At the 2025 Arkansas Indoor Track and Field Championship, the Magazine High School girls' team claimed the team title, while Ozark Catholic Academy girls finished third in the combined 1A-2A classification. Both schools have made track and field a priority, and that commitment continues to be evident on the state's biggest stages, the indoor and outdoor championships.
While athletes ultimately earn the points, sustained success at this level begins with coaching, developing talent, building depth, and uniting and molding individuals into a cohesive team. At both schools, coaches are not only developing talent and building depth, but shaping young lives. Each coach offers not only insight into the secrets behind their programs' success, but wisdom that extends well beyond the track, life lessons all of us can apply, both student and adult.
MileSplit Arkansas caught up with Coach Randy Bryan of Magazine High School and Coach Greg Cawein of Ozark Catholic Academy to discuss their programs and the preparation behind their championship-level performances.
What qualities define your group of athletes?
Coach Cawein stressed the foundation goes well beyond physical ability. "The focal point last season was mental strength, the pain you have when you could have done better, that's something that's going to be with you the rest of your life, and the pain you have when you have done the best you could, and have nothing left, that's the pain you can be content with. We focus a lot on mental strength and the effect a positive attitude has on performance. This team embraced being positive and mentally being stronger. Our culture really improved through mental strength, experience, and ethics. I think those things helped us find who we really are. More importantly, our Catholic values and placing Christ at the center of all we do translate into team success and individual success."
At Magazine High School, the standard is rooted in character as much as competition. Coach Bryan said, "Integrity, resilience, work ethic, commitment, confidence, perseverance, and grit. All of these describe my group of girls. Not every team I have had in my thirty-eight years had all of that. But the group I've had for the last four years has every bit of that."
Which events do you feel are your strengths?
For Ozark Catholic Academy, the team's greatest strengths are built on endurance and teamwork. Coach Cawein noted, "Definitely the distance and relay teams. Our distance is largely due to our cross-country coach, Alesia Schaefer. She has won boys' cross-country titles five years in a row, and the girls were runner-up this year. She is magnificent at what she does. I've heard this before, and I truly believe that the core and strength of any track team is dependent on how strong their cross country team is. That's where a lot of our success comes from."
Coach Bryan believes his team's advantage comes from balance and versatility. He explained, "We seem to be pretty decent at every event. I've found that that's about the only way to be successful if you are not loaded with natural athletes. But specifically, the 400m, 800m, 3200m, and hurdles, because I have two good hurdlers."
What are your main goals heading into the indoor championship, but also heading into the outdoor season?
At Magazine High School, the challenge lies in both continuity and growth for the upcoming season. "We are working on replacing two incredible seniors who did nothing but lead us to this culture our group is in right now, and we are doing a decent job of that," Coach Bryan said. "You can never fully replace them, but we are trying to replace their points in other events and maintain the culture that they established over six years. Our goals are, and this is honest, as the kids hear this all the time. To improve weekly, to be competitive, but to set a baseline for the outdoor season. We always want to finish in the top five at the state meet and to win a district championship every year; that is our goal. Our objectives are to learn and embrace those characteristics that I really want them to take into life. And if you ask my kids, they would say the same thing. This is our mantra, we love winning, we love being together and having fun, but I'm a believer that high school sports should be preparing them for things they can embrace in their adult life, not just in their work life, but any part of their life."
Coach Cawein believes the indoor season serves as a measuring stick and not a final destination. "Obviously, indoor is a foundational marker for what we need to focus on outdoors. Many of our students participate in multiple sports. We don't always get to focus on track this time of year. The indoor does get us excited about outdoor and gives us a good baseline mark. I look at it as a springboard for outdoor. Indoor helps our students understand that PR for outdoor will only be obtained through hard work. Most indoor marks are typically lower than expected and very humbling. Our goal for outdoor is to enjoy and trust the process, help the students develop a love of running, and, most importantly, to trust God for the opportunity to compete. Fortunately, we didn't graduate anyone, and we do have high expectations for one of our newcomers, a freshman Keira Passantino. She is a distance runner, so we feel like she's going to add a lot. We feel we can compete in most events, but in distance, we have depth. We do have a new coach joining us this year, Cecilla Doss. She will be coaching the girls' distance and jumping. She has many years of experience, especially in the long and triple jumps, as she competed in them as a college athlete. She was a high school coach before coming over here. We hope to improve and become more competitive in our jumps this year."
In what events do you think your team might surprise?
"Definitely the jumps. In the past, at Ozark Catholic Academy, we really haven't had the time, energy, or resources to put into jumping. With our new coach being a former college athlete, I think we can definitely improve there with her experience. We hope to get good marks and have some students get excited about it," said Coach Cawein.
"Sprints," replied Coach Bryan. "I have a couple of 9th graders that might be State competitive, especially by outdoor season and possibly indoor."
How would you describe the culture and identity of your team?
Magazine head coach Randy Bryan emphasized, "Commitment, enthusiasm, and camaraderie. This core group of girls has been dedicated to these values since I saw them the summer before their seventh-grade year. They train year-round for me. They were here at 6:30 the morning of this interview. They may be sleepy, but they dive right in. They practice during the athletic period and after school. It doesn't matter how long I practice them; it's like 'one more throw, one more sprint, just one more vault.' "That is who this group is. They are old school, we keep using that term, but they are old school athletes who want success, and are willing to do whatever it takes. My favorite thing about them is that they are as close as sisters and a pleasure to work with. They bring enthusiasm and laughter every time they practice, but they also bring drive and a desire for excellence on a daily basis. This team loves each other and pushes each other to the limit to excel. They have expectations for each other. So commitment, enthusiasm, and camaraderie.
"The foundation of our program is built on faith, unity, and a positive team culture," Coach Cawein stressed, "The girls are supportive of each other and very positive. The core of our team is to run for and with God. We pray before practice and before meets. We are focused on each other and not just the sport. Before practice and meets, we will gather the team around three principles: be supportive, build mental strength, and maintain a positive attitude. With us, the letters in team mean something. T trust the process. E for effort. A for accountability, and M, most importantly, is for Messiah. The students really embrace that. That's the core and strength of our team: our culture, identity, and our faith."
What opportunities does the indoor season provide moving toward the outdoor season?
All these girls see during the first part of the year is each other," Coach Bryan quickly said. "It's a nice change to let those competitive fires be stoked against other schools. I love that every size school is there because I want these girls to know where they stack up overall. We're going to compete on the 1A, 2A level, but we are also going to be competing with whoever is put out there in front of us because that is life. In life, you compete for jobs and various things with whoever is out there; it gives our girls a chance to really get going against someone other than themselves. Number two, it shows where they are at this time of the year and what all that year-round training has brought them to at that moment. The third thing is that it sets a foundation mark. Here's where we want to get to the first of May, and it just sets the tone for the whole season.
Coach Cawein gave a short, straightforward answer, "It gives us a good baseline before we get into the outdoor meets, lets us get excited about the season, and see where we need to put more emphasis and training."
What qualities do you try to develop in your athletes beyond just speed and strength?
Both coaches stressed life skills. Skills not only for today or this year, but for a lifetime. Coach Cawein, "A faith-based culture where the sport doesn't control your life, it's part of it. The core of what we do athletically is focus on what we can control. We don't worry about what everybody else is doing; everything is going to work itself out, we put our faith in each other, and God, and everything will be what it's supposed to be."
Coach Bryan, "There are lots of qualities outside of speed and strength. I'll go with resilience. This matters not only in sports, but in life. Win or lose, if you make mistakes or things go your way or not, learn from it, own it, and improve because of it. The kids are already hungry and driven, so I spend quite a bit of time on life skills. Resilience. Grit. Getting through adversity. In life, like in sports, bad stuff happens. Responsivity. Don't blame others. Discipline. Motivation comes and goes, but discipline makes you do the right things when the right things are tough. My kids would say you got the short version."
Is it special for your athletes to run in a full Tyson Center?
"Yes is the immediate answer," noted Coach Bryan. "My experienced athletes love it and embrace it. My newbies, my first year kids, they come there, and they are a little awed by it, origionally when we started going in the mid 90's, we were intimidated by it, but now, with me having talks with them on a weekly basis, the experienced kids are not so intimidated. I don't know how much all of the first-year kids completely enjoy it, banks going up and down a 200m oval, my distance kids are sometimes like 'really, we are doing sixteen laps,' and I'm like it's like the same distance as outdoor. They get a little overwhelmed by the number of people there, the noise, the level of talent that's there; that many eyes on you adds a layer of pressure that is good because by the time they get to the district and state meets, there is no pressure at all. They have already been exposed to it. The answer is yes, we love it, we embrace it.
"Our kids are pretty strong mentally, and I don't think it really matters where we run." Coach Cawein noted. "Obviously, it's a controlled environment. This makes it easy compared to the outdoor conditions later in the season. Our girls are resilient, and it's just another opportunity to compete and to see where we are.
What life lessons, as a coach, do you want to instill in your athletes?
For Coach Cawein, developing young lives goes beyond events and times. He emphasizes purpose, accountability, and honoring God. "I want the girls to understand that, regardless of what you are doing, everything you do has a meaning and purpose. I don't believe in a coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. I want to help them understand that God has given you everything you have, and regardless of what it is, you should take that opportunity to give it your best. Whether it's tying your shoes, brushing your hair, studying for a test, or running a race, you should do the best you can. God has given you this opportunity, and you shouldn't waste it-because when you do, you are not showing respect for the opportunity He has given you."
Coach Bryan believes the foundation of any successful program, and any successful life, begins with integrity, commitment, and giving your best in every situation. " Number one is integrity. Do the right thing in all scenarios. Give your best, that's in every relationship, every job, raising kids, husband-wife relationship, it doesn't matter, give your best at all times. Part of giving your best includes a number of things: honesty, truthfulness, and loyalty. You are going to find out, as a teenager, that getting the truth out can be hard, but it can be worse if you keep it inside and let it fester. Get it out, own it, be honest, move forward, and try not to make the same mistakes again. Learn from your mistakes. I have hammered on these since COVID. Commitment, I differentiate it from work ethic. Every kid I have, they work hard, they have to, or I ask them to move to something else out of athletics period. And they are all willing to work hard. But commitment is a whole different thing. Be there, be there early, give your best every time. We don't consider this an individual sport; we consider this a team sport. You are committed to your teammates. They have expectations of you, and you have expectations of them. You need to take that into your life. There are people who need you and have expectations of you. Be committed to those people."
If you could sum up your team in a few words, what would they be?
"Experience. We have a lot of upperclassmen," Coach Cawein confidently summed up his team, with faith being the most essential quality. "Mostly juniors and seniors. Their leadership is important; most of them have been doing this since they were freshmen. I would put pious right there with it. They are all very devout in their faith. Many of these girls lead prayer groups at school and bible studies. Faith is very important to us. Our team's student spiritual leader, Clare Pohlmeier, is also our school's girls' spiritual leader. She takes her role very seriously and displays a joyful heart. To sum it up, experience, leadership, and being pious in their faith best describe our team."
Coach Bryan closed his interview with a single word that summed up everything: "Dream. This group is a coach's dream: motivated, fun, enthusiastic, and hardworking. They have had no drama for five consecutive years. I love that. And they dream big. If they dream big in high school sports, they will dream big in life, and I want them to go after that."
It is difficult to sum up this interview. What began as an idea for a purely track-and-field performance article suddenly became far more - a thoughtful weaving of athletics, faith, life lessons, and philosophy, threads that inspire young lives and form programs others hope to duplicate. Best of luck to these remarkable coaches and their programs.
- Milesplit Arkansas contributor Robert Franks