January 26, 2006

John Gudgel, the YSHS/McKinney School principal and track coach, stretching with Clayton Wolfe, left, and Asa Casenhiser before a workout. Gudgel will be inducted into the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame on Jan. 27.

By Lauren Heaton

As John Gudgel exited the front office in his warm-ups after school on Monday, he paused about every 10 steps to joke with a student, answer a teacher’s question or reassure a parent.

Most were unaware that Gudgel, heading out for practice on the track as he’s done for the last 25 years, will be inducted to the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday, Jan. 27.

Gudgel, who is also the principal of Yellow Springs High School and the McKinney School, will join seven other Ohio high school or college coaches or athletes nominated for the Hall of Fame this year. It is the highest honor in the state for track and field, said Buzz Seilhamer, the association’s District 9 representative.

Seilhamer said that anyone who has coached six Division III state championship teams and as many league and district champions as Gudgel has, deserves the nomination. But what stands out above the championship, he said, is Gudgel’s hard work, strong character and commitment to the students in the school system.

“He’d have done a great job at any level, but the way he’s worked his way up in the school system as a teacher and a coach to guidance counselor and principal also shows his work ethic and his abilities,” Seilhamer said. “And the bottom line is, he is one of the nicest individuals I’ve ever met.”

Gudgel grew up in Yellow Springs, and in his senior year in high school in 1975 won the state title in the 440-yard dash, leading the first YSHS team ever to a state championship. He was captain of the Toledo University track team, and returned home in 1981 to teach and coach track at YSHS. He continued to coach after he became a guidance counselor, and in 1995, when he was offered the position of principal, Gudgel made it clear that he wished to continue coaching the track team.

Gudgel said he went to college to be a teacher so he could relate to students. As a principal, he said, coaching was a way he could “keep a connection with the kids, which is very important.”

Andrew Pierce, who as a YSHS senior in 1997 won the state title in the 400-meter dash, said staying connected is one of Gudgel’s most outstanding strengths. He really listens to what his students are saying and shows “genuine interest in your well-being,” Pierce said.

“It’s not just ‘come out here and run,’ but it’s ‘how’s your day going,’ and ‘how did you feel during practice,’ and ‘what were you thinking about on the back stretch?’ ” Pierce said. “Because a coach is a teacher who tells you what to do, but he needs a certain amount of information from the athlete to lead in the best way. There’s a lot of things that can influence your running outside of the track.”

Pierce said he believed in his coach, who had achieved success as an athlete, and trusted that his advice came from experience.

“It’s like Phil Jackson with the Chicago Bulls. It was tried and proven,” he said.

When Pierce began looking beyond state to the national level, Gudgel modeled a characteristic calm and levelheaded approach to facing better competition. Pierce said Gudgel went beyond the mechanics of running and opened a dialogue about the mental techniques of running a race.

The techniques worked, and after taking second place in the 1997 junior national competition, Pierce signed with Ohio State, and went on to set a new national indoor record in the 400 dash, a Big Ten indoor record in the 200 dash, and win gold medals in the 2001 World Outdoor Championships and the 2001 World University Games in Beijing.

Through it all, Pierce hung on to the memory of his first coach who drove him and his brother, Alfred, in his green Saturn to Champaigne, Ill., for nationals, and then sent him on his first plane ride to compete internationally with a letter of unconditional support and encouragement.

“He was always that same cool, calm and collected Gudge, and he was there when I needed him,” Pierce said. “It was a comfort to know that I got a coach that has my back whether I did well or not.”

Vince Peters, who as the YSHS cross country and girls track coach has worked alongside Gudgel for the past 22 years, said the two of them have always shared the same philosophy about measuring success not against others but against oneself. A good coach should be able to help students at every level to achieve their own goals and celebrate each athlete’s small and large accomplishments, he said.

Peters said that for Gudgel “it’s not all about first place and the kid with all the talent,” it’s about achieving personal goals.

Joel Robinson, a childhood neighbor who always looked up to Gudgel, recalled being most impressed with his sportsmanship. Gudgel coached Robinson on the basketball team and fought for his players, not by yelling at the officials but by discussing, listening and mediating.

In 1997, when the YSHS track team tied for the state title with another small school that had never won a championship, a coin toss was to decide which school took home the trophy. Robinson recalled that Gudgel quietly leaned over to an official and suggested that the trophy go to the school that didn’t already have one.

“The thing that really epitomizes John Gudgel is that he is a class act, and someone to emulate in sports and in life,” Robinson said.

Gudgel believes that participating in track teaches students many lessons about commitment, dedication, independence and about being part of a team. Track is a good character builder because athletes have to run whether its 30 degrees or 90 degrees, he said, which teaches students to “push themselves and put forth effort to improve.”

They also learn that although athletes compete in individual events, the team needs the points from the fifth- and sixth-place finishers in order to win, he said.

“Everybody’s effort counts and means something for the team,” Gudgel said.

For those who improve a personal record, he said, “it’s very enlightening to see the glow, glee and satisfaction on their faces regardless of where they finish in the race.”

Running and coaching is also a release, said Gudgel, who by March is ready to get away from the stresses of a cold winter and a long school year.

“It’s a relief for me to know I’m going outside to be with the kids and leave that other job behind,” he said. “It is an outlet, it’s about keeping it real.”

Gudgel, 49, doesn’t want to say he is a former runner, though he said he realizes that he and Peters have slowed down over the years. Still, they both run, stretch and workout alongside their athletes to give them support and let them know they aren’t being asked to do anything their coaches can’t do too, he said.

While he may not run like he used to, Gudgel has led Yellow Springs to the third highest number of state titles for Division III boys teams in Ohio, said Lynn Smith, a Central State track coach and former YSHS assistant track coach.

“I don’t know what took the coaches association so long to induct Gudge,” Smith said. “It’s a no brainer, and it’s long overdue.”

When Gudgel helped Yellow Springs win its first state title as an 18-year-old, he didn’t think so much about it, he said.

But as he gets older and watches the talented athletes who continue to represent the school, he said he feels a greater sense of accomplishment in the tradition of success that Yellow Springs has created.

“I’m starting to think, wow, that was really something special,” he said. “There’s probably not a day that goes by that I don’t feel a sense a pride in this school, and the town and the community that it represents.”

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com