December 21, 2002 - "The leaders were right in front of me, and I realized I could run with them, and qualify." - Jon Pastore - The story

December 16, 2002 -
"I have what it takes to compete here." - Ian Gottesfeld after his first Foot Locker finals in San Diego, 12/14. The story.















December 14, 2002 - FROM THE CHAMBERSBURG PUBLIC OPINION: December 14, 2002 - Tim Cook, Chambersburg High School coach and teacher, and wife killed in I-81 accident By JIM HOOK, senior writer Updated 3 p.m., Dec. 14, 2002

NOTE: A private funeral service will be held Friday (family only) and a memorial service is set for 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at Chambersburg high school.

Tim Cook, longtime coach of girls cross country and track & field at Chambersburg Area Senior
High School, was killed Friday night in a traffic accident on Interstate 81. His wife, Susan, also was killed in the four-vehicle crash at 11:07 p.m. just south of Wayne Avenue in Guilford Township. They were 49 years old. The couple lived at 3774 Pampas Circle, Chambersburg. Their friends struggled Saturday to cope with shock and grief.

I've known them since they were sweethearts in eighth grade," said Dr. Edwin Sponseller,
Chambersburg Area School District superintendent and Tim Cook's former basketball coach. "The
two were the finest the community has ever had. This is such a tragedy for everyone. He was an
excellent coach, an excellent teacher, an excellent father, an excellent son."

The Cooks on Friday night were going north on I-81 when a southbound 1997 Chevrolet pickup
truck crossed the median and collided with them, according to Pennsylvania State Police, Chambersburg. Their 1992 Toyota spun and collided with a 2002 International tractor-trailer. It then bounced to the median where it collided with a second 2002 Freightliner tractor-trailer. Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey Conner pronounced the Cooks dead at the scene.

The pickup truck landed on its roof on the east shoulder of the highway, police said. The driver -
Sabrina L. Whitsel, 28, Shippensburg - suffered moderate injuries. She was listed Saturday in
serious condition at the surgical intermediate care unit of the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,
Hershey, according to a hospital spokeswoman. The drivers of the tractor-trailers - Douglas E. Brown, 58, of Crimora, Va., and Richard A. Montgomery, 29, Clarksville, Tenn. - were not injured.

The news of the couple's death dampened commencement exercises Saturday at Shippensburg
University, where Susan Cook was an administrative assistant to the dean of the College of Arts
and Sciences. "She really took pride in what she did and in the success of the students," university spokesman Pete Gigliotti said. "Everybody1s absolutely devastated." Susan Cook had worked at the university several years. Previously she had worked as a secretary at Scotland School for Veterans' Children.

Tim Cook taught mathematics at the high school for about 30 years. He coached the girls cross
country team for 27 years and the girls track & field team for 26 years. His cross country teams
amassed an overall record of 225-30, for a winning percentage of .882. This past fall, the Trojan
girls cross country team was 8-1. A loss to Cumberland Valley snapped a 34-meet win streak.

In track & field, Chambersburg teams were 194-34-2 under Cook, a winning percentage of .851.
The Trojans were 9-0 and Mid Penn Conference Commonwealth Division champions each of the
past two years and are currently on a 22-meet win streak.

The high school has a team of counselors prepared for tragedies such as this, CASHS principal
Dennis Hillwig said. "We'll be pulling together as a family at the high school," Hillwig said. "There are a lot of good people there. We1ll just have to support each other."

Tim Cook motivated students in the classroom and runners on the track, according to Hillwig.
"Kids loved him and respected him," Hillwig said. "It's a real tragedy to lose such a person." "The things he did with his teams," Sponseller said. "The last girl on the squad would feel just as important as the first. It was nothing to have 50 girls come out for the team." When Cook got his 200th victory in 1999, Trojan runner Kelly Baker said, "He is very inspirational for all of us. He really cares about all the girls, from the No. 1 runner down to the No. 51 runner."

Sports editor Ed Gotwals contributed to this story.