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Lumpa, Kelly added up 34 combined years
by Norv and Mary Coblentz · Sports · July 20, 2017
It was time to retire, and a couple of expected grandchildren helped cement the decision.
West Branch Co-Head Coaches Carol Lumpa and Scott Kelly have stepped down from their coaching positions in track and field at the high school.
Kelly coached the team for 13 years, of which he served as co-head coach for eight years. Lumpa coached for 21 years, with eight years as co-head coach.
“I’m going to be a grandma for the first time in October,” Lumpa said. “I’m so excited about it.
“I had considered retiring over the last two years. I always wanted to make sure that my passion for coaching girls track and field was enough to have a positive impact on the girls. By saying that, I knew that my passion wasn’t what it used to be. I believe that I finished my career still having fun and doing right by the girls that I coached.”
Her co-coach also has family concerns.
“I wanted to be able to spend more time with family, especially since Julie and I are going to be first-time grandparents soon,” Kelly said.
“There will never be a ‘good’ time to retire, as you will always have talented girls coming back and promising ones coming up. But I just felt the timing was right, and I believe Carol felt the same way. I truly hope the returning upperclassmen have continued success on the track, as they are a great group of girls to work with. Their great attitudes, serious talent, and hard work ethic will carry them far.”
The pair left their mark on the West Branch track and field program. Lumpa and Kelly were at the helm during the five years the Cedar Valley Conference was in existence. The Bears won the CVC title all five years.
“Winning the Cedar Valley Conference five years in a row was quite a feat,” Kelly said. “This would not have been possible if we wouldn’t have had talented girls that worked hard at practice and competed each meet to get better.”
“I have coached three state champion events at West Branch, and I have also had many meet championships and individual conference champions. We had multiple events qualify for state track every year,” Lumpa said.
Another accomplishment noted by Kelly was “being competitive in practically every meet we were in regardless of whether we had 20 girls or 13 girls.
“Carol would always say to the girls that she wanted the other track teams to say, ‘Oh, no, West Branch is here,’ which is a huge compliment to how talented and successful the West Branch girls were.”
West Branch is losing a lot of experience, but the new coach, Ben Holub, has been with the Bears as an assistant coach with the boys track and field team for two years and is a teacher at West Branch High School.
“With the talented girls returning and the addition of a strong freshman class, the Bears have the potential to remain a contender,” Kelly said.
“I learned a lot about coaching girls track and field from the legendary coaches Bud Williams at City High and Harlan Ferguson at West Branch,” Lumpa said. “I also have had a lot of fun and memories coaching alongside Scott Kelly here at West Branch.”
Kelly said he felt Ferguson prepared them to improve the team.
“I feel Carol and I took over a good program from Coach Ferguson and made it stronger,” Kelly said. “I felt like the girls trusted us and believed in the workouts we had them do in practices to get better regardless of how tough the workout was. Rarely did anyone complain about it. We instilled a winning, competitive attitude that the girls thrived on.
“Our goal for the girls every year would be to peak at year’s end so that we would do well at conference, then carry that momentum to districts and qualify as many events as possible for state,” Kelly said. “Then, at state, the girls would run season-best times in practically every event. That is a proud moment as a coach.”
Their pride in the accomplishments of their team is evident.
“Just to see the girls set their goals at the beginning of the year and then surpass them during the year is what coaching is all about,” Scott said. “To see them run their season-best times at state is a great feeling as a coach. To see the smiles on their faces at practice every day, the effort they would put into each workout, the way they competed and battled at our meets, and especially the way they cared for each other and worked together as a team were definitely high points.”
Lumpa said she had several key things she looked for in each season.
“Highlights for me were watching the girls work very hard, buy in to what we wanted them to do and believe, and then seeing them improve and accomplish goals,” Lumpa said. “This includes girls getting excited about personal records, getting a medal, winning a race, qualifying for state, and winning a state championship. I also loved when girls got excited for each other and are genuinely happy for their teammates’ success.”
Kelly said he has no regrets.
“I feel like Carol and I did things right, and we were rewarded with an incredible group of girls to work with through the years,” he said. “I will miss coaching as a whole but also coaching alongside Carol, as she was incredible to work with. I felt we really worked well together as coaches.
“I will also miss practices with the girls and seeing them excel in the meets.”
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