Light emitting from a projector reflected off the face of Allen County head track and field coach Vince DeGrado.
His team was competing in the NJCAA Outdoor National Championship Meet at Butler Community College in El Dorado last Thursday through Saturday, but DeGrado was miles away, cooped up in a hotel room in Wichita watching his team compete on a live stream.
DeGrado has been serving a suspension handed down from the NJCAA after an altercation March 3 at the NJCAA Indoor National Championship meet in Lubbock, Texas, where he twice pushed an assistant from another school. DeGrado also was arrested following the altercation.
According to a document obtained by the Register, the NJCAA suspended DeGrado from all NJCAA track and field, cross country and half marathon activities through the 2019-20 season.
DeGrado also was placed on probation over the next two seasons, with more sanctions possible if any further infractions occur.
DeGrado is still awaiting his day in court after the incident and has not yet been convicted. The Register has seen security camera footage that can confirm the altercation.
DeGrado and the college have appealed the NJCAAs decision with the hopes of netting a shorter penalty. Those efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.
AND SO, with all that in the back of his mind, the always animated and frenetic DeGrado sat in the hotel room and watched as the team hes built represented Allen on the national stage without him.
It did not stop him from coaching.
Sophomore distance runner Abby Steinhauser was set to compete in her first 10K race at the national meet thanks to a white card rule that allowed DeGrado to enter runners in certain events without having them qualify.
Steinhauser is normally a 5K runner but her coach saw an opportunity for her at the longer distance.
I told her after our final regular season meet that I didnt think she was fast enough to be an All-American in the 5K, which she had qualified for, DeGrado said. But I was able to get her into the 10k without qualifying and I knew she was tough enough. I thought she could shock a lot of people and she did.
DeGrado planned out the sophomores race plan in practice and she knew it to a tee.
The 10K can be a grueling especially with temperature close to the 90s and Steinhauser is a late runner, meaning she starts slowly and kicks it into gear late in the race.
So she had to play it cool until the fast starters in front of her began to wear down.
