Running isn’t simply a sport for the Hopi people. It’s a tradition with deep spiritual purpose. For centuries, Hopi runners carried messages to distant villages, and ran to springs to deliver prayers to bring rain. Rick Baker runs the cross country program at Arizona’s Hopi High Schoo, and his young athletes run the same dusty trails their ancestors blazed.
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Rick Baker runs the cross-country program at Arizona's Hopi High School, and he is one of the most successful coaches in sports-period. His runners have won 27 consecutive state cross-country titles in a row. Winning is great, of course-it's a source of pride for Baker, his runners and the Hopi community.