Sometimes things go just exactly as you planned. If your team is a powerhouse and you have tremendous athletes, you usually wind up winning the championship. If your team is mediocre and lacks talent, more often than not you have a disappointing season. The most inspiring sports stories, however, happen when a team that isn't loaded with great athletes wins a championship because it simply worked harder than all the other teams. Such is the case with the 2009 Ellenville boys' track team.

Actually, it's the 2009 Mid-Hudson Athletic League Champion and Section 9 – Class B Champion Ellenville boys' track team.

The track and field powerhouses like Middletown, Monroe-Woodbury, Newburgh, and Onteora win meets by garnering a lot of first place finishes with great athletes. The Blue Devils' successes this season have been the result of a true team effort. This is not to say that the Blue Devils are without good athletes. Ellenville junior, A.J. Borriello is one of the Section 9 leaders in the shot put. Sam Pozorski can hold his own in the hurdles against anyone. The Blue Devils 1,600-meter relay team has also come up big throughout the season. But the "blue collar" Blue Devils do their best work with everyone contributing.

Coaches are always looking for a motivational edge. Many high school teams sport t-shirts that proclaim an inspirational saying for that particular season — the old classic being, "There is no 'I' in 'team.' " This past weekend I saw one that fits the 2009 Blue Devils to, well, a 'T.' It said, "None of us is as good as all of us." This saying sums up the approach that Coach Phil Althouse and his Ellenville team takes when trying to knock off the traditional Goliaths in track and field.

Coach Althouse knows that larger schools like Onteora and Wallkill, Rondout, Saugerties, and F.D.R. can put considerably more athletes on the track than the Blue Devils. So Althouse preaches a total team effort and relies on team depth to be competitive. The success of this approach is based on athletes buying in to the program, and if the recent results are any indication, Althouse should market his philosophy at coaching conventions. The Blue Devils' run began over the winter season when they captured the Section 9 – Class B championship. That same approach also worked two weeks ago when the Blue Devils won the M.H.A.L. title, outdistancing Class A schools such as Wallkill, Saugerties, F.D.R., and Rondout Valley.

The team-first approach was even more evident at the Section 9 – Class B championships this past week when the Blue Devils won only two individual titles but scored points in almost every other event to claim the championship with 162 points, pulling away from runner-up Red Hook (111 points). The top eight finishers in each event score team points, and the Blue Devils led the field with multiple place-winners in several events.

Tyler O'Bryant finished third in both the 100 and 200 meters. Ryan Valencia was second in the 400 and 800 meters, and seventh in the 200 meter dash. Stephen Stephens was fifth in the 3,200 and eighth in the 1,600. Pozorski won the 110 hurdles and was joined by teammates Joe Barrera (third) and Ben Altshuler (fifth). In the 400 hurdles, Pozorski was second, Altshuler fourth, and Barrera fifth. The 400-relay team of Jose Aldorondo, Thomas Czarnecki, Pozorski, and O'Bryant finished third. The 1,600-relay team of Dan Quiceno, Pozorski, Barrera, and Valencia placed second. The 3,200-relay team was fifth. Quiceno was third in the triple jump and Altshuler fifth. Borriello won the shot put and was joined byFrank Casamento who was second and Matt Rogers who finished fourth. The discus saw Borriello finish as runner-up with Casamento third and Rogers fifth. Doug Lewis finished fifth in the pole vault. Emile Reid was second in the pentathlon and John Paulsen was fourth.

No doubt the rest of the Class B schools were happy to see the hurdles put away and the weight events end as the Blue Devils dominated. When you add in the fact that Ellenville has not been traditionally strong in the distance events, it makes this sectional title even more impressive. It's as though the top Ellenville track and field athletes get off the bus and declare to the rest of the section, "We're here, and we brought some friends."

High school coaches have a difficult job. Coaches have to recruit, teach the basics, instill discipline, and motivate athletes. Coach Phil Althouse is quickly becoming adept at each of these necessities. Althouse has captured the sectional championship that he has worked for over the past three years, and there is no reason to doubt that he will win several more before he is done coaching. Althouse knows how to recruit athletes. He lets kids know that there is an intrinsic reward at the end if the athlete is willing to put in the necessary work. He has the respect of his athletes and yet Althouse is quick to discipline if a team member does not toe the line.

A couple of seasons back, with a league title on the line and the Blue Devils leading on the scoreboard at a crucial dual meet, one of the Blue Devil athletes taunted his opponents by running backwards the last few meters. Ellenville lost the meet and the league title. Althouse suspended the athlete because there was a lesson to be learned. If you're wondering if Althouse was upset by the action, rest assured he was. But if you're wondering if Althouse simply dismissed the kid, that is not his style. "It's funny you mention that," said Althouse. "I was running the track this past summer with that athlete and we talked about that meet. He is a good kid and he told me he learned a lot from that day." That "lesson" tells you a lot about the type of coach Phil Althouse has evolved into.

Althouse is quickly becoming a master at motivating athletes. He lets kids know that their fifth or sixth place finish is just as important as the first place finish because it scores points for the team. Making an athlete feel good about finishing sixth takes a special skill and Althouse possesses that skill. Probably the most effective part of Althouse's coaching is his ability to show kids that he is real. Earlier this year Roy Althouse (Phil's dad) was ill. Father and son have always had a close relationship and Phil Althouse could not help but show his emotions about his dad to the team. This was no cheap motivational attempt. This was a young coach teaching his athletes the lesson that there is more to life than track and field. When the Blue Devils won the Section 9 Indoor championship the team called Roy Althouse and shared their victory. This was a group of young men showing their coach that they have learned that life lesson.

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