Head Dawson County High School cross country coach Charles Beusse was invited to attend the Nike Smoky Running Camp recently held at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

In its 42nd year, the camp was started by University of Florida Head Coach Roy Benson when he was training Olympians, including Frank Shorter with the Florida Track Club.

"Over the years, the camp transitioned from a summer training location for professional runners into a training camp for some of the best high school distance runners in the country," Buesse said. "Many of the high schoolers who have gone through the camp have gone on to be All-Americans and Olympians."

The second-year head coach was asked along with his sister, Emily, an assistant coach at the University of North Georgia, to attend the camp by his former college coach, Tom Williams.

"The camp was extremely beneficial for me. I had the opportunity to learn from and work alongside some of the best coaches in the country including Roy Benson, Tom Williams, Jerry Crockett, Alan Drosky, and Wayne Clark," Beusse said.

"It gave me the chance to work with a new group of runners from as far away as Hawaii and Japan."

He plans to return to the camp next year as a Nike staff coach and hopes to take some Dawson County runners with him.