During their August meeting, Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) board members placed Mount Si High School’s athletic department and its cross country head coach, Steven Crane, on probation for the 2024-2025 school year.
Following their first-place finish at the state championship on Nov. 4, 2023, Crane covered all expenses for a celebratory trip to Disneyland with five varsity student-athletes, said Conor Laffey, chief communications officer for the Snoqualmie Valley School District.
“The trip was privately arranged, with family approval,” Laffey said. “A former female assistant coach also participated.”
Sean Bessette, the WIAA director of communications, said that while the school’s athletic director and principal told Crane the trip would not be school-sanctioned, neither party was aware of the potential for violation.
The violation, which resulted in the yearlong probationary period, relates to WIAA Rule 18.24.2 A.1, prohibiting student-athletes from “accepting merchandise or in-kind gifts of more than $500 in fair market value per sport based upon performance in that sport within a calendar year.”
Once they learned of the violation, the school reported it to the WIAA and recommended probation, citing a lack of knowledge of the rule and hoping to avoid punishing the athletes for the coach’s mistake, Bessette said. The WIAA accepted the recommended action on Aug. 19.
Bessette said the probation does not prohibit coaches or athletes from participating in regular or post-season tournaments, but rather serves as a warning for the school.
“If another violation were to be committed by an individual or entity on probation, the individual or entity would be subject to additional penalties,” he said.
In June, the school decided not to renew Crane’s coaching contract.
“It was a decision unrelated to the Disneyland trip, and he remains a counselor at Mount Si High School,” Laffey said. “The one-year probation assigned to Crane does not follow the new head coach, Adam Frye, who was recently hired.”
Since the trip, the school has worked with parents and the WIAA to rectify the situation by having the families reimburse Crane for trip expenses up to $500. Laffey said the athletic department has implemented measures to prevent similar violations from happening again.
