Gary Darnold
Gary was born and raised in Colfax, Washington, and graduated from Colfax HS in 1971. At Colfax he played football, basketball, and baseball. He attended WSU and graduated in 1976, going on to earn a Masters at
EWU in 1989…majoring in Math.
As a teacher he taught math at Lake Roosevelt HS.
At the end of his first year of teaching, the CC coach came to visit and told him he was leaving and would like him to apply for the CC job saying that he would have very motivated and self-disciplined athletes….so he applied the next day.
Gary coached CC at Lake Roosevelt for 40 years. Gary says that many people think CC is purely an individual sport. But making the team aspect important was something he need to develop so sending 21 teams to State was an achievement he feels very proud of.
Gary coached 11 League titles and had 21 state qualifying teams. His best state individual and team place was 2nd.
Coach Darnold also coached middle school boys basketball for 36 years, middle schools girls basketball for 24 years, and high school tennis for 10 years……this guy could do it ALL!!!!!
Gary has been married to his wife, Sheila, for 42 great years. His three children are Brian, Steve, and Lori. His five grandchildren are Adysen, Bayleigh, Drew, Rylee, and Parker.
He retired this past June so he says he and his wife are following our grand kids in their activities.
Tim Irvin
Tim grew up in Bellingham and graduated from Bellingham HS in 1963. He was an all-Wesco guard in basketball and a decent sprinter on Bob Dorr’s track team.
He earned a BA in English in 1967 and an MA in English in 1969 from WSU. He taught English at Bellingham from 1971-1998.
Tim became the head cross country and track coach at Bellingham from 1978-1998….when the school closed for remodeling and we all moved to the new Squalicum HS. At Squalicum he took over CC in 2001 and coached until 2007, when he retired from coaching.
One of Tim’s most rewarding achievements in CC would be getting his athletes into running, and then seeing so many of them still running on the many trails around Bellingham.
Tim’s CC team won the new school’s first state title in any sport in 2003…and then went on and won 2 others state titles in 2004 and 2006.
Tim has been involved with Washington Cultural Exchange since 1985 and took 4 teams to China and 3 to Japan. He served as President of the Washington State Track Coaches Association for 4 years.
He and his wife Mary have been married for 50 years and have 2 children, Kelli and Andy.
Tim retired from teaching in 2000 and from coaching in 2008. He is still on the Board of Directors for Washington Cultural Exchange and on the WIAA State Track Meet Committee. In addition, Tim is co-chairman of the Bellingham High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee.
Tim says he is a full-time Grandpa….doing lots of kid sittings and watching them Pete in youth sports.
Mike Mills
Mike grew up in north central Washington on a cattle ranch where he attended Okanogan HS and graduated in 1968. He played basketball and baseball for his high school, then he attended EWU, graduating in 1978 with a major in Mathematics an a BA in school administration.
Mike Taught math and science and was the high school JV baseball coach at Richland, starting his 3rd year of teaching when during the late summer of 1975 the assistant principal called him asking if he would take the head CC coaching job, since the previous coach stepped down. The school board was going to eliminate the minor sport, due to no coach. Mike told him he had no experience, he wasn’t a runner, and there were other coaches he should ask. The assistant principal had already asked all of them and Mike was his last hope, or the sport would die completely. Luckily, he took the job and had a winning season his first year. The next year he won the district meet and placed 9th at state. Mike says he enjoyed the challenges, the runners, and the sport itself so much he continued on with it for 29 years. He also coached 18 years of track, and 4 years of basketball, and then 2 more years of basketball at Chewelah.
Mike had 19 state qualifying teams and his 1993 girls won the school’s first state championship for any girls sport. His girl Brandi McCoy placed first at State that year. He says it was rewarding to him to see over the years how many runners, however talented, were impacted by CC enough to continue running after graduation.
Another thing that Mike has never forgotten was what his number 1 girl runner one year told a newspaper reporter about him. She said, “Coach Mills treats all of us runners the same. He is there to cheer on the first runner across the finish line, as well as cheering on the last runner through the finish line, when very few are left to cheer for them. That’s why we all respect him so much”
Coach Mills has been married to Elizabeth for 13 ½ years. His children are Cameron, Danielle, and Dawson.
Mike says he gave up working with teenagers to work with adults after he retired. He works for a national crop insurance company out of his home. He is a regional claims specialist covering 5 states. And he enjoys watching all sports events, too.
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