Sythe's on right track
By Andres Cardenas
Daily Forty-Niner
Had it not been for Andy Sythe's fifth
grade athletic accomplishments, he could be working in another profession.
Sythe, Long Beach Stateís head coach of
cross country and track and field, competed, mostly successfully, in several
different track events when he was a youth and found his niche in life.
His passion for track and field led to
Sythe's desire to teach younger athletes. This is why he chose to become
a coach.
Sythe went to San Diego State and majored
in physical education, competing in the decathlon and pole vault before
graduating in 1987.
After college, Sythe said he was offered
several different coaching jobs, all on the same day.
Sythe was already coaching track and field
at SDSU and Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista.
At SDSU he was offered a paid position
as an assistant coach.
Other offers to coach track and field came
from as close to home as Wyoming, and as far as Saudi Arabia.
Sythe said the position overseas "paid
very well," but he did not want to leave the United States.
Sythe said he spoke to former LBSU Athletic
Director Fred Miller for advice. Miller told him to go to a place where
he could be marketable and have a chance to learn.
Ralph Linderman, then head coach of 49er
track and field, offered Sythe a job as an assistant coach on the track
and cross country team.
Sythe said the choice was clear to him.
"No other school offered a broad experience,"
Sythe said.
Miller offered Sythe a job with the freedom
to recruit as well as coach, and this is why he came to LBSU.
However, there were many problems with
the track and field program, Sythe said.
There was no adequate facility for the
LBSU track and field program and it was running on limited funds, Sythe
said. For one week, the sport was actually dropped.
Sythe, then a 23-year-old coach, was willing
to take the challenge head-on and become the youngest track and field head
coach in the nation.
After Sythe's first year, Linderman stepped
down as head coach of the team. Sythe was promoted as interim head coach
for the summer.
That summer, Sythe has increased the track
and fieldís team size to over 100 athletes.
Although Miller gave him his break, it
would be another athletic director, Cory Johnson, who would appoint him
to the position permanently.
In his first year, Sythe handled all coaching
duties for both the track and cross country teams.
His women's cross country team finished
second in the conference.
In the spring his menís track team finished
second as well, overcoming a hotel fire on the morning of the second day
of competition.
In the 12 years Sythe has been at LBSU,
he has coached indoor pole vaulter Jason Hinkin to the 1996 national championship
and several other All-American athletes. |
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