remains visible and open. We should be able to raise and discuss this kind of question.

America is the land of 2nd and 3rd chances. That said, if I was the screener/arranger of speakers I'd have made damm well sure that the first 5 minutes of Mitchell's presentation covered his giant mistake his contrition, and move forward from there.

According to the flier, this is in fact the Sprinter Dennis Mitchell and not the Coach from Ohio that has the unfortunate luck to share the same name? Luckily for me, I plan to attend Jay Johnson's presentation... But if I did not have that as an option, out of principle, I would not attend (sprinter/Olympian) Mitchell's seminar, for the following reasons: Mitchell Timeline: 88-was in finals in the now infamous 100 m finals in Seoul where Ben johnson and 4 others eventually tested positive (meaning only 3 from that race have not tested positive for some type of performance enhancing drug...) 92-Gold Medal 98-tested + for elevated levels of testosterone-test was during an out of comp time period. Requested extension for hearing to gather info and came up with: drank 5 beers and enagaged in lovemaking the night before the test. (Really?) 98-Given 2 year ban which was lifted by USATF (due to the amazing credibility of the beers and sex alibi), but upheld by the IAAF. Became coach in Florida 04/05-Hurdler, Damu Cherry receives doping suspension. Ironically Mitchell at that time was her fiance AND coach (makes you wonder why he didn't try the beer and sex alibi again...) BALCO-gate- Mitchell then testifies against Graham, stating that he was injected by HGH twice. Not sure that I would want "training ideas", as the schedule indicates, from a person that would either A) use performance enhancing substances tht would either give a runner an unfair advantage OR harm them (remember his fiance?-not that providing athletes with said substances is ever OK, but it makes you wonder about a person that would endanger someone's own fiance), or B) lie about said use when caught, only to turn tables when he was faced with similar consequences that awaited Marion Jones (ie jail time). So...if I were a sprint coach, I would certainly begin looking at alternative seminars to attend-and certainly voice my concerns to the scheduler, unless of course the topic was specifically was "Dangers and Allure of Banned Substances", a topic which Mitchell certainly seems credentialed to speak upon. But that's just my take...

Although Dennis Mitchell, coach of the U of Akron Zips, would be a great presenter his specialty is the pole vault. He was the camp coordinator of the jumps Emerging Elite Coaching School at the Olympic Training Center in California in 2008. My guess is that this is Dennis Mitchell the sprinter. BTW 10 points to the person that can identify what a "zip" is.

BTW, Sorry I'll miss the meeting as I'm doing some high altitude "training" this weekend. I had the very good fortune to be on the same plane flight in the seat next to Joe Newton last week as he was headed to Columbus to be the Keynote speaker for the Ohio coaches convention. I carved out some time while there to see him speak on "Building a XC program". I went to school in the district next to his, and my coach and he were great friedns, so it was a real hoot to share the old times and talk coaching......priceless in fact. Have fun this week and don't drink too much beer with those Arapahoe and Regis coaches, they are experienced.

First off, we will be eating donuts...(not beer)...second, does skiing constitute high altitude training? and third, Zippy is one mean kangaroo! (not many she-power mascots out there!) Coach Nicolls, is Coach newton's talk posted on video anywhere? I bet that was a great trip! Karen