All in the family

OLYMPIA — When it became difficult for Kevin Wright to separate his duties as a coach and a dad, he and his then-freshman daughter, Amanda, devised a plan.

“We kind of had a deal,” said Wright, who has coached cross country and track at Capital for 17 years. “Once we drove past Safeway, I wasn’t allowed to talk cross country with her anymore.

“I was just Dad, and not coach.”

That was three years and six athletic seasons ago — three each in cross country and track — and the father-daughter duo is now well-adjusted to the arrangement. Last fall, the Cougars placed ninth at the Class 3A state meet in cross country, due in large part to a fifth place finish by Amanda.

But this year, there’s a new dynamic added to the mix in Wright’s freshman daughter, Brianne.

Having grown up watching their dad coach at Capital, Amanda and Brianne have had plenty of exposure to running. Wright, who was a distance runner in high school and qualified for nationals twice in college, had hopes that his daughters might share his love for the sport.

There were gentle prods in that direction, but Wright tried to keep the pressure to a minimum.

Wright gave Amanda and Brianne the chance to try running for themselves by signing them up for the Barron Park Striders, a local youth club. Beginning when they entered fifth grade at Evergreen Christian School, Wright’s wife, Danelle, helped coached the girls in track.

“I was hoping that they would choose it and really want to do it,” Wright said. “When they both started doing it, I did get a little excited.”

Amanda latched onto the sport in seventh grade and has continually increased her investment in the years since. Once she and her dad moved past some initial difficulties, Amanda began to realize some of the benefits of having Dad as coach.

“It’s kind of cool, because he can get away with telling me stuff, yelling at me more,” said Amanda, who explained that her dad knows the right motivating buttons to press. “It’s kind of crazy at times. But for the most part, I really like it.”

Wright, who confesses to being a “pretty intense” person, admits that the line between father and coach can get blurry.

Periodically, Wright consults with boys coach Jerry Miller to make sure he’s treating his daughters fairly.

“I try to treat them like I would other athletes,” Wright said.

While he’s found the right recipe for success in coaching Amanda, Wright may take a slightly different approach with Brianne. Brianne’s first love is basketball, and for now running is as good a way as any to get in shape for a season on the hardwoods.

It’s not that she lacks potential.

Brianne’s middle school mile time was 5 minutes, 55 seconds, which Wright says puts her on pace for a very good varsity career. Brianne is on the bubble for varsity this year, but only because the Cougars return a deep team.

After last year’s top 10 finish at state, Amanda expects even better things this year.

“I think we have a really good team this year,” she said. “If we put everything together, we can be up there on the podium, and I’m really hoping we will be this year.”

Amanda’s focus this season is on rebounding from a spring bout with anemia, an iron deficiency that depleted her energy during the track season.

She’ll get a chance to test her progress Saturday at the Capital Invitational at Heritage Park, where 56 teams, including some of the state’s best, will be competing. The event starts at 9:45 a.m. with a citizen’s race, which is open to the public.

“It was really hard for me because I’m a pretty competitive person,” Amanda said. “If I know that normally I can do better than that, and I try but it’s not getting any better, I get really frustrated.”

Eastern Washington University and the University of Portland have expressed interest in Amanda as a distance runner, but a solid senior season should keep the phones ringing and the mailbox full.

Brianne, meanwhile, has her sights set on varsity. There will be an adjustment to having Dad as coach, but the sometimes-difficult waters have already been charted by Amanda.

For now, the sailing is smooth for Brianne.

“I really like how he pushes us really hard,” she said. “It hurts, but it’s going to get us in good shape for the season.”