Slater native, HOF coach begins 30th track season

Slater native Harry Lineberry (right), head coach at Neosho for 30 years, is welcomed to the ranks of the Hall of Fame by MTCCCA president Chris Scott of Christian Brothers College Prep in St. Louis. (Photo contributed) [Click to enlarge]

NEOSHO -- "Enthusiasm" is the key attribute of successful coaches, and few have accumulated the record of achievement enjoyed by Neosho's Harry Lineberry.

Lineberry, 60, the son of Don and Vivien Lineberry of Slater, is beginning his 30th year as head track and field coach for the Wildcats. He's also led the cross country program during the same period. In December, the 1970 Missouri Valley College graduate was inducted into the Missouri Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame -- joining former Vikings coach Ted Chitwood among the esteemed.

"I cannot emphasize enough the passion for your sport," Lineberry asserted. "You the coach have to really work to get [students] interested in running. You have to put a lot of time in."

Lineberry began his career at Marshall, heading the cross country program from 1974 until he left for Neosho in 1979. He also assisted Wayne O'Neal in track before taking over the helm in '75.

During his career, Lineberry's teams have won seven district, four sectional and two state championships -- and have boasted 91 state medalists. He has twice been the MTCCCA "coach of the year" and three times voted the top Class 4 cross country coach in Southwest Missouri.

"Seeing kids improve and motivating the average person to perform at their best level" has been the most satisfying experience for Lineberry. In order to achieve that, "you have to be positive and motivate."

Lineberry has seen many changes through the year, not the least of which is year-round specialization in sports by athletes. Not only are they focusing more on single sports, but even within track and field there aren't as many multi-event standouts.

"The competition's too tough" to spread an individual's wealth of talent, Lineberry noted. "People are faster, stronger. The weight room's made a lot of difference."

Lineberry, who expects to retire following the 2010 track season, realizes that coaches today must also be recruiters within the hallways of the schools -- and it helps if a program has the tradition and community support to lure student interest and involvement.

"You must build the program," he said. But once that's done, "you'd be surprised sometimes that once you get them involved they'll do better than you think."