Last week a friend of mine passed away. We weren\u2019t that close, but we knew each other for over four decades. Bob Hollen was the track and cross country coach at neighboring Granville High School, for nearly as long as I was the track and cross country coach at Watkins Memorial, forty years. We were often competitors, and just as often, collaborators working on the \u201cissues\u201d of track and field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bob Hollen, Jeff Sheets, my \u201csister from another mother\u201d Jan Heffelfinger and I were the \u201ccore\u201d track coaches in Licking County for a long time.\u00a0\u00a0There were others that had big impacts, but the four of us were always there.\u00a0\u00a0Bob was the head coach at Granville, and when he retired, came back as an assistant coach at another Licking County school, Heath.\u00a0\u00a0Jeff was the head coach at Licking Valley, and when he became a Heath guidance counselor, he became part of that program as well.\u00a0\u00a0And Jan was the head girls coach at Watkins, and then an assistant coach for me in those final few years.\u00a0\u00a0Between the four of us, we impacted Licking County Track for more than forty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bob and Jeff were also Presidents of the Ohio Track Coaches Association, helping to lead Ohio High School track through the dramatic changes of the last three of decades. Licking County was always well represented at the \u201ctable\u201d when it came to the critical decisions about track and field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The four of us saw the Licking County League break apart in the early 1990\u2019s, mostly over football issues. Heath and Granville went into the Mid-States League, and Watkins went to the Ohio Capital Conference. But we kept our old alliances and rivalries alive, creating a Licking County Honor-Roll meet and bringing our best onto the track against each other each spring. That meet sustained the relationships between the schools and the kids, and it kept us together as coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then in 2013, the Licking County League was re-established.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of the OCC teams as our arch-rivals, it was back to Granville, Heath and the rest of the LCL.\u00a0\u00a0And for a couple of years, it really was like old times.\u00a0\u00a0The difference:\u00a0\u00a0while we all wanted to win, we also all knew each other so well.\u00a0\u00a0It was good to see Bob on the field, or crack \u201cwise\u201d to Jeff on backstretch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bob Hollen would definitely be on the list for an \u201cAll Star\u201d throws coach: he consistently had solid shot and discus athletes for all of those decades.\u00a0\u00a0Bob\u2019s in the Ohio Track Coaches Hall of Fame, and was the State Coach of the Year as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I retired from coaching, I continue to educate coaches about pole vaulting.\u00a0\u00a0Each year at the state track clinic, I arrive early Saturday morning to educate sleepy and perhaps hungover coaches.\u00a0\u00a0Before my \u201cbit\u201d starts, I hang out in the staff room of the clinic.\u00a0\u00a0No matter what else was going on, Bob was there, working to make the clinic better.\u00a0\u00a0We always caught up a bit.\u00a0\u00a0They\u2019ll be an empty chair this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n