"Coach Emmans:

Dave Emmans has been coaching for 27 years, and he is no stranger to success. His Wayzata team in 2013 was the only team in recent history to beat the legendary Fayetteville-Manlius team to the Nike Nationals team title. He has won numerous state titles, and developed dozens of numerous top-level athletes throughout his career.

Similar to Popp, Emmans puts little stock in this award on a personal level, but rather uses it as a signal that the Wayzata girls program is 'doing a few things right!'

When asked why the Wayzata girls have been able to be so dominant, Emmans also credits Bill Miles for 'setting the bar so high', and he admits that they have to work very hard to even come close to some of Miles' accomplishments. Emmans went on to credit the parents of his runners for putting their full support in the children, as well as athletic director, Jamie Sherwood, who 'provides a fantastic support for athletics, which creates a culture of success across activities.'

No one moment stood out for Emmans this year, "It was like each moment would build on the next until we had a finished masterpiece at the end of the year. The totality of the year and the journey we took was the 'takeaway of 2017' for us."

In 2018, Emmans is hoping to build off of the team's successes at State and Nationals, and hopes to use them as a catalyst to do even better. Emmans closed by acknowledging the incredible seniors he has worked with year in and year out:

"You don't win four State Championships the last six years without having great seniors, year in and year out. It is crazy how much pride these ladies have of continuing that legacy. It took me twenty-five years to learn that the more people that you can get involved that give value to what you are trying to accomplish, the more fun and success you will have. This award is not about me, but all of the people that contribute to Wayzata's Girls Cross Country."

Read the entire RUN, WRITE, REPEAT article by Declan Dahlberg here.