York cross-country practice hadn’t started, but the Long Green Line of runners streamed to a folding chair and table in the Elmhurst high school’s lobby.

The skinny boys craved attention, and the man in charge dealt with each link. A fist bump. A “Looking great!”. A demand for a note to explain tardiness.

In the short interactions, 80-year-old Joe Newton revealed a clue to the success that continues into his 49th year as head cross-country coach, 10 years after he first announced his retirement.

He doesn’t use the Internet. He doesn’t own an iPod. He started using a cell phone six months ago. “I hardly know how to run it,” he said.

But the 180 teenagers swarmed to him as if he were part celebrity, part grandfather. After each runner checked in, Newton shouted out quotations to the group, an afternoon routine that has spanned five decades.

“Kids’ needs now are nothing like the kids from the 50s, but this one guy has been able to connect with all of them,” said assistant coach Jim Hedman, who ran for Newton in the 1970s. “The basic part of that is they all know he generally cares about them as a person. That’s why we have so many kids, and that’s why he’s been able to relate to them.”

In winter 2006, Andrew Smith, a freshman in need of confidence, received a phone call from Newton.

“I didn’t even know he knew me at the time,” said Smith, now a senior. “He said, ‘I had this feeling sitting here in Phoenix: Four years from now you’re going to be there [at state], and I’m going to coach you there.’ ”

Smith is the top runner on this season’s cross-country team, which is expected to contend for its 27th team title in November. He counts Newton as one of the biggest influences in his life.

“It goes way beyond his running,” said Andrew’s father, Bob Smith. “He’s made him believe in himself. He’s turned him into a leader and someone that people respect. I can see that these people respect him. He found that in him when we couldn’t see it.”

Long line of success

Newton – a former Northwestern sprinter from the South Side of Chicago – became York’s head track and cross-country coach in 1960.

His cross-country teams have won 26 titles and 41 state trophies to become one of the most dominant high school sports programs in Illinois, documented in articles, books and even a film. Each year, he draws hundreds of runners, dubbed “The Long Green Line.” Cross-country success is a constant at York, as is the gruff sound of its leader’s voice.

“He’s a little bit more mellow, but not much,” said Hedman, whose twin sons run for York. “He’s pretty fiery for 80 years old.”

The yelling is a tradition – like wearing suits to school on the day of major meets – that is still embraced by today’s runners.

“My classmates are always like, ‘Why are you always getting yelled at?’ ” junior Jack Driggs said. “But he’s just doing it to get us fired up. On Monday, he ripped us apart before practice. It was a beautiful thing.”

Notorious workouts, such as five 1-mile repeats, remain. So does the notion – sometimes criticized from the outside because of concerns of overtraining or burnout – that York teams should run more and harder than any team in the state. Varsity runners put in 100 miles a week early in the season.

“I stopped keeping track because it terrifies me to know the actual number,” Smith said of the mileage count. “Looking at the number, you think, ‘Man I shouldn’t be here right now.’ If you listen to what he says, it all works out.”

The golden years

There have been changes.

Newton retired from coaching track in 2000 so he could spend his winters with his wife in Arizona.

Rather than dart around the course at this season’s Palatine Invitational, Newton rode in a golf cart. He constantly asks who has his keys as his 25 student managers hurry to help keep track of runners, statistics and equipment. And Newton finds he explains more to kids in the digital age, who are curious about why they should do things.

“It’s hard [connecting with teenagers],” said Newton, who served as an Olympic coach in 1988. “You have to work at it, but as long as you’re honest and as long as you’re fair and as long as they know you’re not using them to build up your record but that you care about them, I don’t have any trouble relating to guys.”

Newton takes as much pride in producing good people as good runners, but he still has coaching goals.

After talking about his retirement during his 20th championship season in 1999, he stuck around for 25 titles. After sitting out the 26th championship meet in 2006 because of an IHSA suspension for violating summer contact rules (he is credited with the championship), he wants to try for 30 titles.

“”At my age, you’ve got to have something to do,” Newton said. “You can’t play golf every day, and I love what we’re doing. I have something to look forward to every day. Kids keep you young.”

ckane@tribune.com

About the video clip: In 2005, filmmakers Matthew Arnold and Brady Hallongren made a documentary about York coach Joe Newton. This is a trailer from “The Long Green Line,” which was released last year. Visit www.longgreenlinemovie.com.