Chandler Gilbraith submitted this interview. He served as Ag Instructor/FFA Advisor, Head Track Coach, and Assistant Football Coach at Morrison High School. Amanda Milder supplied the team photos.
How many years have you been coaching?
I’ve been Head Track Coach just this year, 2024. Last year I was Assistant Coach for Track. This past season, I was brought on to manage the psychological aspect of the kids for football. Nate Anderson has been Assistant Coach in Football and Track for the better part of a decade.
What is your coaching philosophy?
My Assistant Coach, Nate Anderson, and I take a very individualized approach to each kid. We have built trust in the boys, which is a critical part in our practices. We don’t use times as a metric. We give the boys percentages of their own capabilities, and they make sure they hit them. It’s unorthodox to a lot of coaches, but when we preach personal accountability and they buy in, they get it done.
What are your expectations for the team and individuals?
We expect our boys to go out and give their 100%. That doesn’t always mean winning the event they are in. It means if they go out and give everything they have, we are good with it. We hold each kid accountable and through that, they hold themselves accountable.
How did you feel going into the 2024 season?
We knew we would be fast. How fast? We weren’t sure. We had new additions to the team, Rylan Alvarado (9th) and Camden Pruis (12th.) Both added speed to our already fast relays, that we had returning from the year prior. We felt like we would stand a decent chance at breaking some school records and having a decent showing at indoor State.
What made you realize you had something special?
We went into indoor State seeded number 1 in the 4×200 and 4×400. We knew Colfax Ridgeview would be trouble in the 4×400 with all of the talent they had returning from last year. Winnebago had Supreme Muhammad running in the 4×200 and 4×400. He’s known around the track as “the guy,” because he is so fast. Our Sophomores, Brady Anderson and Levi Milder, stepped up in the 4×200 and 4×400. Levi ran anchor, which is the opposite of last year, in the 4×200. He held off Supreme with the fastest split in the 4×200. Then Brady had a come-from-behind victory as anchor leg in the 4×400 against Colfax Ridgeview. That set the stage for a heck of an outdoor State Finals!
How did you feel going into the State Track meet?
We felt pretty good. Last year we went into State with some of the top times in the 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400, but the State stage was a lot to handle for our relays. We had two Freshmen, one Sophomore, and a Senior on our 4×200, the same underclassmen and a Junior on our 4×100, and one guy from each grade on our 4×400. We went to State with a different mindset this year, though, with all-but-one returning guy. They were ready to make a statement for the Mustangs.
Going into Finals, you had three relays and two individual events. What were your expectations?
We knew that if we made finals in the relays, that we would be able to win. The guys put the work in all year and were determined to win. Brady Anderson was hoping to get at worst 2nd place in the 100. He had placed 5th last year as a Freshman and had revamped his running form, blocks, and strength training this past year. Sadly, again, he placed 5th. Next year, though, we’ll take the win in that event.
In the 4×100 Winnebago switched their fastest runner (Supreme Muhammed) to the second leg, which is very common, and that put him against Levi Milder. We felt Levi would continue to do his thing, which was dominating the second leg. He did just that! Zach Milder ran third and gave us the lead. Brady just had to take it home.
The 4×200 was a relay we felt all year would win State. We are fortunate to have four really fast guys that excel in the 200. Brady was in finals for the 100; Levi was in finals for the 200; Zach is just a machine at anything he runs; our Senior, Camden Pruis, led off both the 4×100 and 4×200 as a monster out of the blocks. They just had to do what they’ve been doing, and everything would take care of itself. That’s exactly what happened. Winnebago’s second runner ran against Levi and it was a bit shocking to see Levi not eat everyone up, but Zach pulled through again. He got the lead we needed to keep Supreme far enough away from Brady on the anchor leg.
Levi was our other Sophomore to make finals; he had the second seed going in. He is one of the hardest-working kids we’ve ever had across all sports, but most definitely Track. He knew he had to beat Supreme out of the blocks and he got out to a great start. Unfortunately, the last 20 or so meters he made the mistake of trying to run faster. He knew exactly what he did and won’t make that mistake again. He finished 6th overall. It’s not too bad, considering he was the only Sophomore in the finals, stacked with Seniors and one Junior. We look forward to seeing Levi succeed next year, which he will.
The 4×400 was one for the ages! Zach had been dominating the first leg all year, but in finals it is anyone’s race. He handed off in first, as normal, but with a minimal lead. Camshae was running on a slightly-torn hamstring for the last two weeks. While he fought through the pain, he gave up a few places coming down the homestretch. Chase Newman, who qualified in the open 800, was running third for us. He had run Track all four years of high school and was not going to let first place slip away again. He ran a 50 second split to get us back into position for a come-from-behind win. In the process, he tore his hamstring a little as well, but he will tell you, it was 100% worth it. He handed off, in third place by 15 meters, to Brady Anderson, our anchor in all of the relays. Coaching Brady the past two years, I can tell when he’s going all out from the handoff, and he was flying! I knew that with Brady in that position we would come out on top. He passed the second runner on the back stretch while getting in position to pass the first place guy. Coming down the homestretch, Brady made his move, which he only had to do one other time at indoor State. As he passed the runner from Casey-Westfield the guy hung with him. Brady continued to push and won by four hundredths of a second.
Our total margin of victory for the three relays was .25 seconds. Each race was close, but their hearts and hamstrings got the wins!
What are your thoughts on the results of the State Track Meet?
We went down with the intent to win the meet. It didn’t turn out like we wanted, obviously, with us getting 4th, but we were happy. To our knowledge, no team has ever won the 4×100, 4×200, and 4×400. A lot of coaches have asked us why we don’t break the relays up and run individual events. Could we score more points? Possibly, probably honestly, but our mentality isn’t focused on individual achievements. In life you have to work as a team, whether that’s on a sports team or in a career. So having a team-focused mentality sets the guys up for success later on in life. We haven’t checked with them, but we think they would tell us “No,” if we decided to run all open events and no relays. The guys want their friends to succeed more than themselves. That team focus really showed at State. They were there for each other, not themselves.
We didn’t lose any relay, all year.
What are your plans for next year?
We WILL win State! That’s it.
State Finishes and Photos
4×100 – Camden Pruis(12), Levi Milder(10), Zach Milder(11), Brady Anderson(10) 42.42 finals time
4×200 – Camden Pruis(12), Levi Milder(10), Zach Milder(11), Brady Anderson(10) 1:28.08 finals time
4×400 – Zach Milder(11), Camden Pruis(12), Chase Newman(12), Brady Anderson(10) 3:21.89 finals time
100 m dash – Brady Anderson(10) 10.84 finals time
200 m dash – Levi Milder(10) 22.38 finals time
Camden Pruis, Levi Milder, Zach Milder, Brady Anderson. 4×100 and 4×200
Levi Milder. 200
Brady Anderson. 100.
Zach Milder, Camden Pruis, Chase Newman, Brady Anderson. 4×400.
