Building the pyramid is key to success at Medical Lake

There used to be a time when Memorial Day weekend was spent largely watching the rain drip off the blue tarps along Deadman’s Creek or the Lochsa River and trying to evade the so-called smoldering campfire smoke that supposedly “follows beauty,” someone always lamely joked.

But that was in a place far away and time long ago, well before Medical Lake’s resurgence as a track power, and their being in regular conversations about winning 1A state championships.

People at Hart High School north of Los Angeles also probably used to have other plans on weekends, too. That being before Gene Blankenshi...