Mr. VanCauteren’s C.C. and Track and History

By Calista Anglin

For those who don’t know Mr. VanCauteren, he is one of Regis’ cross-country coaches and academic deans. He teaches one of the wellness classes at school called Tea and Kindness where you write kind notes to people and have the option of making tea. I was in this year’s Cross Country team but didn’t know much about Mr. VanCauteren. Recently, I discovered he was once on the Regis cross-country and track and field team. He had been running since around 1978-1981 and I even interviewed Mr. VanCauteren for this article. Let’s go over it. 

Chris Vancauteren knew at a young age that he had a talent for endurance sports events. He didn’t start cross-country in his first year in high school because he chose to be on the baseball team. He was a poor baseball hitter, but an excellent fielder who participated in track after the season ended. In his second year, he participated in cross country. Throughout high school, Mr. VanCauteren participated in cross-country and track; he even continued running during college at Western Oregon University. 

He remembers his running events in high school and college. Mr. VanCauteren recalls his track records more than his cross-country records because the cross-country courses vary in length and difficulty. He ran the 3000, 1500, 800, and 400-meter runs and the mile relay in high school. Mr. VanCauteren won the district track meet during his junior and senior years. In college at Western Oregon, he ran the 800, 1500, and 5000 meter runs and the steeplechase. He was in an all-state in cross country for several years and participated in and placed at the state track meet. He was on the 1979 State Championship Track Team. His best time in the 3000-meter race was 9:22 when he was a junior in high school. However, in his senior year, he was injured by getting tendinitis on his knee and a stomach ulcer from probably the medication for the knee. When he was 19 years old and in college, he ran 15:12 in the 5000-meter race. That race was one of his best when he was a young athlete. Mr. VanCauteren liked all events from 800 to longer. His favorite is the steeplechase. 

After graduating high school and college, Mr. VanCauteren got a job at South Albany High School. He was a Social Studies teacher and head coach of the cross-country team. He worked there for 32 years and coached for 30 years. He became a coach because participating in track and cross-country positively impacted him when he was young. He wanted to provide opportunities for his athletes to have a similar experience. He even coached the 2013 cross-country team, which went to the state meet. Mr. VanCauteren had several runners who made it to their all-state second and third-team finishes. He had several teams that were qualified for the state meet. Former Regis teacher Juan Medina, who was one of Mr. VanCauteren’s cross-country runners, has coached the best teams at South Albany. Mr. Medina’s cross-country boys team had placed 3rd in all-state twice for the past three years. 

 After retiring, Mr. VanCauteren returned to Regis as a coach and academic dean to help his former mentor, Mr. Bauer, and his good friend, Rich Tabor, the older brother of Jim Tabor, the theology and Rampage teacher. Rich Tabor taught math at Regis and St. Mary. He even coached the basketball and cross-country teams and had to work hard to keep Mr. Bauer “out of trouble.” 

When Mr. VanCauteren got the job of coach, he noticed how the student population of Regis was about half of what it was during his time at Regis. The team is a bit smaller, but he hopes we will add numbers to the cross-country program as the school’s population increases. He said that we had an incredible season this year. He believes that with hard work and dedication, there will be a bright future for the Regis cross-country program.