The long-time head coach at Lyons Township High School and most recently an assistant at Thornton High School, Mike had a big impact on Illinois track and cross country. He was inducted into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2005.
He also had an influence on my own life, as well as many, many other lives. I probably wouldn't be coaching at Sandburg if I hadn't met Mike Kuharic.
My first extended conversation with Mike happened back in 2000. My daughter, Terry, was just finishing up her high school running career at Lyons Township and I had watched the boys teams coached by Mike at many of the meets. While running on the Bemis Trail in La Grange, I saw him approaching and stopped to mention that my twin boys, Andy & Wade, were going to be coming out for the cross country team that fall. Mike immediately launched into a ten minute discussion about his outlook on the upcoming season. It was the first of many long conversations that we would have about track and cross country.
Having already gotten immersed in the sport during my daughter's four years at LT, I took it to an even higher level over the next four. Mike was a kindred spirit. He loved the history of the sport and kept detailed records and published thick season recaps every year. I loved that stuff.
I looked for every opportunity to learn from Mike. I tried to make myself useful by scoring the cross country meets before the official results were posted. I got pretty good at it and earned a little respect from Mike. We started to talk a bit more about the team and strategy as things went onward. The cross country teams took 17th in 2000 and 25th in 2001, but as my boys entered their junior year, things were looking promising. Being in the West Suburban Silver conference, everything was measured against arch-rival York. The 2002 team was up to the task, beating York during the regular season and again besting them at the tough Niles North sectional. That sought-after State Trophy seemed well within their grasp. But jogging to the start line at the State Meet, the team was nervous instead of confident and it showed in their performance. York went on to win the meet, with the LT finishing a disappointing 9th. Over the next few years, Mike and I talked about this one for hours and hours.
Redemption followed the next year as the boys finished 2nd in State with my son, Andy, as the 5th man. It was a great celebration and a very satisfying accomplishment for Coach Kuharic. It's also a little ironic that Andy had survived a childhood battle with leukemia when he was very young.
I loved talking track and cross country with Mike. We could do that for hours - maybe with a beer or two involved. He had an incredible memory for all of the details - who won and lost, the splits, the times. We'd talk about Topol being outkicked by Peter Garde of Prospect in the 4 x 8. Or that 9th place finish in 2002. And lately, we'd talk about how he was going to put together a great 4 x 8 relay at Thornton if Coach Vince McAuliffe would just give him a couple of the 2nd-tier sprinters that he could mold into 800 meter guys!
As my kids moved on to college, I continued hanging around the cross country courses and the track meets. Mike retired from LT and I started talking with Coach John O'Malley about the Sandburg team, We also had some long conversations about the 4 x 8 relay. Mike's enthusiasm for the event had rubbed off on me, and I passed a little of that along to Coach O'Malley. He's gone on to coach some pretty great 4 x 8 teams at Sandburg!
I'm going to miss talking with Mike. I know he had some other interests (golf, travel, Purdue, baseball cards) and he was very proud of his wife, Pam, and sons, Michael and Ryan. But whenever we'd get together, it was almost all track and cross country. So when I'm standing out on the cross country course or inside the track oval, I'll still be expecting him to walk up to me and start talking about old times. Mike Kuharic was one of the good ones and we're all better people for having shared some of our time with him.
I asked my good friend, Vince McAuliffe - head coach at Thornton High School, to share little about what he experienced working with Mike Kuharic. Here's what Vince had to say:
"Mike Kuharic left a legacy and example we should all should follow. I was blessed to have Mike in my life. Mike was a hall of fame coach who's coaching career was amazing - he was The Dean of the 4x800 including a run of 3 straight titles. He built a perennial power at LT. His teams did things the right way, they were class all the way. When Mike was retiring I offered him a job and after a stint at UIC with his good friend Jim Knoedel, he came to the south side and became a Wildcat. Mine and the kids' lives will never be the same. He poured his heart and soul into the kids from the second his foot touched the track until his final days. His passion for track and running was without equal. How many coaches do you know that achieved as much as Mike would come and take on the challenge of Thornton. He loved the Thornton kids and they loved him back. He taught us more than track. We learned how to live our lives. He showed us work ethic, to always have goals, to never quit, how to treat people. I can not tell you how much I'll miss being at track meets, golfing, having countless coaching talks with Mike. Mike was my friend and brother and hero. God Speed Mike."
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