Sallisaw girls wrestling coach filling void with cross country program

Just about all coaches are in their respective profession to help the athletes. Sallisaw Lady Diamonds wrestling coach Darrel Hume is no different.

Hume was willing to fill a coaching void when it became available with the SHS cross country program. After previous coach Zac Black resigned to pursue his Master’s degree and subsequently get hired as the Sequoyah-Tahlequah cross country coach and after Wes Green was moved from becoming Black’s successor to become the new Lady Diamonds softball coach, Hume was willing to fill the cross country coaching void.

“I knew when Zac left that they were going to have a hard time replacing him,” Hume said. “I told them (the Sallisaw High School athletic department and Board of Education) if they couldn’t find anybody, as a last resort I would do it because I didn’t want the kids to go without (a coach). I can handle it. I feel that I can do positive things for these young people.”

However, Hume’s cross country coaching duties did not get started until just a couple of weeks before school started.

“They had it covered all the way up until incidents happened,” he said. “Two weeks before school started, they called me and said, ‘Oh, by the way, guess who’s doing it (coaching cross country).’ So, I’ve been thrown into it real fast. I’ve gotten everything ordered and settled. I’ve met my kids, and we’ve been working out for a few days. I haven’t worked with these kids in a while because I don’t coach track or cross country. So, getting to know them and trying to get back in the swing of things has been hard, but we’ll get there. I really like the group that I have. I think everything is going to be fine.”

However, coaching cross country is not anything new to Hume.

“I have coached cross country before here (at Sallisaw High School) years ago,” Hume said. “I had All-Staters and state qualifiers. I’ve been pretty fortunate here at Sallisaw (High School). I came in as a wrestling guy. That was all I knew. Since I’ve been here, I’ve coached football, softball, tennis, junior high track and cross country. I’ve taken the golf kids to tournaments.”

Hume believes he’s got a regiment that will work with his Black Diamonds and Lady Diamonds cross country runners.

“Not everything is about technique,” he said. “I know that’s a big thing, but being able to motivate them and get them in shape (is big). Being a college wrestler myself, I’ve been in top shape before, so I know how to get kids into the best shape for them.”

Although he’s a wrestling coach by nature, Hume believes he can handle his new coaching duties.

“I’m ready,” Hume said. “It’s going to be different for me since I’ve been the girls wrestling coach for the last eight years. Now, I’m working with a different group of kids. Every group of kids, like for their sports, are just different in different ways. Wrestlers are a different breed anyway. You can ask my wife — she says she can pick a wrestler out anywhere. These (cross country) kids are runners, so they’re a little bit different. I’ve ran my wrestlers for punishment. These guys want to run for fun. I’m not worried.”

The two biggest meets of the year will be the Class 4A Regional Meet on Oct. 26 and the Class 4A State Meet on Nov. 2 at Edmond Santa Fe High School. All the other regular-season meets are going to be used to get the Sallisaw runners into postseason shape.

“Everything up until then is just preparation and practice,” Hume said. “I very rarely had individuals who were undefeated in high school because I always tried to get them beat somehow because you learn from a loss. I don’t want their one loss of the year to be in the state finals. I’ve always tried to put them in against the best competition. We’re going to go to some good meets. I think it’s going to work out well. It will put them in the fires. We have to have the competition. We need to go see it. We need to look at what’s out there. There’s some places that won’t be as tough, but you have to have some success. I think we’ve got a pretty good looking season.”

In fact, there’s a three-week gap between the regular-season final meet, the Checotah Crossroads Invitational on Oct. 8, and the Class 4A Regional Meet. Hume purposely planned it that way.

“I’ve left a little gap in there so we can heal up from all our running and work more on our training to get to where we need to be,” Hume said. “I’m big on training. When you get closer to the end, let’s heal up. Let’s go to work in building our bodies back, recuperating and getting things ready to rock and roll (for the regional and state meets).”

However, this will be the only fall he will coach the cross country athletes.

“I’m only going to do it for this year,” he said. “They’re going to find somebody else.”

The Sallisaw runners will begin their season at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Early Tiger Invitational in Tahlequah, where they will be joined by Muldrow’s cross country squads.

Editor’s Note: The 2024 Fall Sports Preview with the season-preview stories on the local cross country and fastpitch softball teams, schedules and team photographs will be in Friday’s edition.