(Over the course of the week, the Lincoln Parish Journal is republishing some of its most memorable stories from the past year … some of our readers favorites).
By Kyle Roberts
’81 PAUL THIELS – ’81 LORMAN SMITH – ’83, 84 JAMES TERRELL – ’91 JERAMIE HINOJOSA – ’92 RYAN ELMORE ** STATE CHAMPION – ’92 HIRAM DUNAWAY – ’93 NIKIMBA WILSON
Paul Thiels had no idea what he and Lorman Smith began back in 1981.
And how could he have? Back in the early ’80s, it was unheard of for a school in North Louisiana to become a powerhouse program in Louisiana cross country, and Thiels was much more interested in being on the diamond than running cross country.
“I was still trying to play baseball,” Thiels said. “And in the summer between our junior and senior seasons, Jesse Wisterman (the team’s top runner at the time) told me to come out and run with the team. I had no idea when I started, but I had a natural aptitude for it. And then by the time we got into cross country in the fall, I had gotten into shape and became the number one guy on the team. I owe a lot to Jesse for just asking me to come run.”
Thiels admitted being surprised at his all-state finish for Ruston High School, which cemented himself along with Smith as the beginning point of a tradition that has now stretched into its fifth decade — and with no end in sight. Thiels and Smith were both the inaugural members of what has now become “The Long Red Line,” Ruston High’s tribe of runners who have donned on the classic red uniform and taken part in an elite group.
When Thiels originally ran, he was coached by another member of a legendary family in Lincoln Parish: Coach David Crowe. Thiels would go on to run for Louisiana Tech University’s track team, and after graduating from Tech, life took Thiels all the way to Arkansas, Washington state and California. But Thiels still kept tabs on what was going on back at his Ruston home. And he immediately took notice of what a coach by the name of Dave Anderson began to do for the Bearcats after his hire in 1991.
“I was already gone from Ruston, but I watched the success he started having immediately,” Thiels said. “He was a terrific coach and a great developer of talent. And I really appreciate his ability not only to do the physical training to get a lot out of kids, but really the way he develops them, too, as young people. He can make kids believe in themselves.”
That initial success, belief and coaching has lasted for well over three decades at Ruston High School, helping lead in large part to where the program is today – a perrenial powerhouse in boys and girls cross country in a state where “The Long Red Line” truly means something special.
’94, ’95 CARLOS JENKINS – ’95 FRANK ENSLEY – ’95, ’96, ’97 JAY HILTON **STATE CHAMPION – ’95 TODD BODDIE – ’95, 96 SUZANNE DYSON **STATE CHAMPION – ’96 JANIE SUTTON – ’96, 97, 98 KYLE ODOM – ’98, ’99 NEAL PETTIJOHN – ’98, ’99 BRYAN RICHARDSON – ’98, ’99, ’00 NATHAN GIBSON
When Anderson took the reins in ’91, South Louisiana held the power and prestige in cross country for two decades since the sport became sanctioned for high schools in the state (1970 for girls, 1972 for boys).
“It was the private Catholic schools that had dominated the sport for years and years,” Anderson said. “In North Louisiana, there was not a program that could challenge the “powers that be” — Catholic, Rummel, Jesuit, Brother Martin, St. Joseph’s — schools like that.”
Ruston alum Jeramie Hinojosa was Anderson’s first Bearcat all-state runner in 1991 and reflected on how fortunate he was to be coached by him that first season — the beginning of Ruston’s climb to true respect in the cross country world.
“There’s still a sense of pride that comes with being part of that program and what we accomplished,” Hinojosa said. “Not that my life wouldn’t be complete without it, but those experiences I had being one of his athletes helped to shape the person that I am. It’s really hard to find a legacy that’s more impressive than his and one that’s been distinctively left on the program.”
Prior to coming to Ruston, Anderson had begun to make noise down the road at rival Neville High School as head cross country coach – even leading the Tigers to a state championship in 1990 before finding his home 30 miles west in Ruston a year later.
And just one year after getting hired, Anderson’s 1992 Bearcat team hoisted the first boys’ trophy in program history, including the first individual Bearcat state champion, Ryan Elmore. In the span of five years, Anderson had made two different schools into powerhouse programs.
“We kind of broke the mold on that,” Anderson said. “We just started producing kids that made the composite all-state list. And now, when you talk to kids in this current generation about what it means to be a member “The Long Red Line,” they talk about wanting to be like the championship teams that came before them.”
Raising a championship caliber program doesn’t come easy. The cliches of hard work and dedication both apply, and to this day, nearly every runner interviewed recalled the same intense training required to run at an elite level — and what it meant to be part of something bigger than yourself.
Bearcat Jon Macaskill remembers that all too well as a runner from 1992-96 for Anderson.
“I have a love-hate relationship with that man,” Macaskill said before he laughed. “I still call him ‘Coach’ to this day. He was relentless. He put us through some of the most grueling physical workouts I’ve ever been through — and I saw that as a retired Navy Seal. But at the same time, those workouts made us the men and women we ended up being.”
Suzanne Dyson Tyler was Ruston’s first girls’ state champion back in 1996 and recalls the groundwork that was being laid by runners ahead of her, like Stacy Baragona and Molly Jones.
“I really started enjoying being part of something that was bigger than just one individual,” Tyler said. “You were never just running for yourself. Coach Anderson always did a really good job of making you realize that you represented a program and the Ruston name and all of those who laid the foundation before you. You always knew you were part of a team, and you can obviously do more as a team than you can individually.”
Hunter Carswell holds a very distinct honor in the state of Louisiana — to this day, he is the only Louisiana boys runner to earn all-state honors in each of his four years as a runner (’01, ’02, ’03 and ’04). He credits Anderson for unlocking something in him he never believed he’d have been able to find on his own.
“It was tough — extremely tough, but that’s what I needed,” Carswell said. “He knew the right buttons he could push to get me going. He saw something in me that I didn’t, and so I just appreciate everything he has done.”
But that legacy of training and team has led to the following program cross country feats at Ruston High:
- State Championships: ’92, ’95, ’97, ’00, ’06, ’08
- State Runner Ups: ’99, ’01, ’04, ’05, ’09, ’10, ’19, ’21, ’22
- 34 seasons of district championships
’00, ’01, WILLIAM ROGERS – ’00, ’01 SEAN CRAIN – ’00, ’01 JOSH RUSSELL – ’01 PHILIP WALTZ – ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04 HUNTER CARSWELL – ’03, ’04 ABBY SPEIGHTS – ’04 JAKIA WILLIAMS – ’04 KATEY COATES
Scribing Anderson’s storied history is a feat in itself. Consider the following accolades from 1991-2011:
- 55 District Championship teams
- 21 regional championship teams
- 19 State Runner-Up teams
- 9 State Championship teams
- 5 National Champion individuals
- 16 LHSAA State Records
- 180 state Champions
- 9 Athletes played in the NFL
- 200 +All Staters
No wonder Ruston High named the track and field complex after him in 2021.
’04, ’05, ’06 REDD WILLIAMS – ’05 KENNEDY COATES – ’05, ’06 CARRIE LANTRIP – ’05, ’06 NALI ACOSTA – ’06, DUSTON JENKINS – ’06 CHRIS ANDERSON – ’07 LADARRION OUTLEY – ’08 HAVEN SCHROEDER – ’09 SARAH JONES – ’11 MAYA ROBERTSON – ’12 ADAIZA AUSTIN – ’12 EMMANUEL GWAN
Time marched forward, and longtime fans of any team and any sport can attest that there will be a period of time where the results aren’t what you’ve been used to — and Ruston High cross country was no different. Anderson would depart Ruston for good in 2011 after nearly 20 years at the helm (excluding a brief stint at West Monroe from 2005-06), and from 2013 – 2017, no Bearcat, boy or girl, made the all-state team – the longest drought since the gap from ’85-’90.
Enter Dustin Cochran, a graduate from Simsboro School and a budding distance coach in North Louisiana who helped the Tigers win a few state titles, who took over as head coach 2018 for Ruston High School.
Cochran was no stranger to Anderson, having shadowed him at practice during his own running days on the Tiger cross country team.
“(Simsboro Coach Chris Campbell) at the time would bring us to Ruston’s practices, here and there, and he would always tell us to watch the runners and pay attention,” Cochran said. “And I remember a specific day when Ladarrion Outley and Dustin Jenkins were doing a workout, and Coach Campbell said to me “This is what real distance runners look like.” And it was etched in my mind that I needed to be around the Ruston High program to be good at this. I knew at the time I wanted to be a coach, and Dave let me come hang out with him for a while.
“The best part about working with Dave is that he never gave me answers to my questions, but he would tell me where to go find the answers. He gave me the opportunity and the ability to do something for myself. That was a big thing that year, and it led me to getting here.”
Anderson’s former runners can see his imprint in the way Cochran coaches the team today.
“Watching Dustin coach has been awesome,” Carswell said. “After (Coach Anderson) left for good, you didn’t know where the program was going to go. But he’s done a great job with that program as far as keeping the tradition and culture of opponents fearing Ruston on the track. What I’ve seen from him, he’s done a great job, and I can’t praise him enough.”
Anderson knew it was a good hire and the jolt the program needed to get back to the high level of competitiveness in Louisiana Cross Country running.
“When Dustin was a student at Louisiana Tech, his younger brother Colton was at Simsboro and knew some guys on our team — he asked if he could come train with us,” Anderson said. “It was pretty common — we would have kids from Weston, Winnfield, a Cedar Creek kid or two to come train with us. Dustin started bringing Colt and got to see how our program was organized, the workout plans , etc. After I retired and moved to Arkansas, there was a patch of a few years where the program struggled, and when he was handed the opportunity to take over as distance coach, he did and has done a fantastic job reinstalling the “Ruston Way.” I’m very proud of him and his efforts to put the ‘Cats back in the conversation.”
Under his coaching, Cochran has produced his own share of runners to all-state accolades, including Lily Garrett, who finished as a state champion in 2022 and was recruited to run for the Tennessee Lady Vols (she has since returned to Ruston).
“Running for Ruston set me up for a lot of great opportunities,” Garrett said. “It was always just a positive environment, and I made a lot of lifelong friends. Ruston High made me fall in love with running, and I love that I got to be a part of “The Long Red Line.”
Parker Nations recently graduated from Ruston after earning two all-state honors.
“It was always a goal of mine to have my name on “The Long Red Line” shirt,” Nations said. “Being able to talk about being a Bearcat and being part of this traidition= — it just means a lot. Being on “The Long Red Line” has made an impact on me and feels very special.”
Some former Ruston runners now have children that are part of this elite club under Cochran’s tutelage.
“I get to watch my daughter Hallie line up on the same start line I once did,” Bearcat alum and former cross country runner Linzie Hebert said. “She’s carrying on the tradition, the pride, and the grind that define Ruston High cross country. I may not have earned that all-state “Long Red Line” T-shirt, but she did. She is the first Gen 2.0 legacy to earn all-state honors for Ruston High. This program is built generation by generation; each runner standing on the shoulders of those who came before. It’s never been about one individual, but about who we are together: One legacy, shaped over time, connecting us all across years and across states.”
Carrying that tradition forward is “Mission Critical” for Cochran as the program continues to run into the future. Even this past weekend as Ruston had an impressive showing at the St. Joseph Academy race, Cochran was reflecting on how the history of the program is front and center to its success.
“I’m reminding our runners that they’re getting to add to this legacy,” Cochran said. “I want them to appreciate the history that’s here and focus on bettering it. The alumni and former runners here want these kids to be better than they were. Jay Hilton (head coach at Ruston Junior High) has told me he wants these kids to break his records. I think it says a lot when you have a big group of people that wants this generation to perform even better than they did. “The Long Red Line” is something we’re all part of and we’re all adding to it and making it better.
“And we want this line to get even longer.”
‘18 OCTAVIO TILLEY – ’18 MARINA GIVENS – ’19 WILLIAM AYIM – ’19 TRISTEN DUVALL – ’19, ’20 DYLAN NIMMERS **STATE CHAMPION – ’20, ’21 CALEB BABINEAUX – ’21, ’22, ’23 THOMAS ROGERS – ’21, ’22 ANNA NAFF – ’22 SARA NAFF – ’21, ’22 LILY GARRETT **STATE CHAMPION – ’22 TAYLOR ROLLER – ’22, ’23 PARKER NATIONS, ’24 EDEN DAWSEY – ’24 HALLIE HEBERT
Now, “The Long Red Line” has fittingly morphed into something bigger than just a t-shirt. Former teammates and family members are now collaborating not just with just the all-state winners but with each other to further the program so near and dear to their hearts — who have become Marines, hospital administrators, principals, teachers, doctors — you name it. All grateful for a program that prepared them for the trials of life.
“When you’re doing distance running, you don’t realize that you’re going to apply that to life, because life is hard,” Tyler said. “I just think it’s important to learn how to adapt, learn how to be a teammate and make things work — you have to do that for the rest of your life, so there’s valuable lessons in being part of this group. Running for Ruston taught me all of those things.”
In order to help carry that legacy forward, the Long Red Line will now be a 501(c)3 non-profit group looking to raise funds for the cross country team into the future.
“This is being done as an alumni group now — not myself but the athletes; they’re getting together and they’ve got all this support because they realize through their expereinces the value that it has in their adult lives, and they want to put something back into the program,” Anderson said. “So that opportunity is availble as tax deductible contributions. This is going to be a legacy thing.”
And this weekend, many members will gather in town to honor the program and the legacy that has helped shape who they are as the adults they’ve become — and the legacy they’ve all laid. It will be a celebration of the past and present with a collective look into the future.
“It’s special to celebrate that all of this got started with us and us all reconnected and talking about it,” Hinojosa said about the reunion. “It just brought back a lot of really strong emotions, especially the runners early on in the program. And just you can tell that, everyone had this sense of pride that they shared about what we accomplished. I think it’s great way to honor the legacy, the program and the community and continue it in the future years.”
“The Long Red Line” — a tradition of excellence with no end in sight.
Ruston High will host its invitational meet Saturday, Oct. 4, at The Gospel in Choudrant, La. The varsity girls will start at 7:30 a.m. with the boys scheduled for 8 a.m.
