Longtime Lakeview track duo Pryor, Sawyer are on the last lap of their coaching career
BATTLE CREEK - For more than a quarter of a century, Becky Pryor has been leading the Lakeview girls track team as its head coach. For 22 of those years, running stride for stride with her as an assistant coach, has been Heather Sawyer.
Following the last lap of the track season this year, it will be an end of an era as both coaches will step down together - ending one of the longest coaching partnerships in any sport among the city high schools.
"Last year, I said it was going to be my last year, but the kids convinced me to come back. So I convinced (Sawyer) to come back with me. But this year is it," Pryor said. "I'm retiring, retiring this year from coaching and teaching. Time to start whatever is the next chapter of my life."
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Pryor said she will miss the kids the most and seeing their progress every year and, 'seeing them do things they didn't think were possible.' But the two coaches will also miss their time together on the track each spring.
In the fall, Sawyer announced she was also stepping down as the longtime volleyball coach at Lakeview after leading that program for 22 seasons.
"We finish each other's sentences, because we've been together for so long," Sawyer said. "Consistency of coaching and expectations for the athletes is what we do well together and the reason we have been able to be successful as a coaching duo. The best assistant coach is somebody who has been a head coach. They know what needs to be taken care of and they just do it.
"But Becky deserves a lot of the credit for where Lakeview girls track is today. She has won state championships for goodness sake. I don't think people know that or remember that. It's been an honor to coach with her for the past 22 years."
Pryor has had an impressive run as the head girls track coach at Lakeview for 27 years as well as being the head coach of the girls cross country team in the fall for the same period.
Starting in 1998, Pryor took over the head coaching duties for the girls track team. During her tenure, Lakeview has had four top five team finishes at the Michigan High School Athletic Association state track finals. Pryor has led the Spartans to 13 league championships and she just recently enjoyed her 14th straight All-City Track Meet championship. Heading into this season, over that span, Lakeview has had an impressive 126-11 record in dual track meets.
Did Pryor think she would still be on the track in the year 2024 when she first began?
"Maybe. I thought I would be coaching for awhile," Pryor said. "I never had any intention of having kids. For women coaches, having kids sometimes is what takes you out of coaching, but that didn't happen. These kids on the team have been my children. I have been blessed with some fantastic athletes, some girls that will run through a wall for you and we've had some very successful seasons together.
"It will be bittersweet once I am done coaching and teaching here at Lakeview. But I think it's time for a new thing."
Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: This is last year for longtime Lakeview track coaching duo Pryor, Sawyer
