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From The Salem News - March 22, 2006
Book review: Salem students write book on cross country victory By LARRY SHIELDS/Salem News staff writer SALEM - There are two essential ingredients for any book worth reading: a good story and good writing. In "Harriers," Joseph and Paul Shivers serve up both ingredients in abundance. The two Shivers cousins, as members of the Salem High School cross country team, chronicle 27 in the recent history of their team. They introduce the young men (and women) and coaches who sought to restore Salem's preeminence in that thoroughly elemental, if somewhat masochistic, sport. (For the record, a disclaimer on the copyright page says, "The events in this book are based on a true story.") The story is a familiar one. A long, long time ago, a sports team (Salem men's cross country) had a tradition of success (state championships in 1930 and 1931, when runners were called "harriers," and again in 1993). The team has since fallen on hard times. Now, led by a driven new coach, the perceived underdogs - through hard work and indomitable will - overcome an assortment of obstacles to triumph ultimately. In late summer 2002 the Salem runners and their coach, Mike Almond, determine that they will be the ones to return Salem cross country to glory, and the eight chapters of the book tell how their plan unfolds. As if training every day and racing 3.1 meandering miles in mud and on concrete, over hills and through woods were not enough - in their quest, the Quakers must negotiate legalistic twists and turns when the state athletic association ignores its own bylaws and procedures to strip the Salem boys of their third-place finish at the state championship race in 2003. The coaches and the team use their disappointment to rededicate themselves to smarter, harder training, and, in 2004, they are rewarded with a state title. Do not be misled by the simple story line: "Harriers" is more than "Rocky" in spikes and singlet. The book yields insights about hard work and disappointment, about trust and relationships, and, as do all good books, about life itself. The greatest strength of the book is its attention to detail in giving the reader an insider's peek at organized athletics and at the personalities and the relationships that make even a so-called individual sport a group endeavor. The Shivers depict coaches and teammates as memorable human beings worthy of the reader's time and sympathy. They also provide, as well as any sports book since Jim Bouton's "Ball Four," an account of what athletes think and say among themselves. They tell how they and their teammates respond to failure and triumph, and how they interact for three months at a time in the pressurized, adolescent-macho cauldron known as high school men's athletics. They describe without hyperbole the punishment that athletes who aspire to excellence must dish out to their own bodies. Nor do they shy away from self-scrutiny and self-criticism. The writing here is first-rate: this is not your typical high school student essay (every noun accompanied by five adjectives and every verb modified by three or more adverbs). These authors craft a story that is crisp and descriptive. The dialogue, too, is authentic. One of the longest, most colorful quotes in the book is provided courtesy of (then) assistant coach Rick Wilson. Speaking after a second-place finish at regionals in 2004, Wilson says to the team, "If you had taken first today, you woulda come back home and yawned and said, 'Yep, I guess we're gonna win state.' But in the back of your mind woulda been a little bit of doubt and you'd be wonderin' if you just might lose. "Well, you saw today the only way that's gonna happen. Could any of you have run any worse? . . . Now we're gonna see 'em again at state, and they're gonna think they've already won. Pffft. They're done. But we're gonna say, 'You may 'a' beaten us last week, when we all ran with our tails between our legs. But we got a 55-gallon barrel o' butt-whuppin', and you can just get in line.'" Throughout, the two writers communicate a close familiarity with excellence, and their book is one more high water mark in their young careers. The next step is college: Joseph will attend Harvard, and Paul will continue his running career at the University of Notre Dame or Ohio State. The book has few shortcomings. A quotation from an athletic association official seems warranted in chapter four when the authors detail the legal wranglings. Also, the book contains a half-dozen or so typographical errors that a final, careful proofreading would have turned up. One hopes that these errors will be corrected in subsequent printings. But this is quibbling. In the end, a good story - often humorous, sometimes sad - and good writing make Harriers eminently worth reading. The book is dedicated to their grandmother, Margaret Shivers, who died last year. The book is published by Bill Jelen, a Salem High School graduate. HARRIERS - The making of a championship cross country team By Joseph Shivers and Paul Shivers (181 pages Fresh Writers Books $5.95) Larry Shields can be reached at lshields@salemnews.net This page current as of May 24, 2007 8:43 AM |