The Gummerson legacy is running its course Minooka

Kevin Gummerson was a bit off course as he headed to the far south suburbs to follow the family footsteps into high school teaching and coaching.

"I thought it was Mokena, not Minooka," Gummerson said with a laugh of the communities that are 28 miles apart. "I had never heard of it (Minooka)."

And there was little reason for the 1994 Schaumburg High School graduate to have Minooka on his radar from a high school track and cross country perspective.

"When I first interviewed for the job, the principal said 'You can come down here for a few years, build your resume and go back up north,' " joked Gummerson, whose dad Ron and grandfather Roy were legends in the Illinois high school running community.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Kevin's first job right out of Loyola University. He accepted the challenge a week before the 1999 season started and found he barely had enough athletes in the boys or girls programs to fill out a seven-runner lineup.

Yet even during that first year, in typical family fashion, he saw positives and possibilities others would have missed. Gradually he built two programs which are now regularly on course for a season-ending trip to Peoria.

That's where Gummerson's Minooka teams will be again Saturday at majestic Detweiller Park as the girls look to defend their Class 3A state title and the boys have a title contender in Soran Knudsen, who is headed to NCAA power Northern Arizona. But Gummerson has looked back at his teams the first year - when the school was about half the size of the 2,600-plus students it has now - as the ones that made him believe this was possible.

"Do they have the kids who can put a team out there that will be a perennial state qualifier and state contender?" said Gummerson, who is also the girls track head coach and teaches history. "The type of kid, it was one who wants to work and is looking to improve.

"Sports are a big deal down here and they realize how important it is for a high school kid to be involved. We have that type of environment where I knew it was a place you can be successful."

Which Gummerson was accustomed to running for Jim Macnider at Schaumburg. He was an alternate on a third-place state team as a junior and ran the next year for a sixth-place finisher.

Then there was the family influence, along with Macnider and Loyola coach Gordon Thomson, which made a huge impact. His grandfather Roy, known as Mr. Track and Field in Illinois, coached now-shuttered Peoria Woodruff to a state cross country title in 1952. His dad Ron spent the majority of his highly successful coaching and teaching career at Conant.

"Once I tried the sport, this is the greatest sport out there," Kevin said. "Looking back at the impact my dad and grandfather had on people really motivated me ... that I could have an impact on people."

But getting more people out for the cross country and track programs was one of the first things Gummerson needed to do shortly after Minooka administrators started calling different collleges about potential coaching candidates. Although the school was getting a coach in his early 20s, in a way it was also getting one with decades of family experience.

Ron, who died from cancer in 2011, was still coaching at Conant when Kevin started at Minooka.

"At least once a week we would talk about stuff," Gummerson said. "After he retired he would come out and I would ask, 'What do you think? What do you see?'

"The first year we had our big cross country invite he ran the finish line and as soon as it was over he said, 'Here's what you can do differently.' I valued that so much and still do to this day.'"

He gained more appreciation for how Macnider built a perennial state power at Schaumburg. When Gummerson arrived, the history teacher learned Minooka's only state success was a third-place finish in Class A in 1977.

"I was fortunate to work with outstanding coaches because it was a bit overwhelming at first," Gummerson said. "I learned a lot the first couple of years. I would make mistakes and try to fix them.

"I didn't realize how difficult it was to get things rolling and to just get a team to qualify to state. Running at Schaumburg, you thought it just happens. I wondered, 'How did Mac do this?' "

Upgrading from a traditional small-school schedule to face top competition was one big step. Making the kids realize they could work harder than they were would lead to the belief they could succeed at a higher level.

And Gummerson needed to start that belief earlier to increase the numbers from the 10 boys and 7 girls who were in the entire program when he took over. He started summer camps and track meets for grade school kids similar to what his dad and legendary cross country coach Jack Ary developed at Conant.

"Once they try it they get hooked," Gummerson said. "We were looking at some of our top senior runners in pictures when they were in fifth grade running at our little kids camp. It's cool to see that process."

Now Minooka has nearly 70 boys and 55 girls in the program. One of the middle schools won a state title this year.

So, this is no longer a resume-builder as it was once suggested for Gummerson. He loves the small-town community feel toward high school sports. And his wife Tammy is the head girls coach at nearby Plainfield North, which is going to state as a team for the first time.

Getting to Peoria has become an expectation for Minooka under Gummerson.

This is the ninth straight time the girls program - led by Northern Illinois recruits McKenzie Callahan and Ashley Tutt - is headed to state and it is ranked second in 3A behind Naperville North by DyeStatIL.com and the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association. This is the seventh time the boys team is headed there since 2008. Both teams won sectional titles last Saturday in Edwardsville.

And going to Peoria does have added meaning for Gummerson since his grandfather and dad both ran for Bradley University.

"One of the coolest things last year was the amount of people who saw we won, recognized the name and said, 'Your grandfather and dad would be proud of you,'" Gummerson said of the ITCCCA Hall of Famers. "That meant a lot to me.

"I wish they could have seen our team compete. It's a great group that worked hard and they would have appreciated it."

Because they played a part in Kevin Gummerson turning Minooka into a recognizable name in the Illinois high school running community.

marty.maciaszek@gmail.com