Ross Fleming named to Class of 2016; Joins Paul Metcalf in elite group
As part of the 2016 Minnesota cross country coaches clinic, held on Monday, August 8, five new members of the Class of 2016 were inducted into the Minnesota Cross Country Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, also the site for the clinic.
One of those inductees was Mountain native and a 1978 Mountain Lake Public High School (MLHS) graduate, Ross Fleming. He is the son of Dr. Jim Fleming and the late Priscilla Fleming.
Fleming, longtime Mounds View coach, ran on the MLHS boys cross country team in high school, and is elated to now join his high school coach – and mentor – Paul Metcalf, in the elite group. In high school, Fleming was an all-conference runner in cross country and track for multiple seasons while also playing basketball and performing in musicals, dramas and one-act plays.
Metcalf was named to the hall in 1999. He taught elementary physical education and high school social studies at Mountain Lake Public School, as well as coaching boys and girls cross country, assistant and head boys basketball coach, and distance track and field coach. He remains as the track and field head coach at the school.
Fleming tells the Shoreview Press that, ““I learned a value system from him (Metcalf). Work ethic, dedication, self-discipline and team. Dedication comes first. In cross country, you don’t have a ball to chase, so that was the key. I wasn’t a great talent. I had failed at football and baseball, so running was all there was left, and he made me a good runner.”
He notes that over the years his Mounds View runners have been high-quality kids that have come from homes that are success-driven with high values and morals. In the article, Fleming enthuses that, “Coaching is more of a joy and a pleasure for me than hard work. I credit the family structure in our district,”
He has coached cross country and track and field at Mounds View Public High School since 1986; boys only since 1990.
The fifty-six-year-old Fleming, a former Bethel College (St. Paul) cross country captain, also teaches health and one physical education class at the school – and has no plans to retire. He majored in K-12 Health Education at the college. Fleming also studied kinesiology at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Fleming has served as president of the Cross Country Coaches Association, director of team and individual ranking and served on cross country and track advisory committees to the Minnesota State High School Association. He’s been director of the Track Hall of Fame committee since 1999. In track, he’s been named State Coach of the Year three times.