At the start of the 2010 track and field season, Coach Chuck Kyle '69 said he and his staff knew they had runners that could go the distance. That was proven back in the fall when Dr. Mike Gallagher '71 guided the 'Cats' cross country team to the big-school state championship.
“We had to see if we had enough speed there to transfer over to track,” Coach Kyle said of the cross country runners who made their annual transition in the spring. “We had a sprint nucleus that we felt good about, but we did graduate some hurdling crew and in the field events, we graduated a lot of guys.
“So there were some question marks.”
Questions to be answered, definitely. But nothing so demanding that it couldn't be solved by Kyle and his dedicated assistants, and what the veteran coach referred to as not only hard work by the kids, but their ability to keep their patience.
“We went to some big meets and we would take the runner-up trophy,” Kyle said. “We were very good at taking runner-up trophies at a lot of places. But you know, when there are 16 teams or 20 teams, runner up is not too bad. You lose to a very good team and you're going, 'OK, we're getting there.'
“And certainly by the time we got towards the end of the year, some of those younger kids became veterans and in the district and regional we performed very, very well. And that was nice to see. When you go to the regional and see everybody having a personal best in what they do, you go, 'This is a satisfying moment.'”
The Wildcats have plenty of moments to remember as they dominated the Lakewood Division I district and made it back-to-back championships by edging Medina, 62-59, for the Amherst regional title.
Leading Coach Kyle's gifted contingent at this weekend's state track and field championships will be the 4x800-meter relay team of sophomore Lamar Kemp, senior Nick Kobunski, sophomore Drew Galang and senior Evan Baum. Baum, Kobunski and Galang were members of the state-champion cross country team, with Baum and Kobunski two of the mainstays that helped show the way to the fall title.
Joining the 4x800 team in Columbus will be the 4x100-meter relay team of junior Anthony Mascia, freshman Tim McVey, junior Bobby Grebenc and senior Kevin Johnson, and the 4x400-meter relay team that features junior Nick D'Amico, Kemp, sophomore Ryan Kray and Johnson. The 4x100 team finished first at Amherst and the 4x800 and 4x400 teams ran to second-place finishes.
Johnson also will be competing in the 100-meter dash, making him a three-event performer at states, and Baum joins Kemp as a two-event 'Cat after qualifying at Amherst in the 800-meter run.
“Really, all three of them have a chance to get on the podium, you have to talk about it that way,” Coach Kyle said of his relay teams. “Because if you look at the program for the state, there are so many good teams. They are all about the same time. If we can find just one more improvement, we have a chance to get on the podium.”
Kyle, who guided the Wildcats to the Division I state track and field championship in 2001 and to a runner-up finish in '05, has been coaching track at his alma mater for 37 seasons. And Kevin Johnson ranks right up there as one of those competitors who has left a lasting impression on the veteran coach.
“Kevin (Johnson) has just been a major force on this track team for four years,” Kyle said “Qualifying for the state in three events is a tremendous accomplishment. Kevin is a wonderful guy. He helps the other kids and is a fun guy who always has the sense of humor going.”
Johnson, who also competed for Coach Kyle's highly successful football program as a defensive back, tailback and kick returner, will be furthering his education and athletic career at Baldwin-Wallace College. He plans to major in education and hopes to make an impact for the Yellow Jackets in both football and track.
The state meet will again be held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University. Friday's Division I schedule has the running preliminaries, or semifinals if you prefer, getting underway at 4:45 p.m. The boys' final in the 4x800-meter relay is slated for Friday at 5 p.m. Saturday's finals in the other running events are scheduled to start at 4:35 p.m.
For the younger members of the Wildcats' track team who are not familiar with the history, the late Jesse Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama and moved to Cleveland when he was 9. He tied the world record for the 100-yard dash (9.4 seconds) as a senior at legendary East Tech High School and went on to Ohio State, where he set numerous world marks. Jesse attained world-wide acclaim by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. In doing so, Jesse put an emphatic end to Adolf Hitler's credo of Aryan superiority.