Roz: Style And Substance There’s More To Ewu Track Coach Rosalind Wallace Than Fancy Clothes

She’s flash; they’re dash.

They are Rosalind Wallace and her Eastern Washington University women’s track team.

Although actually, they could be living the parts in a pilot for a sitcom about a stylish housemother for a sorority of speedsters (Phylicia Rashad gets the lead role).

Week after week, she could help them cope with the problems of contemporary female student-athletes - mostly minorities - in the fictional rural town of Cheney.

She guides them over life’s hurdles with just the proper portions of love and hugs, along with strong advice and the occasional timely kick to the keister.

“When you need her to be a sister, she’s there for you as a sister; when you need her as a friend, she’s there for you as a friend; when you need her as a mentor, she’s there as a mentor,” said Joyce Rainwater, record-setting sprinter.

Adding texture and depth to the protagonist’s role is her flair for clothing and style (she’d probably sew a few sequins and a scarlet sash onto the team’s sweat suits if she could).

And also her position as a captain in the Air Force Reserves, a capacity in which she is trained in the handling of weaponry so sophisticated that she doesn’t have clearance to even discuss it.

“I could tell you about it,” she said. “But then, of course, I’d have to kill you.”

The only assault she and her team have committed, though, is on the EWU record books, where 33 school marks have been set while her forces have won 16 Big Sky Conference events in her eight seasons.

In March, the Eagle women placed fourth in the Big Sky Conference indoor meet, matching a best finish for EWU men or women in a conference championship.

Considering the resources - until a couple years ago EWU’s outdoor track looked like 400 meters of county road - the Eastern women are probably much better than they have a right to be.

The reason? Wallace. Or “Roz,” as she’s more commonly known.

“She’s a role model for us,” said Rainwater, who has continued her impressive career under Wallace’s guidance despite the diversionary demands of motherhood, academics and a dissolved marriage. “A lot of the time when I feel like giving up, she gives me pep talks and prays with me and keeps me going.”

On the wall of her office, Wallace displays pictures of herself with an array of athletic women in caps and gowns. She attends the graduation of every athlete who earns a diploma. And the series of photos shows not only the breadth of her wardrobe, but her depth of commitment to her charges.

“I’m not trying to win a popularity contest, but I genuinely care for the athletes and their well-being as a whole person,” Wallace said. “I’m not going to please everybody, but I’m going to be fair to them and they’ll know that I truly care about them.”

A self-labeled “Air Force brat,” Wallace grew up in remote military outposts across the country, and recalls a fourth-grade reading assignment in North Dakota.

She read of the exploits of Wilma Rudolph, the American sprinter who overcame physical disabilities, poverty and racial impediments to become an Olympic champion.

“She was immediately someone I could model myself after,” Wallace said.

Ironically, years later, Wallace would become a disciple and close friend of Rudolph and her daughters. One of Rudolph’s daughters, in fact, served as an intern to Wallace at EWU several years ago.

Wallace attended Rudolph’s alma mater, Tennessee State, and competed in basketball while also spending four years in the ROTC program.

She eventually got into coaching at Purdue, where her brother Ray - who went on to play for the Houston Oilers and Pittsburgh Steelers - was a standout running back.

Storied Boilermaker track coach Fred Wilt “saw something in me that I didn’t even know I had, and taught me everything about coaching track,” she said.

Even though she’s been a full-time coach at EWU, she has continued to work with the Air Force and now is a recruiter for the Air Force Academy.

“I will find out in a couple weeks if I will be a major,” she said. A fulltime career in the Air Force would “probably quadruple my salary,” she said.

So why stay?

“I love what I’m doing; there’s so much negative going on with our youth now that I like having a positive impact on as many kids as I can,” she said. “If I can motivate them and help them learn to succeed, then I’ve done my job. An important job.”

This, in part, was a lesson taken from Rudolph.

“She was such a strong person who taught me that you could do anything if you put your mind to it,” Wallace said. “She had more adversity in her life than anybody, but she was always determined and came out on top because of it, and she loved to laugh and have fun.”

Wallace talked with her idol just two weeks before Rudolph died last November, and even though the treatments for brain cancer had diminished her faculties, Rudolph remembered Wallace and promised to see her again.

It was one race that Rudolph could not win.

“She thoroughly enjoyed her life and taught us we need to enjoy ours,” Wallace said. “I’m so honored just to be able to say I got a chance to know her.”

Wallace’s affection for clothes (“I admit it, I’m a slave to fashion and I love style”) may be another carryover from Rudolph.

“She always told me, ‘girl, when you go someplace, you be sure to always look good because that will make you feel good’,” Wallace said.

And for now, her Eagles look good, too.

Led by a strong sprint corps, EWU’s women appeared to be on the verge of a high-level Big Sky finish this year.

The team’s motto - “It’s time” - is emblazoned on team T-shirts and reflects this attitude.

But a knee injury to gifted freshman Seville Broussard, a possible national threat in the high jump and hurdles, has limited the Eagles’ chances a bit.

“It puts a big damper on our goals, but we’re still a strong team and they all have to learn to deal with adversity,” Wallace said. “We all have to learn to control the things we can control and just deal with those things we can’t.”

The fact that EWU even landed Broussard, one of the nation’s best preps, is a testament to what Wallace concedes is her most valuable skill - recruiting.

“Mostly, it’s her personality,” Rainwater said of Wallace’s recruiting talents. “You can’t fake caring about somebody.”

The main factor for Wallace in recruiting is, simply, being herself.

“I don’t promise them anything I can’t give them,” she said. “I tell them the truth; I tell them if I offer them a full-ride scholarship, nobody else can offer them more - legally.

“I let them know it’s not going to be easy and it’s going to be hard work. There’s no frills here but the kids like it and learn to adjust. There’s a lot to it.”

And she could tell you all the secrets to it. But then, of course, she’d have to kill you.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: The file on Rosalind Wallace Age “Let’s just say early 30s,” she said.

College B.S., Tennessee State, 1981; education degree, EWU, 1990

Experience Strength and conditioning, and assistant track coach at Purdue

Hired at EWU 1987

Achievements A captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. At EWU, athletes have set 33 school records and won 16 Big Sky Conference championship events in eight years.

Quote “There’s so much negative going on with our youth now that I like having a positive impact on as many kids as I can.”