Q & A: Fort Sumner's McMath continues to rack up state titles

With Lisa McMath at the helm, the Fort Sumner Vixens have won a state-record nine state track titles in a row. Not bad for somebody who never imagined herself coaching.

link De Baca County News photo: Scot Stinnett

Fort Sumner girls track coach Lisa McMath watch action at the Fox-Vixen Relays in April with junior Paris Allred. McMath coached the Vixens to the Class 2A state title earlier this month, setting a record with a ninth state championship in a row.

McMath, a former athlete under Rafael Roybal, ran the 800, mile and some relays for the Vixens, admitting, “There weren’t a lot of people, so I went where I was needed; I wasn’t very fast.”

A 1983 graduate of Fort Sumner High School, McMath attended Eastern New Mexico University and studied physical education and math.

“I wanted to be a teacher,” McMath said, “but I didn’t think I’d be a coach. Maybe junior high basketball. I didn’t have any aspirations to be a head coach.”

She ended up teaching junior high track during one year at Muleshoe, basketball and track in her next year at Ruidoso and then volleyball, basketball and track when she joined Fort Sumner in 1989. She cut back on some coaching after having children, but took the helm for track again in 2007.

The Vixens have not lost a state track meet since, including a 2012 title where the Vixens scored 125 points, won 10 events and finished nearly 75 points ahead of second-place Jal.

What was your philosophy when you began?

When I started, a lot of what I did was off of what Rafael taught me. You build a base, minor distance and major distance. You basically make everybody a quarter-miler, and from there you can go up and down. You need help in field events; throwing events are huge. You can get a few places, maybe make other teams go down on their places. One year, I can’t remember what year, we won (the state meet) after the field events. We placed three in both the shot and the discus, placed a couple in the javelin, won the pole vault, won the high jump. All of those points add up.

Who are the top athletes that come to mind?

I’d say my daughter, Justine McMath, Bree Anna Lucero, Sarah Stinnett. For field events, I’d say Rita Herrera, who placed in all three of the field events, LaNay Crenshaw.

Ashley Landreth ran both hurdles, won 100 and 300 for four years. Christa Boyle ran the 800, mile and two-mile (three titles in the 800, five in the mile and two-mile).

Is there a bottom line to why Vixens track is so successful?

Whether you’re in track or not, you kind of run to work out in your seventh hour. I truly believe it’s the springboard for all of your other sports. It’s what makes us successful on the basketball court, the volleyball court.

How much does it help team unity that track is the only spring sport offered at Fort Sumner?

It is such a team bonding. It’s hard. They’re all out there, and they’re really good about encouraging each other, giving each other pep talks. I’ve always been lucky to have at least one really good leader with a passion for track.

What’s the most important thing about winning a track meet? Is it the relays, having an all-around athlete or having enough people earning thirds and fourths to point you to the top?

I think you need to be in as many events as you can. You have to utilize your strengths, and then sometimes utilize strengths with the team. They pretty much run three to four events. Even my throwers will run. I’ll put them in sprint relays and they like that.

Was there anything coach Roybal taught you that rings true today?

Probably if you expect kids to perform at a high level, they will. They’ll do what you expect of them. That hard work will pay off in the end. Even if you’re not fast as a sprinter, you can be a good quarter person, a good 800 person to score us some points.

Was there a year you thought about the streak?

I probably thought about it more this year, because we had two ACL tears from key athletes. At a small school, you’re lucky to have a core of six kids who can run quality times, and we had two of ours go out. Within the first week, we had four hamstring issues outside of the ACL injuries. Johnni West, who had been one of my more successful runners, had surgery in January and ran on a relay. We never ran a full group until maybe our qualifier here.

So was there some element of surprise that you got No. 9?

I was really concerned. You can throw great, get to state, have a couple of bad throws. We had good throwers, but you never know how they’ll perform or how other schools’ kids will perform.

Is there anything you tell kids before each track meet, be it state or otherwise?

We tell them we’re proud of them and all we can expect of them is to improve. You’re not necessarily competing against other teams. You are, of course, but if you (set a personal record), that’s all we can expect of you.

How long do you see yourself coaching?

Probably, I would be retiring within the next two or three years.

What would you tell your successor?

To keep the tradition going, to keep the idea going it’s the foundation for our other sports. Also, I surround myself with coaches who know the field events. That helps. I concentrate on the races and jumps, and have somebody help me with the pole and the throwing events. You can only stretch yourself so much.

— Compiled by Deputy Editor Kevin Wilson