If Dulaney cross country coach Bob Dean ever needs a reference, he couldn't go wrong with Patti White.
The mother of Dean's star runner, Amanda, could sell anyone on what the coach has done for her daughter.
"He's just got the right approach to training, the right amount of motivation and the right amount of balance," said Patti White, whose daughter is nationally ranked, The Baltimore Sun's two-time All-Metro Runner of the Year and last season's Female Athlete of the Year.
"For a young girl with the raw talent that Amanda has, more isn'necessarily better," White said. "I think it's important not to let a kid get burned out. Bob has different ways of motivating her without overtraining."
After last season, in which the top-ranked Lions finished fourth in the Class 4A state meet -- six points out of first place -- it could have been tempting to get tougher at practice.
But Dean, The Baltimore Sun's 1992 Baltimore County/City Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year, was concerned more about progress than perfection.
"We had a far-range goal from the beginning of the season, but we never took our eyes off of what was right in front of us," said Dean, the 1991 All-Metro Girls Coach of the Year.
"They learned some things last year about what happens wheyou miss practice, aren't ready to go, things like that," said Dean. "And it brought them closer together."
A more cohesive Lions' squad easily defended its county and Region II crowns again this year, and won the state title.
And whether it was Amanda White, the veteran, or the newest addition to the varsity, No. 5 runner Patti Zahner, Dean made improvement and winning a pressure-free, team-oriented affair.
"He really promotes Mandy's working with the other kids, raising their potential," said Patti White.