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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2009 /  St. Regis track a phenomenal success

by Michelle Samartino, Special toThe Michigan Catholic
Published September 4 , 2009

Members of the St. Regis girls track team celebrate their CYO championship.

Bloomfield Hills –Behind the sweat and determination of the track athletes at St. Regis Elementary School are more stories of success – from a potential Olympic athlete to another who believes he’d be on the streets if not for the caring ways of his coaches and school values.

Former St. Regis students Kendall Baisden, now a freshman at Detroit Country Day, and Michael Belton, a senior at Brother Rice High School, say it began with the guidance of their track coach, Deanna Wile, who joined the track program at St. Regis nine years ago.

Photo by Renee Rapson Potential Olympic athlete Kendall Baisden running. Baisden holds her “little angel” before every track event to help motivate her.

Along with her co-coach, Tom Gorman, Wile says their philosophy is simple: “We believe you have to make a difference in a kid’s life from the bottom up. And many of them have gone on to have stellar high school careers.”

Managing 200 athletes with 13 coaches is a tremendous feat in itself, but the program continues to reach new heights. “We were small little fish in a big pond,” Wile recalls. “Then the program took off.”

Members of the St. Regis boys track team celebrate their CYO championship.

To date, St. Regis has won five CYO championships, been CYO championship runners up five times, and won eight undefeated Catholic League championships. To say the program is a run-away success would be an understatement.

Wile remembers first meeting Baisden in 2005, who came in as a fourth-grader from Kensington Academy in nearby Beverly Hills. Baisden had wanted to improve her tennis game, and heard that track was one way to do so.

Kendall Baisden began her track career as a St. Regis Raider in the fourth grade. She was baptized Catholic a year later at the parish.

“She was a skinny little thing,” says Wile. “Her dad said he didn’t know anything about ‘this track thing,’ but that she wanted to improve her tennis game and heard track would help her speed.”

Tennis wasn’t her only talent.

Baisden’s introduction to the St. Regis family blossomed. She transferred to St. Regis School, and was baptized at the church the following year.

She most recently broke the national record for 14-year-olds by winning the youth division 400 meters at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympics with a time of 53.05, and was featured in Sports Illustrated magazine.

“She’s probably a heartbeat away from being on the Olympic team,” Wile says. “She is just brilliant.”

The pride in her voice is apparent when she speaks of Baisden: “She is so humble, a sweet girl. She has no attitude. Her mother has done a phenomenal job with her.”

Photo by Pat Davey Tess Wilbering, an individual All American, one of thee triplets on the St. Regis track team.

And Baisden’s admiration for Wile runs deep. “She actually found my talent for track. She’s such a caring coach,” she says. “She does everything for each person on the team, and it’s such a big team. You would think she would not know everybody’s name, but she takes the time to know everybody and helps them out and encourages them as well.”

Baisden says her Catholic faith has enriched her life as a result of her education at St. Regis: “I learned the beliefs and really liked it. I felt it was the religion for me.”

And, she adds, “My faith is important. St. Regis taught me values to live by.”

The teen also has an angel one of her mother’s co-workers gave her that Baisden always holds before every meet. “I call her my little angel,” she says.

Her plan after high school is to be a part of the Olympic team, “if I’m able,” she says. “I want to work on a professional track career without injuring myself.” She would like to eventually study architecture.

Michael Belton, now a senior at Brother Rice High School, is another star product of the St. Regis track program.

Another promising athlete comes by way of Michael Belton, an instrumental part of the St. Regis track program who also helps coach.

Originally from St. Bede Elementary School in Southfield, “I was in seventh grade and my friends kept telling me how fast I was,” Belton recalls. As a result, he was introduced to Wile, and so began their familial relationship. Every Christmas since seventh grade has been spent with the Wile family. “I love their family to death,” he says.

He admitted that track was initially something to fill his time, but he came to truly love the speed and agility it gave him. “I was meant to do the sport,” he says.

Photo by Pat Davey Aubrey (left) and Mallory Wilbering were two of the triplets that made up the track team at St. Regis Elementary School. All three were on the Youth National Championship 4 x 800 Relay team.

When he runs, he says he tries to not pass out. “I think about getting to the finish line and happy thoughts,” says Belton.

He is grateful to Wile for many reasons, though he admits that Wile can be intimidating on first glance. “You’d think she’s a serious coach, and she is, but she’s more concerned with the kids and treating them well. I’ve loved her since then. They’re like an extra set of parents,” referring to Wile and her husband, Tabb.

Belton, who was part of Boys Hope Girls Hope, a program designed to help young children realize their full potential, when he first joined the track club, said things would be a lot different if not for the influences of St. Regis. “If it wasn’t for the program and had I not met Mrs. Wile, I’d be on the streets somewhere. Mrs. Wile shaped me.”

He hopes to continue at an out-of-state art school and study graphic design.

Of Belton, Wile couldn’t imagine life without him. “The Lord sent Michael to us for a reason,” Wile says. “He has left a footprint in my life.”

The coaches and the athletes are what make the program so successful, says Wile. “These are great people helping kids trying to succeed in running. It’s been wonderful on so many levels. It’s been a storybook year.

“We have had tremendous athletes come through the program,” she adds, “and we have had the incredible experience and opportunity to give the best we have to make an impression on their lives.”

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