Mead track star Baylee Mires leans on the boys track coach, her father, John Mires, for the mental side of running.
Photo by Colin Mulvany
Published on March 31, 2011
Copyright © 2009, The Spokesman-Review. All rights reserved.

"John Mires was a state-placing hurdler at Mead and then competed for Jerry Martin at Eastern Washington. But he isn’t about to take any more credit than exposing his middle child to track and letting her passion develop naturally...

It’s not that Mires grew up a track nerd. There was soccer, ballet, gymnastics and basketball, which she continued into high school.

But track was always there, even though there was a time John thought his main focus would be coaching basketball. He taught five years at Kahlotus where he made his basketball players turn out for his track team and jump hurdles.

Then it was on to Yelm because, his wife, Amy, said, “we just wanted pizza delivery.”

That’s where the one-time Ferris cheerleader pushed Baylee’s stroller through all sorts of weather with a stride that impressed the track coach in the family.

But after five years John basically quit so the girls could attend Mead schools [in Spokane]. That was 1998 and John got lucky to find part-time employment in the Mead district, where he was an assistant under Gary Baskett for two seasons before taking over the track team.

While John was rebuilding Mead into a track power after Mt. Spokane opened to split the district, Baylee steadily got better, advancing a little further during summer track while doing other sports. Her real confidence started in junior high when she went to the high school to run with her sister during cross country workouts," quoting the Spokane Spokesman-Review on March 31st.