DiBiase,
Wright honored for coaching excellence
Laura Hahn
& Teresa Prince
You hear the announcer yell " Swimmers on the
block. Swimmers take your mark."
Everything blurs as you leap off the block and fly into the water below to
start your race. Coach Pat DiBiase
watches and congratulates you for finishing with your best time all season.
"He loves to coach and he is
very dedicated," said junior Carrie Murphy. Murphy has been swimming for DiBiase for three years.
Each year one person with
substantial athletic achievement and outstanding contributions to the Omaha
area and the state of Nebraska is given The Award of Special Achievements from
the Christ the King Sports Club.
This yearıs recipient was Marian High Schoolıs head swim coach Pat
DiBiase.
"The community felt that he
would go down in history as one of the best high school coaches," said Christ
the King Sports Club board member Bob Cimino. " He was rated as one of the top
two or three best high school swim coaches in the nation."
This prestigious award has
been given and received by outstanding athletes and coaches for almost 40
years. The Award of Special
Achievements is awarded at the Christ the King Sports banquet, which is one of
the largest sports banquets in the state of Nebraska.
Junior Carolyn Wells said, "
He is a great man and deserves more awards." Murphy agrees.
DiBiase has been in or
around water ever since age 10. He
swam for the University of Nebraska Lincoln and continues to swim in the
Masters league.
DiBiase started his coaching
career at Mount View pool 30 years ago.
He earned his teaching degree from UNL and later went back for his
Masters in business.
"I just love to coach," said
DiBiase. He began coaching at
Marian in 1992 with Carol Olsen.
Working with assistant coach
Stephanie Pantano, DiBiase tries to make his athletes "very
multi-dimensional."
"Patıs like a constant
student of the sport, so I always trust him," said senior Beth Roach. "Itıs like he goes out of his way to
help us."
DiBiase not only trains his
swimmers in the water, but he uses psychological, nutritional and dry land
training to help make the athletes as well-rounded as possible.
"Being prepared mentally and
physically makes a better athlete, " said DiBiase.
Dibiase not only received The Award for Special
Achievement, but while coaching the menıs swim team at UNL he was named coach
of the year, four years in a row.
This year DiBiase became the
swim coach for the senior division of the Brownell Talbot Swim Club, during the
high school off season, and will be returning in the fall for what hopes to be
another record-breaking Marian swim season.
Awards for Marian coaches
didnıt stop there, though.
The 2003 Cross Country
season was very successful. The
team placed first in Metros, Districts, and State. Apart from that success; another honor was earned by their
coach. The NFHS (National
Federation High School) Coaches Association named Coach Roger Wright the 2003
Nebraska Female Cross Country Coach of the Year.
Wright has coached Cross
Country at Marian for 18 years. Throughout the years, his team has been awarded
championships in four Metro, six District and three State meets. Mr. Wright has previously received several
Metro Female Cross-Coaching Awards and the NFHS awarded him as regional Coach
of the Year two years ago.
Cross Country junior,
Chrissy Galata said he deserved this award because of, "His years of
dedication. He puts so much time
and energy into it, he deserves to be awarded. He can add a smile to any girls face even if she hasnıt had
her best race. He always
congratulates us; heıs such a good coach," said Galata.
Wrightıs success is part of a well strategized season plan,
"First thing we do in the season is try to build a base by running lots of
miles, and that will help the girls toward the end of the season when we cut
back to relax the legs. Towards
the end of the season we do a lot more speed workouts to prepare the girls for
fast runs at Metros, Districts, and State," said Wright..
His plan works well according to Galata, "He knows how to train girls into hard
working athletes. Heıs supportive;
he knows each runner individually, and their pace and how to push them."
Wrightıs work as a coach has
led to several victories for runners and himself. Besides cross country, heıs coached volleyball, basketball
and track. Many athletes have benefited
from his training, and this year he is being commended for it.